JOY Weekend Breakfast

Dean Acuri joins us to share the highlights from the Australian Open's first Pride Day, held on 24 January 2022, including his incredible 40kg tennis ball dress designed specifically for the event.

Heretic, the debut single from Australian actor and singer Adam Noviello, is here! Celebrating gender queerness, and all gender nonconforming humans, Heretic is the new pop/dance anthem set to ignite hearts, minds and dance floors. The accompanying music video featuring a cast entirely made up of non-binary/gender fluid/transgender/gender nonconforming humans. Best known for their work on Australian stages, having starred in national and international production tours including Matilda The Musical, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert & Chess The Musical (to name a few), Adam is making their explosive return to the music scene. Heretic represents Adam’s celebration of their gender queerness. Lyrically the song speaks of Adam’s former feelings of betraying the gender they were assigned. Not fitting to the mould of what a “boy” is expected to be. To combat these feelings, and the societal voices contributing to them, Heretic says, “I’m here. I’m fierce. I am.”

After a highly successful debut in Brisbane and sold-out shows in Adelaide, award-winning theatre company JTM Productions is thrilled to bring their critically acclaimed production of Sex, Lies & Betrayal – Memoirs of a Hollywood Star to Melbourne in a Victorian premiere. Set to a lavish vintage score, the glossy world of Hollywood and the scandals behind the scenes come to life in riveting detail in this raunchy true tell-all story of a 1940’s Hollywood leading lady who is only known by her pseudonym “Miss Nightingale.” Starring popular theatre performer Karla Hillam, the show features reimagined classics by Cole Porter, Christina Aguilera, Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf, Amy Winehouse, Billie Eilish, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more. ‘Hollywood in the 1940’s was certainly glamourous. Secrets were rife, gossip was a way of life and movie moguls ruled.’ said Producer, Writer and Director Margaret Fisk AM. ‘It’s been exciting to bring Miss Nightingale’s memoirs to the stage. She certainly lived a fascinating life, dirty little scandals and all. Reading her memoirs made me blush as they are quite steamy but her story is really a tale of love and loss, temptation and loneliness, and her journey and sometimes questionable choices, is something which I think many people can relate to.’ The exquisite Tusk High Bar in Windsor will be transformed into Miss Nightingale’s boudoir and Patrons are encouraged to dress in their finest as they enjoy an immersive experience of all things Hollywood, from decadent cocktails named after famous movie stars to a Hollywood inspired menu. So who is this mysterious Miss Nightingale? She’s an adulteress, a seductress and a femme fatale who tells all; tales of passion, pain and betrayal and in true form, Miss Nightingale knows where all the skeletons are buried and isn’t afraid to spill the beans.

Having strongly defined her disco-pop soundscape in recent years, 2021 has seen Chase Zera come into her own visually, musically and aesthetically. Following on from her disco pop anthem ‘Supernova’ Chase Zera returns with an equally anthemic, intoxicating new single 'Jealous'. With an irresistibly danceable disco beat mixed with psychedelic synth lines that expand into a breathtaking chorus, this tune grabs your attention immediately. Underneath the grooves however, lies lyrics exploring the dark emotion of jealousy and how being infatuated with someone also comes with the painful fear of losing them. The dark undertones combined with the infectious soul of the track demonstrates Chase’s ability to really get her point across whilst still giving the listener a track they can dance to. Chase says of the track that “There was no holding back writing these lyrics. The words might be laced in a groovy, danceable disco beat, but they're still toxic. Jealousy is the ugliest emotion, but sometimes, feeling a bit jealous is what makes you realise you have feelings for someone. You don't want to lose them, especially not to someone else.“ Growing up as a dancer and being heavily inspired by pop and disco icons, Chase states “I knew I wanted to be a performer before I knew I wanted to be a musician”. This focus on dance is clear through her disco laden discography which has seen her support Bag Raiders, Hayden James and more as well as showcasing her energetic live show at Wine Machine and NYE In The Park.

