The Australian Musical — From the Beginning
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At last, the neglected history of Australian musicals is revealed in Allen and Unwin's lavishly produced and illustrated publication, which traces the history from 1900 to the present.
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Peter is currently completing his new musical, Tamarama and working on Geoffrey Tozer: Pure Genius. He was the additional book writer on the revised version of Joanna White’s musical Girl in Pink (2016). Earlier, he wrote the music, book and lyrics of Moses — The Spirit of Freedom, two concerts of which were produced by VOYCE, the youth wing of Victorian Opera, on May 12, 2019. Peter is the only son of Valerie and the late Charles Wyllie Johnston (1929-1980) and the eldest grandson of Winefred and the late Lt. Col. Charles Melbourne Johnston D.S.O. (1892-1941), the 'Black Prince of Gallipoli'. |
Dr Peter Wyllie Johnston is a musician and writer.
He is the Director of the independent Australian Music Theatre Research Institute (TAMTRI) and has held the position of Associate Professor in the Faculty of the VCA and MCM with honorary status at the University of Melbourne since 2011. Peter has performed in London, New York, Washington DC and around Australia including at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. His publications include more than 200 articles on music including in Soundscapes, the Sunday Age, The Australian, The Times (UK) and several books: From The Melburnian, (Ellikon Publishing) launched by Jeanne Pratt AC in 2011, The Nick Enright Songbook (Currency Press, 2014), and the Foreword (1000 words) of The Craig Christie Songbook (published by Origin Theatrical, Sydney, 2015), Morag Beaton: Her Life and Her Art (new edition, publication TBA 2019), and The Australian Musical -- From the Beginning, was published by Allen & Unwin on 5 November 2019. |
The Australian Musical — From the Beginning
Dr Johnston's history of the Australian musical, written in collaboration with Peter Pinne, was published on 5 November 2019 by Allen & Unwin.