Callan Purcell is taking on one of the most renowned roles in musical theatre - Aaron Burr - in the Brisbane season of the Australian production of the worldwide phenomenon that is Hamilton. Aaron Burr is Hamilton’s nemesis in the show, and this young Indigenous performer tells me on Streets of Your Town how he is rising to the challenge of fleshing out this pivotal character. He has shown his performing chops in the show for the past two years in a range of understudy and swing roles in Hamilto...
Jan 30, 2023•18 min•Season 4Ep. 12
This episode of Streets of Your Town comes to you from the streets of the renowned Woodford Folk Festival, an annual gathering in the week leading up to New Years Day that transforms this peaceful rural idyll into a thriving community of more than 130 thousand people, larger than the nearest Sunshine Coast town of Nambour. As I wandered through the many stages on this land now known as Woodfordia, which was purchased almost 30 years ago to give the festival a secure and ongoing home, there was o...
Jan 19, 2023•17 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Performing in Six the Musical’s Australian tour is the culmination of a lifelong journey for Queensland Conservatorium graduate Vidya Makan, and the realisation of a dream that she could be accepted for her true self on stage. The critically acclaimed Brisbane actor, singer and composer/lyricist has forged her way quickly into the ultra competitive world of musical theatre not only as a performer, but also as a writer, winning awards for two musicals of her own creation now in development, one o...
Dec 28, 2022•19 min•Season 4Ep. 10
In this week’s Streets of Your Town podcast I speak to an Australian treasure. The thrill of performing has never left Marcia Hines, not since she started singing in her church choir as a child in Boston more than 60 years ago. She first moved to Australia from Boston to Sydney at just 16 years old, to star in the Australian production of Hair. Since then, she’s become one of Australia’s most beloved musical treasures, with a career spanning more than five decades, 22 albums, and countless chart...
Nov 17, 2022•13 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Sometimes you meet someone whose dedication to their craft is so meticulous and thorough, you just have to find out what drives their passion. So it was with international award winning photographer Erick Regnard. He and his twin brother Ian have travelled the world doing high-end art and advertising photography. They heard about the wonders of underwater photography in Niue, a tiny island off Tonga, with water so clear it was like being suspended in space. And so they designed their underwater ...
Nov 11, 2022•22 min•Season 4Ep. 8
This episode of Streets of Your Town is a story of hope and reconciliation, through science. The people of the Torres Strait Islands in far north Queensland have known for thousands upon thousand of years how their people have journeyed far across the Coral Sea, and now - finally - that First Nations knowledge is being more widely recognised. The Queensland Museum exhibition Connections Across the Coral Sea: A Story of Movement, brings together First Nations knowledge with archaeological researc...
Oct 12, 2022•18 min•Season 4Ep. 7
It’s not often you talk to someone whose love for what they do is so infectious that it draws you into their world and makes you want to be part of it. That was how I felt after speaking with Maestro Umberto Clerici - the world renowned cellist with a vision to take the music of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra to the world stage. As he tells us on this episode of Streets of Your Town, he defied the traditional route of how to become a conductor by being appointed the QSO’s Chief conductor desi...
Jul 23, 2022•21 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Rising from impoverished beginnings in communist China, to international ballet dancer and author of best selling autobiography Mao’s Last Dancer, Li Cunxin has lived an enormous life on stages around the world. But as he tells us on this episode of Streets of Your Town, he is still full of gratitude for the opportunities he’s been able to embrace, particularly his present role as Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet, a tenure which has just been extended. Mao’s Last Dancer became an internati...
Jun 14, 2022•20 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Nearly two decades on from her meteoric rise to fame with her surprise Australian Idol win at just 16 years of age, Casey Donovan is enjoying a renaissance in her musical career. She’s on a national tour around Australia starring as Judy Bernly in the musical production of 9 to 5, attracting many accolades, with spontaneous standing ovations after her showstopper solo Get Out and Stay Out. And she won’t stay still once that tour’s done, going back on the road in September with a series of live a...
May 26, 2022•17 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Reviving Indigenous languages through song is the driving force for Rochelle Pitt-Watson’s music. Her Quandamooka and Meriam heritage underlie all of her songs, and she hopes that performing them brings some relief from the stresses of these post-covid times. Rochelle is one of the First Nations artists taking centre stage at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in May for Clancestry—A Celebration of Country. She tells us on Streets of Your Town about the significance of being part of a festiva...
