| Bran Nue Dae | |
|---|---|
 Poster of 1993 production in Melbourne | |
| Music | Jimmy Chi Kuckles |
| Lyrics | Jimmy Chi Kuckles |
| Book | Jimmy Chi |
| Productions | 1990 Perth 1990–1991 national tour 1993 Melbourne/Perth 2009 Film Adaptation |
Bran Nue Dae is a 1990 musical set in Broome, Western Australia, that tells stories and of issues relating to Indigenous Australians. It was written by Jimmy Chi and his band Kuckles and friends, and was the first Aboriginal Australian musical. The name is a phonetic representation of "Brand New Day".
Background and description
The musical was originally directed by Andrew Ross and choreographed by Michael Leslie. It premiered at the Octagon Theatre in February–March 1990 as part of the Festival of Perth, and later toured nationally.
The musical won the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards in 1990. The following year the published script and score won the Special Award in the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards. Theatre critic Katharine Brisbane wrote in 1999:
Bran Nue Dae in 1989 was a turning point in the short history of Aboriginal writing for the theatre. Twenty years of evolution: in writers, political activists, actors, dancers, singers and song-writers, preceded it.
Gail Mabo performed in the Sydney run of the musical in 1991. A 1991 television documentary Bran Nue Dae tells the story of the creation of the musical.
The musical was revived for an Australian national tour in 2020.
Film version
Main article: Bran Nue Dae (film)The musical has been turned into a feature film of the same title, directed by Rachel Perkins starring Ernie Dingo, Geoffrey Rush, Jessica Mauboy, Missy Higgins, Deborah Mailman, Magda Szubanski and Dan Sultan. It premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Film. It was theatrically released in Australia on 14 January 2010. It debuted with $2.5 million in its first week, solidifying it as a box office hit. It went on to gross over $7 million, making it one of the most successful Australian films of all time.
References
- Australian Government – Culture and Recreation Portal Archived 29 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine Highlights in Australian theatre history
- "Bran Nue Dae : A Musical Journey". AustLit. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- "Bran Nue Dae". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- "Western Australian Premier's Book Awards – 1991 Winners". State Library of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 9 May 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
- Brisbane, Katharine (1999). "The Future in Black and White: Aboriginality in Recent Australian Drama" – via The Koori History Website.
- "Gail Mabo". Indigenous Law Centre. University of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- Australian screen Bran Nue Dae
- "Bran Nue Dae". Filmnews. Vol. 21, no. 3. 1 April 1991. p. 12. Retrieved 28 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- Bamford, Matt (21 April 2019). "Bran Nue Dae for landmark musical's 30th anniversary tour". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- AdelaideNow Ernie's Bran Nue Dae Archived 3 July 2012 at archive.today
- "Rush adds shining light to Broome's Bran Nue Dae movie project". Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
- "Aboriginal Musical, Unoriginal Music: Australia's Hit Bran Nue Dae" by Aaron Hillis, The Village Voice, 8 September 2010, accessed 23 January 2022
- "Box Office: Daybreakers adds $468,319, Inside Film". Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
Further reading
- Chi, Jimmy; Patrick B. Amat; Garry Gower; Michael Manolis; Stephen Pigram (1991). Bran Nue Dae. Currency Press. ISBN 0-86819-293-7.
- Makeham, Paul B. (1996) Singing the landscape: Bran Nue Dae. Australasian Drama Studies (28): pp. 117–132.