Bianca Bruce Is Putting A Deeper Spin On A Wicked Stepsister!
Rogers and Hammerstein鈥檚 Cinderella, currently playing a lavish season at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne until the end of July, touring up to Brisbane in August and then down to Sydney in October, stars Bianca Bruce as one of the wicked stepsisters, Charlotte.聽
Bruce, who is an openly queer actor, spent some of her precious free time talking to 17c起草社区 about tackling her most extravagant role yet, including those extremely detailed costumes!
鈥淎 lot of the shows I鈥檝e done before are more modern-day shows where you are wearing everyday clothes but this one, honestly the costumes are so large and (laughing) the Regent Theatre where we鈥檙e performing has a lot of stairs so I鈥檓 finding stairs really difficult, I鈥檓 getting very strong thighs! It is something that is quite crazy, coming in and just seeing the layers and layers of skirts and all of the preparation that has gone into the costumes and the wardrobe, the wigs!聽
Stepsisters Lament
鈥淚t really is quite astonishing, just to see all of those cogs working backstage every single night, I haven鈥檛 been involved in something that has had so much happening but they make it look effortless!鈥�
Does tackling a role like one of Cinderella鈥檚 stepsisters, as a queer actor, give Bruce license to explore different character nuances in a way that might not be available to heterosexual actors?
鈥淚t鈥檚 interesting with this particular character, there鈥檚 a song called Stepsisters Lament and Charlotte, all she鈥檚 ever been told is, you鈥檝e got to marry well and find a wealthy husband and that鈥檚 gonna save the family and that鈥檚 good for you.
鈥淎nd I think from my perspective looking at that going, ok maybe she doesn鈥檛 necessarily want to fall in love with a man, it鈥檚 just about a means, a means of living and I think that it鈥檚 probably given me that agency to鈥� how I immediately read it, when going in for the audition, was that she鈥檚 really just trying to grapple with the idea that there鈥檚 something wrong with how and who society decides is right for approval or right to be a leader or the correct person to be held up in the world.鈥�
Catch Bianca Bruce and her talented cast mates, including Todd McKenney (Melbourne Only) and Ainsley Melham in Cinderella, Melbourne鈥檚 Regency Theatre until 23rd July, then touring to Brisbane and Sydney. Tickets and details at
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