#Muriel's Wedding the Musical

[thrashntreasure]

Ep124 Muriel's Anniversary w/ Pippa Grandison! (AUS)

See that girl, watch that scene, diggin' THE Pippa Grandison! (Say what?! *fangirls*) This week, the star of both the classic 1994 film Muriel's Wedding AND its musical version, joins us to get a whiff of Amyl and the Sniffer's album 'Comfort to Me', as well as reliving Muriel's Wedding the Musical - giving Spencer the culture shock of his young life! Plus, we chat stepping into Wicked Australia on short notice, Getting Older, Pre-Menopause, Personal Tragedies, Accidental Auditions, Sydney 2000, we continue our crusade to create an Arts Olympics, plus Pippa takes us behind the scenes on that iconic 'Muriel's' Bitch Fight- and so much more on this incredibly open, and honest episode!

--SOCIALS--

Pippa isn't on socials!

Spencer: https://twitter.com/SpencerSher_ Fake Bands, Real Songs: thegreenroom42.venuetix.com/show/details/vY0xuJCef0sqB65dZMEy

***** Juxtaposing Metal with Musicals - joined by iconic guests from the worlds of Music, Broadway, Hollywood, and more! https://www.thetonastontales.com/listen -- https://www.patreon.com/bloomingtheatricals - https://twitter.com/thrashntreasure https://linktr.ee/thrashntreasure ***** Help support Thrash 'n Treasure and keep us on-air, PLUS go on a fantastical adventure at the same time! Grab your copy of The Tonaston Tales by AW, and use the code TNT20 when you check out for 20% off eBooks and Paperbacks! https://www.thetonastontales.com/bookstore - TNT20  *****  

[providence-park]

Toni Collette as Muriel Heslop

MURIEL'S WEDDING (1994)

Dir. P.J. Hogan

[00venator]

School ruined dancing queen by ABBA for me. Had to analyse the movie Muriel’s Wedding in English (it’s like teh only song in the movie and it’s played so much), and they had the audacity to play it 5 minutes before the primary school bell went every Friday when I was in art.

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

ABBA - Waterloo 1974

"Waterloo" is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA, with music composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and lyrics written by Stikkan Anderson. It is first single of the group's second studio album of the same name, and their first under the Atlantic label in the US. This was also the first single to be credited to the group performing under the name ABBA. The title and lyrics reference the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, and use it as a metaphor for a romantic relationship.

In 1974, "Waterloo" represented Sweden in the 19th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest held in Brighton, winning the contest and beginning ABBA's path to worldwide fame. The song differed from the standard "dramatic ballad" tradition at the contest by its flavour and rhythm, as well as by its performance. ABBA gave the audience something that had rarely been seen before in Eurovision: flashy costumes (including silver platform boots), a catchy uptempo song and simple choreography. It was the first winning entry in a language other than that of their home country; prior to 1973, all Eurovision singers had been required to sing in their country's native tongue, a restriction that was lifted briefly for the contests between 1973 and 1976 (thus allowing "Waterloo" to be sung in English), then reinstated before ultimately being removed again in 1999. Watch the performance in Swedish here. Sveriges Radio released a promo video for "Waterloo" that was directed by film director Lasse Hallström, whose first notable English-language film success was What's Eating Gilbert Grape in 1993. ABBA recorded the German and French versions of "Waterloo" in March and April 1974; the French version was adapted by Alain Boublil, who would later go on to co-write the 1980 musical Les Misérables.

The song shot to number 1 in the UK and stayed there for two weeks, becoming the first of the band's nine UK number 1's, and the 16th biggest selling single of the year in the UK. It also topped the charts in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, West Germany, Ireland, Norway, and Switzerland, while reaching the Top 3 in Austria, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. Unlike other Eurovision-winning tunes, the song's appeal transcended Europe: "Waterloo" also topped the charts in South Africa, and reached the Top 10 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Rhodesia, and the US (peaking at number 6, their third-highest-charting US hit after number 1 "Dancing Queen" and number 3 "Take a Chance on Me"). In 2005, at Eurovision fiftieth anniversary competition Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the contest's history.

"Waterloo" is featured in the encore of the musical Mamma Mia!. The song does not have a context or a meaning. It is just performed as a musical number in which members of the audience are encouraged to get up off their seats and sing, dance and clap along. The song is performed by the cast over the closing credits of the film Mamma Mia!, but is not featured on the official soundtrack. It is also performed as part of the story in the sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, by Hugh Skinner and Lily James.

