Acting, writing, singing, comedy — Michelle Brasier has done it all, and is bringing not one, but two sensational shows to this year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
Michelle always knew that she would end up with a career in the performing arts industry.
“I think I always knew this is what I was going to do with my life. I was that annoying always-singing-show-tunes kid, even before I could speak full sentences. I was a nightmare, a country kid in Wagga Wagga going, “I don’t think this is where I’m going to stay.” It’s great that I have been able to pursue the thing I love and make a career out of it,” she told Glam Adelaide recently.
The material for Michelle’s cabaret shows always come from her own life experiences.
“Every show that I write is a personal story. I love to write stories for TV, but there is something about cabaret I love where you can bring a personal story to the stage. It’s like having wine with 300 of your friends and telling them what’s happened. I’m unlucky enough to have enough stories worth telling…
“The stories often clearly present themselves to me with how I want them to end up, but the creation process behind them can vary. The writing process doesn’t always come easily. There’s the writing, the editing, writing the original songs — a lot of work goes into them. They all take as long as they take to create. I do try to write a new show every year, but I don’t spend the whole year writing them.”
Her latest show, Reform, is a cautionary tale of befriending her online scammer and unpacking the urge to empathise with, understand and even become the emergency contact of someone who has done us wrong. Equal parts hilarious and heart-rending, this show packs a punch in one theatrical hour of music and storytelling.
“It’s a true story. Reform is the story about a man who scammed me on the internet and my refusal to see the worst in him. I wanted to help him as much as I could and eventually became his friend. I had this feeling early on that it was a scam and I decided to gamble on it and keep the conversation going with him. Everything about him was real — he had tagged photos on his Facebook page as well as a lot of posts, so I knew I could report him if it came to it. I took the risk and because it was clear it was a scam, I was interested to know what drew him to do it. He had to be at rock bottom as it was so easy for me to look up more info on him and it wasn’t hidden. It was really interesting to me.”
Michelle’s second show, Comedians Auditioning for Musicals, follows from its sold-out stint at the 2022 Melbourne Comedy Festival, where you watch your favourite funny people take on the perils of the audition room in this instant cult hit.
“It’s a show that celebrates all the best things and all of the worst things about musical theatre. It’s a chance for people to have a play. The reason I wrote this show was to put on a comedy festival, which we’ve done the last two years. It has a real cult following because people love musicals and people love being silly.”
Reform will be performed on June 9 – 11 in the Space Theatre. Further details and tickets can be found here: https://cabaret.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/reform .
Comedians Auditioning for Musicals will be performed on June 11 in the Space Theatre. Further details and tickets can be found here: https://cabaret.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/comedians-auditioning-for-musicals .
Interviewed by Ben Stefanoff
Photo credit: Adelaide Festival Centre
Read Glam Adelaide’s review of Reform HERE.