Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical gets opening date

PRESS RELEASE:

The Australian cast of the brand new production, Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical, has been announced today with members of The Seekers in attendance. The much anticipated cast announcement was made at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the scene of The Seekers’ record-breaking concert in 1967 that drew a mammoth crowd of more than 200,000 people!

Officially launched today by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle, the musical will have its world premiere in Melbourne on Tuesday December 22 at Her Majesty’s Theatre, with previews commencing December 15 for a strictly limited season of 14 weeks. Tickets go on sale on Thursday August 27 from Ticketek. This will be followed by a 9-week season at the State Theatre in Sydney next April.

Taking on the role of legendary lead singer of The Seekers, Judith Durham, is star of stage and screen Pippa Grandison. Joining Pippa as her band mates and fellow vocalists will be Phillip Lowe as Keith Potger, Mike McLeish playing Bruce Woodley and Glaston Toft as Athol Guy.

Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical follows the story of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley, from their folk and jazz beginnings in Melbourne to their meteoric rise to world pop stardom in the ‘60s, to today. This brand new musical is produced by Richard East, an originating producer of Mamma Mia!, and Dennis Smith, producer of Dusty – The Original Pop Diva, who are thrilled to be bringing this new production to Melbourne for its world premiere.

“There is no other city in the world we could have opened this in,” said Richard East. “Melbourne is the home of The Seekers, and where it all began for Judith, Athol, Keith and Bruce in 1962 before they went on to capture the hearts and conquer the charts of the rest of the world.”

Starring as Judith Durham, lead singer of The Seekers, Pippa Grandison has performed extensively in film, television, theatre and musical theatre throughout Australia and overseas, with highlights including The Graduate alongside Jerry Hall, Mary Poppins and playing the role of Elphaba in the Sydney season of the smash hit Wicked.

Phillip Lowe joins the cast as Keith Potger, the band’s 6 and 12-string guitarist. Appearing in the original Australian production of Crazy For You, Phillip has gone on to star in Show Boat, Cabaret, The Producers, Dusty, Mary Poppins, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and is soon to appear in the Hayes Theatre production of High Society.

Mike McLeish, best known for his portrayal of Paul Keating in the hugely successful production of Keating! The Musical, will play 6-string guitarist, Bruce Woodley. Mike has also appeared in Eddie Perfect’s Shane Warne: The Musical, Chunky Move’s Two Faced Bastard and recently performed at the Hayes Theatre in the revival of Nick Enright and Max Lambert’s Miracle City.

Playing Athol Guy, The Seekers’ double bass player, Glaston Toft appeared in Shout! and My Fair Lady, and received rave reviews for his performance in Jersey Boys as Four Seasons member Nick Massi, playing the role for more than four years and 1300 performances.

Acclaimed actors also joining the cast include Ian Stenlake as The Seekers’ tour manager John Ashby and Adam Murphy as narrator Ron Edgeworth. Ian Stenlake is one of the most sought after and popular performers in Australian film, television and theatre, starring in the Nine Network’s Sea Patrol and Stingers. Adam’s extensive musical stage credits include the recent role of Jake Houseman in the national tour of Dirty Dancing.

Celebrating one of Australia’s most loved groups, Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical will tell the remarkable story of legendary pop group The Seekers, the first Australian band to achieve international success.

Opening in Melbourne on Tuesday December 22, Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical, features all their hit songs including The Carnival is Over, I’ll Never Find Another You, Morningtown Ride, A World of Our Own, I am Australian and of course, the Oscar-nominated Georgy Girl. These classic songs have been enjoyed by generations of music lovers around the world, and particularly by Australians, for whom The Seekers are part of their musical DNA.

The popular quartet was the first Australian act to achieve major chart success in the UK and US, and they became the first group ever to reach number one on the UK charts with their first three singles, I’ll Never Find Another You, A World of Our Own, and The Carnival is Over, which outsold The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Influential UK music magazine New Musical Express voted The Seekers 1965’s ‘Best New Group’ and the following year, Georgy Girl became the first number one song for an Australian group in America.

In 1967, The Seekers made a triumphant return to their hometown, drawing a record-breaking crowd of more than 200,000 people to Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl. In 1968, the group members were named joint “Australians of the Year” for 1967 – the only group to be honoured with this award, and were each awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

In July 1968, Judith announced she was leaving The Seekers to pursue a solo career and the group disbanded. The Seekers’ Greatest Hits album was released and spent 17 weeks at number one in Australia, and six weeks on top of the UK charts (remaining in the UK Top 40 for 125 weeks).

Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical spans the decades from selling millions of records and topping the charts around the world, breaking up in 1968 and eventually reuniting in 1993, when they reformed for their ‘25 Year Silver Jubilee Reunion Celebration’ tour, and to a sold-out UK tour last year for their 50th anniversary ‘Golden Jubilee’ tour (including two capacity concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall) – and as of today, almost 14 million YouTube views of their classic I’ll Never Find Another You footage from 1968.

Written by Patrick Edgeworth with script consultant Graham Simpson, Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical tells the incredible story of one of the country’s true national treasures. A band whose modest beginnings at a café in South Yarra took them to the concert stages of the world. It’s a journey full of laughter, a few tears, but most of all, featuring the magnificent songs we all know and love.

And so the carnival continues with Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical having its world premiere in Melbourne at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Tuesday December 22. This strictly limited season of 14 weeks is followed by a 9-week season at The State Theatre in Sydney, opening early April 2016.

Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical is directed by Gary Young with musical supervision by Stephen Amos.

Tickets on sale Thursday August 27 from Ticketek. www.ticketek.com.au/georgygirl or 132 849

Waitlist for tickets in Sydney now at www.ticketmaster.com.au/georgygirl