MURIEL'S WEDDING THE MUSICAL Opens in March

The highly acclaimed new Australian musical produced by Carmen Pavlovic, CEO of Global Creatures, Muriel's Wedding The Musical, commences in Melbourne in March at Her Majesty's Theatre with previews from March 12 and opening night on March 23. The Sydney season at the Sydney Lyric Theatre commences with previews from June 28 and opening night July 4.

Tickets are on sale now, visit www.murielsweddingthemusical.com for all details.

Winner of 5 Helpmann Awards, 7 Sydney Theatre Awards, an Awgie Award, the 2018 David Williamson Prize and an ARIA Award Nomination, Muriel's Wedding The Musical celebrated its' world premiere in Sydney in November 2017 and was hailed a smash hit by critics and audiences alike.

Taking on the iconic and much-loved lead role of Muriel Heslop, in her very first professional stage production, is Natalie Abbott. Hailing from the South Coast of NSW, 23 year old Natalie has been 'singing since before she could talk' - according to her mother. And much like Muriel, Natalie left her small coastal town and moved to the big smoke - Sydney, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Musical Theatre at the Australian Institute of Music.

Stepping into the role of Muriel's best friend Rhonda is young actor Elizabeth Esguerra. A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and training at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Elizabeth has performed in numerous stage productions, most recently lead roles in the Malthouse Theatre productions of Revolt. She said. Revolt again and Turbine.

The cast also includes David James (The Boy From Oz, The Sound of Music) as Bill Heslop, Pippa Grandison (Mary Poppins, We Will Rock You) as Betty Heslop, Jacob Warner ( The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet) as Perry Heslop, Caleb Vines (The Wizard of Oz, How To Train Your Dragon) as Malcolm Heslop and Manon Gunderson-Briggs (Muriel's Wedding The Musical original Sydney season) as Joanie Heslop. Christie Whelan Browne (Muriel's Wedding The Musical original Sydney season) will play the role of Tania Degano, with Stefanie Jones (The Sound of Music, Les Miserables) as Nicole Stumpf, Imogen Moore (Oklahoma!, Anything Goes) as Janine Nuttall and Catty Hamilton (MAMMA MIA!) as Cheryl Moochmore.

Jaime Hadwen (Muriel's Wedding The Musical original Sydney season) will play Agnetha Fältskog with Laura Bunting (Wicked, Mary Poppins) playing Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Maxwell Simon (Green Day's American Idiot, The Boy From Oz) as Björn Ulvaeus and Evan Lever (Anything Goes, La Cage Aux Folles) as Benny Andersson.

Chelsea Plumley (Sunset Boulevard, Grease) will play the role of Deidre Chambers, Brice Nobes will be played by Jarrod Griffiths (professional debut) with Stephen Madsen (Muriel's Wedding The Musical original Sydney season) as Alexander Shkuratov, Dave Eastgate (Doctor Doctor, Open Slather) as Ken Blundell and Kenneth Moraleda (Muriel's Wedding The Musical original Sydney season) as Charlie Chan.

The Muriel's Wedding The Musical ensemble cast includes Colin Dean, Tom Sharah, Joshua Robson, Kaeng Chan, Noni McCallum, Ashleigh Rubenach, Prue Bell, David Ouch, Jan Di Pietro, Zoe Coppinger, Andrew Seymour and Caitlin Quinn.

The stellar creative team behind the critically acclaimed production is led by award winning theatre director Simon Phillips, set and costume designer Gabriela Tylesova, choreographer Andrew Hallsworth, lighting designer Trent Suidgeest, sound designer Michael Waters, music supervisor Isaac Hayward and musical director Daniel Puckey.

Muriel's Wedding The Musical is a theatrical version of PJ Hogan's iconic hit film, updated to today by the writer himself with music and lyrics by Australian award winning songwriters Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall with additional songs by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Stig Anderson written for ABBA.