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Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The Summer I Turned Pretty 'cast: All about the stars of Prime Video's hit summer romance series
The third and final season of Prime Video's YA series The Summer I Turned Pretty is almost upon us. Based on Jenny Han's beloved book trilogy about Belly Conklin, who's in a love triangle with two brothers, the show will wrap its own trilogy in July. That means a third summer spent in idyllic Cousins Beach. If you know anything about Cousins — or We'll Always Have Summer, the novel the season 3 is based on — you know we're poised for drama, angst, and romance. In short, all the things we love. But do you know what we love most about Cousins Beach? The people who populate it — the ones who make it 'magic.' Who are they exactly? Which characters do we follow in this sun-kissed drama, and who plays them? Read on to learn all about the cast of The Summer I Turned Pretty. As the center of the series' maddening love triangle, Lola Tung imbues Belly with an endearing earnestness that makes her easy to love. She's still trying to figure out which brother, Conrad or Jeremiah, is the one for her. Tung carries the role like a seasoned veteran, but this is actually her first professional gig. The young actress, an alum of LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (you know, the Fame high school), was at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama when she was cast as Belly. Tung has always understood the essence of this teen drama, telling PEOPLE in 2022 that she 'really wanted to show the importance of this part of [Belly's] life and how relatable it is to go through this period of figuring everything out, and growing up.' See? Belly Conklin was always in the right hands. Since The Summer I Turned Pretty premiered, Tung has made her Broadway debut as Eurydice in Hadestown and landed a part in the legacy sequel, I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025). Conrad, the moody, brooding older Fisher brother, is perpetually his own worst enemy. We've watched him push away the people who love him most over and over again. That includes Belly, the girl he loves, and it may be too late to win her back. Christopher Briney was filming his first feature film, Dalíland (2022), opposite Ben Kingsley, when he auditioned to play the object of Belly's affection. The Pace University alum suddenly found himself a small-screen teen heartthrob. Of course, Conrad isn't the only such character Briney has taken on: He also starred as Aaron Samuels in the musical film version of Mean Girls (2024). As for the experience of playing the complicated, infuriatingly guarded Conrad, Briney told EW in 2023, 'It's a fun challenge to [...] keep a character grounded and defend the things they do and fight for them.' Jeremiah is pretty much the opposite of his older brother — easygoing, flirty, and disarming. That means Jere has to work hard to have his feelings taken seriously, especially when it comes to how much Belly means to him. It's a complexity Casalegno has enjoyed playing since day one. He explained to POPSugar that, while Jeremiah wants 'to be the life of the party,' there is an 'insecure' side of himself that he tries to hide: 'I think he carries a lot more weight on his shoulders than is shown.' Jeremiah isn't the first TV brother duo Calasegno has been a part of. He also appeared on The Vampire Diaries (2015) as the younger version of one of the Salvatore brothers, Damon (Ian Somerhalder). The native Texan also had a multi-episode stint on Walker (2021). Like his onscreen sister, Sean Kaufman attended LaGuardia High (and then studied acting at Purchase College) before nabbing small roles in shows like Manifest (2018) and FBI: Most Wanted (2021–2024). He's now winning over hearts as Belly's silly but surprisingly thoughtful older brother, Steven. Throughout the series, Kaufman has taken the sidekick character to some pretty intense places. One of the most affecting moments — both for the audience and Kaufman himself — came in season 2 when he helps his best friend Conrad through a panic attack. As he told EW in 2023, the moment felt 'really, really important, talking especially about mental health — which I feel like isn't talked about enough in general — but then also with young men. As Belly's best friend Taylor, Rain Spencer has the privilege of telling our romantic leading lady to get her act together when it comes to these two brothers. Taylor is supportive but honest and she doesn't let Belly get away with her poor decision-making tendencies. Since being promoted to series regular for season 2, Spencer has made Taylor more than just a friend, opening up the naturally guarded character in emotional ways during her visits to Cousins Beach — and in her own complicated relationship with Steven. Around the time she booked her role on the Amazon hit, the young actress got some experience tackling life's tougher moments, starring as a teen battling drug addiction in Good Girl Jane (2022). She may be one of the adults on The Summer I Turned Pretty, but that doesn't mean Belly's mom, Laurel, is just another 'invisible parent' archetype. Beyond raising a daughter she doesn't always