John Farnham’s return to fame with Whispering Jack immortalised in new musical

It was 1986, and John Farnham’s days as Australia’s King of Pop were well and truly behind him.

Farnham had recently stepped back from big arena tours with The Little River Band and was saddled with debt. He was done singing in RSL clubs and performing for daytime television.

“He was cash-strapped, middle-aged, a new dad, and living in a run-down house in Bulleen, outside of Melbourne,” said Mitchell Butel, artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company, who will bring Farnham’s vocal genius and story of second chances to the stage next year.

Butel will direct a new musical about the making of the Whispering Jack album, Australia’s highest selling album of all time, coinciding with its 40th anniversary. Recorded in the garage of the same suburban rental, it was the album which revived Farnham’s fortunes and gifted him the musical credibility he craved. It stayed for a record-breaking 25 weeks at No.1 in 1986-87.

“For me, it has always been about the songs,” Farnham said in a statement. “From Sadie to You’re the Voice, I am forever grateful for both these songs and the people who connect with my music.′

Whispering Jack: The John Farnham Musical is one of three world premieres headlining STC’s 2026 season, the first for Butel who stepped into the immense shoes of Kip Williams last year. In a significant coup, the company will also be first to stage, outside of Broadway, the Tony award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-winning, drama, Purpose.

Gaynor Wheatley remembers Whispering Jack as a huge gamble. Husband Glenn Wheatley personally raised some of the money for its release when every record label had passed on it. And all but one radio station executive resisted playing it, assuming Farnham was a washed up teen idol.

“John had all the success with Sadie and Raindrops, and he’d been King of Pop for five years and then times sort of shifted, and it was all about finding the songs that resonated,” she said. “Everyone had the belief it was just then sourcing the songs and channelling all that talent into what we know as Whispering Jack.”

Even the three British writers of the album’s biggest hit, You’re the Voice, wanted a big name such as Rod Stewart to record it.

“It’s very true that John said, “No, this is my song, and I’m going to change their minds’, and he went into that studio and changed their minds,” Gaynor Wheatley said.

It’s one of a “string of bangers” Butel said will score the John Farnham musical, covering the singer’s make and break years from 1980 until Farnham’s transformation into national icon. Auditions are already underway for the role of Farnham, as is the licensing of songs.

The idea goes back to 2015 when Glenn Wheatley and theatre producer Michael Cassel inked a deal but sat on their plans, waiting until Farnham finally quit touring. It was top of Gaynor’s “to do” list when Glenn died in 2022. Cassel brought Williams’ The Picture of Dorian Gray to London’s West End, and is doing so again with Dracula.

“This is more than a new musical – it’s a celebration of an artist who defined generations and a moment in time that changed Australian music forever and formed part of the DNA of this country,” Cassel said.

Filmmaker Jack Yabsley is writing the stage book, with Wheatley as co-producer. She read a draft to Farnham, even acting out the various characters, to receive his consent. Farnham’s wife Jill, the quiet anchor in the singer’s life, took greater convincing that she should be represented on stage.

Farnham was diagnosed with mouth cancer in August 2022 and underwent a 12-hour surgery to remove a cancerous tumour and part of his jaw. After a difficult recovery, he was declared cancer-free in July 2023 but has remained out of the public spotlight. Gaynor said Yabsley has captured Farnham’s voice and sense of mischief.

“John’s voice just cuts through your soul, and then he can come up with a bad dad joke,” she said. “You wonder how does that all sit in the one person, but they do. That’s part of his appeal. He never let fame go to his head.”

Butel rates Farnham’s rock pop voice as among the best in the world. “I don’t think anyone can sing like him.”

Other highlights of STC’s 13 plays for 2026

Bennelong in London:

A new work by award-winning playwright Jane Harrison, billed as a time travelling exploration of friendship between two First Nations men. A young actor is auditioning for the part of Bennelong, the go-between between the First Fleeters and the Eora people when the ghost of Bennelong pays him a visit. The pair travel back to 1788 when Bennelong is abducted by Governor Philip. “It’s a kind of buddy movie in a way between the spirit of Bennelong and this young actor trying to tell a First Nations story,” Butel says.

Strong is the New Pretty:

Playwright Suzie Miller, who shot to fame with Prima Facie, is back with the backstory of the formation of the Australian Football League’s women’s league. “I must say I’m not a football fan,” says Butel, “but when I heard a read through I was utterly transfixed, and that’s a good sign, if an arts lover can find sport a gripping narrative.” Directed by Lee Lewis, it’s a co-production with the Brisbane Festival.

Purpose:

When Butel emerged from the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway’s 44th Street after seeing a performance of Purpose he jumped on the email and asked for the rights. It will open STC’s season, the first time the Tony award-winning play will be performed outside New York.

An Iliad:

David Wenham returns to the STC stage in this remix of the ancient text. The one-man show sees Wenham as a Homer-esque poet doomed to retell the stories of war and conflict in a play that blends modern language and translated verse.

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