Addicted to music theatre since he was a kid in Tamworth, Gary Young has done almost the impossible; he’s managed to get a completely new, non-imported musical on to an Australian stage without yet losing heart and hope. Sideshow Alley has much of his dad in it, apparently; it’s about how we were in the 1950s when men hid their feelings and women ducked a lot. Set in travelling carnival tents peopled by boxers and fortune tellers, Young’s Sideshow Alley has 19 new songs, and a fine cast, not one of whom has been seconded from a tv soapie in order to boost its marketing appeal. And it’s on at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s Playhouse Theatre thanks to the still-game efforts of Craig McGovern, QPAC’s CEO, who seems not to mind that they were bitten deep by the horrible failure of another ambitious new musical work, The Hobbit. This is less risky, however, and if it does ok in Brisbane, then Sideshow Alley may well get a gig elsewhere. You’ve got to love old troupers like Mr Young: they just won’t admit defeat when it comes to keeping theatres live and kicking.
