GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES
Lighting Designer Benjamin Brockman
Sound Designer Dylan Robinson
Cast Octavia Barron-Martin, Thomas Campbell, Ruby Clark, Adam Di Martino, Emily Havea, Georgina Hopson, Tomáš Kantor, Leah Lim, Tomas Parrish, Matthew Predny and Monica Sayers.
Director Richard Carroll
Musical Director Victoria Falconer
Choreographer Sally Dashwood
Set Designer Dan Potra
Costume Designer Angela White
“It’s not compensation, it’s self-preservation…”
Before Muriel and Rhonda; before Elphaba and Glinda; there was Lorelei and Dorothy.
Jump aboard the luxury cruise liner The Ile De France as we sail across the Atlantic in the company of two of musical theatre’s most dazzlingly charismatic heroines. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes tells the raucous and subversive story of Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw – two smart young single women with a burning desire for experiences that aren’t supposed to be available to them within the laws and conventions of the 1920s. Armed with only their vitality, ambition, quick wits, and above all their unshakeable friendship – these thoroughly modern women play the men at their own game, and live life to the full. Champagne? Check. Diamonds? Check. Sex? Check, check, check. And as for the consequences? They’ll worry about those when the ship docks.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes made stars of Carol Channing onstage and Marilyn Monroe on film, and this new production for WorldPride Arts, part of the Sydney World Pride festival, sees a queer Australian team serve up a ship-sized slice of high-femme camp. Featuring songs like Bye Bye Baby, I’m Just a Little Girl From Little Rock, and Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend, prepare for a wet and wild voyage of self-discovery through a queer lens. And remember – in international waters, all the usual rules are suspended – indefinitely.
Photo by John McRae.
“The acting, singing, dancing, direction and design are routinely nothing short of stunning… Director Richard Carroll’s production often glistens like the diamond tiara Lorelei covets… [Georgina Hopson and Emily Havea] both manage to charm us, enchant us and stun us… The show’s treasured centrepiece, Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, brought the house to its feet… Carroll’s cast is devoid of weak links… This suggests we’re in for a wild ride during the tenure of Carroll and Falconer as the new joint Artistic Directors of Hayes Theatre, and all fans of the film should see it.”
Sydney Morning Herald
Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Leo Robin, Book by Anita Loos and Joseph Fields, Adapted from the novel by Anita Loos.
Presented by Hayes Theatre Co in association with Sydney WorldPride
Supported by Create NSW