For a VERY limited time, Natalie Bassingthwaighte is hitting the Canberra stage in a one-woman show.
She will feature in Shirley Valentine at the Canberra Theatre Centre from 19-23 March.
“I haven’t done a theatre show in Canberra,” the singer and actress told CD.
“I’ve only ever done one in my life; the rest have been music but not straight theatre.”
Bassingthwaighte said she was excited to bring the show to Canberra in her first acting role in the nation’s capital.
“I’ve always wanted to be given the opportunity to play harder roles, and they don’t come around often,” she said.
“I was fortunate to be cast in Jagged Little Pill, which was the hardest until Shirley Valentine came along, bringing it to a whole different level.
“The story itself, the accent—it pushed my acting chops to another level.
“And the comedy part—as actors, you get typecast sometimes, so sometimes you don’t get other roles.
“It was daunting at first when I was offered the role, then I thought I’ll take on the challenge, read the scripts and go through the discovery of how on earth it’s going to happen.”
Shirley Valentine is a timeless London West End and New York Broadway comedy that takes you on a journey of self-discovery, laughter and second chances.
Shirley is an unassuming housewife from Liverpool with a dream—and a passport.
Talking to her kitchen wall, she dreams of escape and wonders what happened to the adventurous girl she once was.
When a friend invites her on a spontaneous holiday to Greece, Shirley takes a bold leap into the unknown.
With humour, charm and grit, she rediscovers her passion for life and her sense of self.
Will she return to her old ways, or will Shirley find a new life where she can finally be her true self?
With Bassingthwaighte’s magnetic charm and powerhouse performance, this one-woman tour de force will have you laughing, crying and cheering for Shirley’s bold new chapter.
It is also a 1989 film that was adapted from a screenplay written by Willy Russell in 1986, taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working-class Liverpool housewife, it focused on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad.
Bassingthwaighte had never seen the film before taking on the role.
“I decided to read the script first and I watched the film after,” she said.
“The play is really beautiful, and the film is amazing.”
Bassingthwaighte said the thing she loved the most about the show was interacting with the audience.
“The audiences are so moved by the script,” Bassingthwaighte said.
She laughed when asked how the preparation compared to having a full cast on stage alongside her.
“It’s the scariest, most daunting thing I’ve ever done,” Bassingthwaighte said.
“The process was fascinating. I started learning my accent and script in November when I got the role.
“It was just drilling it down and not thinking about the character much and getting my head around the accent.”
Bassingthwaighte said she had to learn 40 pages of dialogue.
“I was like ‘How does anyone do that?’ I forget what happened two minutes ago.”
She said not having an understudy who could step in when she was unable to do a show meant she had to take care of herself, which included protecting her voice.
“Talking a lot—for two hours—and in another accent is vocally draining – it’s also emotionally draining doing the show for two hours,” Bassingthwaighte said.
“No pressure Canberra, but I’ve had standing ovations every show.
“There’s a real beautiful connection with the audience that I love so much.
“I get off with a buzz, then I’m exhausted after the adrenaline wears off.”
She said the show was only meant to run in Melbourne for three weeks, but will now also have runs in Canberra and Adelaide.
“Hopefully people get behind Shirley Valentine; we thought Melbourne was going to be the only place, but people were moved and had such a great reception.
“The stars aligned—that’s all that we’ve got locked in.
“Get a ticket or you’ll miss out”.
Show details:
Shirley Valentine will run at Canberra Theatre Centre from 7:30pm on 19-22 March, with matinee shows from 1:30pm on 22 (live captioned) and 23 March.
Tickets can be purchased online at canberratheatrecentre.com.au or by calling the box office on (02) 6275 2700.
Who is Natalie Bassingthwaighte?
In between performing in Shirley Valentine, Bassingthwaighte tours with her band Rogue Traders and as a solo artist, and looks after her two children, all while currently moving house and “hopefully having a little downtime eventually”.
She has worked as a presenter on Changing Rooms, a judge and mentor on The X Factor Australia and as an ARIA Awards co-host. She also won a Logie for her three-year stint as host of So You Think You Can Dance.
She was also a finalist on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and appeared in The Amazing Race Australia alongside her sister Mel.
Her film and television credits include Baz Luhrmann’s movie Elvis, The Wrong Girl, Neighbours and Brock.
On the stage, she has appeared in Australian productions of Grease, Rent, Footloose and Chicago.
