John Wikman is an experienced, accomplished and award-winning actor, singer, writer, composer, director and producer.
He has always heard music swirling around in his head from an early age. He started learning the piano in Grade 3 and soon after sang his first song at school. Ever since, he has had the urge to write and perform the odd song, skit and short play with an innate sense of fun and enjoyment.
Moving to Brisbane in the early 1980’s, John took the opportunity to better explore and develop the artistic side of his life. He performed in cabaret shows, musical melodramas, plays, stage musicals, drama festivals, talent quests and pantomimes in many groups around Brisbane. (See a list of shows and photo gallery in Other Shows)
After recognising his strong connection with music and theatre, it seemed only natural for John to follow his real passion – writing the music, lyrics and dialogue for his own stage shows – which have been produced many times in theatres around Brisbane. (See list of his shows and view photo gallery and song videos of his own productions)
His first show – Fridge – was first produced in 1992. As with all his subsequent shows, he was keen to showcase his catchy melodies of varying styles by injecting a unique twist into the song lyrics and dialogue to make them entertaining for all ages.
Each show has been a learning experience and a great opportunity for John to workshop his ideas in front of a live audience. They are fluid forms of expression, often requiring some tweaking and revising to achieve the ideal outcome.
For instance his second show originally called – Hey Diddle Diddle – first performed in 1997, was later revised and renamed – Jack be Quick – in 2005, with even more gimmicks and songs.
The first version of his third show – Portrait– (his musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s novel – The Picture of Dorian Gray) was first performed in traditional musical theatre style – dialogue interspersed with songs in 2000 – but he later expanded it to its full potential as a contemporary opera when it was staged in 2003.
In 2010/11 John arranged for a professional recording of the full show music backings with an orchestra. An album entitled Portrait of Dorian Gray was produced featuring talented vocalists singing a selection of show highlights. This album is available on Spotify. Search for “John Wikman” or “Portrait of Dorian Gray.”
Since branching out as an independent producer under the banner John Wikman Productions in 2002 with his disco soap opera – Soundsations – John became even more aware of the amount of work involved in staging a new piece of musical theatre. This show contains his musical mantre – “there’s a story waiting for us in every verse and chorus”. Soundsations was revised by adding more songs and expanding on the song title gimmick with a production in 2006. Then in 2014 Soundsations was further revised increasing the number of song titles in songs and dialogue to over 1000 and using recorded video projections in the live performances for the first time.
John’s shows are normally founded on a simple idea. Around the year 2000 he decided to write a fun family pantomime full of good old Aussie colloquialisms. This show ended up being called Billy Can. Described as Peter Pan with an Aussie twist, Billy Can is about a son of the outback who lives for the outback sun. It was first produced in 2004 and a revised version staged in 2007.
The next show Secret Travel Agents was inspired by wanting to write different styles of music from different countries. His spy concept allowed him to weave a story around typical culture, cuisine and quirky characters involving a range of nationalities. This concept was further expanded after watching many episodes of the TV show Get Smart with the development of his hilarious show Spies in Disguise which was produced and staged in 2015.
John’s shows usually entail a lot of research, e.g., The Gods – a mythological squabble staged in 2011. The crux of this show was the similarities of corresponding Gods of ancient Greece and Rome which naturally lead to a competition. It is not surprising that many books, shows, movies and even computer games feature these timeless mythological characters. John revised the structure of this show adding more catchy songs. He expanded the title to Games of the Gods appropriately produced and staged in the year of the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
In 2012 it was 20 years since his first show Fridge was produced. His Celebrating 20years of John Wikman’s Musicals show was a great opportunity for John to showcase the seven original shows he had written to that date. It was a collection of snapshots featuring some of his favourite characters, scenes and songs linked by new script and narrator to complete the stories.
Next John was immediately captivated by the thought provoking and passionate story of Mary Shelly’s classic novel Frankenstein. He believed the social messages about intellect, courage, love, family, compassion and empathy deserved a musical layer to highlight the emotional journey of Victor and his Creation in his musical Frankenstein – Creature Vs Creator produced in 2013.
In 2016 John produced his sparkling new musical A Man Named Gatsby which was inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby but with an added surprise twist at the end. This show contained multimedia projections for backdrops, sumptuous costumes, fantastic dance routines and original catchy memorable songs in the style of the Roaring 20’s jazz age parties.
In 2017 John’s skillfully twisted Cleopatra’s classic story into his own version called Cleopatra – Clash of the fashion houses. The show was set in the glamorous fashion world of 48BC where Cleo’s Pharaoh House of Fashion was in huge debt to Rome’s Forum Emporium controlled by Julius Caesar. The story has all the expected hallmarks including her relationship with Julius and Marc Antony. This musical comedy contained spectacular costumes, clever staging with multimedia projections, and one of the best orchestrated musical backings of all John’s shows.
In 2018 what better way for John to celebrate 25years of writing musicals than to select one character out of each of his previous shows to make a special appearance. Murder at the Mansion is a fancy dress party at a spooky house on a stormy night which takes on an expected twist in an hilarious and engaging whodunit. This brand new story was woven around some new music and songs from his previous shows to jog the memory of audiences who have followed him over the years.
In 2019 John had fun sending up the extravagant Aussie office culture of the 1980’s building boom with his brand new musical comedy BIGG Developments. It was full of big ideas, big budgets and even bigger characters unashamedly steeped in kitsch. The show pays tribute to empire building, nepotism, micro meetings, buzzwords, computer jargon, office equipment upgrades, morning teas, working lunches and business deals on the golf course all drenched in synthesised original glossy glam pop songs.
2022 marked 30years since John’s first show Fridge was staged and 20 years since John Wikman Productions was started. To celebrate these two significant milestones, John compiled a selection of his original songs from each of his shows. They were professionally recorded on an album “Celebrating 30Years of John Wikman’s Musicals” (also available to stream online) and a live concert A Concert Celebrating 30Years of John Wikman’s Musicals to showcase the album was performed with multi-talented vocalists.
John developed a real passion for plants and flowers while working from home during Covid when we couldn’t travel. His cottage garden is full of roses, gerberas, salvias, geraniums, orchids, lilies, bulbs, annuals and perennials which reward him with colour, fragrance, birds, bees and butterflies. His passions for gardening and music inspired him to write a brand new musical comedy called Flower Power. The show is set in a 1960’s flavoured cottage garden where all the characters are flowers. Some want to push the boundaries of garden rules as they prepare for the Plantstand Floral Decoration Competition.
John realises that finding the right cast members is always crucial to the success of all his shows. John has been lucky to cross paths with some very talented and supportive people eager to share the wonderful journey of producing a brand new show.
Just as important are the committed teams who have helped with music, choreography, lighting and sound, set/props, etc., offstage over the years.
John’s goal is to keep writing and see more of his musicals produced by other theatre groups both locally and overseas. Stay tuned for further News.