THE SONGS OF LUCY O'BRIEN & KATIE WESTON

 The Songs of Katie Weston & Lucy O'Brien will be a thrilling night of new, Australian musical theatre from two of Melbourne's most exciting female composer/performers. The evening will feature O'Brien's newest, never before heard, musical work A Sharp Intake Of Breath. It will also dive deeper into Weston's newest song cycle - Falling Forward. Both VCA composition graduates, performers and musicians in their own right, Weston & O'Brien will be joined by an outstanding cast of performers ready to showcase this exciting new material. With special guest support act as well, this will be a Sunday evening to get down to the brand new MC Showroom to support Melbourne musical theatre.A Sharp Intake of Breath follows Melburnians around the city on December 23, as two daughters and their father realise they'll all be spending their Christmas separately and alone, by choice or circumstance. Despite this, the songs are a celebration of our city, of hot summer days, of being awake all night, of belonging and of getting out alive.Falling Forward is a dark, contemporary song cycle that navigates it's way through the lives of a group of 6 people over 6 months. Exploring personal limits and risking everything to move forward within these interrelationships, our characters deal with heartache, love, freedom, depression, infidelity, suicide, hope and connectedness. "Sometimes you have to fall to move forward. Sometimes you have to hurt to even know you're alive".About the Artists:KATIE WESTONKatie Weston is a Melbourne based singer/actor, keyboardist, songwriter/composer, voice coach/music teacher and director. Tertiary qualifications include: M.Mus - Contemporary Voice/Tim Smith (MCM), B.Mus - Composition (VCA), Ad.Dip.M.Perf - Voice (NMIT) and a P.Grad.Dip - Teaching (LaTrobe). Weston consistently gigs throughout Australia as a front woman, vocalist and keyboardist for numerous corporate and function bands including STELLAR, Lark Music, The Baker Boys and The Bombastics. Weston has received two MTGV Best Actress Awards for Jesus Christ Superstar (Mary, CLOC) and Chicago (Roxie Hart, WMTC). Other credits include: Frankenstein (Elizabeth, WMTC), Godspell (Celisse, Magnormos), RENT (Maureen, WHMT) and Songs For A New World (Woman 2, fortyfivedownstairs). Her debut pop/rock EP, Say The Word, is available on Spotify and iTunes with music video releases. As an MT composer, Weston’s work, including the Pulp Fiction inspired Sugartown, has been showcased in Sydney (New Musicals Australia) and in Melbourne (Chapel Off Chapel, StageArt, Homegrown). She is also resident music director and judge for Take The Mic Australia singing competitions and showcases. www.katiewestonmusic.com.auLUCY O'BRIEN

Lucy is a composer, music director, arranger, pianist and singer. This year, she is Monash University's Artist in Residence, creating a new Australian musical. Her MD credits include Company (Watch This Productions, fortyfivedownstairs, 2015, and Victorian Regional Tour, 2016), Godspell (Sydney Opera House & Melbourne Arts Centre, 2016), and Flourish Production's Sing On Through Tomorrow, (Melbourne Cabaret Festival),The Songs of Alan Menken, (Chapel Off Chapel) and The Songs of Cy Coleman (Bennett's Lane). She completed the Music Direction Intensive with Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut in 2017.

She has arranged for Meow Meow's The Little Mermaid (Malthouse Theatre), Carole King: The Songbook of Her Life (national tour 2016) and new musical The Gathering (fortyfivedownstairs, 2016). Her own musical theatre pieces include Millionaire (fortyfivedownstairs, 2014) and Devoted (Midsumma, 2014). She earned a coveted Besen Placement on Timeshare (Lally Katz, Malthouse Theatre) in 2015 after graduating from the VCA (BFA Interactive Composition).

She currently hosts Fab Fridays at the Butterfly Club with Andrew Strano, plays for their improvised musical troupe, Original Cast, and teaches for Stage School Australia.

Reviews:"As a music theatre composer, Katie's songs are always fresh and on the pulse with an emotional depth that makes them special. It's always a treat to hear her latest creation."- Ben Nicholson and Nick Hedger (Home Grown Co-Founders)“... a thrilling performance of Mary Magdalene from Katie Weston. Unlike many biblical interpretations of this character, Weston brought grit, strength, and desire to the role. Vocally, she was outstanding – her performance of ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’ was unlike any rendition previously heard. Weston’s phrasing, emotion, and vocal choices were all truly her own ..."- Thearepeople.com.au"She is one of the strongest singers I have heard doing this style of music in Melbourne for a long time. One of the best EP’s (Say The Word 2010) I have heard this year!"- Chris Parx, parx-e.com