''Quambatook'' (subtitled The Australian Folk Musical) is a

Musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

piece written by Australian

Simon Heath Simon Heath (born 1977 in Stockholm) is a Swedish composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, ...

and John Williamson. It was directed by

Bernie Zelvis Bernie Zelvis is an Australian film and television director, best known for his work in youth and music television. He also provides teaching services at Sydney TAFE. Television Bernie started his directing career in Perth with Kids Co. & The ...

. The musical is based on the early days of the Williamson family in Quambatook,

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

and their quest to see

Uluru Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...

. Williamson announced the musical in September 2007

Drew Anthony Drew Anthony (born 14 January 1969) is an Australian performer, director, choreographer, and producer. He has directed productions including '' Grease'', ''Chicago'', ''Strictly Ballroom'', ''The Wedding Singer'', and ''Saturday Night Fever''. ...

was the choreographer. It had its world premiere at the Evan Theatre, in Penrith, NSW on 7 February 2008 and received positive audience reaction. The show had a limited 4-show run, ending on 10 February 2008.

Plot

Quambatook is set in 1955 and tells the story of 11-year-old Johnno who live in the small Victorian farming town of Quambatook. For years, he and his family have happily sat around the radio, listened, sang and played along with songs from "The Silver Haired Showman's" weekly radio show. But ever since Johnno heard the Showman describe his experiences in the Northern Territory at Uluru, he has had only one desire; to see and experience the big red rock for himself. Whether or not they make it to Uluru isn't important, Johnno's Mum tells him in the musical, the fact is "The Joy is in the Journey".

Cast

* John Williamson – narrator * Darren Coggan *

Belinda Wollaston Belinda Wollaston (born 1983 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian musical theatre actor. Wollaston is a graduate of the NIDA Singer, Actor, Dancer and Young Actors Studio; and the prestigious Talent Development Project. She has performed ext ...

* Ami Williamson – Sheila * Shardyn Fahey-Leigh – Wil * Benson Anthony

Concept album

A cast recording album was released in Australia in February 2008.

Track listing

# "Sing You the Outback" # "Bush Town" # "My Little Ukulele" # "Big Brother, Little Brother" # "The Farming Game" # "Big Bad Bushranger" # "Aussie Balladeer" # "My Dad Snores" # "Big Bad Banksia Man" # "Christmas Photo" # "Ancient Mountains" # "Christmas Waltz" # "This Is Australia Calling" # "Coolibah Blue" # "Songs for My Guitar" # "Headin' for the Rock (aka Alice Springs)" # "The Joy Is in the Journey" # "Papa Whisky November" # "A Thousand Feet" # "

Raining on the Rock "Raining on the Rock" is a song written and performed by Australian singer-songwriter John Williamson. The title is in reference to Uluru with references in the song to Albert Namatjira and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). The song was released in Janu ...

" # "

Old Man Emu "Old Man Emu" is a song written and recorded by the Australian country singer John Williamson. In 1970, Williamson performed the song on TV talent show, ''New Faces'', winning first place. Williamson signed with Fable Records after the win. " ...

References

2008 albums John Williamson (singer) albums Cast recordings 2008 musicals Australian musicals Original musicals Musicals set in Australia Musicals set in the 1950s {{2000s-country-album-stub