Urban Display Suite - a musical with bite!

The hit musical of the Adelaide Cabaret festival returns for a season at MTC.

Urban Display Suite is a deliciously malicious musical satire on our national obsession with the property market.  Following sold-out seasons at the 2011 Adelaide Cabaret Festival and Melbourne’s 45 Downstairs, the show is now being given a by-demand return season at the MTC Theatre’s Lawler Studio. With previews starting on 28 December and running through January, the show will be a fantastic night out for anyone with a mortgage who can’t afford to go away on summer holiday.

Armed with an acerbic wit and an ability to turn out a catchy tune, the show’s creator Michael Dalley has previously delighted Melbourne audiences with hit shows such as Vaudeville X, Intimate Apparel and Death in White Linen, picking up two Green Room Awards along the way. His sharp barbs of wit and sophisticated delivery have been likened to that of a 21^st century Noel Coward.

In Urban Display Suite, the incredibly talented cast of four, Lyall Brooks, Michael Dalley, Sharon Davis and Gabrielle Quin, are our real estate agents, guiding the audience through a ‘virtual’ tour of the display home that represents a dream lifestyle to which we are all supposed to aspire.

Michael Dalley said, “Real estate is no longer about a home to live in. It’s about lifestyle and asset base, it's about identity and image. It’s about negatively geared, self managed super dinner party conversation.”

In the tradition of the classic musical comedy revue, the show’s back-to-back songs bounce through a wide variety of styles and segue across topics such as urban sprawl, medium density living and the property boom, converting them from dull, water-cooler topics into hilarious, self-aware comedy.

From the seductive tango, “If You Bought Before The Boom”, to the soulful lament of “Whenever I Move to a Place That’s Cool, All the Cool People Move Away”, to a sweet duet on a child’s education, “It’s A Terrible School But The Grounds Are Stunning”, the show will strike a chord with anyone who has ever tackled the property market.

Our obsession with creating the ultimate nest drives the huge ratings for television shows such as Better Homes and Gardens, The Block, Hot Property and The Renovators. This show is an opportunity for us all to laugh at ourselves, whether you are a commission-hungry real estate agent, a rate-fearing mortgagee who can barely afford the furniture to fit out your designer apartment, or a desperate Saturday morning warehouse warrior who spends hours deliberating over bathroom fittings and throw cushions.

Tickets for Urban Display Suite are now on sale.

 

Ross Mollison International presents

URBAN DISPLAY SUITE

Venue:   The MTC Theatre, Lawler StudioSeason:                    

From December 28 2011

Prices:  All tickets $49.90

Bookings:  The MTC Theatre Box Office (03) 8688 0800 mtc.com.au/uds.aspx