Trangie.net - The Arts

Eureka - The Musical by Maggie May Gordon

Award winning poet and writer, Maggie May Gordon, lives and works on a sheep station near Trangie.
EUREKA! The Musical is the work of Michael Maurice Harvey (Music) and Maggie May Gordon (Orignal Book and Lyrics). Michael is one of Australia’s most sought after musical directors and composers and the recipient of many major international awards including the Most Outstanding Song Award at the Yamaha Song Festival (Tokyo), the Grand Prix (1st Prize) in The Pacific Song Contest (Canada) and the APRA Silver Scroll (twice) for Best Song Composition.

Maggie May Gordon is winner of the Tamworth Music Festival Australian Poetry Award and The Henry Lawson and Parkes Music Festival Prize. Simon Gallaher joined Michael Harvey as co-producer. With Gail Edwards as director (Boy From Oz) the full production was staged at Her Majesty's Theatre - Melbourne from September - November 2004.

EUREKA! The Musical tells the story of the O’Malley family caught up in the miner’s rebellion of 1854 in Ballarat, Victoria. It is a time when men on the goldfields questioned the authority of the British Government, and led by Irishman Peter Lalor, they rose up against that authority, by uniting as a nation. They tore down the Union Jack, replacing it at the Eureka Stockade with Australia’s first flag, the Flag of the Southern Cross.

Eureka evolved over many years from an original script written by Maggie in 1982.

Maggie now recites her poetry weekly on ABC Central West Radio as "The Cocky's Wife". Apart from continuing with her poetry and short story writing, she is presently working on another Australian Musical.