Elder Conservatorium alumni premiere new show at Adelaide Fringe 2024
Millicent Sarre and Rosie Russell graduated from the Elder Conservatorium with Bachelors of Music Theatre in 2023. Now, in February 2024, they鈥檙e rehearsing Bisexual Intellectuals, an original and collaborative comedy cabaret that will premiere during the opening week of Adelaide Fringe.
Millicent Sarre by Kieran Humphreys
Millicent has been performing since childhood 鈥 or 鈥渟颈苍肠别 the womb鈥, if you ask her. 鈥My first performance was my mum鈥檚 40th birthday party when I was four years old. I sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow. My grandpa was filming me on the big old camcorder. I was always a performer.鈥 Her career since then has included multiple acclaimed cabarets, including Millicent Sarre is Opinionated, which won Best Cabaret in the Adelaide Fringe Awards in 2023.
In between roles, Millicent also managed to squeeze in a Bachelor of Laws at the University鈥檚 Adelaide Law School. 鈥The advice that I got from a lot of different places was: pick something that鈥檚 going to give you a bit more security and financial stability,鈥 says Millicent. 鈥I think that there鈥檚 a very incorrect perception, a false narrative, that the arts aren鈥檛 an intellectual pursuit or an intellectually rigorous thing to do.鈥
After graduation, she quickly realised that although law allowed her to embody her fierce sense of social justice, it wasn鈥檛 scratching her multiple creative itches. After her first self-devised feminist cabaret proved 鈥渙verwhelmingly successful鈥, she recognised she had found her niche, and chose the Elder Conservatorium to hone her skills. 鈥I鈥檇 like it put on the record please! My music theatre degree was so much harder than my law degree. But ultimately, I can see all this immense progress that I have made as a result of being consistently thrown in the deep end and pushed out of my comfort zone. The law degree wasn鈥檛 as physically or emotionally 迟补虫颈苍驳.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much that we鈥檙e taking from our music theatre training that we wouldn鈥檛 have been able to do otherwise."惭颈濒濒颈肠别苍迟听
Rosie Russell by Kieran Humphreys听
Rosie, by contrast, performed her first role on stage at 16, with a new community theatre group in her hometown of Bendigo. She quickly became immersed in the community. 鈥淚 was sheltered by the fact that it was a very small theatre in a very small town. So, with my rudimentary skills, I was able to do a lot of shows and to play a lot of wonderful roles, which gave me the confidence to audition for drama schools.鈥 Rosie studied a Diploma at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) before choosing the 成人大片 for her Bachelor.
While their journeys to the Elder Conservatorium looked vastly different, these alumni came together quickly as students, sharing a passion for musical theatre, social justice and authenticity on the stage. Their studies allowed both artists lean into personal challenges in a safe environment.
鈥淚 am so grateful for my training,鈥 says Millicent. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much that we鈥檙e taking from our music theatre training that we wouldn鈥檛 have been able to do otherwise. There鈥檚 stuff that we鈥檙e doing physically, vocally, and musically that have been aided by our training.鈥
Rosie adds that Adelaide city itself, with its rich grassroots scene of community theatre, drag and cabaret, also has a special exploratory freedom to offer its budding artists. 鈥淚 feel very grateful that I was able to be here for three years because I was able to be involved in the self-devised scene and flex my muscles鈥攖o dive in, in a very safe, supportive space.鈥
Both Rosie and Millicent aspire to roles in large commercial musical theatre shows, but view the opportunity to write and perform their own original work as a complimentary and important facet of their performance careers. 鈥淚 think if commercial theatre is the only aspect of the arts that you鈥檙e pursuing it can feel crushingly insular,鈥 says Rosie.
Writing also offers freedoms that are harder to find in the commercial musical theatre world. 鈥淚 have a much lower singing voice than a lot of femmes in musical theatre, and it鈥檚 not a vocal type that is written for a lot,鈥 says Rosie. 鈥Writing has been a great avenue to fall back in love with performing after becoming a bit distracted by the corporate behemoth of commercial musical theatre, and to remember all of the creative spark and the joy of why I chose to study it in the first place.鈥 听
Millicent agrees 鈥 in the journey towards those larger roles, the value of their experience on productions like Bisexual Intellectuals can鈥檛 be underestimated. 鈥淚t benefits my career trajectory on multiple fronts. I can think of people like Tim Minchin, Eddie Perfect, Queenie van de Zandt, Gillian Cosgriff, who have really established themselves as very successful cabaret artists, which has meant that they can leverage name recognition to work very successfully in the theatre realm.鈥
鈥淚 also find it so liberating to do work that you have conceived of yourself because you can play to all of your strengths. You can be like, 鈥業 want to throw in a ridiculous tap break in this number!听 I want to rap in German!鈥欌 Millicent says you鈥檒l witness both the tapping and the German rapping in Bisexual Intellectuals, which is a celebration of sexuality existing at the intersection of taboos: female sexuality, health and desire.
Bisexual Intellectuals runs from听Friday 16 - Sunday 25 February 2024
"[The show] is, at its core, completely unapologetic about our lived experiences and our opinions... the time has passed for palatable, apologetic queer representation."Rosie听
鈥淓ven musically, the scope of genres within the show is quite mind boggling,鈥 adds Rosie. 鈥淚t is, at its core, completely unapologetic about our lived experiences and our opinions. Some of it is quite crass and in-your-face, which I think is important. The time has passed for palatable, apologetic queer representation and there鈥檚 no reason for us to censor something that is about our lives and expressing our experiences.鈥 She describes the work as 鈥渃haotically educational鈥.
Alongside their third cast member, Jemma Allen, these talented alumni will bring a unique skillset to the Fringe stage, from a toolkit of talents that has been honed by their years at the Elder Conservatorium. 鈥淣one of us could have single-handedly done any of this 鈥 it鈥檚 such a true collaboration,鈥 says Millicent.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be very joy-filled because it鈥檚 been a joy to write and create.鈥惭颈濒濒颈肠别苍迟听
Rosie has a word of warning to offer for those planning to join their audience: 鈥淵ou are more than welcome to come to Bisexual Intellectuals with your parents, but you should be aware that you might leave with some talking points for family dinner!鈥
Tickets available now from听.