understand, we watch her grapple with grief, divorce, and how to move forward after deep loss. Veteran actress Jackie Chung is interested in showing all shades of the character, telling Timid Magazine, 'I love seeing Laurel's full and complicated life! I draw inspiration from many of my mother friends who manage the tightrope that is motherhood with grace, competence, and humor.' Chung has a career full of different shades, too. She started out in theater, has appeared in both short and feature films, and even booked guest spots on Grey's Anatomy (2017) and Station 19 (2019). Conrad and Jeremiah's mom, Susannah, looms large over the series, even though — spoiler alert — she dies between the first and second seasons. She was the one who began the tradition of summers in Cousins and brought the 'magic' to the beach house. Her meaningful friendship with Laurel also made her an important part of Belly's life, helping anchor the whole show as a result. Even after her death, she features heavily in flashbacks. Rachel Blanchard brings the character to life. One of the most recognizable faces in the main cast, she was drawn to the role's depiction of adult female friendship — and her instant rapport with Chung. 'It's always exciting to be a part of a show and play a relationship when the chemistry is a given,' she told The List. The Canadian actress has been working since childhood, landing parts in her native country's War of the Worlds (1988–1990) and Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990–1993). Not long afterward, she broke through on American screens as Cher Horowitz in the TV version of Clueless (1996–1999). A fixture on television, she was a regular in later seasons of 7th Heaven (2002–2004) and had a recurring role on the British cult classic Peep Show (2004–2007). In recent years, she appeared in the first season of Fargo (2014) and joined Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas in the erotic thriller Deep Water (2022). Poor, Cam. The sweetest future marine biologist in Cousins never really had a chance with Belly Conklin, did he? While that season 1 romance fizzled out quickly, Cam's flirty season 2 escapade with Conrad and Jere's cousin Skye (Elsie Fisher) was quite sweet. Actor David Iacono didn't mind playing third fiddle to the Fisher brothers, noting to Grazia magazine: 'It's always fun playing the underdog.' While Iacono isn't the leading man here, he has plenty of onscreen experience. That includes a bit role in the Naomi Watts/Bill Murray dramedy St. Vincent (2014) and a few episodes of David Simon's miniseries Show Me a Hero (2015). The Brooklyn native has since scored multi-episode stints on Grand Army (2020) and The Flight Attendant (2020–2022). He also appeared in the summer blockbuster Jurassic World Rebirth (2025). You probably know Tom Everett Scott as the nicest drummer around, Guy Patterson, from the Tom Hanks hit That Thing You Do! (1996). But as the Fisher brothers' dad, Adam, he's a tough guy to like. Adam cheated on Susannah and isn't the most present father. His complicated relationship with his sons makes for some emotional drama when the three are together. Scott hasn't only played lovable drummers and problematic fathers during his decades-long run in Hollywood. He's appeared in several high-profile movies, among them One True Thing (1998), Boiler Room (2000), Because I Said So (2007), and Best Picture winner La La Land (2016). The veteran actor has been just as busy on the small screen, landing on ER (2002–2003), Sons of Anarchy (2008–2009), Southland (2009–2013), and 13 Reasons Why (2017–2019). Speaking of dad roles, he was recently cast as Elle Woods's father in the upcoming Legally Blonde prequel series, Elle. As the other dad on the show, Colin Ferguson's John Conklin — father to Belly and Steven — is mostly well-meaning as he attempts to smooth things over with his ex-wife and kids. Ferguson is best known as Sheriff Jack Carter on the sci-fi series Eureka (2006–2012). The Quebecois actor has also booked recurring roles on Haven (2013–2015), The Vampire Diaries (2014), and You're the Worst (2017), in addition to a recent guest spot on Landman (2024). If you can't quite place him but know you've seen his face somewhere… he's been the 'Maytag Man' since 2014. The Summer I Turned Pretty is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. The first two episodes of season 3 premiere on July 16, with new episodes out on Wednesdays. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
New York Times
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Broadway Big Shot Is Now Reinventing Himself
Jordan Roth, the scion of a New York real estate fortune, a convention-challenging fashionista and a social media habitué, spent 15 years as a Broadway macher, running one of the big three theater landlords. He programmed hits like 'The Book of Mormon' and 'Hadestown,' nurtured plays and musicals in development, and joined the theater industry's inner circle at its cloistered confabs, all the while showing up at openings in increasingly fabulous couture. But it's fairly obvious to anyone watching Roth's evolving public persona that he's been looking for a new adventure. He has sold most of his stake in Jujamcyn, the company through which he owned five Broadway theaters, and he has dialed back his theater producing. Now he is moving on to a different stage, combining his love of fashion, his hunger to perform, and his taste for storytelling. He is pursuing 'narrative fashion performance,' and he plans a debut on July 10 at the Louvre in Paris. 'I worked for a long time facilitating other people's creativity, and that was very meaningful and very fulfilling, but I started to miss my own,' Roth, 49, told me during a rehearsal break at a black box studio in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Edinburgh Reporter