May 01, 2022•19 min•Season 4Ep. 3
This week on Streets of Your Town, we speak to renowned author and proud Wiradjuri woman Dr Anita Heiss, who is a special guest of the 60th Brisbane Writers Festival coming up in May. It's a pivotal year for Anita, as its ten years since the original edition of her book "Amy I Black Enough For You" was released, and it's also the 60th anniversary of the festival itself. In Brisbane, and many areas around south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales, floods have inundated our homes, towns a...
Apr 01, 2022•15 min•Season 4Ep. 2
I figured we all need some light and hope in the world right now, so I’m bringing Streets of Your Town to you from Daylesford in regional Victoria, where the Chill Out Festival takes over the town from March 10 to 14. Many of you will know plenty about the party that is Sydney Mardi Gras. What you may not know is that little Daylesford is on the map for its own pride festival, which this year celebrates its 25 year silver jubilee. The town comes alive with a Carnivale, champagne and Chill Out St...
Mar 07, 2022•13 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Karen Jacobsen's voice is familiar to the users of more than a billion devices worldwide, as the voice of Siri. But her movements in the past year are less well known than her voice, which has directed people to their destination through GPS devices around the globe. The pandemic meant she picked up from her home of 20 years in New York, and returned to Australia. She tells us on Streets of Your Town podcast, that she thought this would be a short sojourn. But more than 18 months down the track,...
Dec 24, 2021•26 min•Season 3Ep. 23
While many people have heard of the Torres Strait Islands at the northern tip of Australia, not as many know the fascinating history and influence this archipelago paradise has played in Australia's history and future. From the tip of Cape York to the borders of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, the Torres Strait—or now increasingly known as Zenadth Kes—covers an area of more 200 islands over 48 thousand square kilometres. The Queensland Museum is bringing a touch of this beauty and complexity to ...
Dec 06, 2021•37 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Today we're going to North Stradbroke Island in the sparkling jewel that is Moreton Bay in Queensland’s south-east. It’s known as "Straddie" to some. But to the Quandamooka Aboriginal people, who have a connection to the island going back more than 20,000 years, it is known it as Minjerribah, meaning “island in the sun”. Delvene Cockatoo-Collins is a First Nations artist based here, like generations of her family before her. Her works are now sold around the world and were featured in her design...
Oct 13, 2021•18 min•Season 3Ep. 21
"Tucked away in the hustle and relentless movement of Cairns’ famous Rusty’s Markets on Sheridan Street, is a local institution. Billy’s coffee has its own loyal gathering of locals every market day, and behind the coffee machine coordinating the barista symphony is the ever smiling Billy Hoade. He’s been serving up coffee from his beloved Papua New Guinea for more than 15 years, expanding now to running his own roastery. And today, on Streets of Your Town, we’re going to find out from Billy him...
Sep 30, 2021•11 min•Season 3Ep. 20
This episode of Streets of Your Town straddles two continents on opposite sides of the world - Ireland and Australia. Where the wild Atlantic ocean whips the rocky cliffs of Ireland’s west coast, the people of the small county of Mayo are contemplating whether they can overcome a hoo doo of 70 years. Is it a Coincidence or a curse? I delve into the mystery of how this county has not won an All Ireland Gaelic Football Final since 1951, despite making it to the finals of arguably Ireland’s most im...
Sep 03, 2021•27 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Across the sparkling Trinity Inlet that separates Cairns from the southern beaches beyond, is a small Indigenous community that’s successfully renewed its sacred country from years of degradation, and is now on the cusp of great success. Mandingalbay Yidinji country straddles two great world heritage areas in far north Queensland, the Wet Tropics and the Great Barrier Reef, stretching out to the Coral Sea. In this episode of Streets of Your Town Executive Director Dale Mundraby tells us stories ...
Aug 25, 2021•23 min•Season 3Ep. 18
This week in Bundaberg, on Queensland’s central Coast, a small but significant ceremony started to turn a long history of exploitation and shame around. And we bring it to you on this episode of Streets of Your Town. Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey, took the step of becoming the first representative of any government in Australia, to say sorry for blackbirding, the practice where more than 62-thousand Pacific Islanders were brought to Australia from the 1860s to the turn of the 20th century. Many w...
Aug 06, 2021•24 min•Season 3Ep. 17
This week on Streets of Your Town we feature the extraordinary project, called Scattered People. The documentary was a six year labour of love, following two young Iranian asylum seekers navigating Australia’s immigration detention system, and the unexpected connections they make through music. Musicians such as John Butler, Missy Higgins, Dan Sultan, Archie Roach, Baker Boy, Michael Franti, and Katie Noonan all took part. Scattered People is a heartfelt story about connection and the power of m...
