PHAR LAP - the Electro-Swing Musical

By Diana Simmonds

October 24 2025

PHAR LAP - the Electro-Swing Musical, Hayes Theatre Co, 17 October - 22 November 2025. Photography by John McRae

If you’ve ever found yourself dreaming of a musical about a famous race horse, if you’ve ever wondered whether a racehorse can tap dance, or sing, or become addicted to sugar, or speak in a New Zealand ecksent, then you can stop wondering right now: Phar Lap - the Electro-Swing Musical will not only answer your questions and make your dreams come true, but also prove once and for all that too many horse puns could never be enough.

In short, this new musical, with book, music and lyrics by Steven Kramer, and director Sheridan Harbridge, is as brilliant as it is funny, silly, witty, clever, touching, and beautifully realised. In 105 non-stop minutes and with a cast of seven, Phar Lap tells the story of a scrawny, warty, overlooked colt from country New Zealand who became the greatest racer of his generation.

Kramer begins the epic tale with no-hoper trainer Harry Telford (Justin Smith) cajoling American businessman David Davis (Nat Jobe) to buy the horse in a complicated deal, and on a handshake. This alone warns the audience that there’ll be tears before bedtime because Davis is clearly a tricky piece of work, unlike Phar Lap (Joel Granger).

Phar Lap is a sweet horse of complex emotions and motivations, possibly gay and definitely quite keen to come second and not make a spectacle of himself. Where all this might have led, we never know; however, as Telford has him gelded with the idea that “the colt would concentrate on racing” (according to Wikipedia, a well-known horse manual).

Nevertheless, Phar Lap comes last in his first race, and overnight success does not happen. If it’s left to Davis, he would join his friends and also-rans One-One and Two-Two in being sent to work in a nearby glue factory. Did I mention that Phar Lap is also heartrendingly naive?

It’s 1929, and while Harry Telford staunchly believes in his horse, Phar Lap believes in his new jockey Jim Pike (Shay Debney). The wins begin just in time for the Race Caller and Narrator (Manon Gunderson-Briggs) to deliver the show’s cleverest and most difficult, and dazzling number: a race call of the societal and political ills that would cause the October Crash and the Great Depression (a decade-long financial disaster that makes the GFC look like a tea party with identical winners and losers).

Phar Lap wins, and wins, and the people love him. His ambitious bru, Nightmarch (Lincoln Elliott), not so much. Queen of the track, Madame X (Amy Hack) would love him if she had a heart, but is satisfied with the wins anyway. And Harry Telford believes in his horse’s big heart.

This tumultuous story is told through songs and music that borrow directly from the Swing, jazz, and rhythms of the 1920s and ’30s, shot through with contemporary flashes. It’s charming and compelling by turn, as is the sharp, spare book and flawless, seriously silly performances from each member of the company.

Choreographer Ellen Simpson turns the stage into a kaleidoscope of apposite and impeccably executed dance moves. Costume designer Mason Browne outfits humans and horses with character-defining flair, while set designer Hailley Hunt and lighting designer Trent Suidgeest combine to turn the Hayes into another world – of dreams and nightmares, and stable doors. Arranger and orchestrator Jack Earle conjures the magic in Kramer’s score while sound designer Liam Roche and sound engineer Em-Jay Dwyer seamlessly manage the voices, music, and space.

Phar Lap – the Electro-Swing Musical is dazzlingly clever. It has a heart of gold with performances and music to match and is the perfect antidote to life’s current horrors. Okay, so lots of it closely resembles today with scoundrels, scandals, and skulduggery, but we see and share in the short (five years), glorious life of an Aussie hero who, just like the Anzacs at Gallipoli, managed to make a triumph out of adversity and, despite what happened, never died. Amazing. Don’t miss it!