There’s been a lot of chat about the state of musical theatre in Australia, much of it serving up late-capitalism doom and gloom. Several high-profile shows – Annie, Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, Waitress – have closed early or cancelled the remainder of their national tours, casting a pall over the profession and potentially spooking future investors. But are we really in the death throes of an industry – and if so, why are there so many terrific homegrown productions on offer?
Grey Gardens, which opened Sunday night at Melbourne’s fortyfivedownstairs, is a case in point. Adapted by Scott Frankel and Michael Korie from a 1975 documentary about a reclusive mother and daughter living in squalor in a crumbling, cat-infested house in the Hamptons, the musical received mixed reviews when it debuted off-Broadway in 2006. Time has been kinder to the show than it was to its protagonists and it now glows like a rare gem, in a production that fully mines its wit and tragic impulse.
