Miracle City

There’s a lot going on in the shadows of Miracle City, another brilliantly executed musical from the talented crew running Hayes Theatre.

Set in a television studio where the televangelist Truswell family are taping their weekly show for the Lord, Miracle City charts the slow unravelling of trust between this close-knit group. Once again, the Hayes team have absolutely nailed it. Blazey Best turns in an absolutely fearless performance as Southern glamour mum, Lora-Lee Truswell, sparking off Mike McLeish’s sanctimonious preacher dad, Ricky. But this whole cast snaps and crackles. Though Best is given the meatiest role, special mentions also go to Hilary Cole and the adorable Cameron Holmes as the Truswell youngsters, Loretta and Ricky-Bob.

Behind the scenes the production team have really settled into this space. While the various characters appeared to be on camera taping their segments for the fictional show, there was plenty of action happening in the areas of the stage outside of the make-believe camera lenses. Written and composed by Australians Nick Enright and Max Lambert, Miracle City danced the fine line between presenting the over-the-top nature of the televangelist characters and openly mocking them. Because of the writers’ deft touch the impact of the final scene was gut-wrenching.