“You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is god!”
– Ted Bundy

It seems to be a common occurrence that the musicals that flop the hardest on Broadway, live the best life through independent and community theatre. I truly love this. Some shows simply don’t work on a huge scale, like SEUSSICAL or CARRIE, another option is that maybe the world just wasn’t ready for a show at the time of its premiere – for AMERICAN PSYCHO, it’s undoubtedly the latter.

AMERICAN PSYCHO: THE MUSICAL had its world premiere at the Almeida Theatre in London back in 2013, before eventually transferring to Broadway in 2016. The musical was initially set to happen OFF Broadway, but the producers decided to change those plans and head straight to the Great White Way… that did not work out well for them. The show began Broadway previews on March 24th 2016, officially opened on April 21st, and closed 2 months later after a total of 81 performances.

This new Australian production first opened in September of 2025 at Chapel Off Chapel in Melbourne, the same venue where the show would return to a year later to kick off its Australian tour, which also includes a Brisbane run next February. This production is directed by Mark Taylor (Next to Normal, Bright Star), with music direction by Aaron Robuck, choreography by Sophie Loughran, music and lyrics by Grammy and Tony Award winner Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening), and a book by Riverdale’s Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

The show dives into the mind of Patrick Bateman: a young, wealthy investment banker with a taste for designer suits by day, and something far more sinister by night. Set in the money-obsessed Manhattan of the late 1980s, AMERICAN PSYCHO – THE MUSICAL is a blood-soaked thrill ride through greed, privilege and moral decay, soundtracked by a slick score and iconic hits from Phil Collins, Tears for Fears, New Order and Huey Lewis and the News.

Often when seeing independent productions, they end up being very reminiscent of the professional staging. One of the greatest strengths of this production of AMERICAN PSYCHO is just how totally fresh and new it all is. Truly everything about the show – the direction, choreography, acting choices, genuinely everything – is straight out of the genius minds from See You Sunday’s production. I *really* love the Broadway production, so I don’t say this lightly at all, but I think this production does in fact top the Broadway staging. The direction is innovative and thought-provoking, the choreography is sharp, slick and sexy, the vocals are crisp – everything about this staging is truly top tier.

One of the standout aspects of this production is the lighting design by Sidney Young, accompanied by the set design by Harry Gill and costume design by Jessamine Moffett. All of these design elements work perfectly with each other, aligning to create a truly spectacular visual feast for the eyes.

I genuinely cannot go any further without talking about none other than the internet’s new favourite leading man, Mr. Conor Beaumont (Heathers the Musical) himself. I didn’t get the chance to catch HEATHERS (I know, I’m not happy about it either) so I missed out on Conor’s performance as ‘JD’, but the way he had the entire population of the world wrapped around his finger, I knew it was beyond incredible. I am very happy to report he continues this trend with AMERICAN PSYCHO.

‘Patrick Bateman’ is not an easy role in any form. He barely leaves the stage for the entire 2.5hr runtime, it is physically demanding, vocally demanding, and I could never imagine having to get into the mind of Bateman and keep that up for two and a half hours. Beaumont is undoubtably one of the strongest rising performers in the Australian theatre industry, and his performance in this show has certainly cemented that. One of his biggest strengths is how much he can tell us without saying a word and just using his face. It might sound weird, but I have genuinely never witnessed somebody with the skill to control and master their facial expressions like Conor Beaumont in this show.

The entire cast deserves an incredible amount of praise for their work in this show. The material itself isn’t necessarily the strongest, but they have managed to transform it into something much more impressive than the sum of its parts – nobody does this better than Jake Ameduri (Evil Dead – The Musical, Mamma Mia) as ‘Timothy Price’ – who is also working extra hard as he is also the alternate for ‘Bateman’. Ameduri has been given the most obnoxious material in the show, but he has managed to take it head-on with a 110% commitment to the bit, which results in one of the most memorable performances of the night. Like Beaumont, he has incredibly impressive control over his facial expressions, resulting in a genuinely hilarious performance. While we’re on the topic of giving 110% and committing to the bit, it would be CRIMINAL to not mention the masterclass performance given by Mia Dabkowski-Chandler (Cats, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical) as ‘Evelyn Williams’. Dabkowski-Chandler has transformed her role entirely, going from a one-dimensional traditional for-the-plot role into an utterly exhilarating wonder to behold, and in my opinion the new gold-star standard for actresses taking on this part in the future – this needs to be the definitive performance for future portrayals of ‘Evelyn Williams’ across the world.

The remainder of the powerhouse cast include Alexandra Cashmere (Waitress, Back To The Future) as ‘Evelyn Williams’ Alternate, Montana Sharp (Parade) as ‘Jean’, Harley Dasey (Evil Dead – The Musical, Mamma Mia) as ‘Paul Owen’, Meg Williams (Grey Gardens) as ‘Courtney Lawrence’, Jordan Twigg (Footloose) as ‘Mrs Bateman’, Aaron Robuck (Parade, Woman On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown) as ‘Luis Carruthers’, Dan Ham (Songs For A New World) as ‘Craig McDermott’ and Associate Choreographer, Elaina Bianchi (Evil Dead – The Musical, High School Musical) as ‘Vanden’ and Dance Captain and Lauchlan Mant (Mamma Mia) as ‘David Van Patten’, with Nelana Ferguson (Spark) and Bash Nelson (Once On This Island) rounding out the cast as Swings.

AMERICAN PSYCHO the musical is killer in all the right ways: it is sexy, stylish, sleek, and just plain impressive. I might honestly return to this show the same amount of times that Batman claims he is going to return some video tapes – a hell of a lot.

Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the film, a lover of the controversial book, or just love yourself some bold and daring theatre: AMERICAN PSYCHO is a truly killer night out.

Running at Chapel Off Chapel in Melbourne until November 21st, before shutting up shop for the holidays and arriving at the Brisbane Powerhouse from February 4th – 20th, with tickets for both runs selling fast.

Tickets available via www.americanpsycho.com.au

Review by Seb Smee
Produced by We Talk Theatre
Photos by Cameron Grant, Parenthesy
•
@wetalktheatre
wetalktheatre.com
wetalktheatre@gmail.com