Dangerous When Wet –The Musical, is a fabulous new musical comedy celebrating the friendship and rivalry of local swimmers Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie – Australia’s first female Olympic representatives and winners of Gold and Silver in the 100m freestyle at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

Narrated by Australia’s first Hollywood Superstar, Annette Kellerman, this vaudeville-styled, hilarious and touching show will have you laughing, crying, singing along and rejoicing in Australia’s swimming history.

We’re performing this production at Randwick Town Hall from 8 to 18 October, and we have officially launched our ticket sales. They’re already selling fast, so don’t hesitate – buy yours now! There are only 10 VIP Front Row tickets available per show, so if you really want a front row seat, you need to get in quick.

The team behind Dangerous When Wet is Eliane Morel (writer/producer), Merran Hughes (writer/historian/designer), Joanna Weinberg (composer/director) and Daryl Wallis (musical director/arranger/pianist).

Photos above by Jacquie Manning at the Randwick Town Hall Takeover version of Dangerous When Wet, June 22 2025

How did it start?

Eliane and Merran are both residents of the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney with a strong connection to their local artistic and swimming/surfing communities, and have extensively researched Australian swimming history. In 2021/22, with assistance from Waverley and Randwick Councils, and initially in collaboration with Soledad Cordeaux and Vashti Hughes, they wrote a play, Dangerous When Wet, which focused on the stories of Mina Wylie and Fanny Durack – the lens of sport providing a view into the social, cultural, and technological shifts that were occurring as Australia began to transform into a modern nation.

Expanding on this research, Eliane and Merran put together a successful exhibition and lecture, ‘Sydney Mermaids’, on women swimming in the early 20th century, and featuring Fanny Durack, Mina Wylie, and Australia’s first Hollywood superstar, Annette Kellerman, as part of Heritage Week for Inner West Council. The research is now part of the Inner West library collection.

And then…

In 2024 Morel and Hughes successfully applied for a grant from Waverley Council to create a new musical, using the original play Dangerous When Wet as a starting point, but this time collaborating with award-winning musical theatre writer, Joanna Weinberg. When Jo came on board, her brilliant idea was to make it Vaudeville – incorporating all the musical styles of this time – from Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs, to operetta to boogie-woogie, blues, honky-tonk and jazz, and including performance styles such as clowning, male/female impersonators, melodrama, comic double-acts… and always plenty of audience participation.

With assistance from a Randwick Town Hall Takeover grant, we creatively developed the show with five performers and performed a shortened version of it on June 22 2025 at Randwick Town Hall. Audiences had an overwhelmingly positive response to the show which, especially under the glorious blue and gold proscenium arch of Randwick Town Hall, felt like old-fashioned music-hall with a nod and a wink to the 21st century. Our audience loved the comedy, the audience participation and the memorable tunes, clever, funny and touching lyrics and the fact that it’s true Australian musical.

But don’t take our word for it, listen to what audiences have said:

What are we doing now?

Apart from actually putting on the show (please buy a ticket!), we’re also holding a series of fundraising and community/awareness building events. Our first event was a Sunset Soiree at Wylie’s Baths, opened by our local MP, Dr Marjorie O’Neill.

Our next fundraising event is at The Women’s Club on Tuesday March 10, and you can buy tickets to here:

https://www.thewomensclub.com.au/events/dangerous-when-wet-10mar26-public

You can also donate to Dangerous When Wet via the Australian Cultural Fund (ACF). The ACF is a fundraising platform for Australian artists. It is operated by Creative Australia and was established by the Australian Government in 2003 to encourage donations to the arts.

Unlike all-or-nothing fundraising platforms, ACF artists set a fundraising goal, but if it is not met all donations are still taken into account. Donations over $2 are tax deductible, and supporters get the chance to make a real difference to the work of Australian artists.