The Australian film Muriel's Wedding (1994), features "Waterloo" in a pivotal scene in which lead Toni Collette bonds with the character played by Rachel Griffiths. The film's soundtrack, featuring five ABBA tracks, is widely regarded as having helped to fuel the revival of popular interest in ABBA's music in the mid-1990s. "Waterloo" features prominently in the 2015 science-fiction film The Martian. The song plays as the film's lead, played by Matt Damon, works to ready his launch vehicle for a last-chance escape from Mars. In "Mother Simpson", the eighth episode of the seventh season of The Simpsons, Mr. Burns plays "Ride of the Valkyries" from a tank about to storm the Simpson home, but the song is cut-off and "Waterloo" is played, to which Smithers apologizes, advising he "must have accidentally taped over that".

"Waterloo" received a total of 89% yes votes!

(the video is posted by ABBA's own account, not Eurovision's = safe to watch)

[gowns]

recent movie comparisons

drawn from movies i've watched and re-watched this year

instaed of i tonya < muriel's wedding

if you're craving a dark comedy with an unreliable morally grey main character who truly lets her haters be her motivators

instead of tar < autumn sonata

if you want to watch a drama about an egocentric musical genius mother who neglects her loved ones

instead of 20th century women < 3 women

if you're in the mood for an artistic impressionistic collage of lost youth and womanhood in the late 1970s

instead of the worst person in the world < mississippi masala

if you want to see a beautifully shot romance with some 20-something characters who are trying to find their place in the world!

instead of problemista < kajillionaire

if you want to watch a movie about oddballs that at first seems to be just weird for the sake of weirdness but then sneaks up on you with an emotional gut punch

instead of velvet goldmine < phantom of the paradise

if you're in the mood for a musical satire of glam rock excess and the way that the music industry chews people up and spits them out

[agirlandhersweetdelusions]

Today's thought is that if you married one of M6 from The Arcana, the wedding reception would definitely feature a musical rendition of Lay All Your Love On Me from Mamma Mia performed with choreography and costume. Julian would put his back into it. Lucio would love the attention. Portia would adore the dancing. Muriel would be absolutely embarrassed, but he'd do it for you. Nadia wouldn't be too into it, but again, she'd do it for you (and love the look on your face). Asra would make it chaotic as hell with a little extra dramatic flair.

And you best believe that no matter who you marry, they'll all be a part of the performance regardless. Best friend activities.

[cafenostalgique]

My ultimate film watchlist (1990s)

1930s-1940s | 1950s | 1960s-1970s | 1980s | 2000s | 2010s

Welcome to part five of my ultimate film watchlist! Please see the link to part one under 1930s-1940s to get the full explanation of the list. Otherwise, welcome to what is most likely your childhood, as well as mine.

P.S. I thought the 50s and the 80s were long, but get a load of this one. It's crazy. I can only imagine the 2000s list next.

I was born in 1999, and grew up in the 2000s-2010s. However, I was lucky enough to have a brother who is six years older than me, and a young mom (may she rest in peace), so I got to experience a lot of 90s things as well just as remnants of his childhood. I may be a little bit pickier here and leaving things out solely because I know they're not my target demographic. But again, if you have a film that you think should be on the list, please let me know! I'm happy to add your favorites (or least favorites) to round out everyone's experience!

watched | loved | wouldn’t watch again | holiday

1990

Cry Baby

Edward Scissorhands

Ghost

Home Alone

IT

Pretty Woman

Pulp Fiction (needs a rewatch, I don't remember most of it)

The Handmaid's Tale

Total Recall

1991

Beauty and the Beast

Boyz N the Hood

Career Opportunities

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

Hook

Mars Attacks

Point Break

Silence of the Lambs

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Thelma & Louise

1992

Aladdin

Glengarry Glen Ross

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid

Newsies

Singles

Sister Act

The Crying Game

The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Player

Unforgiven

Wayne's World (needs a rewatch ASAP!)

