The Grandparents Club is a brand new musical comedy touring regional NSW throughout May and June 2024, with a host of dates on the South Coast.
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As playwright Wendy Harmer recently put it, the musical comedy was "a big fat long love letter to grandparents everywhere".
The play was a celebration of those wonderful, and often unsung heroes and heroines - grandparents.
With music from John Field of The Cockroaches and The Wiggles fame, audiences were promised a toe-tapping treat.
Harmer needs little introduction, having been on Australian radio and television for over 30 years, she is a doyenne of Australian comedy.
The Grandparents Club is her first foray into musical comedy, and explores the modern Australian grandparent, through the eyes of Liz, played by Lynne McGranger of Home and Away fame, Jimmy Bigelow, played by Wayne Scott Kermond, Jeff, played by Andrew James and Maria, played by Meredith O'Reilly.
Multi-Aria award-winning composer, John Field, who has written more than 450 Wiggles songs, including the ultimate grandparent singalong 'Hot Potato', brings his considerable talent to the musical.
Meredith (Maria) says Field's music is incredible.
"I've never heard such a variety of styles in music in one little theatre piece - it's just wonderful," she said.
"As you would imagine, because it's a musical, there's a couple of classic music-theatre sounding pizazzy numbers, but we also have disco, we have soul, we have ska, we have a kind of country rock, we have beautiful ballads that would be at home anywhere.
"It all melds into this beautiful sound that should have something that suits everyone."
Meredith said that with a light touch, the comedy did not shy away from those more contentious grandparenting moments - like the cheeky grandpa who spoils the kids with sweets and treats, or like her character nonna Maria, who knowingly says "while there's no place like home, life's just a little bit better at Nonna's".
"Anybody that has been around a small child would find this amusing - the minutiae of dealing with little ones - it speaks to dealing with teenagers which grandparents can be very involved with," she said.
"There really is a broad appeal...pretty much every adult will find something amusing, something they recognise in their own parents, grandparents or as one themselves."
The Grandparents Club starts its tour of the South Coast Thursday, May 30 at the Bay Pavilions, Batemans Bay with a 3pm and 7pm show, before heading to The Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre Friday, June 7.
For more information and tickets visit www.thegrandparentsclub.com.