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Liam Rudden's Must See Theatre this month
The calm before the storm that is the Edinburgh Festivals may leave Edinburgh stages bare but a London theatre break promises something special this month. As Edinburgh theatres fall into their usual pre-Fringe slumber this month, there's only one big touring production heading to town in July and that is Dear Evan Hansen at The Playhouse (1-5 July). The Olivier, Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical is packed with some of the biggest musical theatre songs of the last decade. All his life, Evan Hansen has felt invisible. But when a tragic event shocks the community and thrusts him into the centre of a rapidly evolving controversy, he is given the opportunity of a lifetime – the chance to be somebody else. With a score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Oscar-winning composers for The Greatest Showman, book by Steven Levenson and direction by Adam Penford, the Artistic Director at Nottingham Playhouse, this brand-new production marks the first time the Broadway and West End phenomenon has toured the UK. It stars Scottish musical theatre star Ryan Kopel in the title role, with Sonny Monaghan appearing as Alternative Evan at matinee performances. I caught up with both Ryan and Sonny as they prepared to take Dear Evan Hansen on the road, you can meet them here. Running time 2 hours 40 minutes including interval, tickets here. With a dearth of shows in the Capital, you could do worse than planning a theatre break this month, and if that means a trip to London, get in early as there's still time to catch the final week of London Theatre Direct's Big Summer Theatre. Now in its second year, the event, which runs until Monday 7 July (keep your eyes peeled though as it was extended by a further week last year), allows you to choose from more than 40 musicals and plays, including The Devil Wears Prada, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Back to the Future the Musical, Clueless the Musical, Matilda the Musical, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and save up to 50% off, with tickets from just £15. This year, however, don't just see the on stage magic, experience it with a series of exclusive photo experiences. Now you can step onto the stage after seeing Hadestown, Titanique, Starlight Express, Fiddler on the Roof and The Great Gatsby, to pose for a professional photo moment – have your photo taken on stage after seeing Hadestown at the Lyric Theatre, snap a pic with a Titanique cast member on the Criterion Theatre stage, toast your West End debut with a complimentary drink and photo op at Fiddler on the Roof, feel like a winner when you race onto the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre stage for a Starlight Express photo op – no skates required, but a complimentary drink is a must – or join the roaring 20's party with an old sport from the The Great Gatsby cast, as you pose on stage with them at the London Coliseum. Ready to make your summer unforgettable? Explore all participating shows and secure your seat at the hottest event of the season here. Back in Edinburgh, there's a chance for little ones to get their introduction to theatre at The Playhouse when, for one day only, The Dinosaur That Pooped – A Rock Show (24 July) comes to the Greenside Place venue for two performances at 1.30pm and 4.30pm. When Danny and Dino's favourite rock band are playing their last ever concert, they go on a quest to get the last two tickets. But with a villainous band manager lurking, nothing goes to plan. Will the band perform? Will Danny rock out? Or will Dino's rumbling tummy save the day? Adapted from the No1 best-selling books by Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, the whole family will have a poopy good time enjoying a brand, new story for the stage. Featuring new songs by the McFly favourites Fletcher and Pointer, a lot of laughs and a whole lot of poo. Running time 1 hour with no interval. Tickets here. Now if ever a venue was made to host a production of the work of Transporting author Irvine Welsh, it surely has to be the old Leith Town Hall Theatre, now better known as Leith Theatre, and that's exactly what the venue is set to do when it brings Porno (18 & 19 July), to 28 Ferry Road. Adapted by Davie Carswell from Welsh's novel of the same name, the stage production of Porno started life as 50 minute one-act play at The Pleasance as part of the 2022 Fringe, however, it's the full-length version that comes to Leith Theatre, one that has already sold out runs at the Liverpool Olympia, Crewe Lyceum, Manchester