Only Heaven Knows

It is impossible to conceive of any company staging this work with any more passion and heart than this production team and cast. The atmosphere on opening night, in Kings Cross where the musical is set, was not just of a company putting on a show – but more like a group on a mission.

Director Shaun Rennie wrote in the program that he felt a connection to the characters when he listened to the cast recording as a teenager; actors threw themselves into the roles shedding real tears and a stunning costume design incorporating the famous Coca Cola sign of Kings Cross added a touch of sparkle.

Only Heaven Knows is a no holds barred gay love musical. Tim (Ben Hall) is a 17 year Melbourne boy who arrives in Kings Cross in 1944. At first his naivety is hilarious but after lusting over the visiting sailors he dives into a lifestyle illegal at the time - falling for Cliff (Tim Draxl).

Perhaps the funniest scene is when they are in bed together, naked save for a sheet and a mate walks into their room for a chat. Tim hides under the sheet whilst his older and wiser lover is as cool as a cucumber, giving the audience a glimpse of his cheeks as he leaves the room.

Amidst the laughs there are some harrowing realities of the savage treatment people went through in attempts to ‘cure them’ of homosexuality.

But perhaps the hardest scene to watch was when Tim and Cliff achingly wanted to embrace in public but could not because of the fear of being arrested.

Hayden Tee played two roles, the drag Queen Lea Sonia – providing the most striking imagery of the musical - and Lana, a mother hen like character, who touchingly buries the ashes of a friend in the most hilarious of places.

There are no Les Misérables like musical flourishes in this musical, which fans of Hayden Tee have enjoyed in recent times. The whole production is accompanied by a piano, which blissfully meant no microphones were needed. It has some nice tunes without providing any whistle you out the door moments. The songs do tell the story with sincerity.

Only Heaven Knows was commissioned as a Bicentennial project in 1988. According to a well-connected member of the audience the writer Alex Harding skilfully avoided revealing the exact nature of its content from the selection committee.

The implication of this is that it might have been difficult to receive a Government grant for a musical based on a gay love story at the height of the AIDS epidemic. Times have changed since 1944 and 1988. The musical was given a little update with a brief reference to the troubles of the Kings Cross lock out laws today.

In the foyer Producer Lisa Campbell and original Only Heaven Knows cast member David Campbell wore shirts emblazoned with a call for marriage equality.

This production was stylish, humorous and as relevant as when it was written.

David Spicer

Images: (top) L-R Ben Hall, Matthew Backer, Hayden Tee, Blazey Best and Tim Draxl, and (lower) Tim Draxl and Ben Hall in Only Heaven Knows. Photographer: Robert Catto.