All Episodes

April 10, 2025 • 12 mins
Bronny Lane chats to Subculture about the show that she has co-written, directed and produced at this year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival - Popera.
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Okay listener as well, we are still taking a look
at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for this year and
now we've got a brand new show that we want
you to find out a little bit about what happens
if you mix pop and opera together. Well, it gives
birth to a one woman interactive show that's only on
for four shows. So we thought today we would actually

(00:24):
get one of the people behind popra on the phone
to chat a little bit about this amazing show. So
welcome to the program, Bronnie Lane, Thank.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
You, thanks for having it. Saw me.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
So, Bronnie, tell us a little bit about Popraa because
of course this show did so well at Adelaide Fringe,
now it's come to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Tell
us a little bit about the show and what audiences
can expect.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yeah, so basically it's a narrative piece, but it's wrapped
within a game show. The game show is a female
game show host. It's about you know, pop quiz questions
I guess about pop and opera, and our audience members
are invited to be you know, a part of that
terms of answering questions and getting up on stage. But

(01:13):
within that there's another story, which is that our game
show host, who has her assistant who also happens to
be her boyfriend, doesn't turn up, and so because he
doesn't turn up, there's sort of like this, what do
I do now I've been left in the lurch? How
am I going to cope? And out of that sort
of grows this kind of feminist message of you.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Know, I am woman, I am invincible, I could do anything.
She rises above.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Well, we start it's the one woman show, but really
the accompanist is a part of the story, and there's
video interactivity where we see Trevor the accompanist, and there's
a narrator who's been Sorenston.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
So it's a one woman show.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Kinder, So tell us a little bit about how it
first came together. Where did this idea first come from?

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Sure?

Speaker 3 (02:01):
So, I mean people who have ever heard of me
would probably think that I'm more like an entertainment publicist,
and I sure am an entertainment.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Publicist, and you get to work with lots of different people,
but I'm also a storyteller.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
My background is actually in music, and I studied at
the Conservatorium of Music and College of the Arts, and
also studied music at UCLA in America in LA. So
although I do work, you know, shining the light on
everybody else's talent, I have always been a performer and
a storyteller in my own right. And I've published children's

(02:39):
books and made short films and have a feature film
that I've nearly finished in the works as well. So
I met Uma on her show Intolerant, and you know,
you sort of learn more about each other because you know,
as her publicist for that show, you know, you kind
of get friendly. Well, I would say I've become friends

(02:59):
with my clients, which is nice. Anyway, we were sort
of joking around about our background, shared background in music,
and how we both love singing pop songs but in
an operatic style.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
So you know, sort of think of something that's you know,
I don't.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
Know, like Baby Metallica, you know, and to the Sandman,
you know, singing it said like as if you're an
opera singer. And you know, Ima said I always wanted
to make a show like that, and I said I
always wanted to make a show like that, and then
we were.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Like, we're meant to make a show like that together.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
So yeah, I've sort of been focused on filmmaking for
the past decade, and I'd really been wanting to make
a theater piece, and when this happened, I jumped at
the opportunity. And Uma likewise was super keen to, you know,
make it happen. I guess because I could sort of
bring things to the table, like being a producer, because

(03:54):
I've produced other shows that have been in comedy first.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Of all, you know, so there was all that, yeah,
you know, then we gave birth to our baby, COOPERA.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
So how difficult do you find that wearing different hats?
Because I found that last year because I had a
play on at the end of last year, and I
found that it was very much like that where you
turn up for your radio job in the morning and
then you have to go to rehearsals that night and
it's like, oh, now I've got to be the director, writer,
whereas today I was doing this. Is it difficult? Do
you find that difficult to wear those multiple hats?

Speaker 3 (04:28):
So, because I'm a classically trained pianist, so because you know,
growing up like I always was juggling, Like I was
at school, I was doing homework, I was practicing the piano,
I was going to my lessons. I was playing basketball,
I was going to training, I was you know, hanging
out with friends. Like always juggling. So for me, I've

(04:50):
never really found it that hard. But I think it's
just purely because it's kind of the way I grew up.
Even when I was at UNI studying music, I was
still working.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
I was actually working at the Art Center, and then
I was also.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Singing in the Melbourne corl and you know, also having
to obviously practice the counter and study on top of
all of that. So even then I was still juggling.
So I think when I have found it the most difficult. Actually,
this is the first year I've bad it really hard,

(05:27):
and it's just purely because I think more because I've
got staff, so I'm managing my staff, obviously managing a tour,
and then also doing all of my client work. I've
worked with incredible talent and there's just so much demand
for their time from the media, so you know, I've
got lots of rap around support with my team.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
But that's this really year is really I would say
the only.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
Year that I found it hard that I had to
go up to Sydney for BMW or Patol and then
I had to come back the next day for Melbourne Carnival,
and like it was just insane, Like I've had just
the most insane for months.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
And on top of that, you know, touring a show
to Adelaide and then Melbourne, and then we found out.

