Why theatre?: I started as a pop singer and songwriter (in Australia) and always wanted to tell stories with my songs, but felt frustrated when it seemed that was the least important thing in pop music. My move to theatre happened completely my chance but I truly feel I have found my calling because now I can tell those stories, but still have a pop influence in my songwriting.
Tell us about Mother, Wife and the Complicated Life: When I had my first baby I started writing songs about my experiences and ended up turning them into a cabaret show called Mother, Wife and the Complicated Life. The response to that show from other women was so positive and powerful that I realised how little we get to hear about the real life experiences of marriage and motherhood in a theatrical format. So I decided to expand the idea into a musical, with the concept being kind of '"Sex and the City" meets "Desperate Housewives"' following a year in the lives of four best friends. I wanted it to be real and honest and deal with complicated subjects like unplanned pregnancy, post natal depression and divorce, while being funny and entertaining. I wrote most of it while I was pregnant and then nursing my second baby, so I was completely impressed in the experience myself, which helped with that honesty! The response to the show in Australia has blown me away, we have had multiple hit seasons and when it was selected for the New York Musical Theatre Festival last year it was a dream come true. But now to be playing at the United Nations, as a side event in the Commission for the Status of Women Conference, is just beyond a dream!!
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Theatre about women, because our stories are still underrepresented on the stage. Women want to feel inspired and empowered and when shows do that well they are passionately embraced, like we've seen with Wicked. As for who inspires me, anyone who has a dream and has the courage and tenacity to make it happen.
Any roles you’re dying to play?: Elphaba. :)
What’s your favorite showtune?: “Defying Gravity”, theatrical/pop perfection. I also love anything from The Last Five Years.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: There are so many people! My dream would be to co-write with writers I admire like Tom Kitt, Brian Yorkey, Robert Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Stephen Schwartz.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Reece Witherspoon and it would be the movie version of Mother, Wife and the Complicated Life. :)
What show have you recommended to your friends?:Book of Mormon and Matilda. Our cast is also going to see If/Then while we're here and are looking forward to that.
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Doing nothing. And ice-cream. Preferably both at the same time.
What’s the most played song on your iPod?: Anything by Bruno Mars, because my 7 year old son plays him constantly and always has my ipod.
What’s up next?: I am writing a new musical, so hopefully I am back in NYC in another years time talking to you about that! I'm also debuting a new cabaret show in Australia in the middle of the year, so am looking forward to that.
Mother, Wife, and the Complicated Life will be performed at 54 Below on Tuesday, March 18 at 7:00pm. For more information, visit http://54below.com/artist/mother-wife-and-the-complicated-life-in-concert/