Waterside as well as a seven week season at the Art's Theatre in London's West End. Porno, the follow up novel to Trainspotting, reveals what has become of Renton, Sickboy, Spud and Begbie some 15 years on from their original exploits. It goes without saying, sure that swearing, drug use and language of a sexual nature are the order of the day, which makes the 13+ advisory seem quite liberal. Running time 2 Hours including interval. Tickets here Next month, of course, we'll be spoiled for choice as the Festival and Fringe comes around once again. The Edinburgh Reporter will once again exclusive carry my Fringe Hot Ticket hit lists, in the meantime you can keep up to date with the shows coming to Edinburgh in August that are catching my eye by visiting And please do keep an eye out for the three shows I'm directing. If you like a supernatural tale or two, Fallen Angel, my new one-man play, and The Omega Factor: By The Pricking Of My Thumbs, by Natasha Gerson and myself, might be right up your street. If it's comedy you're looking for, check out Hingin' Oan Fir Googsie, by John McColl, starring River City's Jimmy Chisholm, will definitely be worth a look. Tickets here. Until August, happy theatre going, Liam Like this: Like Related
Sydney Morning Herald
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Why Christine Anu broke her ‘no more musicals' rule
No one was as surprised as Christine Anu herself when she agreed to star in the Australian production of Tony Award-winning New Orleans jazz-inflected musical Hadestown. Her team knew she had a hard and fast rule: no more musicals. She'd been performing in musical theatre since 1992 and played the part of Mimi in the first Australian production of Rent in 1998. After four decades of saying other people's words and singing other people's songs, she was done. 'I'm not doing that any more. I deprived myself of creating original music for a very long time, and that's where my entire energy and soul wants to reside for the time being,' she says. But her management thought the role of narrator and messenger god Hermes would be a good fit for Anu, and they knew just how to get her to consider it. She was visiting her daughter, Zipporah, who was living in a share house in Newtown in Sydney. 'I went over to meet the girls in the house, and one of the girls said Hadestown was her favourite musical, that it had the most amazing soundtrack that she had ever heard,' Anu says. 'We started talking about it, and I had already said at the beginning of the day that I wasn't going to do it. And then after that conversation with the young ladies, I said, 'OK, why not? I'll give it a go.' I went and listened to the album straight after that and just fell in love with the music.' We meet at Melbourne's famous Flower Drum, a restaurant Anu hasn't been to since she dined with Jamie Oliver and others on Melbourne Cup Day in 2002. The menu is somewhat overwhelming, so we decide to take our waiter's suggestion and share a selection of things: Paspaley pearl meat with spring onion, Peking duck pancake, quail san choi bao, black Angus eye fillet, vegetables in garlic sauce and roast pork and prawn fried rice. We also decide to have an alcohol-free Tsingtao each. Anu cut out alcohol entirely at the start of last year, when she was caring for her mother in Queensland. 'I'm an all or nothing person; I'm either drinking or I'm not,' she says. 'When I was looking after Mum, I was drinking quite a bit ... And I just went, 'Well, I reckon Mum's not looking too great, so I'm going to just cut it.'' She says 'once a drinker, always a drinker', and that the desire to drink will always be with her. 'But the idea to not want to is always there, and it's stronger.' Anu's mother died in October last year, and her grief was unbearably fresh as she went into rehearsals for Hadestown in January. 'I was like, I can't remember any of the material because my mum's grief is inside my brain, and I cannot retain any information,' she says. 'It was so soon afterwards, doing the rehearsal, I've never done anything so hard, like I was loving it and hating it at the same time. But isn't that what creativity is about, and art and expression – you're demolishing walls to build up new ones, and each brick is something that you're placing inside of yourself, which is growth. This immense growth that I've had has been a symbiotic experience. What you give Hadestown is what it gives you back.' The 2016 Tony-winning musical is a retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and for those whose classical studies were a while ago, a quick primer: Orpheus is a renowned poet and singer, and madly in love with his young wife, Eurydice. When she dies, he walks into the underworld and plays his lyre so beautifully that the king of the underworld, Hades, takes pity on him and says he is permitted to bring her back, so long as she walks behind him out of the underworld, and he does not turn to check that she is there. And, well. Given that the whole show is about death, grief and loss, was Hadestown the ideal show for Anu to break her 'no musicals' rule for? 'It's within the journey of Orpheus that I place my mum,' Anu says. 