Summer Rain

New Theatre presents Summer Rain, an old school Broadway style musical with an Australian twist.

Set in rural NSW in fictitious Turnaround Creek, from Christmas Eve 1945 right through to New Year’s Day 1946, the show follows the exploits of a vaudeville troupe, Slocum’s Travelling Family Tent Show. The vaudeville circuit started dying out by the 1940’s with the introduction of the movie pictures, and Harold Slocum’s gambling means he doesn’t have the funds to pay the troupe.

“It shows the outback during a drought, and when the drought breaks they’ve got flooding, so it really highlighted the struggles that people on the land in Australia face, and they still face today, battling the harsh elements,” said Trent Kidd, Summer Rain’s director/choreographer.

“Not only does it have an incredible score, very rarely do you get to see an Australian musical. Most of the musicals are from America. Here’s an incredible Australian story that’s very relatable to today. I try to give the show heart. They are just a mad capped troupe of vaudevillians that tap dance, sing and do a bit of everything. It’s upbeat and an uplifting story. The music has been composed by Terence Clarke, very much in the style of the era. There’s a six-piece band and a cast of 17 including a chorus of four,” said Kidd.

All the characters are on a quest for love like any good musical, and then there’s redemption, symbolised with the rain. With the troupe is the coming of rain, when the troupe leaves, the town is reborn just like the surrounding environment. (MS)

Until Dec 17, Thu–Sat 7:30pm, Sun 5pm. New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown. $17-$32. Tickets & info: www.newtheatre.org.au

BY MEL SOMERVILLE