1993

Body Snatchers

Cannibal! The Musical

Coneheads

Dazed and Confused

Face the Music

Gettysburg

Groundhog Day

Hocus Pocus

Jurassic Park

Mrs. Doubtfire

Schindler's List

Sleepless in Seattle

The Fugitive

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nutcracker

The Sandlot

1994

Dumb & Dumber

Ed Wood

Forrest Gump

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Miracle on 34th Street

Muriel's Wedding

Reality Bites

The Crow

The Lion King

The Professional

The Santa Claus

The Shawshank Redemption

1995

A Goofy Movie

Apollo 13

Babe

Braveheart

Casper

Clueless

Dead Man

Hackers

It Takes Two

Kids

Pocahontas

Sense and Sensibility

Showgirls

The Babysitter

The Baby-Sitters Club

Toy Story

Welcome to the Dollhouse

1996

101 Dalmatians

Breaking the Waves

Fargo

Happy Gilmore

Independence Day

James and the Giant Peach

Matilda

Muppet Treasure Island

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Scream

Space Jam

The Craft

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Trainspotting

1997

Air Bud

Annabelle's Wish

Anastasia

As Good As it Gets

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Boogie Nights

Flubber

Good Will Hunting

Life is Beautiful

Lolita

Men in Black

Mr. Magoo

Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion

Scream 2

Titanic

1998

A Bugs Life

Halloweentown (Favorite Halloween movie!!)

Mulan

Saving Private Ryan

The Parent Trap (All time favorite)

There's Something About Mary

The Truman Show

The Wedding Singer

1999

10 Things I Hate About You

A Christmas Carol

American Beauty

American Pie

Annie

Drive Me Crazy

Election

Eyes Wide Shut

Fight Club

Girl, Interrupted

Inspector Gadget

Jawbreaker

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

Never Been Kissed

She's All That

Sleepy Hollow

Stuart Little

Tarzan

The Blair Witch Project

The Iron Giant

The Matrix

The Sixth Sense

The Virgin Suicides

Toy Story 2

[manycoloureddays]

11, 27, 20 ☀️

11. three favourite songs from movie or TV series soundtrack

This Kiss - Faith Hill from Practical Magic has got to be my favourite of ALL TIME

She's So Lovely - Scouting for Girls from Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging jumps to mind and i don't know why, but clearly it compels me kasjdkfjk

Dreams - The Cranberries from Derry Girls because my god when that needle drops..... it's such a good choice!!!

20. three songs that remind you of the person who sends this one

okay because i already said Magic Dance and Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

Islands in the Stream - Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers

Amazing - Muriel's Wedding The Musical

Life is a Highway - Rascal Flats

27. three songs that you sing while drunk

these are all songs i have been caught on camera singing to when drunk

You Outta Know - Alanis Morissette (which will always remind me of @pantsaretherealheroes)

Hoodoo Voodoo - Billy Bragg and Wilco

the witch's part of the Prologue from Into the Woods

[myriadxofxmuses]

TAG NINE PEOPLE YOU'D LIKE TO GET TO KNOW BETTER !!

Tagged by: @heartxshaped-bruises (tysm 😊)

Tagging: @savagecuhnt , @emmaxmeyer , @strictlycanon , @lunarruled , @thesoulofasurvivor , @thanaredreamtof , @lostxones , @crowns-and-claws

FAVORITE COLOUR(S): Black, Neon Green, Royal Neon Purple

FAVORITE FLAVOUR(S): Honey, the entire caramel family, mushroom, banana, garlic,

FAVOURITE GENRE(S): Comedy, Action, Cult

FAVOURITE MUSIC: Hard Rock, Alternative, Grunge, Metal

FAVOURITE MOVIE: Muriel's Wedding, First Wives Club, The Fugitive, Drop Dead Fred and Death Becomes Her

FAVOURITE SERIES: The Office

LAST SONG: Make Believe

LAST SERIES: Bouncing between Joe Exotic and Catfish

LAST MOVIE: Jesus Camp

CURRENTLY READING: Horribly Mutilated: The True Story of Atlanta's Jack the Ripper by Troy Taylor

CURRENTLY WATCHING: I'm on my like 10th re-watch of The Office. I've seen it so many times it is now my favorite white noise. I'm also rewatching Tiger King and starting Catfish. Oh, and I'm also working through Alice in Borderland and Peaky Blinders.

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Weight loss, planning four trips, and getting back into acting.

[closetdbisexual]

i didnt finish muriels wedding yet but look how cute toni collette is

[qnewsau]

Mr Hollywood is set to judge this Brisbane charity gala

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/mr-hollywood-is-set-to-judge-this-brisbane-charity-gala/

Mr Hollywood is set to judge this Brisbane charity gala

The Carers Foundation’s Unsung Heroes Gala is back for another year with Brisbane’s Mr Hollywood as the starring judge. 

The night sees well-known names from the worlds of sports, politics, advocacy and more fundraising for a cause through song. 

They will put on performances for those attending at the Fortitude Music Hall with local LGBTQIA+ legend Damien Anthony Avery-Rossi as a judge. 

