Sparkling new musical a labour of love

Three exceptional Queenslanders have pooled their respective talents to produce a milestone musical for USQ’s next theatre season.

Poet Bruce Dawe AO and composer Russell Bauer have written a new stage play in celebration of the legendary life of Harry Houdini and the 100-year anniversary of his history-making first powered flight in Australia.

Multi-award winning theatre professional Sue Rider has taken-on the formidable task of directing the world premiere season.

'Having worked with Bruce on several other projects over the years, and knowing his poetry and his marvelous ear for dialogue, I was very excited to be approached to direct Houdini: The Man from Beyond,' said Ms Rider.

'The script, the result of a decade’s labour of love from Bruce Dawe and Russell Bauer, is a wonderful combination of fact and imaginative story-telling.

'Bruce’s writing of the lyrics for the songs is jaunty, clever, insightful and just great fun.'

Having Russell Bauer on hand as musical director of the production is also proving to be a tremendous advantage.

'What Russell doesn’t know about Houdini isn’t worth knowing!

'And of course his musicianship is excellent, which means the young cast have access to the best teaching which gives them support to present a first class piece of music theatre.'

Sparkling with catchy songs, tantalising tricks and moving moments, the musical captures the essence of Houdini and his death-defying life.

'It is the story of a real man: an entertainer who took delight in drawing gasps of disbelief from an audience, who could not resist an opportunity to show off his skills, who took enormous risks to be the best.

'At the same time he was a husband, a brother and a son, and part of the fascination of the play is to see how these relationships shaped – and were shaped by – his public life.

'Our challenge is to tell this story with truth, integrity and sheer entertainment.'

The world premiere season of Houdini: The Man from Beyond will be presented in the USQ Arts Theatre from 20-29 August, with 7.30pm performances on 20, 21, 27 and 28 August, an 11am matinee on 25 August, and 2pm matinees on 22 and 29 August.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 concession, $15 student, $7.50 child and can be purchased through the USQ Artsworx Box Office on 07 4631 1111.

This project has been funded by the Regional Arts Development Fund which is a Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and Toowoomba Regional Council partnership to support local arts and culture.