The premiere of the Drowsy Drivers' production at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival was met with enthusiastic reviews. Comedian Chris Addison praised the musical as "the best show I've seen at this festival in five years" and "The Age"'s Daniel Ziffer described it as "clever and superbly funny". Within the first week it had become one of the most popular shows of the festival, having sold out by the fifth show. By the end of its Melbourne run, the show had won three major festival awards—the Barry, "The Age" Critics' Award and the Golden Gibbo—the first time any production had ever done so. For the songs of "Keating!", Bennetto won both the 2006 Helpmann and Green Room Awards for best original musical score.