'The thing about Hermes is Hermes is stuck in perpetuity, always chasing the same thing, hoping that the next Orpheus won't turn around this time. 'When I hit that rut in Sydney, my body was jamming up. Everything was getting inflamed, and it was my grief saying, 'You've got the show in your body now. You really need to acknowledge that this has happened, and while it's been on the back burner, it's time to bring it through. You're in a safe space for that.' 'If I didn't have Hadestown, I don't know where I would be with the grief of my mother, to be honest with you. And I mean that I probably would be in not a great place. I carried her through the whole rehearsal process, and the grief of her, it's always been there, and it's just melded in. It's just gently there now, and it's landed beautifully, safely, and it is what it is. It's a love like no other. And she's there every night.' Our pearl meat arrives, delicate slivers of pale pink flesh presented on an iridescent, peachy shell the size of two spread hands. 'Look how spoilt we are!' Anu says. She says she has a bigger version of this kind of shell in her home. 'They sell them for tourist stuff in the Torres Strait on Thursday Island, and the farming happens on Friday Island. And I wanted a souvenir, but also, anything that says, I'm proud of my Torres Strait heritage, I will buy. I'm used to seeing this as an ornament, not a serving dish. It's so beautiful.' Anu's latest album, Waku: Minaral a Minalay, honours that Torres Strait heritage. Many of the songs on it were written by her grandfather, a Torres Strait Island composer and musician. 'You know for some songs we don't know who the author is, and on the royalties, the songwriter says traditional because we don't know who the author is. Well, I found that out about my granddad's songs, that a lot of Torres Strait Islanders know these songs. I'm only just coming into knowing them, and I watched old documentaries on the Torres Strait, and they're using a song that my granddad wrote ... These songs have belonged in people's lives before, even though they're my family songs and they belong to my maternal grandfather, I'm bringing my people's songs back to them with a new lens.' As soon as she hangs up Hermes' winged sandals (the costume department found cassowary feathers for Anu's Hermes to wear on her suit, as that is her totem and she wanted to present a Torres Strait Island Hermes), Anu will be heading out on a concert tour for Waku: Minaral a Minalay with her band. 'There's so much more I can share with people when it's my roots,' she says. But she knows that there is one song her audiences will always expect. 'I'll never be able to leave the stage without singing My Island Home – that's a given,' she says. Her breakout hit featured on her debut album, Stylin' Up, in 1995, and was named song of the year by the Australasian Performing Right Association the same year. It is the song most associated with her, but she did not write it. Neil Murray wrote it for George Burarrwanga, lead singer of the Warumpi Band, in 1987. But Anu says it became such a part of her life that perhaps the song was always destined for her. 'Sometimes I wonder, who was it written for?' Anu says. 'Maybe it was written for George, but maybe it was written for me as well.' She met Neil Murray in 1992, and she became a backing singer in his band the Rainmakers. Murray had become tired of performing the song at every show and suggested Anu sing it instead and move from backing singer into the spotlight. 'I didn't know how to say no, [and I thought], 'Well, why am I scared of it? Why am I scared of this idea of singing this song?' 'I just had this vision of getting booed off stage because I've got nothing to do with the original singer. I don't know what my idea was, but I had come to understand how well loved the Wurumpi Band was ... I knew the song was sacred to some people. The idea of a song to people can become very territorial. And I felt that I was stepping on people's toes while doing that, I really did. And Neil said songs are stories. The stories come from people out there, and then they come through you, and they belong out there again.' That assuaged her fears, and she started performing the song. 'I just tried it on, like a beautiful jacket, and it fit, and it was lovely, and it got a great response every time I sang it,' she says. She performed the song at Stompem Ground Festival in Alice Springs and found herself face-to-face with George Burarrwanga at the side of the stage. 'When Uncle George came up, I was petrified. And as he stood next to me, I started talking, and it was awkward to begin with, and he said, 'You know, we never knew that you sang this song.' Next minute, people are telling us, there's this girl singing your song. And I'm not going to lie, I felt a lot of sweat started coming up. I really felt like I was getting grilled, or I felt like I was in trouble – obviously, clearly, I was not, and that was not what was happening ... He says to me, 'Now, you know your uncle, Torres Strait Islander man Fred Artu?'' Anu recognised the name of her mother's first cousin. Burarrwanga told her: 'Well, he's my brother-in-law. So we're all Island people, we're all saltwater people. So you're right. You're right to sing that song, because you're family.'
