Keating!
Keating! is a sung-through musical which portrays the political career of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating. Keating was Prime Minister between 1991 and 1996; the musical follows him from his ascent to the leadership through to his eventual electoral defeat by John Howard. It was written by Casey Bennetto, who was inspired to write the show by his disappointment at the results of the 2004 federal election, which saw Howard's Coalition government returned for a fourth term. The musical takes a humorous, satirical tone and presents a positive image of Keating while frequently criticising the Howard government. Bennetto describes the show as "ridiculously pro-Paul Keating".
For the Australian politician and subject of this play, see Paul Keating.Keating!
Casey Bennetto
Casey Bennetto
The life of Paul Keating
2005–06 Australian tour (Drowsy Drivers)
2006–08 Australian tour (Company B)
2010 Theatre Royal, Hobart (Old Nick Company)
2005 MICF Barry Award
2005 MICF Golden Gibbo Award
2005 The Age Critics' Award
2006 Green Room Award for Best Original Score
2006 Helpmann Award for Best Original Score
2007 Helpmann Award for Best Musical
2008 Helpmann Award for Best Regional Touring Production
Originally performed by musical group the Drowsy Drivers, the show achieved rapid success from its low-budget premiere at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival where it enjoyed a sold-out run and won an unprecedented three festival awards. In 2006, Neil Armfield directed an extended Company B production of Keating!, now with two acts and six new songs written by Bennetto. The Company B production toured Australia, receiving favourable reviews and winning Helpmann Awards for Best Musical and Best Regional Touring Production. In 2008 a live recording of the show was broadcast nationally on ABC2; it was released on DVD in November 2008, through Madman Entertainment.
Background[edit]
Paul Keating was the Labor Prime Minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, ascending to the office after two leadership challenges against his predecessor, Bob Hawke. As Prime Minister, he was interested in a "big picture" approach to government, engaging with issues such as a closer relationship with Asia, Aboriginal reconciliation and the formation of an Australian republic.[1] His government was defeated in the 1996 federal election by the Liberal-National Coalition under John Howard. Writer Casey Bennetto was inspired to write a musical about Keating following his disappointment at the result of the 2004 federal election, which saw the Howard government returned for a fourth term.[2] "It was time to have a laugh at it," he said.[3] He says Keating's story appealed to him because of its classic dramatic structure, that of a man who struggles, "makes it to the top" and must compete against "three bad guys"—successive Opposition leaders John Hewson, Alexander Downer and John Howard.[4] Bennetto believed Keating's colourful personality made him an "ideal" character for musical theatre, citing the former Prime Minister's reputation for being sharp-tongued, wearing Zegna suits and collecting antique clocks.[3] Bennetto wrote the show in eight weeks,[4] drawing on Keating biography Recollections of a Bleeding Heart by Don Watson.[5] He describes it as a "ridiculously pro-Paul Keating" piece which ultimately aims to be funny and entertaining.[3]
Production history[edit]
Originally performed by musical group the Drowsy Drivers, Keating! premiered at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival as a low-budget, single-act show in a 100-seat venue at the Melbourne Trades Hall.[4] Mike McLeish played the lead role, with Bennetto as "the three Hs – Hawke, Hewson and Howard", Enio Pozzebon as Gareth Evans and Cam Rogers as Alexander Downer.[4][6] Despite the musical's success in Melbourne, Bennetto did not have any plans for Keating! after the end of the comedy festival. However, producer Catherine Woodfield (Bennetto's partner and Trades Hall publican) insisted they develop it further. Between 2005 and 2006 they took it on tour across Australia, including a week of shows in the Sydney Opera House, a return season at Melbourne's Trades Hall, a two-week season at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, a week of shows at the Brisbane Powerhouse and two nights in Darwin.[3]
Also in 2006, renowned director Neil Armfield offered to direct a production of Keating! at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre with Company B.[3] For the Company B production Bennetto reworked the musical into a two-act piece, writing six new songs for the show.[7] Of the original cast, only McLeish, Pozzebon and Bennetto were retained; McLeish returned as Keating and Pozzebon as Evans, while Bennetto took on the roles of Hewson and Downer. Terry Serio joined the cast as Hawke and Howard.[3] Bennetto says that both he and McLeish were worried that Armfield would turn "relatively simply staged, roughly hewn" musical into "the Amadeus version" without the original show's sense of fun,[8] but instead felt it became a "more accomplished, buffed-up version of the original show".[7]
The Company B version of Keating! enjoyed sold-out seasons in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, Wollongong, Albany and elsewhere (including a run of shows at the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival) before coming to a close on 31 August 2008.[9][10] On 20 August 2008, ABC2 broadcast a live performance of the show from Sydney's Seymour Centre.[11] The recording was released on DVD by Madman Entertainment in November 2008.[12]
Response[edit]
The premiere of the Drowsy Drivers' production at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival was met with enthusiastic reviews. Comedian Chris Addison praised the musical as "the best show I've seen at this festival in five years"[13] and The Age's Daniel Ziffer described it as "clever and superbly funny".[14] Within the first week it had become one of the most popular shows of the festival, having sold out by the fifth show. By the end of its Melbourne run, the show had won three major festival awards—the Barry, The Age Critics' Award and the Golden Gibbo—the first time any production had ever done so.[4] For the songs of Keating!, Bennetto won both the 2006 Helpmann and Green Room Awards for best original musical score.[15][16]
The Company B version also received strong reviews, with a writer in Brisbane's Courier-Mail describing it as "brilliantly satirical"[3] and a reviewer in Melbourne's Age awarding it the top rating of five stars.[17] However Paul Sheehan, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, criticised the musical's pro-Keating bias, calling the script "preachy and safe" and an insult to those who voted for Howard.[18] In 2007 it won the Helpmann Award for Best Musical, as well as the awards for best direction for Armfield and best actor in a supporting role for Serio.[3] The following year it won another Helpmann for best regional touring production.[9] By the end of its 2007 Sydney season, it had taken $500,000 in box office earnings,[19] and by its final show in 2008 its total audience had reached over 223,000 people across Australia.[9]
Keating, who has attended the show multiple times, believes that it is popular because politics and public life today are without humour. "The game is very dour," he says, "But satire can get a lot across. It can cut out the humbug." He believes another reason is an increased interest in the unsettled issues in the national debate, such as the question of a republic.[20] Downer has also seen the show and commented afterwards that he enjoys satire and thought "Keating! the musical was far better than Keating the prime minister."[5]