Jessica Braithwaite has released a new Christmas song, 'I Still Get Excited for Christmas'. Created in just 72 hours, the song is a collaboration with LA producer Stuart Brawley (Celine Dion, Cher) and features the Glee/Disney singers on backup vocals. Jessica is thrilled to see her indie song having such a big impact and bringing so much joy this season.

After selling out his season at the Comedy Festival, Michael Shafar is giving it 110% for one last time in Melbourne before heading interstate. 2020 was a pretty bad year for everyone. But, Michael Shafar probably had it worse than most, having to face death for the second time when he had a testicular cancer relapse, which forced him to undergo high-dose chemotherapy during Melbourne’s second lockdown. He says ‘worse than most’ because some people had to homeschool their kids, which is objectively worse than dealing with cancer. Back in remission, Shafar returned to the Melbourne Comedy Festival earlier this year with his darkest and funniest show yet, receiving critical acclaim for his cutting observations about the dangers of cancel culture, the hypocrisy of racists and, most importantly, the unknown perils of skinny jeans. If you missed out on seeing Shafar give 110% earlier this year, we’ve got good news! He’s just been handpicked to performing his show for one night only in Melbourne. Double-dosed with AstraZeneca (because he’s not a coward) and boosted with Pfizer (because he’s not brand loyal), Shafar is just thrilled to be back in front of a live audience and no longer relying on the government’s NBN to convey his jokes over Zoom. Since leaving a career in law, Shafar has been busy justifying that decision to his Jewish mother. Having appeared on Channel 10’s The Project and Studio 10, ABC’s Comedy Bites, triple j’s Good Az Friday and heaps of other radio and TV shows, he has (somewhat) achieved that - making a name for himself as one of the fastest rising stars in Australian comedy, performing internationally (well, not in 2020) and selling out shows across the country.

Lenny Pearce from the Australian dance-pop/slap house duo Rumor joins us to discuss their new release “Running Away.” Rumor made a thunderous debut with their first single “Let Me Go.” The duo, consisting of Mitchell Curley and Len Pearce, started out producing electronic music separately before teaming up in 2020. Rumor continues to build a bridge between club culture and global pop trends. Their undeniable ability to produce addictive melodies is proving to be a launchpad into a formidable presence in the world of dance/pop music. With this next release  the duo is certain to bring another radio hit just in time for summer.

Alinta Chidzey, who stars as the sparkling diamond, Satine, joins us to talk about Moulin  Rouge! The Musical. The show  has recently premiered in Australia, with Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film coming to life onstage remixed in a new musical mash-up extravaganza. The theatre has been transformed into the famed French nightclub and is set to transport audiences to 19th century Paris, complete with the iconic red windmill and towering blue elephant.

Spiro Economopoulos, the Program Director for the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, joins us to again to update us on how MQFF is progressing this year. MQFF is running until 29 November 2021.

Melbourne singer songwriter Thea FitzGerald has just released her single ‘Good Like That’ ahead of her second EP. Following her debut EP ‘Building Blocks’, Good Like That is here to get you ready for a sassy, liberated summer. It’s the perfect soundtrack for saying goodbye to the challenges of the last 18 months and sashaying, swaggering, or strutting into a new chapter. The lyrics evoke a sense of freedom one finds when growing out of a relationship that doesn’t serve them well and creating distance without disdain –an emotional coming of age. Thea explores the idea that walking away doesn’t mean shutting someone out forever but gives them space to grow and evolve in their own time. Created in collaboration with Melbourne producers SB90 and Michael Cooper (Mikki from Preston), and augmented by the silky trumpets of Woody Sampson (House of Wood), this body of work has been a labour of love throughout the difficulties of living in a world of COVID Good Like That perfectly captures the poignancy of bittersweet goodbyes with an infectious soundscape that implores listeners to move and join in chorus. Thea’s penchant with vocal arrangement and harmony are on full show, eagerly awaiting live shows to return to wow audiences.