Starstruck – a new Australian musical based on award-winning director Gillian Armstrong’s iconic rock musical satire.

Following a workshop with students and top industry creatives at NIDA in 2018, the piece was further developed and and premiered at NIDA this October, as part of the Season of Student Productions under the direction of Kim Hardwick.

Adapted from the stage by Mitchell Butell and Hilary Bell, Starstruck will premiere at the NIDA Parade Theatre until the 5th November 2019.

With its quirky day-glo-colored fun and string of catchy tunes by Australian homegrown talent, the film was (as critic Paul Byrnes described) “somewhere between a celebration of Australiana and an episode of the iconic 1970s TV rock show, Countdown.” The standout ‘Body and Soul’ became an Australian chart hit, but the other songs like ‘The Monkey in Me’ have become cult classics.

Following the international success of her period piece My Brilliant Career, director Gillian Armstrong veered in a completely new direction with Starstruck, the New Wave musical comedy.  Set around the The Rocks around Sydney Harbour, Starstruck tells the story of the loveable and quirky Jackie Mullen.  She is destined for stardom and she’s prepared to do anything to get there.

Splashy, colorful and naively satirical, producer David Elfick’s film established a new style of Aussie filmmaking now firmly ingrained in the popular consciousness.