Stuck in a dead-end life in Porpoise Spit, Muriel dreams of the perfect wedding – the white dress, the church, the attention.
Unfortunately, there’s one thing missing: a groom. Following her dreams to Sydney, Muriel ends up with everything she ever wanted – a man, a fortune and a million social media followers.
That’s when things start to go really wrong.
Based on the iconic 1994 film, but brought bang up to date, Muriel’s Wedding The Musical is an incredible production that deserves to scoop up every award going.
To recamp on that plot, Muriel’s Wedding is an Australian coming-of-age dramedy that follows Muriel Heslop, a painfully shy, socially awkward 25-year-old living in the tiny coastal town of Porpoise Spit. Obsessed with ABBA and the idea of marriage, Muriel’s greatest dream is to have the perfect wedding—anything to escape her lonely existence and emotionally distant father.
This musical version is beautifully written and is a real love story to the film. Brilliantly, through both the characters and the innovative staging, it is also brought bang up to date.
Visually, the production looks phenomenal. Mind-blowing sets, digital screens and incredible lighting bring the story to life in spectacular fashion. It sounds fantastic too; The cast here will just blow you away. It’s hard to single anybody out, but Megan Ellis as Muriel Heslop is out of this world and Darren Day stands out as Bill Heslop.
We had totally forgotten this, but this story also features ABBA. Yes, ABBA. The band appears throughout the story, and in hilarious fashion. Furthermore, ABBA songs feature, which means you get to hear some truly brilliant versions of songs like “Dancing Queen”, “Waterloo”, “Mamma Mia!” and more. Every song delivered could be straight from a West End production, I cannot tell you how impressive this production is.
Muriel’s Wedding The Musical is a true testament to the work of the geniuses at Curve, as this production was created there. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll sing along. You’ll be moved, you will certainly be impressed and above all, you will be entertained.
We’ll give it five out of five but it deserves so much more.