It took 48 years but this show has finally made it to Melbourne. It was worth the wait

MUSICALS
Reg Livermore’s Ned Kelly: The Musical ★★★★★
Victorian Opera, Union Theatre, until July 25

Reg Livermore’s Ned Kelly: The Musical sets itself a challenge from the outset. First of all, which version of the much disputed Kelly story do you tell? Do you portray the famous outlaw as a folk hero or a villain? Then, once that is sorted, what tone should the whole thing have? After all, there are very real deaths and tragedies scattered throughout this story – and we all know how badly things turn out for the Kelly gang.

This new production by Victorian Opera navigates all of this deftly. The story firmly has its flag planted in the folk hero camp, but does not gloss over the harsher realities of the story. The crimes are grounded in their context and the scenes slip from high-energy numbers to heart-wrenching grief with deceptive ease. It’s fun without ever being glib and serious without seeming insincere.

There are many times you’ll watch a musical, have a great time, then not be able to hum a single bar the moment you get home. That’s not the case here. In Ned Kelly the music is exceptional: memorable, eclectic and highly accomplished. Conductor Simon Holt – who also provided additional music and orchestration, necessary because there was no complete score of the original – conducts the Victorian Opera Chamber Orchestra with verve.

Maria Mercedes as Ma Kelly uses her powerful voice to infuse every scene she is in with fierce love, rage and pride. Ethan Jones as Ned Kelly is a star on the rise; he is just as confident in a solo ballad as he is leading show highlight Gonna Rob a Bank. His Kelly is puckish while unwavering when it comes to fighting for what he feels is right.

Melbourne’s opening night of Ned Kelly: The Musical was originally supposed to take place in 1978, but after premiering in Adelaide and then touring to Sydney, its season was cut short and the rest of the tour cancelled. With the recent cancellations of Waitress, Beetlejuice and Dear Evan Hansen, it’s an all-too-familiar scenario.

Second chances don’t come around often, but it’s fortunate in this case that it did. It’s a very specific joy to watch a show and have it be familiar in a way so many are not; that it is built around stories you’ve heard your whole life, with settings that in some cases are almost just a stone’s throw away.

This isn’t a production that should languish in obscurity; this is a revamped homegrown musical that should be celebrated and seen widely – and far more frequently than every 48 years.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Flux

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