Award-winning singer-songwriter Kate Miller Heidke said she hopes to suffuse her upcoming Wollongong show with the drama inherent in Thirroul's Anita's Theatre.
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Miller-Heidke, who returns to the Illawarra live for the first time since the one-day A Sunny Afternoon festival in 2020, said she's excited to be coming back this July as part of her nationwide tour.
"It doesn't quite feel real, to be honest. I don't know if I actually believe it till I'm standing on stage," she said.
"I've been in a few audiences in the last couple of months, and there just seems to be this big outpouring of emotion and gratitude to sort of be together again and to be connected with people again."
Miller-Heidke's most recent record, Child In Reverse, which the tour highlights, has marked out new territory for the classically trained singer.
Working with producer Evan Klar, the tracks turn to a more pop-inflected sound, which Miller-Heidke says drew inspiration from synth pop pioneers Eurythmics and modern purveyors of the genre such as Christine and the Queens.
"Very minimal pop music using digital synth sounds, but everything rooted in sort of real organic sounds," Miller-Heidke said.
Bringing this electronic instrumentation to her acclaimed live set, Miller-Heidke said the songs would be reinvented for the live stage from their recorded version.
"That has been really fun, distilling them down to the lyric," she said. "A good song is a good song."
In between when audiences in Wollongong saw her last, Miller-Heidke has turned her considerable talents to a number of non-traditional outlets, including composing for the stage, performing as Australia's contestant on Eurovision and performing as the Masked Singer.
While these experiences have challenged and stimulated her, Miller-Hiedke said her live performance will include her back catalogue performed by her signature band.
"I'm bringing along some incredible musicians with me, an amazing cellist and double bass player, guitarist and a great backing vocalist. We've been playing together for a while, and they're all geniuses."
July 21 will be Miller Heidke's first show at Anitas Theatre which she said would inspire elements of the performance.
"I love playing in theatres. There's so many cool things that we can do with dynamics with this band lineup," she said.
"In a theatre there's so much room to play with silence and to play with the drama that's already inherent in the space."
In a way, the performance will almost feel like a homecomeing with Miller Heidke having played gigs early in her career in Bulli's Heritage Hotel.
"I remember long nights on the balcony of the Heritage Hotel, being not entirely well behaved."
Tour Dates
Thu 21 Jul, 2022 - Anita's Theatre, Wollongong - All Ages
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