Jul 26, 2021•26 min•Season 3Ep. 16
In efforts to bring you a little lock down cheer and hope in the world, in this episode of Streets of Your Town we’ll meet a group of people who cook home made meals for the homeless, rain, hail, or pandemic shine. "Dig In" hasn’t missed a single service to the people who eagerly await their homely meal, with hundreds of volunteers on the roster to cook every Saturday since it was started by four school mates on October 28th 2017. Come with me on this episode of Streets of Your Town to meet this...
Jul 02, 2021•22 min•Season 3Ep. 15
It’s a giant grass that many Australians would be familiar with seeing, but not so familiar with eating. When properly prepared, Bamboo is nutrient-rich, and is in fact a staple of many Asian country’s diets. Big Heart Bamboo founder, farmer and entrepreneur Becky Dart is forging a new industry on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast - growing, cooking and preserving bamboo to eat. We walk around her bamboo farm on this episode of Streets of Your Town, and Becky explains how Bamboo is the world’s largest...
Jun 15, 2021•20 min•Season 3Ep. 14
As part of Reconciliation Week in Australia, Streets of Your Town speaks to trailblazing Aboriginal entrepreneur and proud Wiradyuri man Birrunga Wiradyuri. His gallery and dining experience in the heart of Brisbane, aptly named Birrunga, has overcome the challenges of COVID to continue as the only Indigenous-owned and operated commercial Cultural hub in Meanjin, otherwise known as the Brisbane CBD. As well as being an accomplished artist of international renown, Birrunga is well known for his w...
Jun 02, 2021•25 min•Season 3Ep. 13
While Australia’s history of blackbirding is becoming more well known and understood, there are many local histories that are only now coming to light. It’s estimated more than 62,000 Melanesians were brought to Australia to work as indentured labour on farms between 1863 and 1904. A garden and gathering place nestled peacefully next to the Caboolture River at North Harbour just north of Brisbane, stands as tribute to the kanakas, or South Sea Islanders, many of whom were brought against their w...
Apr 13, 2021•20 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Australian singer extraordinaire Katie Noonan is refusing to let the Covid-19 pandemic get in the way of her dreams. This incredibly prolific musician has produced 20 albums, and won five Aria’s for her endlessly innovative body of work. Her creativity knows no bounds, from leading the Queensland Music Festival as artistic director, to putting a jazz spin on 80’s classics in her last album The Sweetest Taboo. Now, as Katie tells us on Streets of Your Town podcast, she is giving audiences the cha...
Apr 05, 2021•31 min•Season 3Ep. 10
While I was in Adelaide recently for the city’s world renowned fringe festival, it was wonderful to see the city buzzing again in the aftermath of the Covid-19 devastation on the region’s all important arts sector. All the little theatres were full of innovative creativity and people happily walking through alleyways underneath glittering lights as they made their way from one show to the next. One of these little productions I stumbled upon absolutely blew me away - Happy Go Wrong by Andi Snell...
Apr 01, 2021•29 min•Season 3Ep. 9
This week we celebrate International Women’s Day around the world, and the achievements of women through the ages. As part of those celebrations I was invited to speak for a group of senior hospital administrators at a celebratory breakfast for International Women’s Day. This year’s theme was Choose to Challenge - so I looked at how that has driven my journalism and inspired my love and respect for the power of audio storytelling. Part of my speech talks about my investigation into a pivotal cas...
Mar 12, 2021•17 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, is the most remote island on earth, more than 3700 kilometres off the coast of Chile. For many people the main thing they know about Rapa Nui is the hundreds of giant stone statues standing up to 20 metres high, looking out over the island. And while these colossal statues known as Moai are incredible, there is so much more to this remote volcanic island, where the civilisation remained largely untouched by external influence for a thousand years. Yoyo Tuki comes from...
Feb 23, 2021•16 min•Season 3Ep. 7
How do you come back from devastating defeat? What do you do to recover when you realise something you believed in, is not anything like what you thought it was? Mel Manley is the owner of The Imperial Hotel at Eumundi, which under her creative guidance has become the main meeting place in this bohemian hamlet in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. She is also a great believer in giving back, and so supported the establishment of an orphanage and charity in Nepal, in the hope of giving children there...
Feb 01, 2021•29 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Today on Streets of Your Town podcast, we talk to former Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja about her appointment to a top United Nations... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 27, 2020•42 min•Season 3Ep. 5
