A John Farnham musical might hit stages around the country by 2026.
According to the Herald Sun, the 76-year-old’s manager Gaynor Wheatley and theatre producer Michael Cassel are hoping to open the musical in Melbourne in 2026 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Whispering Jack.
The musical will focus on the ‘Burn For You’ singer’s comeback from 1980 until 1986, when he released the now classic Aussie hits ‘You’re The Voice’ and ‘Pressure Down’ and the rest of the album Whispering Jack.
Initially the musical was going to feature 22 of John’s songs to tell the story of Australia’s Rum Rebellion of 1808, when governor William Bligh was overthrown.
“Yes we did a U-turn with the storyline and it’s now biographical, 1980 to 1986,” Gaynor Wheatley told the Herald Sun.
“The songs have been worked in beautifully with the story. It’s really good. I am hoping it will be ready for 2026 to celebrate 40 years of Whispering Jack.”
Michael Cassel told the publication they’re working with a new writer and a new director to bring the project to life.
“It’s biographical,” he explained. “It takes a moment in time in John’s life, which we found was the best way, and great motivation, to showcase this incredible music, and have an engaging deep theatrical narrative.
“All I can say is, watch this space, because we might be seeing it sooner rather than later.”
In August 2023, John announced he had been given the all-clear from his medical team after undergoing mouth surgery to remove oral cancer.
“It’s been a year since my first surgery and to be honest I’ve lost count as to how many other procedures there’s been since then,” he said at the time. “I’m sure someone’s kept track of them all — let’s just say, there’s been a few.”
“But, I’m home now and I’m a very grateful and happy man. I’m sitting here in my living room lapping up the attention from my beautiful wife, Jill, my boys Rob and James and my mini schnauzer, Edmund.”
In his memoir that came out the same year, the legendary Australian performer revealed that he may never sing again.
“My facial disfigurement from the surgery means I can’t open my mouth wide enough for a strip of spaghetti, let alone to sing a top C,” he wrote in The Voice Inside. “At this stage I can’t get the movement to make the sounds I want to make, and that’s where the vibrations and my voice come from.”
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