Damien, aka Mr Hollywood, told QNews why he wanted to get involved in the event. 

“The Carers Foundation is one of my favourite charity organisations and such a vital one, so I am always ready to support it when I can,” he said. 

“It took on even more meaning to me this year as I have spent most of 2024 in Los Angeles assisting with the daily care of my father who was in the final stages of his two-year battle with cancer, sadly passing away on April 21.” 

“For the first time in my life, I myself became a carer and it was incredibly challenging. As Dad only required full-time care for a few months prior to his death, I wasn’t in the carer’s role for long but the experience certainly opened my eyes and made me appreciate how difficult it is and the toll it can take.”

The Carers Foundation has a range of services available to support the one million carers in Australia. 

The Unsung Heroes event

The night sees stars, business people and advocates perform on stage in front of a live audience. 

Damien says the night promises to be a blast. 

“Last year’s show was really amazing. It’s a terrific event to round up a bunch of family and friends and reserve a table or two, glam up a bit and enjoy a wonderful dinner and a host of colourful performances.”

And what can we expect from his judging? Will he go easy on the likes of Olympian Libby Trickett and Jodie Shipway, Deputy Mayor of the City of Moreton Bay? 

“Normally when I judge these sorts of talent competitions, I try to keep my comments light and humorous but in a positive way. Especially with an event like Unsung Heroes where it’s a feel-good evening in which we’re all participating to support a very positive cause and organisation.”

“I certainly don’t want to be responsible for someone ending up in tears. I have a lot of admiration for non-professional singers getting up on a stage in front of hundreds of people and performing…it can be quite intimidating.”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Unsung Heroes (@unsungheroes_carers)

About “Mr Hollywood” 

Damien has been in the entertainment industry for decades both behind and in front of the screen. 

After moving to Australia from the United States his first job here was working on Muriel’s Wedding. 

“I had come over in the early 90s from Hollywood as a Casting Director but as I only knew one person in the whole country it took a while to continue that over here so I just took any work I could get in film and television and the Muriel’s job, a Production Assistant role, was the first gig I got,” he says. 

“I basically made coffee, did Toni Collette’s banking and chauffeured the cast around Coolangatta which is where all the Porpoise Spit scenes were filmed. It was a terrific experience but it was a total surprise that the film would end up being such an iconic one.”

He went on to work across a range of shows and also stepped in front of the camera.

“I first started TV presenting in around 2002 and have always enjoyed it, particularly the years I was with The Great South East from which I have many terrific memories. I was the first openly gay presenter in the show’s long history.”

But even though he is qualified to judge performances, he’s not keen to perform himself. 

“Have you heard me sing?? My getting on that stage would be highly unlikely as I wouldn’t want to be responsible for a mass exodus even before the mains were served,” he said. 

Although he has been spotted doing karaoke with Real Housewives of Melbourne star Simone Elliott to ABBA’s Dancing Queen. 

Married life for Damien

It’s also been a celebratory few years for Damien after marrying his partner in 2022. 

“Jason and I had been together for over 13 years before we got married and I didn’t think walking down the aisle would change much but I was mistaken,” he told us. 

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Damien Anthony Avery-Rossi (@mrhollywoodinoz)

“After our wedding, I just felt our bond got stronger as well as our commitment to each other. The relationship just feels permanent now and there’s a real sense of security that comes from that. I’ve had other relationships before I met Jason, but I only want to have one husband in my lifetime and I feel extremely fortunate to have found that person.”

If you do head to the Carers Foundation Gala event, he welcomes you to say hello and call him Damien or Mr Hollwyood. 

“I love it when people come up and say “Hi, Mr Hollywood!” It’s a nice reminder of where I come from. After all, you can take the boy out of Tinseltown but you can’t take the Tinseltown out of the boy!”

You can catch Damien judging at the Carers Foundation Unsung Heroes Gala at the Fortitude Music Hall on Saturday 5 October. Details and tickets at: unsung24.raisely.com/

[vidavalor]

Ooh, I love this! Great topic and examples! I agree think there might some clues that Aziraphale likes more modern music than we might have been led to believe he does.

-According to Crowley in 2008, Aziraphale regularly goes to the annual Edinburgh International Festival. This automatically means he's actively seeking out modern music of a lot of different genres and enjoys it. He also grabbed Crowley's cds in the car in S1 and was willing to listen to whatever music Crowley had. That shows a curiosity and willingness to listen to something new that he might not know.

