Safety in Numbers (musical)

Last updated

Safety in Numbers is an Australian musical with book and lyrics by Luke Hardy and Phillip Scott and music by Phillip Scott. The musical concerns the lives of four people, aged from early 20s to early 40s, sharing an apartment in the inner-Sydney suburb of Glebe: Alex, an ageing, out-of-work gay actor; Elaine, a psychiatric social worker who has left her marriage; Julia, a scatty student finding refuge from a broken family; and Joe, a country boy exploring the bright lights of the city. It was inspired by the writers' own experience of living under similar conditions in London. [1]

Contents

Productions

Safety in Numbers premiered at the Q Theatre in Penrith, outer western Sydney on 18 May 1982. Directed by Arthur Dicks, the cast included Simon Burke (Joe), Robyn Arthur (Elaine), Frank Garfield (Alex) and Mariette Rups (Julia). [1] Playing until 19 June 1982, the production then toured for a short season at the Orange Civic Theatre before returning to the Q Theatre for a further week. [2] An original cast recording was released on cassette. [3]

The musical transferred to the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney for a two-month season from 9 December 1982 to 29 January 1983, as part of the Festival of Sydney. [4]

A second production was performed in Perth by the Hole in the Wall Theatre, from 24 March to 23 April 1983. This was directed by Jenny McNae and featured Michael Turkic, Denise Kirby, Dennis Clements and Caroline McKenzie.

Musical numbers

From the cast recording:

Related Research Articles

<i>Follies</i> 1971 musical by Stephen Sondheim

Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman.

<i>Company</i> (musical) 1970 musical comedy

Company is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The original 1970 production was nominated for a record-setting 14 Tony Awards, winning six. Company was among the first book musicals to deal with contemporary dating, marriage, and divorce, and is a notable example of a concept musical lacking a linear plot. In a series of vignettes, Company follows bachelor Bobby interacting with his married friends, who throw a party for his 35th birthday.

<i>Evita</i> (musical) 1978 musical by Lloyd Webber and Rice

Evita is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and death.

<i>Mame</i> (musical) Musical

Mame is a musical with the book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Originally titled My Best Girl, it is based on the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and the 1956 Broadway play by Lawrence and Lee. A period piece set in New York City and spanning the Great Depression and World War II, it focuses on eccentric bohemian Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death." Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when the young son of her late brother arrives to live with her. They cope with the Depression in a series of adventures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Waters (actor)</span> Australian actor

John Russell Waters is an Australian film, theatre and television actor, singer, guitarist, songwriter and musician best known in Australia, where he moved to in 1968. He is the son of Scottish actor Russell Waters. John Waters has been in the industry for over 50 years, and was part of the Australian children's television series Play School for 18 years.

Philip Mark Quast is an Australian actor and singer. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical three times, making him the first actor to have three wins in that category.

<i>Nine</i> (musical) 1982 American stage musical

Nine is a musical whose original conception and music and lyrics are by Maury Yeston, with a book by Arthur Kopit. It is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical 1963 film .

Jonathan Martin Biggins is an Australian actor, singer, writer, director and comedian. He has appeared on film, stage and television as well as in satirical sketch comedy television programmes.

<i>Snoopy! The Musical</i> 1975 musical

Snoopy: The Musical is a musical comedy with music by Larry Grossman, lyrics by Hal Hackady, and a book by Warren Lockhart, Arthur Whitelaw, and Michael Grace. The characters are from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. This sequel to the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown focuses more on the life of Snoopy. Since its premiere, the musical has been a popular choice for regional, international, and amateur theatre performances.

<i>Priscilla, Queen of the Desert</i> (musical) Musical

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a jukebox musical with book by Australian film director-writer Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott, using well-known pop songs as its score. Adapted from Elliott's 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the musical tells the story of two drag queens and a trans woman, who contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a resort town in the remote Australian desert. As they head west from Sydney aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla, the three friends come to the forefront of a comedy of errors, encountering a number of strange characters, as well as incidents of homophobia, while widening comfort zones and finding new horizons.

Ned Manning is an Australian playwright, actor and teacher. His film credits include the lead role in Dead End Drive-In (1986), and television credits include The Shiralee and Prisoner, and Brides of Christ. His plays include Us or Them, Milo, Kenny's Coming Home and Close to the Bone. In 2007 Manning played the lead in his own play, Last One Standing, at the Old Fitzroy theatre in Sydney.

Arthur Frederick Dicks (1935–1994) was a designer working in the field of theatre and dance, as well as an accomplished actor and artist. He became the first head of design at NIDA, in Australia.

<i>The Sentimental Bloke</i> (1961 musical) 1976 Australian film

The Sentimental Bloke is a 1961 Australian musical by Albert Arlen, Nancy Brown and Lloyd Thomson based on Songs of a Sentimental Bloke by C.J. Dennis. Set in Melbourne, it is one of the most successful Australian musicals of the 20th century. The musical has also been adapted for television and ballet.

Jonah is an Australian musical with book and lyrics by John Romeril and music by Alan John. It is based on the 1911 novel Jonah by Australian writer Louis Stone. Set in the inner suburbs of Sydney in the thirty years prior to World War I, the musical is an ironic story of the capitalist rise of a hunchback shoe repairer from a leader of a local Push to an industrial magnate.

<i>Ned Kelly</i> (musical)

Ned Kelly is an Australian musical with book and lyrics by Reg Livermore and music by Patrick Flynn. It tells the story of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly with an eclectic score combining rock opera, vaudeville and burlesque. The original Australian production played in Adelaide and Sydney in 1977 and 1978.

<i>Pearls Before Swine</i> (musical)

Pearls Before Swine is an Australian musical with book and lyrics by Dennis Watkins and music by Chris Harriott. Billed as "in the tradition of South Pacific and Apocalypse Now", it is a satirical take on Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, suggesting that one of the world's worst cabaret entertainers, Lamont Cranston, was responsible for the My Lai Massacre.

The Republic of Myopia is an Australian musical with book and lyrics by Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott and music by Phillip Scott.

<i>Dream Lover: The Bobby Darin Musical</i> 2016 soundtrack album by Australian Cast featuring David Campbell

Dream Lover: The Bobby Darin Musical is a jukebox musical based on an original concept and stage play by Frank Howson and John-Michael Howson, adapted for the stage by Frank Howson with Simon Phillips and Carolyn Burns. The musical reveals the extraordinary story of legendary singer, songwriter and actor Bobby Darin.

<i>Muriels Wedding</i> (musical)

Muriel's Wedding the Musical is an Australian stage musical, based on the 1994 film of the same name. It has a book by P.J. Hogan, and music and lyrics by Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall, with additional songs originally written for ABBA by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Rathgeber</span> Australian actor and singer

Alex Rathgeber is an Australian actor and singer, perhaps best known for his Helpmann Award-winning performance as Billy Crocker in Anything Goes. More recently he appeared as the Tin Man in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Wizard of Oz.

References

  1. 1 2 "Q Theatre scores with witty Numbers". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 May 1982.
  2. "AusStage - Safety in Numbers". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  3. "Safety in Numbers - Original Cast". CastAlbums. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  4. Kippax, H.G. (15 December 1982). "From Penrith - a musical for Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald.