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Sybylla Melvyn is finding her voice.
Growing up in the 90s – the 1890s, that is – life doesn’t throw a lot of options at a girl. But life didn’t reckon on Sybylla. Forced to choose between romance and her own genius, her family and a future she defines, she’s decided she’s having it all.
Miles Franklin’s novel My Brilliant Career gets a bold new makeover that transforms one of the most enduring literary figures into a musical heroine for this very moment, with a live soundtrack that’s equal parts contemporary pop, folksy bush band and raucous pub rock. An adaptation with edge, this re-imagining captures the playful and effervescent spirit of a young woman ready to take on the world.
Sheridan Harbridge is an award-winning actor, writer and director, graduating from NIDA in 2006. For Melbourne Theatre Company she has appeared in Meet Me at Dawn, Prima Facie, The Beast, The Speechmaker, North by Northwest. Her first musical Songs for the Fallen won multiple awards including Best Musical at the New York Music Theatre Festival. In 2022 she directed 44 Sex Acts in One Week for Sydney Festival, and the new Australian musical Dubbo Championship Wrestling for the Hayes Theatre, earning a Best Director nomination at the Sydney Theatre Awards. As a member of the Griffin Studio 2016, she developed and directed Nosferatutu. Other theatre acting credits include A Streetcar Named Desire, Stop Girl, Calamity Jane, The Sugar House, Girl Asleep, The Dog/The Cat (Belvoir); Kill Climate Deniers, Jump for Jordan (Griffin Theatre Company); Queen Fatima (Sydney Festival); Muriel’s Wedding (Sydney Theatre Company) and Gaybies (Darlinghurst). Recent TV credits include The Twelve (Foxtel) and The Messenger (ABC). She won Best Actress at the Sydney Theatre Awards for her performances in Prima Facie and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Dean Bryant is an award-winning writer and director who was Associate Director of Melbourne Theatre Company (2016-2019), where he most recently directed Bloom. His other Melbourne Theatre Company credits include Torch the Place, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lady in the Van, An Ideal Husband, Wild, Vivid White, Born Yesterday, Skylight, I’ll Eat You Last and Next to Normal. He met partner Mathew Frank while studying at WAAPA where they wrote Prodigal, which won a Green Room Award and was produced off-Broadway. Other musicals include Once We Lived Here (Green Room award), Virgins: A Musical Threesome, The Silver Donkey, and songs for Mr & Mrs Murder. Dean created verbatim theatre plays Gaybies and Well, That Happened. Cabaret work includes Christie Whelan-Browne vehicles Show People and Britney Spears: The Cabaret. He wrote and directed the short Rhyme Time. Recent credits as director include Dear Evan Hansen (STC/MCG); La Boheme (Opera Australia); Candide (Victorian Opera); A Little Night Music (Hayes Theatre Co, Sydney Theatre award); Giustino (Pinchgut); Fun Home (Melbourne Theatre Company/STC, Sydney Theatre, Green Room awards), Hubris & Humiliation (STC) and The Normal Heart (STCSA).
