“Australia’s answer to Hamilton”
- SMH
Sydney’s boutique theatre company Squabbalogic is one of the city’s most beloved and acclaimed independent theatre producers. Founded by Jay James-Moody in 2006, Squabbalogic pioneered a new small-to-mid scale sector of musical theatre through eclectic programming of local premieres of the best new international musicals, and bold reinterpretations from the classic canon of musical theatre.
Squabbalogic's early success filled a void by connecting with challenging work and writers often neglected by commercial or state theatre companies. This ambitious programming led to the company being a principal founding partner in establishing Sydney’s prestigious Hayes Theatre Co, where our award-winning production of The Drowsy Chaperone was the second production of the inaugural season.
Since 2014, Squabbalogic has been a resident company of the Seymour Centre where we presented annual programming until 2016. Since then, Squabbalogic's attention has shifted to the creation and development of new work, and expanding the repertoire beyond music theatre. Our work has garnered over 40 excellence award nominations, winning many, and prompting the Sydney Theatre critics’ awards to create new categories for independent musicals.
Our aim is to provide an opportunity and platform for Australia’s finest emerging artists to collaborate with industry professionals on a range of bold, unexpected, and dynamic productions, sharing with broad demographic audiences a high-quality alternative to large-scale spectacles.
Previously we have enjoyed successful partnerships with New Mardi Gras, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Seymour Centre’s Reginald Season, Noosa Long Weekend, Royal Caribbean Cruises, City of Sydney, and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.
Our lauded past work has included Herringbone: A Vaudevillian Ghost Story, The Original Grease, Grey Gardens, Of Thee I Sing, Triassic Parq, Man of La Mancha, Sondheim on Sondheim, The Drowsy Chaperone, Carrie The Musical, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Ordinary Days, A New Brain, [title of show], Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story, Forbidden Broadway, Reefer Madness!, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.
Squabbalogic's recurring Mystery Musical series is also a highly anticipated mainstay of Sydney’s theatre calendar, where the audience does not know what the show is until it begins! Past Mystery Musicals have included presentations of the classic musicals Nine, Kiss Me Kate, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Hello, Dolly!, and Bye Bye Birdie.
Squabbalogic has most recently been commissioning, developing, auspicing, or mentoring emerging authors in the creation of new Australian work. Productions currently in development include The Dismissal, a musical satire about the last days of the Whitlam government; Good Omens, a new musical based on the best-selling novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman; The Day of the Triffids, a terrifying immersive adaptation of John Wyndham’s classic text; and Caught Out, a musical satire about the Australian cricket team cheating scandal.
Squabbalogic's work has been supported by the Australian Government’s RISE fund, The Russell Mills Foundation, Create NSW, the SBW Foundation, Australia Council for the Arts, and many generous individual donors.