Schwartz and Sheldon help Magnormos expand in 2013

Award winning Melbourne theatre company Magnormos turns ten this year, and even while celebrating the success of the past decade, the company remains focused on the future.

Well known as the founder of OzMade Musicals in 2003 with a strong emphasis on the development of new Australian musicals, Magnormos’ 2012 OzMade Musicals presentation at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre last night was filled with nostalgia and progress in equal parts.

In the first act, OzMade Musicals featured two works ‘on the drawing board’ from writers Peter Fitzpatrick (flowerchildren), Anthony Constanzo (Life’s A Circus) and Pratt Prize winner Matthew Robinson (Metro Street). Scenes from Fitzpatrick and Costanzo’s new musical Partners and Robinson’s latest work Happy People received enthusiastic responses from the crowd, and excerpts from existing musicals Gobsmacked by Jamie Burgess and Nikki Aitken and Dreamsong by Robert Tripolino and Hugo Chiarella were also well received.

Some exciting developments were announced for 2013, including news that Magnormos will be presenting a Stephen Schwartz triptych in 2013.

Stephen Schwartz, the celebrated American composer of Godspell, Wicked and Pippin, was officially named the International Patron of Magnormos, and will be making a trip down under during the tryptich of his work next year.

Australia’s own Tony Sheldon was named the National Patron and it was also confirmed that the highly successful musical Flowerchildren – The Mamas and Papas Story, presented by OzMade in 2011 will enjoy a commercial season at the Comedy Theatre in 2013.

Act two retrospectively celebrated 10 years of Magnormos’ work, with highlights from their very first production (Stephen Schwartz’s Working), and others including Mary Bryant, Life’s A Circus, The Hatpin, [title of show] and Flowerchildren.

Magnormos was recently awarded a special Green Room Award for Outstanding Commitment to Australian Musical Theatre, and is recognised nationally and internationally for its unique and ground-breaking commitment to the advancement of Australian musical theatre.

More details on Flowerchildren’s 2013 season to come.