-In S2, we learn that Aziraphale really likes swing music and, in both seasons, there are some hints that he's an Ella Fitzgerald fan. Listening to both in their original eras meant that he was listening to very current, very socially revolutionary music in those eras.

-Based on how he dressed up Jim during The Meeting Ball, Aziraphale is aware of Liberace. While the reference might seem dated now, it's hard to understate how much of a cultural earthquake Liberace was in his day. This isn't just Aziraphale being aware of music in general but also still-pretty-recent-if-not-super-recent queer history. It's another example of him being aware of the music of the current era he was in.

-He and Crowley went to a first night performance of Into the Woods, as Crowley mentions in 1.01. It was either at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in 1986 or on Broadway in 1987. Either way, they went to America for a Sondheim first night. This was the height of period-current for musical theatre and very enthusiastic about it. Aziraphale's little "The West End" dance in 1941 is another moment showing how much he loves the theatre. I'd say he makes an effort to see every new show.

You mentioned Hamilton-- I think he definitely saw and loved it. We're also then saying that, if he sees every/most new show, that he's seen musicals like Mamma Mia and Summer. I'm pretty sure he knew of Abba and Donna Summer long before them, though. I can't imagine Aziraphale not loving disco. It feels impossible.

(Sidebar but Crowley also strikes me as a huge Donna Summer fan. He was probably as excited as your grandma about the Donna Summer musical lol. Damn humans stopped playing disco in the clubs a few decades ago. Crowley usually has to crash a boomer guests-heavy wedding to get his freak on to "Dim All the Lights" and "Hot Stuff" now and hotel ballrooms have shit acoustics. The charming queer from their row that your great aunts adopted, got tipsy, and "Last Dance"'d with in the aisles at the show was probably Crowley. Aziraphale might have done a little miracle to keep it running for at least the next twenty years.)

-In the novel, Crowley has a collection of soul records, right? In the series, he doesn't have it or a record player in his flat in S1... but, in S2, there's suggestion that Crowley keeps a lot of his books in the bookshop in the idea that he gave Muriel his own copy of The Crow Road. I'd wager he keeps his records there, too. It's probably more like it's their joint record collection at this point. To say Aziraphale checked out on music post-WW2 means that you're saying that Aziraphale doesn't like soul and Motown and that...

Singing

I feel, we as a fandom, don’t talk enough about Aziraphale's singing.

Maybe he's not much into whatever pop/rock sensation is currently in most humans earphones*, but we know that he used to be a music tutor and therefore surely knows many great tunes.

On top of that, his music taste isn't as ancient as some might think... yes he likes classical music, but contrary to some opinions of it, not all of it is from 18th century. The symphony (number 5) he buys from Maggie at the beginning of S2 was written in 1937 by Dimitri Shostakovich who had a turbulent life (it being the 1930s AND trying to survive in Stalin's cruel regime).

The piece the Bentley plays for Azi when he asks for music on his way to Edinburgh is one of my favourite pieces of music called Danse Macbre by Saint-Saëns, the opening of which Wikipedia describes thus:

The piece opens with a harp playing a single note, D, twelve times (the twelve strokes of midnight) which is accompanied by soft chords from the string section. The solo violin enters playing the tritone, which was known as the diabolus in musica ("the Devil in music") during the Medieval and Baroque eras, consisting of an A and an E♭—in an example of scordatura tuning, the violinist's E string has actually been tuned down to an E♭ to create the dissonant tritone.

Aziraphale is also clearly aware of the film and the music + songs from The Sound of Music (1965) and Aziraphale, living in Soho as he does, I bet is a great lover of not just drama in theatre, but also musicals.

Therefore it is not a huge reach to conclude he would knows some fabulous songs to sing while making himself a pot of tea and a cup of coffee for Crowley on one the countless idyllic mornings in their cottage. Nor is it a stretch to assume that he loves to sing Crowley to sleep, playing with his hair as he does so, much like we all love to see in art and fics that this wonderful fandom provides.

So my question is, what does Aziraphale love to sing? Is it Maria from West Side Story? Singing in the Rain?

Does he love Jesus Christ Superstar (much like he loves his collection of misprinted Bibles)? Did he and Crowley go see Hamilton?

I also think they would have a huge collection of instruments in their cottage, perhaps even a beautiful grand piano... that, of course, they both can play. *but neither is the Bentley, who plays Queen to Crowley basically indiscriminately, even though he tries to play other things when driving. Whether he tried to play music in his car before the 70s, I'm not sure we know?

[popstarvision]

me and chappell's colab mv inspo lolol