When Reg Livermore first stepped onto stage at the Balmain Bijou in Betty Blokk-Buster Follies in 1975, he was already a star having played Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar and Berger in Hair. But with the ground-breaking Betty Blokk-Buster Follies and the other solo shows that followed, he became an Australian theatre legend.

These raunchy cabarets with their cavalcade of outrageous, eccentric characters, many of them struggling battlers, showed audiences challenging aspects of Australian society in ways they hadn’t encountered before. The charismatic, strikingly handsome Livermore was able to spin on a dime performance-wise, combining an anarchic energy and a dangerous theatrical daring with incredible poignancy.

Josh Quong Tart as Betty Blokk-Buster. Photograph © Kate Williams Photography

Betty Blokk-Buster Reimagined stars Josh Quong Tart – who happens to have been born in the same year as Reg gave birth to Betty. Inspired by Livermore’s seminal 1975 production, but updated for the 21st century, the show follows a similar format, alternating outrageous character sketches with well-chosen songs. Some of the characters featured were originally performed by Livermore, others are new, but the new material, written by Mary Rachel Brown...