Australian Outback Spectacular is Vegemite meets Vegas. It is resolutely true blue from the moment you walk in – everyone is handed a wide-brimmed hat as a country guitarist leads aHome Among The Gum Trees singalong. But this Gold Coast oddity is tackled with a scale and showmanship that feels more at home in Caesar’s Palace or the MGM Grand.
The arena is next to the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park,and has a 1000-seat capacity. It is deliberately designed to evoke traditional shearing sheds,right down to the corrugated iron roof.
Guests line up in ascending wooden pews,all with ample room for dinner plates and drinks in front of them. The stage is an Olympic swimming pool-sized expanse of dirt and sand,although this is later turned into a dolphin-filled sea and an outback watering hole by some undeniably impressive projectionist trickery.
This gargantuan venue hostsHeartland,a play about an outback family struggling to keep the farm going in drought conditions. In theory,it’s a plot that could be scaled down to a small community theatre,but the plot really isn’t the lure here.
The story of Reggie and Marge having 60 days to repay a bank loan – or lose the farm – is a weak glue. It is there to hold together a series of stunts,set pieces and acrobatics,rather than engross.
Sure enough,it’s not long before horses are charging around the arena,their riders doing tricks in the saddle. Some hang off precariously,some flip as they dismount,others stand across two galloping steeds,one foot on each saddle.