Hayes Theatre Co In Association With Sydney Festival Presents Rock Musical LIZZIE

Hayes Theatre Co in association with Sydney Festival presents the dark, queer and high energy rock musical LIZZIE.

Directed by Maeve Marsden and featuring a spectacularly talented all-female cast and band, this very local production will draw on rural Australian noir to create a unique interpretation on this American story.

The story of Lizzie Borden is American lore. On a sweltering summer morning in 1892, in a small New England city, a prominent businessman and his wife were brutally axed to death in their home. Their daughter Lizzie Borden was the prime suspect. Lizzie's trial was a coast-to-coast media sensation, and her story has become an American legend.

LIZZIE is four women fronting a six-piece rock band. LIZZIE is rage, sex, betrayal, and bloody murder. LIZZIE is American mythology set to a blistering rock score.

Director Maeve Marsden's interpretation of Lizzie turns the American musical on its head. Whilst the American production is known as a glam rock musical, influenced by Bikini Kill, the Runaways and Heart, the Australian production places the story in the Australian landscape and delvesmore into the themes of murder, domestic violence and revenge whilst still keeping its musical roots and rock concert feel.

"I was drawn to LIZZIE for its thumping score and its nuanced approach to themes that interest me: the failings of the nuclear family and traditional gender roles, queer love and desire, isolation and yearning. It's a true story that feels surprisingly contemporary, and it poses interesting questions about the morality of revenge. I'm thrilled to be working with some of the best creatives in the country on our own interpretation of this fantastic show, bringing an exciting Australian gothic lens to the work," said Maeve Marsden

Appearing in Lizzie is a cast of diverse performers with rock, pop and cabaret experience that are not seen on theatre stages often in Australia - multi-racial women, different sizes and looks that identify across a platform of femininity and sexuality. Each has an exuberance and talent to perform big musical numbers whilst staying true to the dark overtones of the story. Newcastle local Marissa Saroca appears in the lead role of Lizzie, alongside Stefanie Caccamo, Sarah Ward and Ali Calder.

"I am beyond excited to be performing the role of Lizzie in Maeve's production of this story and to give it an Australian spin. One of the best things for me is to be part of a diverse cast and creative team and that it is a show of women's stories being told - I am dying for Sydney audiences to embrace our LIZZIE!" said Marissa Saocca.

Hayes Theatre Co were immediately drawn to Maeve's vision for this production that leant less on the glam rock aspect of the musical and more on the telling of this very contemporary story of power, murder and revenge set in a recognizable Australian location with Australian voices. Lizzie Borden could have been a girl from Broken Hill or Brisbane as much as she was from Massachusetts, USA.

Learn more at www.hayestheatre.com.au or phone 02 8065 7337.

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