Betty Blokk-Buster Reimagined
“Since I was 13, I listened to Reg Livermore’s Betty Blokk Buster Follies vinyl. Reg’s legend I was in awe of. For me, he is our greatest entertainer. Ambitiously I reached out to Reg, with a view to reimagine his legendary show for a 2020. It was an honour to have his blessing, an honour to honour him by producing the show and to be part of Wesley Enoch’s Sydney Festival. Unforgettable.”
- Andrew
On 16 April 1975, a saucy hausfrau with a feather duster and a bare bottom stepped onto the stage of the Balmain Bijou and changed Australian theatre. Betty Blokk-Buster Follies was the talk of the town. The one-man show was hailed by The National Times as “the greatest thing since Rice Bubbles” and its creator, Reg Livermore, became a star.
The Bijou is no more (converted to apartments) but Betty lives again in a brand-new show by Red Line Productions (the multi-award-winning custodians of Sydney’s Old Fitzroy Theatre), directed by Craig Ilott (Velvet, Smoke & Mirrors) and starring the multi-talented Josh Quong Tart.
Inspired by the original 1975 staging and created with Livermore’s imprimatur, this 21st century Betty Blokk-Buster invites Sydney Festival audiences into her tent show, where a live band and Betty’s coterie of reinvented has-beens, battlers, freaks and survivors are waiting to wow a new generation.
“This show is undeniably a triumph”
— On The Town
“Sensational. A staggering performance.”
— Theatre Now
“A bare arsed sexy as hell triumph”
— Stage Noise
Full Creative Team
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Andrew Henry and Vanessa Wright for Red Line Productions
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WRITTEN BY Reg Livermore, Mary Rachel Brown, Louis Nowra.
SET DESIGNER Brian Thomson
COSTUME DESIGNER Tim Chappel
LIGHTING DESIGNER Trent Suidgeest
MUSIC DIRECTOR Andrew Worboys
SOUND ENGINEER Anthony Lorenz
STAGE MANAGER Bronte MacInnes
CHOREOGRAPHY Ellen Simpson
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Josh Quong Tart
Kaylah Attard
Melissa Pringle
Elenoa Rokobara
Andrew Worboys, Andy Davies, Tina Harris, Glenn Morehouse (BAND)