A Sydney producer says angels are behind the success of a Broadway-bound musical that has received stunning support both here and overseas.
Angels The Musical is the brainchild of writers Marcus Cheong and Ken Lai, who are heading back to New York today buzzing from a wave of positive support from the secular media.
"I think it's been overwhelming to see the positive, enthusiastic response to our journey," says Mr Cheong, reflecting on a swathe of radio and television interviews, as well as a page three feature in the Sydney Morning Herald's Australia Day edition.
That journey began 10 years ago, as the pair considered their next step after producing the musical And Can It Be for the Sydney market.
Ken Lai had returned from a stint at the BMI Lehman Engle Musical Theater Workshops in the US " the "Harvard of musical theatre' according to the New York Times.
Meantime Marcus Cheong had been honing his production skills at Youthworks and Anglican Media.
Together they decided to devote their abilities to produce a mainstream show that would encourage audiences to seek the best.
"That's where Angels was born," Mr Cheong says.
"It has a wide audience appeal but it's a natural fit to communicate universal themes of hope, courage and redemption."
Loosely based on Milton's Paradise Lost, the musical presents the war between the messengers of Heaven and servants of Hell, and imagines the struggles of the angel Sera as she seeks to find her place and purpose in this epic conflict.
Heavenly messengers, earthly success
Angels The Musical has already seen a week of workshop performances in the prominent off-Broadway theatre, The Duke, opening across the street from Disney's The Lion King.
It has received significant financial support from investors in the United States, Australia, China and other Asian countries, and is slated to run in America's south in preparation for its Broadway run.
The show is now set to open in Louisiana in September this year, and will be the first pre-Broadway production for the ravaged state since Hurricane Katrina.
"It's a perfect fit for Angels to launch in a place like this because it's a story of hope and redemption that will resonate in a state that is still recovering from the devastation."
Cast, crew learn alongside audience
Marcus Cheong says he and others have gained as much as they've given from producing this exploration of eternity.
"I think you only grow when you're stretched and being in New York and producing a show of this scale has clearly stretched me in many ways."
The cost of producing a Broadway show can be anywhere from five to twenty million dollars, but Mr Cheong is primarily concerned with making the right character investments.
"There are a lot of pressures in this entertainment industry and it’s paramount that our characters are founded on solid ground," he says.
"That way, when the trials hit, we are sure to stand."
