Kym Vaitiekus reports on launch of THE HAYES 2024 SEASON

THE HAYES 2024 SEASON LAUNCH

The 2024 HAYES season will deliver joy, delight, surprises, heartfelt emotions, intriguing ideas, and distinct and remarkable experiences.

Richard Carroll and Victoria Falconer are the enthusiastic and inspired Artisitic Directors who proclaim- “A breathtaking adventure awaits”.

This exceptional theatre company as the reputation of honouring hit musicals, and encouraging new work that is independent, home grown and diverse.

Carroll and Falconer are set to amp these aims in the Hayes 2024 Season.

With their inaugural year they invite you “to see musical theatre differently”.

With originality as their watchword, they create unique experiences that explore the human condition.

In my personal experience, with New York being considered the theatre standard bench mark, I have seen independent works at Hayes whose productions have equalled  those on off-Broadway and main stream works where the productions at Hayes far surpassed the version I saw on Broadway.

If you’re a musical theatre fan, and you haven’t heard of Hayes then this is going to change your life.

Celebrating ten years, Hayes started out with their award winning Sweet Charity which continued onto a national tour. Other highlights over the decade include Assassins, The View Upstairs, Heathers, Rent, Dubbo Championship Wrestling, Spamalot, American Psycho, Dogfight and Little Shop of Horrors.

The 2024 Season starts off with the Australian premiere of THE HELLO GIRLS, a contemporary musical with folk and pop earworms, charting the journey of a feisty bunch of trail-blazing women who turned the US army on it’s head and made history.

What a great way to kick the year off, with an unknown story of how women made the world a better place using their camaraderie and inherent power.

Next comes a new work that is the world premiere of ZOMBIE THE MUSICAL by Laura Murphy. This contemporary musical with the usual trials and tribulations of a tech run, is faced with the challenge of a world that becomes ravaged by a zombie apocalypse. These two crazy genres are combined to create a must-see new work by the incredible talented Murphy.

Director Blazey Best brings Andrew Lloyd Webber’s and Don Black’s TELL ME ON A SUNDAY to the Hayes in April/May. It is an intimate story of one woman’s coming of age in New York City and the relationships that lead to her own self-discovery.

Empowering the female journey, this story honours the past with references to the now. Erin Clare of 9 to 5, We Will Rock You, Heathers and A little Night Music is the powerhouse that is this one woman show.

RIDE THE CYCLONE will showcase the passion and talents of the Hayes’ Artistic Directors. Carroll and Falconer bring this 2008 work that in 2022, found viral fame on social media—particularly TikTok—it became an instant hit with the digital generation: Gen Z.

A generation that was arguably too young to have encountered this musical during some of its earlier runs, discovered it for the first time and immediately became captivated. Production videos, memes, cosplays, and other RIDE THE CYCLONE videos amassed as many as 400,000 likes and millions of views.

This quirky musical with a funny, dynamic and affecting script has its finger on the pulse. Looks like a highlight of the year, at the 2024 season.

Joshua Robson Productions who bought us the hit, City Of Angels, makes Hayes 2024 season one not to miss with their version of LITTLE WOMEN. Director Amy Campbell of Once fame brings the story of the March sisters and their trials and tribulations as they traverse the human experience.

Kudos to Carroll and Falconer as they bring Opera to Hayes for the first time. 2024 sees the Chamber Opera, THE TURN OF THE SCREW hit the stage as directed by Craig Baldwin.

Another world premiere for Hayes brings FLAT EARTHERS THE MUSUCAL to the 2024 line up. Director Declan Greene heralds the original Australian work by Jean Tong and Lou Wall.

This trio of new theatre makers explore the influence the internet has had on our loves and lives.

This along with RIDE THE CYCLONE will appeal to a generation younger than those that usually frequent the theatre scene. How much of a risk is this for the Hayes? Well Fangirls was a huge hit with the young and deservedly so. These two musicals that are following the same vein, are a great choice.

