A deeply silly musical, Steven Kramer's "Phar Lap" tells the familiar story of the famous NZ-born horse who became a national phenomenon as one of the great racing horses of all time, in a fast, furious, somewhat ridiculously full-of-horse-puns-nz-accents-and-high-pitched-jockey-voices way. It's a gloriously confident show from opening number (The Race that Stops the Nation) to closing (Heart) - staged by Sheridan Harbridge in the intimate Hayes in a way that combines 1930's swing-era and 2020's dubstep and edge. Joel Granger as the titular horse has pure dopey innocence that warms us to him immediately, and leading most of the plot is Justin Smith as trainer Harry Telford, a confident elder statesman looking after the shy youngster as he emerges into fame and glory. The rest of the ensemble is strong too, from Manon Gunderson Briggs' announcer at the top of the show, through Lincoln Elliot's standoffish brother Nightmarch, Shay Debnney's S&M-tinged Jockey Jim Pike, Amy Hack's mysterious Madame X and Nat Jobe's cynical David Davis, whether in their main roles or swapping into multiple small roles all over the place.
This is a delight from the moment the show starts to the final bows, and richly deserves the full houses it's been having. If you can't catch it this time, hopefully this will be a long runner, returning to delight audiences all over the place.
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