QPAC

A new Australian Musical based on a true story

You don’t know him, but he may have saved your life.

Black Box is Queenslander Paul Hodge’s ground-breaking new musical based on the extraordinary true story of David Warren, the Australian inventor who created the black box flight recorder that is now on every plane around the globe.

Driven by the death of his father in an unexplained plane crash when he was eight, Black Box follows David as he fights for an invention that could record the final moments of a flight before it crashes – the black box. His obsession around this invention places his career, marriage and mind at risk. It’s a show about memory, and how we hold onto, and let go of, those we love.

Black Box writer and composer, Paul Hodge, said, “David’s invention was inspired by his love of music. I wanted to create a theatre form that was as inventive as David’s idea, which led to the use of recorded voices and music, in the same way the black box gives recordings, to immerse the audience in David’s sound world.”

Black box inventor David Warren will be played by internationally renowned singer and actor Michael Cormick, who has had leading roles around the world, including in Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast with Hugh Jackman. David’s wife, Ruth, will be played by Helpmann Award winner Helen Dallimore who as well as touring extensively throughout the UK and Australia was the original Glinda opposite Idina Menzel in the West End production of Wicked.

The auditory world that inspired David to create his life-saving invention shapes the audience’s experience at Black Box, which utilises pre-recorded voices and instruments to create a world of music and memory to tell his story. While Helen and Michael are on stage, the rest of the cast including Bernard Curry, Bryan Probets, Hugh Parker, Liz Buchan and Elliot Baker, are present through a history-making audio experience. Black Box is the first binaural musical with audience members wearing headphones that allow them to be totally immersed in a 360-degree world of sound. Binaural recording uses two microphones, arranged at the position of human ears to create a 3D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the recorded actors and instruments. This world-premiere production will be directed by David Berthold and includes the original song "A New Era" recorded by Dami Im of X Factor and Eurovision fame.