Back to the 80’s

Neil Gooding’s jukebox musical Back to the 80’s is poised to become the most widely performed Australian written musical or play of all time.
Each year more than 200 schools and amateur theatres now stage the show in countries all over the world. More on the success of the show and the spin-offs later.
First let me declare that I am the Australian and New Zealand agent for the show (not the rest of the world unfortunately). In that capacity I attended the most recent performance at Sydney’s Hornsby RSL, sitting alongside Neil, keeping an eye on whether he laughs at his own jokes.
I can report that yes Neil Gooding did giggle at many of the gags he wrote in 2001, although we both agree some of the songs could be pruned.
The Australian written musical is set in the US – William Ocean High. It is the students’ final year and the musical traces the journey of Corey Palmer as he tries and fails to be elected school President, tries to get his girl and organises the school prom.
Along the way the best international hit songs of the 1980’s – UK and US - are generously sprinkled.
Members of the audience can still sniff that it was written by someone with an Australian perspective.
My favourite character is Fergal Mcfaren the 3rd – the geek who fearlessly predicts the introduction of mobile phones, the world wide web and the Compact Disc. In this Sydney Youth Theatre Company production it was played with great wit by Andrew Griscti. He came across as a dag with a healthy dose of spunk.
Another stand out for me was Luke Zancanaro as the super cool Michael Feldman. The Year 11 student last month played an awesome Achilles in Oakhill College’s production of Paris (yes another show I represent).
Now how do I justify my claim that Back to the 80’s is poised to become the most widely performed Australian written musical or play of all time?
Well the current record holder Man of Steel, the musical written by Simon Denver, has chalked up almost 4000 performances, comprising about 1300 seasons. But Back to the 80’s, now a hit in the US market, is soon going to race past it. If there is another play or musical about that’s had more gigs let me know!
Having written a rolled gold cash cow, which just keeps getting fatter, Neil Gooding has in recent years put some of this money into decidedly uncommercial projects.
He’s co-produced new Australian musicals - The Hatpin, Breast Wishes, Love Bites and introduced Australian audiences to the quirky Gutenberg the Musical.
Neil also recently founded the not for profit foundation called The Pipeline, to workshop new Australian musicals.
What a wonderful example for the rest of the arts community.
Write something which is commercial, which excites the public and encourages young people to participate in and attend the performing arts. Then use the proceeds for more edgy and risky productions.
In a world where many in the arts community spend much of their lives with their hands out for Government subsidies, Neil Gooding is a great example of how to be commercial and innovative.
Why don’t our heavily subsidised public theatre companies put their mind to creating something commercial? Most would stick their noses up at the prospect of this. Instead some put their resources into major productions of rehashed foreign plays or classics.
Recently 5600 tickets were sold by Launceston College in Tasmania to one season of Back to the 80’s.
Compare this to some of the lacklustre ticket sales produced by the Federal Government’s Playing Australia program.
Entire seasons of plays, deemed by arts bureaucrats to be worthy, which tour to dozens of venues, often sell fewer tickets than one musical staged by one high school in a town with the population of 100,000.
Who is doing the better job of developing audiences and getting people into theatres, away from their plasma screens?
OK. So you might ask, am I suggesting that publicly funded theatre companies produce cheesy juke-box musicals?
No, just invest some time occasionally in projects at the commercial end of theatre spectrum, and reap the benefits. The best companies in the UK do it? The National Theatre in London has had a number of productions transfer to the West End. Guess where the smash hit War Horse started? Why is Australia missing out?
David Spicer.

Image: Neil Gooding (second from right) with cast from Sydney Youth Theatre Company.