Rockhampton actor returns to Pilbeam Theatre Stage in The Sunshine Club
Rockhampton actor Garret Lyon will star in an Australian musical play, to be performed at the Pilbeam Theatre in July.
The Sunshine Club, written and directed by Wesley Enoch, will be the first time Garret has performed on the Pilbeam Theatre stage as a professional actor.
Garret grew up in Rockhampton and attended Rockhampton State High School. He performed in multiple school musicals staged at the Pilbeam Theatre and played the lead role of Heathcliffe in Disco Inferno at the theatre in his final year.
The Sunshine Club is an award-winning musical play that tells the story of Frank Doyle, an Aboriginal serviceman who has come home from World War II to find that although the wider world may have changed, attitudes back home in Brisbane are just the same.
Filled with a defiant energy and ambition for a better life, Frank starts The Sunshine Club, a place where black and white can meet and, most importantly, dance. Here he dreams of a future where he can dance in step with Rose, the girl next door, the girl of his dreams.
When it was first performed, The Sunshine Club was heralded as a "brilliant new landmark in Australian musicals" (The Australian).
"This will be my first time coming back and performing in the Pilbeam as a professional, it's going to be a very emotional full circle moment for me. I can't wait," Garret said.
"I'm so excited to be bringing this show home and performing on country. As a proud Darumbal/Wulli-Wulli man, performing in Rockhampton is always a blessing and I can't wait for everyone to see the show. I'm also super keen to show the cast and crew my old stomping grounds.
Garret credits his interest in performing to his high school teacher Jodie Davies.
"Jodie Davies (Miss Davies) was my favourite teacher, she really saw something in me that I couldn't see in myself and always pushed for me to be the best performer I could be. I owe a lot of my performing skills to her, she really planted that foundation for me," he said.
The award-winning Sunshine Club is a thought provoking, vibrant and joyful night of theatre and music.
It features a talented cast of 11, including emerging and established First Nations artists, and a five piece live band.
The Sunshine Club is written and directed by Wesley Enoch. Music by John Rodgers. Produced by HIT Productions. Presented by Rockhampton Regional Council.
It will be performed at the Pilbeam Theatre on Saturday 6 July at 7.30pm.