Irving Belin’s talent is timeless, so mounting a new production of HOLIDAY INN is the perfect choice for Christmas and a tap-dancing musical to boot. Director Sally Dashwood and choreographer Veronica Beattie George team up to bring you this delight with a classic feel with fresh and fabulous new staging.

Along with the main productions, the Hayes 2024 season is full of other gems and delights.

The cabaret line up is awesome including CARLOTTA, IN VOGUE, THEYS AT THE HAYES, and HOME GROWN. In conjunction with the Adelaide Cabaret festival Hayes presents the WINTER CABARET SEASON.

Praise to Carroll and Falconer for their initiatives for 2024. THEYS AT THE HAYES is a one off concert with an array of gender expansive performers that includes established and new stage stars.

THE FESTIVAL OF WORKS is two weeks dedicated to readings, showcase developments, concert presentations, industry upskilling and networking events. Check the program out, when it’s released, to catch the first glimpse of and experience the next big Aussie hit.

The HAYES 2024 SEASON is going to be a cracker and for the first time Hayes has a subscription option. With an entire line up of shows you do not want to miss; subscription is the way to go.

Chookas to HAYES and to the 2024 Season.

THE HELLO GIRLS

Music and Lyrics by Peter Mills
Book by Cara Reichel

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE PRODUCTION

March into the extraordinary world of The Hello Girls, a contemporary musical brimming with folk and pop earworms, charting the journey of a feisty bunch of trail-blazing women who turned the US Army on its head and made history.

10 January - 4 February 2024

THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG

Book by Neil Simon
Music by Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager

They’re Playing Our Song is one of Australia’s most loved musicals. Based on the real-life relationship of Hamlisch and Sager, the musical tells the story of a wisecracking composer who finds a new, offbeat lyricist. Featuring the musical numbers ‘Workin’ It Out’, ‘When You’re in My Arms’, and ‘They’re Playing Our Song’

14 February - 16 February 2024

THEYS AT THE HAYES

19 February 2024

Grab your tickets quickly for this one-off concert celebrating star quality that’s self-defining. From leading players to new faces, host Blake Appelqvist (they/them) – star of & Juliet, Fangirls, and Hayes’ Spamalot, American Psycho and Bonnie & Clyde – will be joined by an array of gender expansive performers and musicians to showcase the true breadth of talent in the Australian entertainment industry.

CARLOTTA THE PARTY'S OVER            

Australian icon, political activist and living legend, Carlotta AM has led an extraordinary life: good times, bum times, she’s seen them all and my dear, she’s still here. Following two sell-out seasons at Hayes Theatre Co, Carlotta returns to the Cross in her 80th year to bid a fabulous farewell in this very special Mardi Gras season. Musical direction by Helpmann Award winner Michael Griffiths.

28 February - 3 March 2024

IN VOGUE

Songs by Madonna

Helpmann award-winner Michael Griffiths IS Madonna. No accent, costume or wig. Just Her Madgesty, the Queen of Pop leading you on a journey through her tough life and tender songs. Strike a pose, get into the groove and express yourself as Madonna opens her heart. Written and directed by Helpmann award-winner Dean Bryant

1 March - 3 March 2024

ZOMBIE! THE MUSICAL

It’s like 42nd Street… but with ZOMBIES 

Sydney, Australia. It’s the turn of the 21st century, and a dedicated community theatre troupe are frantically rehearsing in the final hours before their big opening night. Little do they know that beyond the walls of the theatre, a highly infectious disease is rapidly spreading through the city – turning its victims into full-blown zombies. Will humanity take its final bow, or can the power of musical theatre save the friggin’ world? 

8 March - 6 April 2024

HOME GROWN

After nine celebrated years at the centre of Melbourne’s new musical theatre writing scene, Home Grown’s popular events finally arrive in Sydney at their natural home. Home Grown is a not-for-profit company dedicated to supporting, developing and promoting Australian musical theatre. Their one-of-a-kind concerts see the hottest talent in the Australian musical theatre industry come together with the country’s most exciting writers to celebrate the new works coming from our own backyard.

