As if anyone could forget Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths‘ spirited rendition of ABBA’s “Waterloo” in the surprise hit “Muriel’s Wedding.”
For fans of the 1994 critical darling about two Aussie women who awkwardly search for love and happiness, a musical based on comedy-drama has been a long time coming.
Hitting the stage Nov. 6 through Dec. 30, 2017, “Muriel’s Wedding the Musical” will enjoy its first world-premiere run at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in Sydney, Australia, Global Creatures CEO Carmen Pavlovic announced on Thursday.
The show will be directed by Simon Phillips, responsible for Sydney Theatre Company renditions of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert,” “Love Never Dies” and “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.”
PJ Hogan, who wrote and directed the original film, is updating his screenplay for the stage — which appears to be getting an era-approriate update with a new synopsis that mentions Twitter: “Muriel ends up with everything she ever wanted — a man, a fortune and a million Twitter followers. That’s when things start to go really wrong.”
Otherwise, the musical appears to be following the film’s familiar story arc, with Muriel Heslop (originally played by Collette) feeling stuck in her sleepy town of Porpoise Spit, dreaming of the perfect wedding, complete with white dress, church, and loads of much-needed attention.
Original music for “Muriel’s Wedding the Musical” is being written by award-winning singer-songwriters Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall, as their songs will be joined by the ABBA tunes so famously featured in popular Australian film (which were originally written for ABBA by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson).
The show, which has yet to announce a cast, is being produced by Global Creatures and Sydney Theatre Company (STC).