The Age
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Why Christine Anu broke her ‘no more musicals' rule
No one was as surprised as Christine Anu herself when she agreed to star in the Australian production of Tony Award-winning New Orleans jazz-inflected musical Hadestown. Her team knew she had a hard and fast rule: no more musicals. She'd been performing in musical theatre since 1992 and played the part of Mimi in the first Australian production of Rent in 1998. After four decades of saying other people's words and singing other people's songs, she was done. 'I'm not doing that any more. I deprived myself of creating original music for a very long time, and that's where my entire energy and soul wants to reside for the time being,' she says. But her management thought the role of narrator and messenger god Hermes would be a good fit for Anu, and they knew just how to get her to consider it. She was visiting her daughter, Zipporah, who was living in a share house in Newtown in Sydney. 'I went over to meet the girls in the house, and one of the girls said Hadestown was her favourite musical, that it had the most amazing soundtrack that she had ever heard,' Anu says. 'We started talking about it, and I had already said at the beginning of the day that I wasn't going to do it. And then after that conversation with the young ladies, I said, 'OK, why not? I'll give it a go.' I went and listened to the album straight after that and just fell in love with the music.' We meet at Melbourne's famous Flower Drum, a restaurant Anu hasn't been to since she dined with Jamie Oliver and others on Melbourne Cup Day in 2002. The menu is somewhat overwhelming, so we decide to take our waiter's suggestion and share a selection of things: Paspaley pearl meat with spring onion, Peking duck pancake, quail san choi bao, black Angus eye fillet, vegetables in garlic sauce and roast pork and prawn fried rice. We also decide to have an alcohol-free Tsingtao each. Anu cut out alcohol entirely at the start of last year, when she was caring for her mother in Queensland. 'I'm an all or nothing person; I'm either drinking or I'm not,' she says. 'When I was looking after Mum, I was drinking quite a bit ... And I just went, 'Well, I reckon Mum's not looking too great, so I'm going to just cut it.'' She says 'once a drinker, always a drinker', and that the desire to drink will always be with her. 'But the idea to not want to is always there, and it's stronger.' Anu's mother died in October last year, and her grief was unbearably fresh as she went into rehearsals for Hadestown in January. 'I was like, I can't remember any of the material because my mum's grief is inside my brain, and I cannot retain any information,' she says. 'It was so soon afterwards, doing the rehearsal, I've never done anything so hard, like I was loving it and hating it at the same time. But isn't that what creativity is about, and art and expression – you're demolishing walls to build up new ones, and each brick is something that you're placing inside of yourself, which is growth. This immense growth that I've had has been a symbiotic experience. What you give Hadestown is what it gives you back.' The 2016 Tony-winning musical is a retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and for those whose classical studies were a while ago, a quick primer: Orpheus is a renowned poet and singer, and madly in love with his young wife, Eurydice. When she dies, he walks into the underworld and plays his lyre so beautifully that the king of the underworld, Hades, takes pity on him and says he is permitted to bring her back, so long as she walks behind him out of the underworld, and he does not turn to check that she is there. And, well. Given that the whole show is about death, grief and loss, was Hadestown the ideal show for Anu to break her 'no musicals' rule for? 'It's within the journey of Orpheus that I place my mum,' Anu says. 'The thing about Hermes is Hermes is stuck in perpetuity, always chasing the same thing, hoping that the next Orpheus won't turn around this time. 'When I hit that rut in Sydney, my body was jamming up. Everything was getting inflamed, and it was my grief saying, 'You've got the show in your body now. You really need to acknowledge that this has happened, and while it's been on the back burner, it's time to bring it through. You're in a safe space for that.' 