Most musical theatre artists dream of performing on Broadway or in London’s West End, but debuting in a starring role on the legendary 42nd Street then working for a decade in both destination theatre districts puts Brisbane-bred Sarah Bakker in a special league.
After performing two starring roles in Australian productions – alternating as Mary in Mary Poppins and understudying Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, at just 23 she landed her big break covering the flying nanny on New York’s “great white way”. After already playing the role 135 times back home, Sarah could revel in each of her 16 opportunities starring on the New Amsterdam Theatre stage before Poppins made way for Aladdin, which is still running there 12 years later.
Fortunately when that door closed, her prior experience opened another on Broadway, to again understudy Christine in Phantom. Across the pond in the UK, Sarah’s highlight was playing lead Young Heidi in Follies in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall alongside a stellar cast including Christine Baranski, Lorna Luft and Anita Dobson. She also racked up other impressive cover and ensemble credits in Christopher Wheeldon’s An American in Paris, Chess, and Mrs Henderson Presents.
Eventually though, Sarah missed Australia and her family too much, relocating to Sydney with her husband and daughters (now 6 and 4) in 2021.
Now, this week from June 5-8 Dusty The Musical – In Concert is bringing the triple threat back to where her career began as a nine-year-old playing Little Cosette in the Australian production of Les Miserables – at QPAC (Queensland Performing Arts Centre). The venue only became more special to Sarah after doing another three shows there early in her adult career: Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera, and then Mary Poppins in 2012. Afterwards, Sarah recalls, “I always wondered, ‘Oh, when will I come back to QPAC again?’
“If you'd told me then that this many years later, I would have done Broadway and the West End and have had two kids, I would have been like, ‘What!’ It’s crazy.”
Having loved Dusty the Musical since first seeing the show as a teenager, Sarah is thrilled to be one of 17 outstanding performers recruited by Prospero Arts to transport audiences through the music and life of British pop superstar Dusty Springfield at QPAC’s Concert Hall for just six shows.
“The show is brilliant,” she declares, adding, “Its flow is just wonderful, and makes so much sense” thanks to director Jason Langley working with the 2006 original’s writers to update the book. “It's engaging and uplifting as well as emotional and such a tear jerker at the end.” Then of course there are the songs: “banger after banger”. Sarah anticipates all generations will know hits such as “I Only Want to Be with You”, “Son of a Preacher Man” and “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”, which acclaimed Brisbane-based artist Amy Lehpamer (fresh from & Juliet) will belt out in the title role, backed by an onstage band and a diverse array of dynamic dance routines.
“There’s lots of dancing, lots of singing – it's a big, big show,” Sarah affirms.
She was recruited when the brief went out for great dancers who could sing. Choreographed by in-demand multi-award winner Michael Ralph, whose most recent gong was for ELVIS: a Musical Revolution, the movement in itself promises to be a drawcard for dance fans.
Declaring him “a bit of a genius”, Sarah praises his extensive dance vocabulary and “an innate ability to create the different eras and styles with specificity and detail drawing on his incredible knowledge of stylistic period choreography.
“So he’s done showgirl choreography for us, he’s done a club scene for the guys that’s just so good. And then we've got go-go dancing. We've got old school Hollywood glam, Fred and Ginger-style choreography.
“He’s really captured it all beautifully and done a brilliant job.”
Sarah also has a featured role as Lynne, a member of Dusty’s first professional group, vocal trio the Lana Sisters. Delivering “a really cute little Doo Wop number together” with Amy and Lauren Jimmieson (ELVIS: a Musical Revolution) as Riss is a highlight for the soprano.
Since launching in 2022 to create opportunities in Queensland showcasing established and emerging local talent alongside the nation’s best, Prospero Arts has successfully served up top-notch semi-staged versions of musicals – including Singing in the Rain and Jersey Boys – with brief rehearsal periods. The key ingredient in that winning recipe has been casting high-calibre performers who are versatile, experienced and pick up quickly, Sarah believes.
On top of the appeal for Queenslanders of being able to catch up with family and friends, Prospero’s short commitment benefits parents who want to continue doing the job they love but can’t commit to the long tours that make the Australian theatrical landscape challenging for them.
“These kinds of seasons are so good for people like me to be able to dip in and out of doing shows,” Sarah says.
Belonging to a private Facebook mothers’ group for professional performers that has more than 650 members – many who have done major musicals – Sarah identifies lengthy touring commitments as a common issue that’s detrimental to not only these artists, but also the sector and audiences that are missing out on their performance and life experience.
“It's important that we keep that authenticity in theatre. People like myself that have been overseas and acquired experience, we're at our peak and have got so much to give. And then it's like, well, if you become a mum, then you're giving it all up.
“It would be amazing to find a way where producers can create opportunities for mothers and parents to do job-shares so that they can contribute all that experience – imagine how much richer all the musicals would be.”
Semi-staged and concert presentations also provide a transition pathway allowing artists to focus on less physically-taxing roles as they mature.
Having begun as a three-year-old who accompanied her mum Maree when she taught, Sarah still loves dancing but knows she won’t be able to do so at the same level forever.
“It's nice to still be able to dance but I would love to transition into playing some more lead roles, especially for Prospero,” she states.
Dusty The Musical – In Concert, Concert Hall, QPAC, June 5-8 www.qpac.com.au
-Olivia Stewart