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Their musicals tell distinctly Australian stories and stand in stark contrast to the international blockbusters and jukebox musicals that dominate Australian stages.
“We want to make this repertoire of new Australian musicals, new Australian stories to be added to the mosaic of our Australian cultural identity with all the other art forms,” Murphy says.
Fangirls has had a number of return seasons, including a transfer from Belvoir to the Sydney Opera House.Credit: Brett Boardman
She notes that Australian musical theatre is in its infancy compared to more than a century of musicals on Broadway: “It does feel like this is new, and we’re sort of entering something and working it out as we go along.”
The success of recent musicals, including Muriel’s Wedding the Musical, Fangirls and The Lovers, prove local audiences have an appetite for Australian stories.
“It’s such a huge investment to put money into a musical, you need so many resources,” Murphy says. “I think [producers] realised there is an audience for it, there is a hunger for it.”
But a thriving Australian musical scene in Australia requires more than money for developing new work. It needs to invite new audiences into the theatre.
Murphy thinks she has been successful in engaging younger audiences by incorporating more pop music into her shows, which often embrace a range of genres, including pop, punk, jazz, Latin and alt-rock.
“My authentic inner voice is pop,” she says. “Because of that, I’ve certainly seen young people responding to my work and falling in love with theatre and musicals and then falling in love with other things, like politics and Shakespeare.”
Murphy herself is still in love with musicals but feels that thanks to the pandemic, she now has a healthier relationship to her career.
“When you’re in it, it is life or death: it is searching for that next gig and feeling like you don’t have any purpose when you’re between shows,” says Murphy.
“I think a lot of people in the industry now prioritise work-life balance a little more … It’s dress-ups. It’s story time. And while I take it extremely seriously and dedicate all of my time to it, I won’t die if I never do it again.”
Zombie! The Musical is at Hayes Theatre from March 8 to April 6.