State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
August 11, 2018

The Boy from Oz presents the life of Peter Allen rather like one of the singer-songwriter’s shows: it’s fast-paced, packed with songs, littered with loud shirts, and regularly addresses the audience directly. There’s also lots of great dancing in this energetic production, which is a crowd pleaser – despite the fact that many of the songs, nearly all of which were written or co-written by Allen, are obscure, sometimes even a bit dull.

Rohan Browne is fabulous as Allen: tender and still for Tenterfield Saddler one minute, then turning the mood up to 11 for I Go to Rio the next. He’s a genuine ‘triple threat’, with a strong, pleasing voice, slick dance skills, and confident charm as the showman who presents his life story like a grand cabaret, patter and all. Browne is more athletic than Allen was but, from where I was sitting, he makes a convincingly boyish facsimile.

Rohan Browne in The Boy from Oz. Photo © Jeff Busby

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