Following on from their success with Prodigal, Bryant and Frank wrote the all-female three-in-one show, Virgins: A Musical Threesome. The first act, The Virgin Wars, trails cheerleaders promoting abstinence followed by Girl On The Screen, a story about a journalist asked to investigate woman running porn sites. The final act, Jumpin’ The Q, sees asylum seekers competing in a reality TV singing contest for Australian citizenship.
Expanding on their success with Prodigal and Virgins, Bryant and Frank wrote Once We Lived Here, a story of a family clinging to their farm in the outback.
One notable thing about Bryant and Frank is these three shows have all featured names that went on to become stars in Australian theatre, from Verity Hunt-Ballad (Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins) to Esther Hannaford (Penny Pingleton in Hairspray), to Trevor Ashley (Edna Turnblad in Hairspray).
As a venture outside of traditional theatre, and written for Christie Whelan (Kira in Xanadu), Bryant and Frank wrote ‘Tegrity: Britney Spears Live in Cabaret, reworking Britney Spears’ songs to tell life through her eyes. Featuring at the 2009 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, it then played at Chapel Off Chapel in Melbourne to rave reviews.
The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is the largest cabaret festival in the world, with over 48 000 people attending annually. Started in 2001, the festival continues to grow and promote cabaret acts from around the world.
Tags: artists, cabaret, Composition, creativity, festival, Matthew Frank, music, music theatre, musical, performance, song writing, theatre
