Categories: News

Your Sunday Afternoon Zen: Nancye Hayes sings “I’m a Brass Band”

It’s a throwback Sunday here at AussieTheatre, as we showcase one of our great leading ladies of the Australian musical theatre: Nancye Hayes. Having appeared in countless shows – most recently in Beyond Desire – Hayes is a director, performer, and source of inspiration from an industry that is still learning how to curate its own history.

Nancye Hayes in Carols by Cabaret. Image by Kurt Sneddon

Also, she has a theatre named after her, the flourishing Hayes Theatre in Sydney. Which is not exactly common practice in Australia!

The Hayes Theatre opened their doors eighteen months ago with Dean Bryant’s new take on Sweet Charity. The dark and pulsing red gritty production enjoyed a sell out season, Helpmann Awards, and an Australian tour – an incredible success.

But one of the other reasons that Sweet Charity was so exciting as an opening for the Hayes Theatre was that Nancye Hayes herself was our beloved Charity Hope Valentine, having played the role to great critical and audience acclaim in 1967.

This afternoon, let’s go back to those times. To Nancye Hayes, singing and dancing up a storm. What more could you want?

Happy Sunday!

Cassie Tongue

Cassie is a theatre critic and arts writer in Sydney, and was the deputy editor of AussieTheatre. She has written for The Guardian, Time Out Sydney, Daily Review, and BroadwayWorld Australia. She is a voter for the Sydney Theatre Awards.

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