Bringing down the curtain on Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2024 season, Miles Franklin’s classic novel, My Brilliant Career, is given a musical reimagining to captivate a new generation at the Southbank Theatre from 7 November 2024.
Adapted by the talented musical theatre duo Mathew Frank and Dean Bryant, alongside actor Sheridan Harbridge (Prima Facie, Meet Me at Dawn), this is a Melbourne-made musical, developed and written by the creative team over the past five years.
Transforming one of the country’s most enduring literary figures into a musical heroine for this very moment, My Brilliant Career will feature a dynamic cast playing instruments live on stage and a soundtrack that’s equal parts contemporary pop, folksy bush band and raucous pub rock.
Directed by Melbourne Theatre Company Artistic Director and Co-CEO Anne-Louise Sarks and with set & costume design by Olivier Award-winning Marg Horwell, the production pushes the boundaries of what a musical can be.
Led by the phenomenal Kala Gare (SIX), My Brilliant Career features a talented ensemble cast of actor/musicians including Cameron Bajraktarevic-Hayward, Lincoln Elliott, Victoria Falconer, Raj Labade, Drew Livingstone, HaNy Lee, Ana Mitsikas, Christina O’Neill and Jarrad Payne.
“Created in Melbourne by some of Australia’s best musical theatre talent, I’m thrilled to bring this reimagining of a literary classic to Melbourne audiences” says Anne-Louise Sarks, Melbourne Theatre Company’s Artistic Director & Co-CEO. “My Brilliant Career is not a book presented on stage but a bold live theatre experience that captures the spirit of a young woman determined to carve her own path in life”.
My Brilliant Career follows Sybylla Melvyn, a young woman finding her voice. Taking audiences on a wild and joyous ride through Sybylla’s imagination, joining her on a journey from an isolated farm in country Australia to the opulence and opportunities of ‘nice society’ and back again.
Growing up in the 1890s and forced to choose between romance and her own genius, her family and a future she defines for herself, Sybylla’s decided she’s having it all.
Director: Anne-Louise Sarks | Featuring: Cameron Bajraktarevic-Hayward, Lincoln Elliott, Victoria Falconer, Kala Gare, Raj Labade, Drew Livingston, HaNy Lee, Ana Mitsikas, Christina O’Neill, Jarrad Payne | Musical Director: Victoria Falconer | Choreographer: Amy Campbell | Set & Costume Designer: Marg Horwell | Lighting Designer: Matt Scott | Orchestrator & Vocal Arranger: James Simpson | Sound Designer: Joy Weng | Assistant Director: Miranda Middleton | Assistant Set & Costume Designer: Savanna Wegman | Assistant Musical Director: Drew Livingston
My Brilliant Career
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, Southbank Boulevard, Southbank
Season: 12 November – 18 December 2024 (previews: 7 – 11 November)
Information and Bookings: www.mtc.com.au
Image: Kala Gare to star in My Brilliant Career – photo by Eugene Hyland