About the Album: The original cast recording of new musical My Brilliant Career is now available to stream on iTunes, Spotify and all major platforms.
The musical, by award-winning writers Dean Bryant and Mathew Frank (Prodigal, Once We Lived Here, Virgins: A Musical Threesome) is based on the iconic Miles Franklin novel and stars Helpmann-award nominee Luisa Scrofani (In the Heights) as Sybylla Melvyn. The album features industry stars Natalie O'Donnell (Mamma Mia!), Anne Wood (Beautiful), James Millar (Matilda), rising star Andrew Coshan (Melbourne Theatre Company's A View from the Bridge and upcoming As You Like It) and recent graduates Alister Kingsley, Jerome Javier and Melanie Bird.
My Brilliant Career takes us into the world of fiery misfit Sybylla as she wrestles against the restricted life on offer for a young woman in rural Australia a hundred years ago. We follow wannabe-writer Syb from her drought-struck farm to the paradise of her grandmother's estate, where she grows into her looks and her mind, fighting and flirting with the local aristocrats. An offer of marriage forces the ultimate choice; will she become just another wife or risk it all in hopes of a 'brilliant career'?
Commissioned and developed in 2019 through the Jeanne Pratt Artists in Residence Program at Monash University, the musical is directed by Petra Kalive (Associate Director, MTC) with dramaturgy by Anna Barnes (STC's Lethal Indifference, ABC's Content). The album features the orchestrations/musical supervision of James Simpson, (Associate MD Chicago) and a 7-piece band.
Bryant and Frank's first musical Prodigal won the Green Room Award and had an off-Broadway season starring Kerry Butler and Christian Borle two years later. Once We Lived Here won Green Room awards for their score and Best Actress Esther Hannaford, and has been produced in New York and London, while Virgins: A Musical Threesome was an invited show at the New York Music Theatre Festival. Dean is a Helpmann Award-winning director (Sweet Charity) and was Associate Director at MTC 2016-19 (Kiss of the Spider Woman, An Ideal Husband, The Lady in the Van). Mathew is a composer/sound designer (MTC's Private Lives, Skylight, An Ideal Husband) and music director (GFO's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Pirates of Penzance and La Cage Aux Folles at The Production Company). They created smash-hit Britney Spears: The Cabaret for Christie Whelan-Browne.
Label: Bryant & Frank Productions
