Miracle City

Some musicals date quickly – others stay just as sharp as when they opened. A good example is Chicago. It was written with a timeless cynicism about lawyers, the justice system and the media that still sizzles.

In the case of Miracle City we have a musical which might even be sharper than when it debuted. 

The Sydney Theatre Company staged it in 1996. Word around town was it was a gem of a musical that deserved another look, but sadly Nick Enright died and it lost momentum.

When it premiered there was plenty of material about Christian television evangelism ending in tears, streaked mascara, and prison. Who could ever forget the ghastly Jim and Tammy Bakker.

Now after years of ever more appalling revelations of sex abuse in churches of all denominations the issue is even more ripe for drama.

Miracle City is set during a live-to-air American evangelical television show. The entire set comprised an extended curtain which spun around.

The intimate space of the Hayes Theatre is perfect for this production.

From this TV pulpit  the matriarch Ricky Truswell (Mike McLeish) urges his viewers to dig deep so he can fulfil his dreams of building a religious theme park.

The family start out as wholesome as the Brady Bunch and for a moment I thought that it would be too tame.

The songs are bright and chirpy, with some terrific country western and gospel influences.  The composer Max Lambert was on stage, leading the merry band on the keyboard.

(Memo Max: Please make a recording of his production!)

Aided by a terrific cast the tension mounts. Enter the even sleazier Reverend Millard Sizemore (Peter Kowitz). The women in the drama have very difficult choices to make.

The matriarch Lora Lee Truswell (Blazey Best) is faced with a dilemma of biblical proportions.  The ending is jaw dropping.

David Spicer

Images: Mike McLeish and Blazey Best; Josie Lane, Marika Aubrey and Esther Hannaford, and the whole cast. Images: Photgrapher: Kurt Sneddon