'If I didn't have Hadestown, I don't know where I would be with the grief of my mother, to be honest with you. And I mean that I probably would be in not a great place. I carried her through the whole rehearsal process, and the grief of her, it's always been there, and it's just melded in. It's just gently there now, and it's landed beautifully, safely, and it is what it is. It's a love like no other. And she's there every night.' Our pearl meat arrives, delicate slivers of pale pink flesh presented on an iridescent, peachy shell the size of two spread hands. 'Look how spoilt we are!' Anu says. She says she has a bigger version of this kind of shell in her home. 'They sell them for tourist stuff in the Torres Strait on Thursday Island, and the farming happens on Friday Island. And I wanted a souvenir, but also, anything that says, I'm proud of my Torres Strait heritage, I will buy. I'm used to seeing this as an ornament, not a serving dish. It's so beautiful.' Anu's latest album, Waku: Minaral a Minalay, honours that Torres Strait heritage. Many of the songs on it were written by her grandfather, a Torres Strait Island composer and musician. 'You know for some songs we don't know who the author is, and on the royalties, the songwriter says traditional because we don't know who the author is. Well, I found that out about my granddad's songs, that a lot of Torres Strait Islanders know these songs. I'm only just coming into knowing them, and I watched old documentaries on the Torres Strait, and they're using a song that my granddad wrote ... These songs have belonged in people's lives before, even though they're my family songs and they belong to my maternal grandfather, I'm bringing my people's songs back to them with a new lens.' As soon as she hangs up Hermes' winged sandals (the costume department found cassowary feathers for Anu's Hermes to wear on her suit, as that is her totem and she wanted to present a Torres Strait Island Hermes), Anu will be heading out on a concert tour for Waku: Minaral a Minalay with her band. 'There's so much more I can share with people when it's my roots,' she says. But she knows that there is one song her audiences will always expect. 'I'll never be able to leave the stage without singing My Island Home – that's a given,' she says. Her breakout hit featured on her debut album, Stylin' Up, in 1995, and was named song of the year by the Australasian Performing Right Association the same year. It is the song most associated with her, but she did not write it. Neil Murray wrote it for George Burarrwanga, lead singer of the Warumpi Band, in 1987. But Anu says it became such a part of her life that perhaps the song was always destined for her. 'Sometimes I wonder, who was it written for?' Anu says. 'Maybe it was written for George, but maybe it was written for me as well.' She met Neil Murray in 1992, and she became a backing singer in his band the Rainmakers. Murray had become tired of performing the song at every show and suggested Anu sing it instead and move from backing singer into the spotlight. 'I didn't know how to say no, [and I thought], 'Well, why am I scared of it? Why am I scared of this idea of singing this song?' 'I just had this vision of getting booed off stage because I've got nothing to do with the original singer. I don't know what my idea was, but I had come to understand how well loved the Wurumpi Band was ... I knew the song was sacred to some people. The idea of a song to people can become very territorial. And I felt that I was stepping on people's toes while doing that, I really did. And Neil said songs are stories. The stories come from people out there, and then they come through you, and they belong out there again.' That assuaged her fears, and she started performing the song. 'I just tried it on, like a beautiful jacket, and it fit, and it was lovely, and it got a great response every time I sang it,' she says. She performed the song at Stompem Ground Festival in Alice Springs and found herself face-to-face with George Burarrwanga at the side of the stage. 'When Uncle George came up, I was petrified. And as he stood next to me, I started talking, and it was awkward to begin with, and he said, 'You know, we never knew that you sang this song.' Next minute, people are telling us, there's this girl singing your song. And I'm not going to lie, I felt a lot of sweat started coming up. I really felt like I was getting grilled, or I felt like I was in trouble – obviously, clearly, I was not, and that was not what was happening ... He says to me, 'Now, you know your uncle, Torres Strait Islander man Fred Artu?'' Anu recognised the name of her mother's first cousin. Burarrwanga told her: 'Well, he's my brother-in-law. So we're all Island people, we're all saltwater people. So you're right. You're right to sing that song, because you're family.'
