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1984! The Musical!

1984! The Musical! is an original new Australian musical theatre work written by Tom Davidson-McLeod and Diana Reid, with music composed by Riley McCullagh.

It's initial iteration was performed at the Cellar Theatre at the Univerity of Sydney in 2019.

The Musical premeiered at Sydney's New Theatre on 8 January 2020, with a run until 25 January 2020. 1984! The Musical! is an adaptation of Orwell's timeless classic which takes the darkest elements of Orwell's dystopic future and puts them to an upbeat musical score. As the advertising material for the show stated: "Tap-dancing in torture chambers, rats with razzle-dazzle, Big Brother with even bigger star power: 1984! The Musical! has it all!"

According to co-writers Tom Davidson-McLeod and Diana Reid, "Comedy has always been a powerful tool for revealing hard political truths. It makes sense: people like to laugh more than they like being lectured at. And Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of, if not the, most powerful political works of our time. So adapting the text as a comedy felt surprisingly natural."

The play follows Winston Smith and his lover Julia as they rebel against the all-powerful Big Brother and his Party. Will they triumph over totalitarianism, or yield to their oppressors?

The show's ambitiously eclectic score is the work of Riley McCullagh, whose Assistant Composer credits include The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (STC) and The Dog/The Cat (Belvoir). Broadwayworld.com stated that "the production team and cast [are] jam-packed with rising Australian theatrical talent, including Co-Director Georgia Vella."

Produced in association with the New Theatre.

CREATIVE TEAM Co-Directors Tom Davidson-McLeod, Georgia Vella Producers Simone La Martina, Diana Reid Sound Designer Riley McCullagh Assistant Writer Floyd Alexander-Hunt Set Designers Sophie Lanigan, Max Volfneuk Stage Manager Aidan Lam Marketing Designer Elliot Ulm Singing Director Laura Wachsmann Choreographer Dale Scutts Assistant Stage Manager Yasmin Breeze Stage Hands Tiffany Chan, Matilda Moffitt

CAST Julia: Anna Della Marta Winston: Charlie Hollands O’Brien: Joshua Macqueen Charrington: Georgia Vella Syme: Tom Davidson McLeod Mr Parsons: Jordan Barnes Mrs Parsons: Elizabeth Jones Children: Vevie Brook, Coco Veksner-Shaw Olivia Wolff, Olivia Siegloff Ensemble: Christie Auchamp, Alex Gonzalez Jude Horsburgh, Joshua Karras Jessica Loeb, Ezara Norton Emilie Ritchie, Sophie Roderick