The story of spud king Tony Galati comes to Geraldton’s Queens Park Theatre with quirky comedy musical

The tale of WA’s eccentric spud king Tony Galati is coming to Geraldton with a musical dedicated to the businessman with WA’s most famous set of eyebrows. Tony Galati: The Musical tells the story of underdog Galati fighting against big business vegetable sellers, accompanied by comedy, ballads, and toe-tapping showstoppers. The show’s producer, Andrew Baker, said the mix of Galati’s instantly recognisable look and a reputation as a man-of-the-people made for an endearing and entertaining character. “Until he built his big empire, he was an underdog,” he said. “His whole life he was battling the big guys, taking on the fat cats, the bureaucracy, because they were making life too hard for farmers, especially migrant farmers.” “He’s just got a completely unique appearance, a completely unique way of talking, by that I mean he doesn’t say much but every word he says is thought through and hits heavily.” The idea of the gruff, soft-spoken grocer being the hero of a musical is something the show’s team had a lot of fun with, Mr Baker said. “It kind of leads to a juxtaposition, this softly spoken man of few words suddenly having a musical made about him, it’s just naturally bizarre and intriguing to people,” he said. The musical was initially made for the Perth Fringe World and, much like the man himself, Mr Baker said the show has a real down-to-earth spirit to it. “It’s very West Australian, there are lots of jokes at the expense of Perth because we have a love-hate relationship with our city, and its the same with WA as a whole,” he said. “There’s a very live comedy vibe to the show, so there will occasionally be moments where the audience is very aware that the actors know how ridiculous this all is.” Running at 70 minutes, the show is on the shorter, snappier side, perfect for a Tuesday night. In a 4.5-star review, The West Australian concluded: “Spud king Tony Galati, a cult figure west of the Nullarbor, now has a cult musical befitting of his stature.” Tony Galati: The Musical will be held on Tuesday, November 15 at Queens Park Theatre. Doors open at 6pm.