Whether it be the Swedish pop stylings of Avla, the Russian boy band KGBoiz, from the Hungarian triplets the Molnar Sisters with their powerful folk music (sung in Hungarian of course) to the heartfelt longing of the song for Ireland presented by Ronan Corr, audiences are treated to a smorgasbord of entertainment presented by a cast of gorgeous performers who sing, dance and whip audiences up into a frenzied state.

In true Eurovision style at the end of the performances the audiences have the opportunity to vote, having been endowed with a nationality on entry. The audiences votes are tabulated and then counted down as each country’s votes are given out ’live via satellite’. The event is reinvented every night as the audience dictates who the winners are. Once they are identified by the end of the voting the winners return to the stage for a triumphant reprise of their winning entry.

Development & News

The spectacular first season of Eurobeat (or as it was known for it’s first outing Eurovision – the Musical) was a sell out smash at Chapel Off Chapel in November 2003 setting the stage for more Euro–outings in 2004.

An 18 show season was presented as part of the 2004 Melbourne International Comedy Festival where it became one of the hits of the festival. (See reviews) The show was brought to the attention of a number of promoters and producers from both Australia and overseas and it appears that Eurobeat now has a very bright future on the world stage.

In May 2006 a new production now entitled Eurobeat - Almost Eurovision produced by the Glynn Nicholas Group undertook a national tour beginning in Melbourne.  The production received rave reviews including one from Variety magazine in the USA.  The resulting international interest culminated in a new production being mounted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe during August 2007.  This season drew four and five star reviews, sold out most nights and won the inaugural Musical Theatre Matters Award for Best Musical Production.

Building on from the success at Edinburgh, the show hit the road throughout the UK in 2008 in its latest incarnation, Eurobeat (Sarajevo), beginning with a week-long run at Wimbledon in April. The tour concluded with a critically acclaimed eight-week run at the Novello Theatre in London's mighty West End theatre district, making it one of the very few original, Australian-made musicals to ever appear there.

In May 2009, A special one-off performance of Eurobeat was performed at the annual Eurovision TV Summit in Lucerne, Switzerland. The audience included representatives from the European Broadcasting Union as well as British broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan, who commentated Eurovision for the UK until 2008. Later in 2009, Eurobeat made a brief return to the Australian stage with a two-week season staged in Brisbane. Produced in conjunction with the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, it starred Rhonda Burchmore in the female lead, along with some of the original ensemble from the 2006 Australian tour.

For more information, go to http://www.eurobeatthemusical.com/

Images from 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe season

Press

2004
News Feature - MCV, 26 March 2004	News Feature - Emerald Hill Times, 17 April 2004	News Feature - The Sunday Age (Agenda), 11 April 2004	Inpress Review, April 2004
2006
The Age Review - May 2006
2007
Edinburgh Evening News Review (5 stars)	The Metro (Edinburgh) Review (5 stars)