This new concept for entertainment in Port Macquarie is based on Broadway Unplugged, which is an open mic musical theatre night at venues in Sydney and Melbourne, where performers can “road test” songs for auditions and put themselves in front of an audience.

Principals of TheatreOz Sarah and Mark Morabito wanted to provide another option for performers in the Hastings, besides The Players Theatre.

“There are a lot of talented people here and a lot of interest in musical theatre,” Sarah says. “It’s also an opportunity for people who might not regularly attend theatre, to see a performance in a cabaret style,” Mark says.

Fifteen singers – Kate Petrie, Dana Skinner, Matthew Symons, Erin Kershaw, Kia Wood, Jordan Frith-Nutt, Christopher Phillips, Maemie Bann-Murray, Kerryn Lindley, Harley Lindley, Anna Somers, Barbara Sherrin, Simone Berry – including the Morabitos, will present some familiar and some less familiar songs from Broadway musicals, accompanied on piano by Lydia Willis.

Mark, whose was a standout as Leo Bloom in The Producers at Players earlier this year, will sing The Phone Call from The Lucky Stiff, What do I need with Love from Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Oh, What a Beautiful Morning from Oklahoma! among others. 

Sarah will perform Surabaya-Santa from Songs for a New World, the duet What you don’t know about Women from City of Angels with Petrie, Your Daddy’s Son from Ragtime and more. 

Other songs you will hear include Roxy from Chicago, If They Could See Me Now from Sweet Charity, Show Off from The Drowsy Chaperone, With You from Ghost the Musical.

Sarah says the performers chose the songs with guidance from herself and Mark, both of whom have degrees in Music Theatre from Ballarat University. The couple worked professionally in Melbourne after graduating, before moving to Port Macquarie, where they got married and launched into the local arts scene.

TheatreOz operates from the Girl Guide Hall on Hollingworth Street, offering industry level training, group music theatre, singing classes and workshops for juniors, seniors and adults.

They hope to stage the cabaret nights quarterly as an opportunity for their students to perform in a professional environment. 

Tickets are $10 and can be reserved at theatreoz@gmail.com or call Mark on 0413 926 061 or Sarah on 0421 845 900.