Speaker 3 (06:06):
We got into Sydney Comedy Festival. So and I had kids.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah that's complexity too.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
So yeah, yeah, it is really full on yesterday. Some
of our listeners will probably realize when they hear some
of the interviews. I had a baby. I've just adopted
a little kitten, and he decided to come in and
start playing with stuff while I was recording an interview.
So yeah, yeah, it is so it is so hard

(06:38):
to juggle at times. But bringing it back to Popera,
working with Uma on this show, it must have been
something that you both enjoyed because this was something that
you have both been wanting to do for a long time.
Once you had that basis there for the show, how
did it flow from there? Did you find that quite
an easy process then to start working out the musical

(07:01):
numbers and the game show element of it as well.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
So I basically put my filmmaking hat on. I just said,
let's approach it from a three acts structure. We got
the white board out, did a big circle, figured out
what the acts would be, decided on themes. What did
we think the themes were that we really wanted to
focus on, and they were ageism and misogyny in the

(07:28):
Gychan music industry in general. And then we just sort
of started throwing ideas around, you know, how would it work,
what do we think would happen? And then we knew
that we wanted Erma to showcase her skills.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
As and opera singers. There was obviously going to be
opera in it. We knew that we wanted to write
some of our own songs, so.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
It was obviously going to be pop songs because certainly
wouldn't be able to afford the copyright on any.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Current pop songs. We'd have to write our own. Yep.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
You know, we sort of went away and we did
a lot of thinking about it. So I think it
was me that came up with the idea, why don't
we make it a game show? You know, and then
we sort of figured out from there. We I mean,
we definitely knew that probably it needed to be more
narrative than game show, and.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Then we just kind of figured it out by there.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
You know, we sort of looked at like Dame Edna
and the Second Galada and you know, ab Fab and
Top and Kim and kind of through all of our
life experiences at it as well. So there's things in
the show that have actually happened to both of us.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
You had to guess what they might be.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
And then we had a lot of fun. It was
writing music. It was so obviously Uma is the opera
sort of masters in opera, so she sort of looked
after all the opera in terms of how that would work.
And then I, I sort of was in charge of
coming up with the ideas for the pop songs. So
I went away and you did things like singing into

(08:54):
my home, walking sitting at the piano and fiddling around.
And the most recently put a new song in this
show called Distracted that I just wrote recently, and I
wrote that on the omnichord.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
I quite like unusual instruments. We've got like a Klimber
in the ballad, and now we've got an omnichord, So
that's fun. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
So and then we would sort of come together and
we would sit and have writing sessions and I would
send ima my ideas for songs, and she might send
them back and she might have been I would send
some lyrics and she would send back herself singing over
what I was playing, and you know, with the lyrics,
and it was like that, I know how other.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
People do it, but that's how we did it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
You also mentioned before that there's a little bit of
audience participation and that might make some people feel a
little bit nervous. Can you tell us a little bit
about that side of the show and how that changes
the show every night as well?

Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, sure, it's it's actually the way we do it
is that what we did used to.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
Have three chairs up on stage and we say, right,
who's self volunteering? And then we sort of decided recently
that maybe we.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Might change it, so.

Speaker 3 (10:15):
We changed it, and basically what it is now is
it's more you stay in the audience and she'll come to.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
You, and we only get the audience up on stage once.

Speaker 3 (10:24):
So that makes it a lot easier because we've sort
of found that you know, well me and people really
don't like, you know, don't like getting on stage today
they have their own show. So yeah, it's not too
hard and a lot of it is actually, so there's
a whole section where we get.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
All the audience to sing together.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
So that's more about how embarrassed you might be to
sing in your seat. And then we actually have created
this new song. We've got a little dance routine and
we're hoping that we can teach everybody the very simple
dance routine and they might.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Stand up and you know, dance with us.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
We'll be Usually audiences are usually pretty good, usually get
involved by the end of it. They're usually booing Trevor
Yeah for whoeing Uma. So Trevor is the boyfriend that
ditches there.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
So yeah, yeah, that sounds absolutely amazing And for all
of our listeners out there, Popraa is on at the
Motley Bauhause. It's on the twelfth and the thirteenth of
April at four pm, and then it's on again on
the nineteenth and the twentieth of April, also at four pm.
You can buy the tickets from the Melbourne International Comedy
Festival website or you can go to Subculture Entertainment dot

(11:30):
com and we'll have a link to where you can
buy tickets from as well. Bronnie I guess to finish off.
What would you like to say to people out there
who are thinking about heading along and checking out Popraa
as part of this year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Well, the first thing is that we've got a fifty
percent off tickets for anybody who catches this is It
next twenty four hours.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
You can use the code pop to.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
Get yourself sweet fifty percent off, but also be prepared
to be shocked possibly. I mean, it's in the title sex,
death and Politics. We've probably got more in common with
Megan thee Stallion at some points than we do with
let's say, Madam Butterfly. It's not for the prudish, but

(12:16):
it's definitely for people who think they're you know, pretty smart,
bit intellectual, but also just like to have fun. I think,
you know, it's like Kath and Kim went and got
a music degree.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
I think it's a bit like that.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
That sounds that sounds like an absolutely amazing night. And
once again, listeners, if you do want to head along
and check out Popera as part of the Melbourne International
Comedy Festival, It's on the twelfth and the thirteenth of
April at four pm, and then the nineteenth and twentieth
of April at four pm at the Motley Bauhause, which
is if you know your area of Melbourne very well.

(12:50):
It's just down the street from Cinema Nova, so you'll
find it there very very quickly,
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.