About Australian Musicals.com

Australian Musicals.com is a resource for celebrating, archiving, and promoting Australian musicals and their creators.

Australian Musicals.com defines an Australian musical as one that has been written primarily by Australian citizens. It does not consider an internationally written musical that is being performed in Australia an Australian musical.

Australian Musicals.com began in 1999 as a mere listing of some 20 Australian musicals.  At the time, it was the only website devoted to Australian music theatre and it remains to this day a pioneering resource for the promotion and development of domestic music theatre. 

Australian Musicals.com facilitates the submission process for the annual OzMade Musicals showcase (produced by Melbourne-based production company Magnormos) suggests Australian musicals to the Music Theatre Readings Program, and actively promotes Australian music theatre to producers and production companies world-wide.

In Australia, musical theatre is arguably the most popular and highest grossing form of live entertainment, but (except for a few notable exceptions) the musicals which Australian audiences are applauding with their ticket purchasing are invariably international.  Whilst we have evolved significantly from the "import an oversees star" mentality, our writers are still prevented from showcasing their creativity to the Australian public - simultaneously denying Australian audiences a mirror to their own culture through the auspices of musical theatre. 

As well as the impact on our cultural development and international identity, vast sums of Australian dollars are leaving Australian shores in the form of royalty payments to overseas writers, producers, directors, choreographers, designers, etc. each time an overseas musical is performed professionally in Australia.

While all quality music theatre (regardless of where it comes from) should be celebrated, appreciated, and supported, Australian Musicals.com hopes to contribute towards restoring a semblance of balance in the ratio of international and Australian musicals performed here.  It will achieve this by advocating the benefits of Australian music theatre to producers and production companies, and offering services for the awareness and development of Australian music theatre.
 

Aaron Joyner

Founder

The Australian Music Theatre Website is archived by the PANDORA project (a joint venture by the National Library of Australia and the State Library of Victoria) for its 'National Significance'