Just six months after appearing in The Woman in Black alongside Daniel MacPherson in Canberra, John Waters is making a return with a venture of a different kind.

The British-born Australian actor will appear in Radio Luxembourg at The Street Theatre from 28 February to 1 March.

The show celebrates the songs of the British Pop Invasion that changed the world of modern music forever.

Waters will be joined on stage by Stewart D’Arrietta and the Chartbusters.

Audience members will be taken back in time through music from Peter Sarstedt’s Where Do You Go to My Lovely, Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks, To Love Somebody by the Bee Gees, Itchycoo Park’s Small Faces and The Who’s My Generation.

Waters listened to Radio Luxembourg growing up because at the time, radio licenses were not available in the United Kingdom. He moved to Australia when he was 20.

Waters has appeared in many television series including Mystery Road, The Sullivans, Offspring and All Saints and the iconic film Breaker Morant. He is also a musician and theatre performer.

Did you know? There is a portrait of Waters hanging at Canberra’s National Portrait Gallery.

Purchase tickets to Radio Luxembourg at thestreet.org.au/shows/john-waters-radio-luxembourg

You performed in Canberra alongside Daniel MacPherson just last year. What keeps bringing you back?

We really love The Street Theatre there: it’s a really lovely venue. This show is taking off, which is great news for us. With a new show, we did a bit of a ‘dip your toe in the water’ tour last year and the audiences loved it.

It was an amazing tour, it was very successful. Whenever I go around touring I’m revisiting audiences and hopefully what they’ve seen from me, they enjoy it.

This is a collection of new songs; yes, they’re old 1960s rock songs but new to us in the band but I just love bringing this kind of concert to the stage. It’s like a baby boomers paradise of retro music. The unique thing about this music is that it’s lasted through the generations. Baby boomers and their grandchildren know the songs. The New Romantics, Duran Duran, it’s a boutique interest that didn’t last. These songs are classics. People hear them live by a great band rather than on the radio.

What is your favourite song from the era covered in the show and why?

Waters laughed and said who’s your favourite child? It’s difficult. Some particularly illicit a great reaction – there’s a song that was popular in Australia and the United Kingdom – which I’m glad to hear was popular in Australia, which is Chris Farlowe’s Out of Time. I look out and I see everyone singing the words, and I think ‘I hope I don’t get any words wrong’.

I lost my brother in June last year so He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, resonates for me. I get to that and it’s my Candle in the Wind moment, I have to try and get through, but it’s good therapy.

What memories of being brought up in London until you were 20 does taking part in this show bring up?

It’s doing what I wished I could have done in my mid to late teens. I saw Farlowe singing Out of Time and I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be great to be him?’ I get to be him at a much later stage in my life. The thing about performing music live is that it’s really a transporting thing for me and the audience. When I start playing a song, that song, the rest of the band and the audience are the only things that exist in that time. It takes you another place and that’s what I always think it should do.

You are involved in many things from theatre to plays, film and television and playing music. What’s your favourite thing to do?

I do wear several hats in my career in the entertainment industry – I started in music, then moved into film and television acting. It’s a terrific experience to do that. I did some work early and continued on. Most of the 1970s and 80s I was only involved in music shows on stage sporadically. I like to alternate – spoken word, acting in plays or musicals or singing with the band and doing films and television. If I can get a bit of this and that through the year I’m happy. But it doesn’t always happen, I have to take whatever I can.

Tell me about being part of the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man and playing such an iconic figure in Michael Parkinson.

He is an iconic figure. I had a particular advantage in knowing him up close to a reasonable degree. I felt a very strong connection. I was interviewed by him and appeared in Mike Batt’s The Hunting of The Snark musical, which he narrated. Then I’d seen him many times at the cricket at the Sydney Cricket Ground. We’d become acquaintances and we’d have chats with his usual sarcasm. Before he died, he said ‘I’m very disappointed they chose you because I asked for Brad Pitt’ and I said ‘Well, they’ve found someone cheaper’.

What was the reaction to your portrayal of him?

I’ve had great reactions, people would say ‘I thought it was Parky for a moment’ but when they get closer on my face they realise it’s John. I’m happy with my portrayal of him being reasonably close to his life. Robbie Williams’ interviews with Parky were well known. Robbie was on set on the day, it was good fun.

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