Category: Duncan Sheik

AMERICAN PSYCHO – The Musical, is an adaptation of the ‘infamous’ novel by Bret Easton Ellis of 1991. It is a satiric observation and skewering of the American values of the 1980’s in which the (anti-) hero, Patrick Bateman, a corporate aspirant, among many other idiosyncrasies, regards Donald Trump as a figure of admiration. It is an ironic note that we in 2019, 28 years later, are engaged with ‘a media-saturated society where a narcissistic, greedy misogynist with severe status anxiety can become the leader of the free world’. Donald Trump is a prescient mentor, indeed, for the Musical’s hero…

Photo by Tracey Schramm Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) present, SPRING AWAKENING – THE MUSICAL, Books and Lyrics by Steven Sater, Music by Duncan Sheik, based on the original play, by Frank Wedekind, at the ATYP Studio, Wharf 4, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay, 27 April – 14 May. This is the third production of SPRING AWAKENING – The Musical, that I have seen. I saw the original Broadway production at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in 2008, and the, relatively, mis-conceived production by the Sydney Theatre Company in 2010. This production of the musical based, ‘roughly’, on the Frank Wedekind…

Sydney Theatre Company present SPRING AWAKENING. A New Musical. Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater. Music by Duncan Sheik. Based on the original play by Frank Wedekind. At the Sydney Theatre. Oh, look……Oh, boy…..Oh, wow…..Oh, woe…… I deliberately waited until late in the season (the last week, in fact) before attending this production. Neither the press reviews or the “word of mouth” was particularly encouraging about this production. [Less than half a theatre full.] I knew that the company were young and mostly inexperienced and a big musical (I have seen it in New York) needs proper time to find…