The Adelaide Fringe - Australia
The Marvellous Elephant Man
The Musical
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In May 2022, I saw a musical at the tiny 95 capacity Melbourne JazzLab. It was 45 minutes too long, more than a little rough around the edges and very, very inappropriate.
It was also the most delightfully silly, hysterically hilarious and heartwarming show I’d seen since Book of Mormon.
One thing led to another & I found myself part of The Marvellous Elephant Man the Musical creative team.
The die-hard theatre ‘lovie’ in me was delighted. But they’ve made musicals about how hard it is to make money making musicals, and I’d paused my advertising career so I could focus on Elephant Man.
Fortunately, I was working with outstanding creatives. So - together with the original creators and Directors - I helped assemble a world-class team of actors, musicians and creatives. I then used every trick in the agency toolkit to make our musical a marvellous success.
I edited the script, produced punchy posters (and a stunning show programme) using A.I., directed promo shoots, built successful investment decks and oversaw our social media marketing output.
The new and improved Elephant Man debuted in world-famous Spiegeltent at the 2023 Adelaide Fringe. The show sold out, receiving multiple 5-star reviews & the coveted Critics Circle Award.
Hot on the heels of the Adelaide Fringe, Elephant Man enjoyed a second sell-out run at Melbourne’s Chapel Off Chapel in April 2023.
At time of writing (September 2023), the production is currently headlining the 450-seater Sydney Spiegeltent, where it’s received national TV and press coverage, which has been (mostly) glowing.
The Marvellous Elephant Man the Musical has been more successful that any of us could have dreamed of. Since day dot, our eyes have been set on the West End. Not far from where the real Elephant Man - Joseph Merrick - lived. Joe was a huge fan of the arts (though he was less keen on ‘Freak Shows’), so we like to think he’d approve.
