Can Seekers musical do a Mamma Mia?

All indications are that the Georgy Girl musical, to have its world premiere in Melbourne in November, has international legs.

It is based around the perennial songs of The Seekers, who sold 60 million albums worldwide with hits as Georgy Girl, I’ll Never Find Another You and The Carnival Is Over.

They still have global appeal: as late as 2013/4, the Seekers’ 50th anniversary tour took them to Australia, New Zealand and England. The music is finding new fans in Asia and Europe; ten years ago EMI America signed them for gospel and adult contemporary buyers.

Georgy Girl is being spoken in the same breath as the Abba-themed Mamma Mia, not least because producer Richard East and director Gary Young were involved in Mamma Mia. The latter went on to sell $2 billion of tickets playing to 54 million at over 49 productions (including Broadway) in 16 languages.

Last August when its writer Patrick Edgeworth work-shopped Georgy Girl in Melbourne, it got a standing ovation. All signals are Georgy Girl could be another successful Australian export.