Even before the first musicians amble on to the stage, we feel that the thick verdure of the scenery that is evoking the titular hanging rock is taking over the stage. As the musicians warm up we both marvel at the delight of having them visibly on the stage and also have a nagging worry that there is no room for the actors.
When the school girls—eight total— pour on to the stage singing and dancing an ode to St. Valentine, the clutter on the stage is forgotten, We no longer have the musicians as our focus. Instead we see much singing and dancing talent—- especially from actresses Tatiana Córdoba and Kate Louissant — giving the rock-ish lite score (25 songs) its due.
As the girls exchange Valentines, the scenery mingles with a semi-repressed homoerotic lesbian flavor in the air. This waxes all the more when we learn how the girls who go missing shed their garb en route to M.I.A.
Backtracking—
These are girls in a finishing school being groomed as proper wives for the gentry.
We learn that the Senior girls especially aren’t too keen to become these ladies per the grand plan. Today’s outing, a picnic at the famed Hanging Rock, offers them a welcomed break from the finishing school’s demands.
At the picnic site, a handful of the girls beg for and are granted permission to venture further on their own to explore the geological wonder of the Hanging Rock. And then they go missing…
Meanwhile, Michael, one of the very rich young men who is to be matched with the type of young women who are pupils at this finishing school, is out and about with his tracker, Albert. Albert is an indigenous man and orphan, who, as happenstance would have it, is also the brother of a long lost sister attending the finishing school as a charity case.
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK Grasps for Mystery
From Albert we learn that the real name of Hanging Rock is Ngannelong and that anyone who ventures on Ngannelong terrain is an unwelcome intruder. Presumably its the First Nation spirits of Ngannelong that have stopped everyone’s watches at noon— the first sign of Something is Rotten in the State of the Australian Outback, so to speak. It is also these First Nation spirits who have presumably swallowed the girls into thin air.
You too might feel that there is a disconnect between the plot line and the emotions of the music and the book. We get that this is supposed to be a disturbing mystery. Yet, we never get a creeped out feeling that even the cheesiest B-rated horror movie soundtrack delivers. Quite the contrary, the second act opens with an all-cast-members-on-deck to perform a spirited song and dance number about the scandal the girls’ disappearance creates for the school. It feels more like a cut out from a cheerful musical like Newsies than a scene advancing a haunting mystery.
That said, we also get that this script is putting an emphasis on the violation of First Nation lands and people. This is a very welcome lens on the story that famed Australian filmmaker John Weir first put on our radar.
If you, like this writer, love to experience musicals up close, this small venue production delivers that thrill and quite a showcase of fresh faced talents to watch.
CAST:
Tatianna Córdoba (Real Women Have Curves); Erin Davie (Grey Gardens); Sarah Ellis; Carly Gendell (School of Rock); Gillian Han; Alexandra Humphreys; Bradley Lewis (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel); Kate Louissant (A Wonderful World); Marina Pires (How to Dance in Ohio); Maddie Robert (Gypsy at Goodspeed; Brandon Keith Rogers (The Heart at LaJolla); Reese Sebastian Diaz (Dear Evan Hansen); Lizzy Tucker (Boop!); Kaye Tuckerman (The Boy from Oz); Sarah Walsh (School of Rock); and Jordan White.
CREATIVE TEAM:
The Musical, adapted from the acclaimed novel by Joan Lindsay
with book and lyrics by Hilary Bell
music and arrangements by Greta Gertler Gold
Directed by Portia Krieger
Choreography by Mayte Natalio
Scenic design by Daniel Zimmerman
Costume design by Ásta Bennie Hostetter; Assistant costume design by Jemima Firestone Greville
Lighting design by Barbara Samuels
Sound design by Nick Kourtides.
Orchestrations by Greta Gertler Gold, Adam Gold and Rob Jost. Anessa Marie Scolpini is the Music Director/Conductor with Leigh Delano as Associate Music Director.
WHEN:
Thru January 17, 2026
WHERE:
Greenwich House Theater
27 Barrow Street
New York, NY
TICKETS:
For more information and tickets visit the PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK website.
Photos by Matthew Murphy
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About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
