Dave Malloy’s PRELUDES to receive Australian Premiere

Artistic Director of Sydney’s renowned Seymour Centre, Timothy Jones, announced yesterday that Dave Malloy’s acclaimed musical PRELUDES will receive its Australian premiere at the Centre’s Reginald Theatre as part of its 2020 Season.

Dave Malloy is best known for his barrier-breaking theatre works, most notably Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 which garnered 12 Tony nominations including Best Musical, Score, Book and Orchestrations.

PRELUDES, described as a “musical fantasia set in the hypnotized mind of Sergei Rachmaninoff”, dramatizes true events in the early career of the young Russian composer during which he underwent hypnotherapy sessions toward successfully overcoming lengthy depression and writer’s block. Inspired by the music of Rachmaninoff, Malloy’s inventive score features a hybrid of musical styles, from classical and folk to electronica and soaring pop arias.

Drawing comparison to Hamilton and Fun Home, distinguished New York Times critic Ben Brantley cites PRELUDES as one of the musicals leading the vanguard in the “luxuriant” new wave of Musical Theatre. Earlier this year, PRELUDES made its London debut to rave reviews.

“Aside from Dave’s remarkable words and music, it is the show’s overarching theme that resonated most with me and which has compelled me to produce this marvellously innovative work,” said producer and musical director Brad Miller, adding that “PRELUDES casts a bracing yet compassionate spotlight on the persistently prevalent, and clearly timeless, human conditions of anxiety and depression. In particular, that debilitating depression that presents as a result of peer pressure and societal imperatives to succeed. To succeed not only as an artist, but to simply succeed in life.”

PRELUDES is presented by Key Change Productions in association with Seymour Centre and will play at the Seymour Centre’s Reginald Theatre from 13 November, 2020. Creatives include Director Tyran Parke (Barnum, Sunday in the Park with George, Big Fish, Assassins), Musical Director Brad Miller (Ramin Karimloo in Concert, A Chorus Line, In The Heights) and Set/Costume Designer Dann Barber (Angels in America, Barnum, 33 Variations).

Tickets and more information are available at the Seymour Centre website.