Mamma Mia, We Will Rock You inspire kiwi musical

A musical featuring all New Zealand music will open in Hamilton on July 18th.

Ross MacCleod, the writer and director of Loyal, saw the opportunity for a New Zealand musical, inspired by the huge success of jukebox musicals like Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You.

“Because we are a small country we’ve got a lot of iconic music, songs everyone will know,” MacCleod said. “That’s a good thing to tap in to. It’s embedded in our culture.”

The storyline of Loyal was influenced by the music MacCleod chose. He said a surprising amount of New Zealand music was nautical themed, which lent itself to the plot being based around a navy peacekeeping unit.

The story follows a navy sergeant stationed in the Pacific who finds himself torn between his relationship with a journalist and his fiancée back in New Zealand.

“There’s a dark tone to New Zealand music so I realised early on it wasn’t going to be a comedy,” MacCleod said.

“There are comedic moments though. The tone I got was optimism in the face in adversity. The issue of isolation also often comes up in New Zealand music. The idea that we are a long way away from anywhere else.”

Loyal features a range of New Zealand artists, from classics like Crowded House and Dave Dobbyn to more modern music like Bic Runga and Shihad.

MacCleod has been writing and directing plays for the past 10 years. Last year he directed some of the Shakespeare plays performed in Hamilton Gardens and also wrote the musical Jungle Boogie.

Loyal will  be have three shows at the Riverlea Theatre in Hamilton but MacCleod hopes it will be performed nationally.

“There’s a lack of New Zealand musicals. Footrot Flats is the most popular one.”

Tickets can be bought online from iTicket.