Eureka (musical)

Eureka
Music	Michael Maurice Harvey
Lyrics	John Senczuk, Gale Edwards and Maggie May Gordon
Book	Gale Edwards & John Senczuk
Productions	2004 Melbourne

Eureka (also called Eureka!) is an Australian musical with music by Michael Maurice Harvey, book and lyrics by Gale Edwards and John Senczuk and original book and lyrics by Maggie May Gordon. The musical is set in Victoria during the Eureka Rebellion of 1854, covering the tensions between immigrant gold miners from many cultures and the British colonial authorities. The original Australian production played in Melbourne in 2004 at Her Majesty's Theatre. It was nominated for the Helpmann Award for Best Musical in 2005.

Maggie May Gordon, a bush poet and writer from Trangie in outback New South Wales, developed the original book and lyrics for Eureka during the 1980s and 1990s. Gordon approached composer Michael Harvey to collaborate with her in 1999. Harvey had been suggested to Gordon by singer Normie Rowe. In November 2000, they held a 2-day workshop in Sydney with a cast including Barry Crocker (who later featured in the full production). Further readings and rewrites were followed by a concert version produced by Harvey that visited theatres in Queensland regional cities over two weeks from 12 to 24 August 2003. Positive reactions to the concert tour assisted in raising the investment for the Melbourne production. Simon Gallagher joined Michael Harvey as co-producer.

The addition of Gale Edwards as director led to considerable further development through re-writing, revision and workshops. Edwards and co-writer John Senczuk delivered a first draft of a revised book, based on the original work of Maggie May Gordon, in January 2004. The new book fleshed out the relationships, introduced new characters, and expanded the storyline, which necessitated several new songs. Large-scale revision of book and score continued through 2004, including through a 3-week workshop in March 2004 and a further 2-week workshop in July 2004.

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