★★★☆☆ Writing team impresses, but is a noir musical mystery the next big thing?

Hayes Theatre, Sydney
April 27, 2016

The oh so elusive ‘great Australian musical’ received another shot in the arm courtesy of New Musicals Australia, the Hayes Theatre’s development initiative, revived and funded by the Australia Council back in 2015. The brief is loose, and so far only one of the two musicals selected for production has seen the light of day. But this first outing, The Detective’s Handbook, deserves a round of applause for giving a young writing team the invaluable experience of having an audienec see their work, warts and all.

Ian Ferrington is the 26-year-old writer responsible for some attractive, well-crafted lyrics and a script that tells its story efficiently and comes packed to the rafters with plenty of smart and funny one-liners. He’s ably partnered by Olga Solar, another real find, who comes fresh from the Sydney Con and lovingly embraces the musical as an art form worthy of respect. Here she delivers a beautifully finessed modern jazz score, full of delicate orchestrational felicities and heavy on smokey 1950’s period atmosphere. The pair have clearly benefitted from some excellent tuition – director Jonathan...