Known for being a presenter on ABC children’s show Play School, Australian actress, singer, author and television host Justine Clarke has many links to Canberra.
Her husband, Jack Finsterer, grew up in Dickson, and their daughter, Nina Finsterer, is studying at the Australian National University.
“So, we’ve got a strong connection to Canberra,” Clarke told CD.
Clarke will perform in the nation’s capital in Mimi’s Symphony at Canberra Theatre Centre’s The Playhouse on 30 and 31 May, including school group performances. Tickets can be purchased at canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/mimis-symphony-2025
Mimi’s Symphony is an orchestral story for Australian children: follow Mimi, a little magpie who, after being blown from her nest, finds herself on the edge of a suburban oval. All she remembers is the echo of something grand and beautiful.
The audience is encouraged to sing along as Clarke bands together with Canberra Symphony Orchestra for this show.
Clarke has an extensive resume in the entertainment industry including movies Maya the Bee, Red Dog: True Blue, Bootmen, Look Both Ways and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, as well as television shows RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service), Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story, Rake, Home and Away, All Saints, and Gallipoli.
The multi-award winner has also featured in theatre productions including Muriel’s Wedding and The Sound of Music.
Why is it important for children to be educated in orchestral music?
I think it’s important to expose children to any kind of live music. But as we know, our audiences for symphonic music and orchestral works are getting older. So, I think it’s important to give children an opportunity to fall in love with classical music.
There will be children out there for whom it will be an experience they never forget and a gateway to a lifelong love for orchestral music, or even possibly becoming a musician themselves. I think it’s a very rare, powerful and beautiful sound to hear.
The reason why we called it Mimi’s Symphony is because the meaning of the word for symphony, symphonia in Ancient Greek, is an agreement of musical notes. Part of the story (in Mimi’s Symphony) is that the animals all come together at the end. I think that’s what’s extraordinary about the music: that these highly skilled musicians can all converge to agree to make this extraordinary sound together.
How do you cater for the show to be enjoyable for both the children and their parents and carers/guardians?
I’ve always been super aware that half the audience are adults when you come to a children’s show. The reason they’re there is because they want to engage in music with their children, so they’re a great audience.
The story is probably something parents can relate to; the universal story of an orphaned magpie that has to find her home. And it’s about a little baby growing up. Some parents in our shows we’ve done in Sydney have found it quite moving.
What do you enjoy the most about working in the children’s entertainment industry, as well as acting for adult television programs and films?
Gee, this has been really important to me because I really wanted to give preschoolers up to year 2 a story about animals familiar to them in a landscape that was familiar to them.
I feel like the opportunity to have been able to make lots of music for children, they will know me for that, but I can take them on a bit of a journey and introduce them to a song they may never have heard. I feel really lucky to be able to do that.
I’ve been doing more theatre, not so much my own shows for children, but I’ve been reminded of what a joyous environment it is to perform in, how engaged and excited children are to be out and about and how ready they are to have a really good time — it’s lovely.
How does it feel to be performing the show with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra?
It’s going to be very exciting to have a full orchestra. Normally we’ve performed it with an 18-piece orchestra, so this is going to be quite different to hear a full orchestra perform it.
It will need that for The Playhouse because it’s a big space. It’s going to be an extraordinary thing. We have this very engaging animation that plays as well, so it’s a bit of an event in that sense.
It’s one rehearsal, one call (with the orchestra). They’re all masters of their own instrument and can all sight-read music and play expertly.
What do you love about visiting and performing in Canberra? What do you visit when you’re here?
Going to Dickson Taphouse. My husband grew up in Dickson, so we always go somewhere in Dickson for a meal. I love visiting the National Gallery, I always visit the gallery, I love walking in Canberra, just the usual things, the trees, and I love the Canberra Theatre, it’s a beautiful place to play.
What’s next for you?
I go back on tour with Julia (a play about former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard) in Melbourne, Brisbane and Wollongong, I’m writing and producing and working with The Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
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