Alex Theatre to bring smiles with Grinning Man premiere

The show is based on the novel The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo, first published in 1869 and written while the French author was in the Channel Islands, having been exiled due to the political nature of his previous books.

So while the Grinning Man would be far from the first musical to be billed as the next Les Misérables, it has more basis to the claim than most, said Vass.

"(It's)the guy who wrote Les Mis, it's the same style, a very dark comic fanciful musical, and what wins it is the story and the absolutely fantastic music," he told AAP.

The main role of Grinpayne, the curious new freakshow act with a mysterious past, is played by Maxwell Simon, who most recently toured with Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

Maxwell Simon will play Grinpayne, a man whose face has been mutilated into a permanent laugh. (HANDOUT/RAIN FULLER PR)

He performs opposite Helpmann Award nominated Luisa Scrofani, while 17-year-old singer Lilly Cascun, who is blind, makes her professional debut as Young Dea.

The Alex Theatre production starting in April will be The Grinning Man's first international showing, following its extended run on the West End.

It's not lost on Vass that the theatre is just a block from the city's own grinning man, at the entrance to Luna Park in St Kilda.

Until 2014, the Alex was the home of The George Cinema, but Vass converted the building into two theatres and a multispace arts centre, including a jazz venue and a live broadcast studio.

Tired of seeing the same old shows returning to the city's commercial theatres, Vass was determined to stage new works, but it's taken a decade for his theatre project to be viable.

Aleksandar Vass aims to stage ten musicals a year at the Alex Theatre, with lower-priced tickets. (HANDOUT/RAIN FULLER PR)

While there have been successful shows such as the comedies Bad Jews, and Puffs (a parody of the Harry Potter series) it's also required Vass to personally fund productions.

"It's difficult to get out there and get money, especially for new shows ... we do most of it ourselves, we carefully take a risk and sometimes we lose and sometimes we win," he said.

The semi-retired businessman decided that it should be possible to stage a full Broadway-style production at The Alex Theatre with tickets a fraction of the cost of shows in larger commercial venues.

"There's no one that's got a 500 seat commercial theatre, with the ability to stage a show for a quarter of the budget anywhere else," he said.

He now hopes to stage ten musicals every year in the building's main auditorium, a project that should bring smiles all round.

The Australian premiere of The Grinning Man is at the Alex Theatre St Kilda from May 2 with previews from April 25.