Dani Greaves is no stranger to the Adelaide Stage. Over the past few years she has earned critical acclaim with her performances in Footloose, Merrily We Roll Along, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and We Will Rock You.
At this year’s Adelaide Fringe Dani will be premiering her first solo cabaret show Me Inside of Me. Dani spoke to Glam Adelaide about her show, her love of music and how music has always played a part of her life.
“I did music all through primary school and high school. I did my first lead in a musical when I was in reception. I was Henny Penny in The Sky is Falling, which was a lovely musical full of receptions. When I moved into high school I was so lucky to have Jillian Gulliver as my music teacher. We did a theatre production every year. We were lucky for a public school. I played a lot of fun roles through my entire high school journey. After school, I took a break from theatre and went on to play professional basketball. In 2018 I came back to community theatre and have loved it ever since.”
We asked Dani what it is about theatre that she finds so enticing.
“Music has a way of transporting you into places. Musical theatre not only transports you into a whole new world of feeling that emotion but it can be heightened by the scene or something before it as well. I love the storytelling side of theatre as well and how it can connect to an audience.”
Me Inside of Me is a biographical cabaret of carefully curated songs interwoven with anecdotes that explore life’s formative experiences, relationships, the challenges of motherhood and the search for self-acceptance and belonging.
“Me Inside of Me is an honest exploration of the life of a cabaret performer. I look at the universal human desires of belonging, self-acceptance, and those types of things. It’s essentially explored through me chatting about personal and societal anecdotes and some commentary on themes interweaved with very carefully selected musical theatre songs to highlight them. It’s pretty vulnerable at points but there are some great humorous bits to make up for the deeper moments.”
It can be a daunting experience to stand on stage as yourself and not have a character to hide behind, as Dani explained.
“It is daunting to be up on stage and have nothing to hide behind. When I was in year 11 I was in the first ever Class of Cabaret, which is part of the Cabaret Festival. The set I wrote was rather vulnerable and I remember David Campbell telling me that the best way to connect to an audience in moments like this, is to just stand still and sing. So while it is daunting to just be me on stage, finding moments like that to connect to an audience really help.”
Dani is fortunate to be surrounded by an excellent team of creatives for Me Inside of Me.
“They’ve been great. I wrote the whole script myself first and did all of the song selection but then it’s been so great working with Dan Brunner as my MD and pianist, especially as he’s just an excellent musician, and being able to have him and his mind. I’ve been able to talk through my ideas behind how I want a piece to sound in the show, and then he comes back with this beautiful arrangement. Having Dylan Rufus on guitar is brilliant as well. Dylan is an incredible guitarist and we’re very lucky to have him. Then script-wise it’s been great working with Trevor Anderson. He has such a keen eye for detail and has been able to shape things in such a moving and sensitive way. Liliana Carletti, from Lily Rose Media has been incredible too, from a marketing angle. She’s taken all my ideas and created a wonderful campaign.”
Me Inside of Me will be performed at the Goodwood Theatre and Studios, 6.30pm on February 20, 27 and 28.
“I’ve always wanted to push myself. I feel like this is the next step for me after doing a few leads in community theatre, I love community theatre and will definitely be going back, but this feels like that next step for me to be able to push myself creatively. I hope audiences leave feeling good after spending an hour with me.”
Me Inside of Me
Goodwood Theatre & Studios
February 20, 27 and 28 at 6.30pm
https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/me-inside-of-me-af2026
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