American Psycho The Musical will make its Australian amateur premiere at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre in Wollongong, opening on Thursday, May 23.

Jarrod Riesinger, director and producer at Rising Arts Productions, says that audiences will be surprised to see how the show lends itself to musical theatre.

“It's an exciting show that captures the classic 1980s of corporate greed and culture where Patrick Bateman is a businessman trying to escape his mundane life. And he lives out this fantasy of going on a massive, murderous spree across New York,” says Jarrod.

“The whole premise of American Psycho is about greed and excess, and I think there is no more perfect medium than musical theatre to emphasise this.”

Based on the 1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis, the musical takes inspiration from the cult-classic film, released in 2000.

“This production is so far removed from the source material, but still pays a nice homage," Jarrod says.

“Especially in recent years, internet culture has taken the wrong idea from American Psycho and put that corporate culture and toxic masculinity up on a pedestal. Whereas its original intention is the complete opposite.

“We’re trying to reclaim that and get audiences to see that we're actually poking fun at the worst kinds of people.” 

American Psycho was originally developed as a musical by Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening) and Robert Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale, The Picture of Dorian Gray). After a short run on Broadway, the show was cancelled due to licensing issues.

“The rights were always this closely guarded secret because it kind of bombed on Broadway, and no one really thought about it again,” Jarrod says.

“It was a show that we used for inspiration when we first did our very first musical Heathers way back, five-plus years ago. It shares that same sort of dark comedy aspect that we really liked.” 

Rising Arts Productions aims to give young people a chance to get on the stage, no matter their experience in the industry.

“It's great to do Mamma Mia a million times, but we like to produce new and exciting work, and give people an opportunity they otherwise probably wouldn’t get,

“These are the shows we love to do. These shows that people don't get the opportunity to do. We love to take these shows, and try to track down who's got the rights for them and then stage them and give people more opportunities.” 

Jarrod says that the company is most excited to show off the talents of their cast, with Wollongong local Alex Perritt in the lead role as Patrick Bateman.

“Alex has done shows in the Illawarra for years. But being able to give him a show nearly entirely to himself is really special. He doesn't really get off the stage. And to be able to highlight how funny he is and how funny the text is itself is really exciting.” 

Featuring an electronic, 80s-style soundtrack, the show combines songs from American Psycho the film and original music.

"This is a show about excess, so we’ve leaned into that. There’s hundreds of costumes, the scale of the set is massive. We've got big projections all over the walls of the theatre. As well as the litres and litres and litres of blood that's required for a show like this."

Jarrod says American Psycho will leave Wollongong audiences both shocked and amused.

“They’ll get to experience a piece of theatre that's very different from the theatre down here in Wollongong, even after the professional production was cancelled. 

“It’ll be lovely to finally give them an American Psycho – one way or another.” 

Tickets start at $34 and the musical is on from Thursday, May 23 to Saturday, May 25 at Bruce Gordon Theatre IPAC. Book via Merrigong.