Musicals as fresh and cleverly written as The Thing About Men are few and far between making the Australian premiere well worth a ticket.

Essentially a light-hearted farce with a serious inner core, the show looks at love and friendship through the eyes of two very different men in order to find out what the male of the species really wants when it comes to relationships.

Written by Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts, the team responsible for the hit musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, The Thing About Men tells the story of Tom (Chris Parker), a high-flying advertising executive who has been serially unfaithful to his wife Lucy (Laura Fitzpatrick) but is shocked when he learns of her own affair with Sebastian (Liam Pedersen), a suave, bohemian artist.

Consumed with jealousy and determined to get Lucy back, Tom leaves home, changes his name and rents a spare room from Sebastian to keep an eye on their passionate affair.

This production by Melbourne-based company Magnormos has a lot going for it, with a strong central performance by Parker. He stamps his authority on Tom from the outset, managing to communicate his driving ambition and insensitivity yet still reveal his deep-seated insecurity and vulnerability.

Parker has a great voice and uses it well. His attack is precise and positive, with every note and every word clear and strong, especially in his opening numbers 'No Competition For Me' and 'Opportunity Knocking'. There were times on opening night when a little bit of over-singing dented some of the subtle humour in the lyrics but this was ironed out quickly.

A tight, tongue-in-cheek opening number, 'Oh What A Man', also introduced the antics of Lyall Brooks and Nicolette Minster who both play a variety of cheeky walk-on parts that punctuate the central action and are a definite highlight of the show.

The best of these for me are Brooks’ pretentious maitre’d, complete with stinging insults and superb hair flicking and Minister’s suitably twangy impersonation of a country and western singer inside a revolving juke box in Act Two.

Fitzpatrick as Lucy does a good job of embodying the long-neglected wife reborn in a passionate affair. Although her voice is not as strong as the male leads, it retains a certain lyrical uncertainty that is central to Lucy’s dilemma as the woman stuck in the middle.

Liam Pedersen as Sebastian struggles to convince in his first few scenes, and seems almost unsure where to pitch his character. Although vocally strong, he punches out his first solo, 'Free, Easy Guy', too stridently making it overly loud and anything but laid back. He is also awkward in the love duet, 'Take Me Into You', opposite Fitzpatrick, where unnecessary stroking and petting is anything but romantic.

Thankfully he makes amends with Parker in the blokey and boisterous reprise of 'No Competition for Me', set in Jim’s Gym, with quirky, well-timed interruptions from Minister as the towel girl. And by the time he and Parker sing 'The Greatest Friend' Pedersen has almost completely redeemed himself.

Easily one of the highlights of the show, this moving song reflecting on the importance of male friendship was beautifully sung by both men, their voices blending easily and naturally, neither trying to outdo the other.

Well staged, with great sets, costumes and props, this show also features superb arrangement and accompaniment by Musical Director Sophie Thomas and fellow pianist, Cameron Thomas.

Likewise, Director Aaron Joyner has a handle on just how to bring out the show’s quirky comic edge and his inventive subversion of the musical form pays dividends all the way through.