Muriel's Wedding: The Musical star named

It was in 1994 that the career of relative unknown Toni Collette was launched after playing the klutzy dag from Porpoise Spit. Maggie McKenna will now be hoping the equivalent role in Muriel's Wedding: The Musical will do the same for her.

Twenty-year-old McKenna, daughter of Kath and Kim star Gina Riley, wasn't even born when Collette was nominated for a Golden Globe for her iconic role.

However, she has always been a big fan.

"I grew up watching it," she said. "It was a classic film in our household. It was my grandma's favourite movie and whenever I stayed with her we would watch it. It's part of my upbringing."

McKenna was studying in Los Angeles when the call came through to say she had won the high-profile role in the Sydney Theatre Company production, which opens in November.

"I got the call and then burst into tears and started sprinting around my apartment," she said. "I couldn't sleep that night."

The self-confessed dag said she had plenty in common with Muriel.

"Muriel is not your typical lady. She gets to be goofy and not 'Oh I'm so pretty and gorgeous' the whole time. She's a bit of a weirdo but people love her for it. It's so exciting to be part of a show that has a lead character like that."

The stage incarnation is being adapted by the original writer PJ Hogan.

"It's a story of a young woman who wants to be famous but she has no discernible talent for anything," he said. "Had there been reality TV 25 years ago Muriel would have signed up in a minute."

There will be a healthy dose of ABBA in the show plus original music written by Keir Nuttall and pop star Kate Miller-Heidke.

At a heavily attended casting launch held at STC's Walsh Bay HQ it was Miller-Heidke who provided the most Muriel-esque moment of the morning, when describing how excited she was to be included in the project.

"It's always been a dream of mine to write a musical," she said. "My initial response was, 'F**k, yeah!'"