Hero (musical)
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox Musical
|name = Hero
|subtitle =
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|music = John 'Poli' Palmer
|lyrics = Don Henderson
|book = Craig McGregor
|basis =
|productions = 1976 Sydney
|awards =
}}
Hero is a rock musical with book by Craig McGregor, lyrics by Don Henderson and music by John 'Poli' Palmer. It concerns a pop singer's odyssey in search of stardom with strong undertones of Greek tragedy. The story is about two brothers, loosely based on the Greek myth of Castor and Pollux. The older brother is an ambitious politician, whereas the younger brother is a successful rock star.{{cite book|last1=Bond|first1=Grahame|title=Jack of All Trades - Mistress of One|date=2011|publisher=NewSouth Publishing|isbn=978-1742241081|pages=180–183}}
Development and production
The Australian Opera and its NSW Friends supporter group in 1973 commissioned rock journalist McGregor to write a rock or pop opera about his idea of the modern hero.{{cite news|last1=Blanks|first1=Fred|title=Opera orders new works|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xvdjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GuUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4182%2C769910|accessdate=10 August 2015|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=28 August 1973}} McGregor was inspired to write the musical after watching The Who perform a concert version of their rock opera Tommy in New York.{{cite news|last1=Herbert|first1=Adrian|title=Rocking into opera|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YLApAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s-YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2479%2C7806426|accessdate=10 August 2015|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 February 1976}}
Hero opened on 27 May 1976 at the Seymour Centre's York Theatre in Sydney, produced by the Australian Opera. The cast included Barry Leef, Juliet Amiet, Kris McQuade, Ron Barry, Paul Johnstone and Ian Turpie. It was directed by Grahame Bond with choreographer Ross Coleman and musical director Geoff Oakes.{{cite news|last1=Scott|first1=Phil|title=Producer's hopes high for new opera|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F_5jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iuYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1443%2C5972972|work=Sun-Herald|date=16 May 1976}}
The production had a mixed critical reception.{{cite news|last1=Covell|first1=Roger|title=Rock opera as morality play|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=I_5jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iuYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4633%2C8808385|accessdate=10 August 2015|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=28 May 1976}} Closing after two weeks, the production lost in the order of $170,000.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110818986 |title=OPERA 'COULD CLOSE'. |newspaper=The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) |location=ACT |date=27 July 1976 |accessdate=10 August 2015 |page=1 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news|title=Director asks for inquiry into Opera|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BvxjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YOYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1309%2C7863085|accessdate=10 August 2015|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=23 May 1977}}
Recordings
Original cast member Barry Leef recorded "Last Song" and "Three-Minute Hero" from the musical for Festival Records in 1976, released as a single.{{Cite web|url=https://www.45cat.com/record/k6416|title = Barry Leef - Last Song}} Demo recordings of two songs were included in the compilation The Songs of Don Henderson, released posthumously in 2009.{{cite journal|last1=Dearden|first1=Ian|title=Henderson, Donald James (Don) (1937-1991)|journal=Australian Dictionary of Biography|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/henderson-donald-james-don-15169|accessdate=10 August 2015}}