Tragicomix & Panacea: A Musical Farce is a new musical created by the team of Panter-Cantarella-Colefax, with an original script by Kathleen Cantarella and Juliet Panter, and original music and lyrics by Chris Colefax and Juliet Panter.

Commissioned by the Cairns Alliance Francaise in conjuction with the Cairns Celebration of Film 2000, the musical received its premiere performance in Cairns, Australia on 29 April 2000. This performance was the culmination of many weeks of intensive workshopping that involved developing the initial concept of the musical, writing the script and musical numbers, auditioning for and selecting an all-age cast of twenty performers, choreographing the dance and action sequences, and rehearsing the show. The premiere performance of Tragicomix & Panacea: A Musical Farce brought together the expertise of:

• Director & Producer: Juliet Panter
• Musical Director: Chris Colefax
• Assistant Directors: Kathleen Cantarella and Raymond Mather
• Choreography: Raymond Mather and Juliet Panter
• Costume Design: Ross Highland
• Set and Lighting Design: Simon Tait

Tragicomix & Panacea: A Musical Farce is based on the characters of the popular Asterix & Obelix comic books by Goscinny and Uderzo. The musical brings to life the indomitable Gaulish village and its inhabitants as depicted in the comics, although the script is completely original. The cast of the premiere performance, ranging in age from 13 to 50 and including both students and professional performers, consisted of:

Juliet Panter (Panacea) Michael Adams (Tragicomix) Rod Collins (Cacaphonix) Andreas Jodner (Caesar) Penny Grummitt (Impedimenta) Mike Ella (Vitalstatistix) Roscoe Bell (Getafix) Daniel Webb (Overdramatix) Lauren Jodner (Problematix) Sarah Berry (Maximux) Anna Grace-Cox (Antonius) Tegan Koster (Claudius) Jono Bleakley (Asterix) Tim Wright (Obelix) Teneille Dejong (Postaldistrix) Bronte Forsyth-Turner (Fullyautomatix) Alicia Jodner (Vocalix) Elisa Menniti (Energetix) Matt Steed (Unhygienix) Donella Taylor (Chaotix)

Media coverage for the premiere performance of Tragicomix & Panacea: A Musical Farce included regular articles in The Cairns Post (see below) and feature articles in BarFly and the Cairns Sun, as well as radio interviews on 4CA FM, ABC Regional, Sea FM and Radio 846.

All-age cast for musical

The Cairns Post, Friday 17 March 2000
By Crystle Fleper

The first auditions for Tragicomix & Panacea: A Musical Farce were held at Centenary Lakes Christian Community Centre last Saturday. Tragicomix is an original musical production by Juliet Panter and Kathleen Cantarella based on the popular Asterix and Obelix comic books and will be showcased at this year's Cairns Celebration of Film on April 29. An all-age cast of 20 was chosen from the three-hour audition and workshop that saw experienced and would-be actors put through their paces with script reading, dance routines and singing excerpts from the musical.

Director Panter and Cantarella began writing the script early last month specifically for this year's film festival (April 19-31), with Panter also choreographing and Chris Colefax as musical director-pianist contributing an original score for the production. Born and raised in North Queensland, Panter trained at The Arts Educational School in the UK and graduated in Drama at the London Studio Centre in 1997. She has held many leading roles in stage and theatre productions including Chicago, Cats, Othello, and Snow White. As well as extensive experience in film and television, Panter has been a soloist with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and was part of the original London Cast Recording of Hollywood Pinafore. Kathleen Cantarella's co-writing efforts of Tragicomix are her first for stage and theatre production, with her roots firmly planted in writing scripts for film and television.

Rehearsing for a musical farce

The Cairns Post, Friday 31 March 2000
By Crystle Fleper

It must be a daunting proposition to bring to life the comic book characters of Asterix and Obelix, but the cast members of Tragicomix & Panacea: A Musical Farce are approaching rehearsals with enormous enthusiasm. With less than a month to go before its stage debut, the all-age cast of 20 has been working tirelessly on both song and dance to ensure a first-class performance.

The original script and score of Tragicomix is impressive enough to have lured noted choreographer Raymond Mather (of Strictly Ballroom fame) to join director Juliet Panter, writer Kathleen Cantarella, and musical director Chris Colefax. The full performance of Tragicomix at the Cairns Celebration of Film will incorporate a banquet and costumed theme night (think Gauls, Romans and Egyptians), and there are prizes to be won in various categories including best costume.