Natalie Abbott makes lead role her own in return season of Muriel’s Wedding the Musical at the Lyric
It must have been a tough call for a young performer to front a packed and expectant Sydney theatre and reprise a role that made another girl famous just two years before.
It’s a tough call for a young performer to front a theatre packed with expectant Sydney first-nighters and reprise a role that made another girl famous just two years before.
Imagine Natalie Abbott’s thoughts as she prepared for last night’s Sydney premiere of the return season of Muriel’s Wedding the Musical.
Would the audience just want Maggie McKenna back?
Would they weigh Abbott’s performance against McKenna’s Sydney premiere as Muriel, when the audience leapt to their feet and McKenna’s mum Gina Riley sobbed with pride?
Whether Abbott had any doubts of that kind, it’s a joy to report that the girl from Nowra last night seized the role of Muriel and made it utterly her own from the moment she caught the bridal bouquet in Act One to her final scene with best mate Rhonda when, in spite of all they had been through, they set off to make bigger, better lives together.
Abbott showed she has a voice to be reckoned with and a magnetic stage presence.
Like Abbott, Stefanie Jones grabbed the important role of Rhonda by the throat. Her heart-and-soul performance emphasised Rhonda’s strong and raunchy approach to life and we really took it hard when things went bad for her.
Rhonda (played by Madeleine Jones in Muriel mark 1) takes no bull from anyone, not even her best mate Muriel, and the peaks and valleys of their relationship chart Muriel’s personal journey from self-hating outsider to ... well, we won’t spoil the story.
David James in the role of Muriel’s property-developing, politician-bribing father Bill Heslop was brilliantly funny and utterly loathsome.
Pippa Grandison played Bill’s downtrodden wife Betty with heartbreaking pathos that was never overdone.
The mean girl foursome of Tania Degano, Janine Nuttall, Cheryl Moochmore and Nicole Stumpf strutted and selfied in perfect, Barbie doll unison.
In those roles, Laura Murphy, Imogen Moore, Catty Hamilton and Rachel Cole were obviously having as much fun as they gave the audience.
Other wonderful performances included those of Jarod Griffiths as the hapless suitor Brice Nobes, Stephen Madsen as buff Russian swimmer Alexander Shkuratov, and Dave Eastgate as the coach.
But Muriel only works as an ensemble, and credit goes to each and every performer — and to director Simon Phillips and designer Gabriela Tylesova and the whole team.
Sydney once again took Muriel’s Wedding the Musical to its heart and gave it a standing ovation as spools of multi-coloured metallic ribbons shot out to all points of the theatre, celebrating the welcome return of a show that threatens to become an Australian classic.
Muriel’s Wedding the Musical is on until September 8 at the Sydney Lyric Theatre
‘Why I decided to rewrite classic musical Les Miserables’
New author Kester Grant is a massive Les Miserables fan — so decided her first book would rewrite the classic musical and make the women the heroes of an adventure story.
‘Not a politician’: Guy Sebastian’s defence over arts backlash
Australian musician Guy Sebastian has defended himself following online backlash to his appearance alongside the Prime Minister during a $250 million arts funding announcement in Sydney today.