“The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is light-hearted and there’s quite a lot of singing, which I haven’t done in a few years,” says Arrow. “Hamilton is a little bit of a lower sing, so it was nice to sing up a bit after all that. Without giving too much away, it’s a blend of the structure of the Kylie Minogue version and the original, and I’ve added my own flavour at the end.”
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Hosted by the ABC’s Jeremy Fernandez and Megan Burslem, the concert showcases performers from the musicals Dear Evan Hansen and Titanique, as well as Casey Donovan (Sister Act), and Ruva Ngwenya (TINA: The Tina Turner Musical). Also on the bill are Justine Clarke, Tim Draxl and Cody Simpson. A sizeable contingent of the Hamilton cast had the surreal experience of performing on their familiar set transformed for one night into, as Arrow puts it, “a Christmassy cabin”.
“It was so weird,” says Arrow, who is starring in Guys and Dolls on Sydney Harbour after Hamilton wraps in January. “I’ve been up and down those stairs hundreds of times, and I’m still doing that every night. It was strange to be on there not in costume … It was a crazy turnaround for the crew and I have no idea how they did it.”
Like Arrow, Perfect felt the goodwill resonating through the auditorium, with performers, including the Hamilton band, donating their time to raise money and awareness for the mental health charity.
“Christmas is a lot of pressure,” says Perfect. “Families and individuals out there are doing it tough, so it’s great to be able to support Beyond Blue in supporting people who are finding this a difficult time … I’m a big fan of Christmas and the time of year as a stocktake moment. It’s a time when we’re at our most open to each other.”
A (Very) Musical Christmas premieres on Friday, December 20, at 7.30pm on the ABC.
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