Company B proudly presents KEATING!

Written by Casey Bennetto
Directed by Neil Armfield
Musical Director Casey Bennetto
Set Designer Brian Thomson
Costume Designer Jennifer Irwin
Lighting Designer Damien Cooper
Choreographer John O’Connell
Sound Designer Steve Francis

“Outrageous and outrageously funny”  The Australian
“ the best piece of Australian musical theatre in the past decade”  The Age
“See it... only a scumbag wouldn't”  Sunday Herald Sun”

The Australian smash hit musical KEATING! is set to tour the nation in 2008 with Perth and Melbourne planned to be the first stops for this biting political satire. Over the past two years, this outstanding show has received pretty much every award going, culminating in outstanding success at the 2007 Helpmann Awards.

KEATING! is a wickedly funny and clever musical comedy that burst into life at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, where it won all available awards including the Barry Award for Most Outstanding Show, The Age Critics’ Award and the Golden Gibbo. Following rave reviews and standing ovations across Australia, writer/creator Casey Bennetto won a Green Room Award in 2005 and a Helpmann Award in 2006; both for Best
Original Score.

In 2006, Bennetto invited acclaimed Company B Artistic Director Neil Armfield to up the theatrical ante on his outlandish and acerbic musical, reworking it to be bigger and better than ever. Since the birth of that partnership, KEATING! has enjoyed further sold-out seasons around Australia, including three in Sydney, a 'hottest-ticket-in-town' season at
the 2007 Perth International Arts Festival and seven packed-out weeks at Melbourne's Comedy Theatre earlier this year. An amazing fourth Sydney season is coming up this November/December, followed by return seasons in Perth from January 9 and Melbourne from February 13. Politicians can only dream of such a run!

KEATING! was nominated for no less than five Helpmann Awards this year and won three of them: Best Musical (ahead of The Boy from Oz, Miss Saigon and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), Best Direction of a Musical (Neil Armfield) and Best Supporting Actor in a Musical (Terry Serio). It was also nominated for ‘Best Music Direction and Best Sound Direction.

Casey Bennetto’s scathingly hilarious lyrics and glee-inducing array of musical styles tear through the reign and tragic fall of the Placido Domingo of Australian politics. Part French farce, part Greek tragedy, and all Australian history, “the musical we had to have” transports you back to a time less politically grey.

MELBOURNE: Comedy Theatre
Strictly limited season from Wednesday February 13

Bookings: Ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com

Tags: Company B, Keating, Musical