Sunday 24 March 2024

TELL ME ON A SUNDAY

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black’s classic Tell Me On A Sunday is a one-woman show that charts the course of a young English girl newly arrived in New York. Brimming with optimism, she sets out to seek success, companionship and, of course, love. But as she weaves her way through the maze of the city and her own anxieties and heartaches, she begins to wonder whether – in fact – she’s been looking for love in all the wrong places.

12 April - 5 May 2024

RIDE THE CYCLONE

In this hilarious and exhilarating story, the lives of six teenagers from a Canadian chamber choir are cut short in a freak accident aboard a rollercoaster. When they awake in limbo, a mechanical fortune teller invites each to tell a story to win a prize like no other – the chance to return to life. Bursting with witty, memorable songs and featuring some of the most compelling characters in modern musical theatre, this remarkable show makes a uniquely uplifting and deeply funny case for what makes a life worth living. 

May - 22 June 2024

LITTLE WOMEN

Joshua Robson Productions (City of Angels, Bonnie & Clyde) is thrilled to present Little Women, an enchanting production that continues to resonate with audiences, reminding us of the enduring relevance of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel.

Little Women captures the essence of sisterhood, love, and the pursuit of one’s dreams. In a world where gender equality and the empowerment of young people are ongoing conversations, Little Women serves as a poignant reminder of the strength and resilience of women throughout history.

12 July - 11 August 2024

THE TURN OF THE SCREW

For the first time ever, opera fills the intimate Hayes space with Benjamin Britten’s spine-chilling masterpiece The Turn of the Screw. 

This gripping tale unfolds in a remote English manor, as a young governess arrives to care for two orphaned children, Flora and Miles. She soon discovers that the grounds, and the children themselves, are haunted by mysterious apparitions. As the governess fights to protect her wards from the sinister forces that surround them, the line between sanity and madness becomes thrillingly blurred. 

16 August - 15 September 2024

FLAT EARTHERS: THE MUSICAL

Somewhere on the fringes of the internet, Ria e-meets Flick and instantly falls in analogue love. They’ve never actually met IRL, but their passion is as real as the moon landing, the loch ness monster and the flying saucers over Roswell. That is, until Ria learns with horror that Flick is a ‘Flat Earther’ – and Flick learns with horror that Ria is a ‘Globe Earther’. In this beautiful and chaotic electro-pop musical epic, star-cross’d lesbians tumble into the depths of the dark web – where the most far-out, dangerous conspiracy theories turn out to be very, very real…

11 October - 9 November 2024

PROMISES, PROMISES

Based on the 1960 film The Apartment, starring Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon, Promises, Promises follows a young junior executive at an insurance company, who seeks to climb the corporate ladder by allowing his apartment to be used for trysts by his married superiors. With all the wonderful Bacharach and David songs you love, including ‘Say A Little Prayer’, ‘A House Is Not A Home’, ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again’ and ‘Promises Promises’.   

Neglected Musicals is a theatre initiative dedicated to presenting musical theatre that has never (or rarely) been seen in Australia.  The musicals are presented with scripts in hand, and with piano accompaniment after only a day’s rehearsal.  There have been 25 Neglected Musicals presentation since 2010.

3 November - 15 November 2024

IRVING BERLIN’S HOLIDAY INN

Hoofer Jim Hardy says goodbye to the hustle and bustle of big-city showbiz to settle down on his farmhouse in Connecticut. He longs for fresh air and ‘Blue Skies’, but it turns out life isn’t the same without his beloved song and dance. Enter Linda, a passionate schoolteacher with talent of her own. Together Jim and Linda – with the help of unlikely friend and local handy-gal Louise – transform the farmhouse into a fabulous inn, with dazzling performances to celebrate the holidays. It isn’t all bright lights and razzle dazzle, however, when Jim’s best friend Ted tries to lure Linda away to be his new Hollywood dance partner. Will Jim be able to salvage his last chance at love and finally dance ‘Cheek to Cheek’ with Linda?

22 November - 22 December 2024

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