Queen of hearts to make it showtime for all

An energetic new musical production will be anything but radio ga ga for the deaf community thanks to backing by the City of Coffs Harbour. 

The Coffs Harbour Musical Comedy Company has won funding support through the Arts and Cultural Development Grants Program for a performance of We Will Rock You at Jetty Memorial Theatre on November 10. 

The show will feature the music of Queen set in a dystopian universe – with the funding to provide for an Auslan guide to the show. 

“I commend this project as it’s about inclusion and providing greater access to the performing arts,” City of Coffs Harbour Mayor Paul Amos said. 

The Coffs Harbour Musical Comedy Company (CHMCC) is one of seven successful initiatives in the City’s grants program. 

“We first initiated an Auslan-interpreted show in May 2023 with School of Rock. This was a massive success in the local deaf community who all loved the inclusivity of being able to access live theatre locally,” CHMCC secretary Fiona Shaw said. 

“This form of inclusivity and accessibility means that people who are deaf and use Auslan get to experience live theatre, without the travel expenses of heading to Sydney, or having to pay the cost of the interpreter out of their NDIS funds. 

“I am so thankful to CHMCC and the City of Coffs Harbour for providing the funds that allow the deaf community to attend these events at the cost of a ticket price, rather than them footing the bill for the interpreters.” 

The 2pm performance of We Will Rock You will feature two Auslan interpreters – Terri-Anne Richardson and Rhonda Ebeling – with one signing for the lead role and the other for the support characters. 

Tickets for the show can be purchased here. 

Projects successful in the Arts and Cultural Development Grants Program: 

• The Gallery Cultural Showcase event at Yarrila Arts and Museum will centre around weaving, language, music, bush tucker, yarning and creative activities. $6,900 Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance Aboriginal Corporation. 

• Divali Through Art will be developed and delivered in collaboration with the Women’s Group from the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, Woolgoolga, to have four workshops leading up to a Divali (Festival of Lights) themed exhibition at the Woolgoolga Art Gallery. $2,060 Woolgoolga Art Group Inc. 

• Shifting Skins, the memoir of Aunty Bea Ballangarry, will not only tell her own story, but encapsulate commonly recognised experiences of growing up and living as an Aboriginal woman in a conservative semi-rural region, with all the pain, hurt and constraints of living under the government of the day. $7,000 Friends of the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden Inc (Friends). 

• Claire Edwardes OAM will present a concert using marimba and other percussive instruments featuring new Australian compositions at the St John Paul College Theatre. Claire will also hold a masterclass at the Conservatorium of Music in Coffs Harbour.  $4942 Coffs Harbour Music Society. 

• Access for all - Auslan interpreting of community musical theatre. $5,000 Coffs Harbour Musical Comedy Company Inc. 

• The production of two local Indigenous and garden themed murals for a newly installed 20-foot container at South Coffs Community Garden.  $7,000 South Coffs Community Garden Incorporated. 

• An entertaining theatrical production, open to voluntary audience participation, exploring cultural strengths and challenges of a multicultural community. $7,000 Murwillumbah Theatre Company Inc. with Orara High School.