Bran Nue Dae Jimmy Chi

Bran Nue Dae is a 1990 musical set in Broome, Western Australia, that tells stories and of issues relating to Indigenous Australians.[1] It was written by Jimmy Chi and his band Kuckles and friends, and was the first Aboriginal Australian musical. The name is a phonetic representation of "Brand New Day".

The musical was originally directed by Andrew Ross and choreographed by Michael Leslie.[2] It premiered at the Octagon Theatre in February–March 1990 as part of the Festival of Perth, and later toured nationally.[3]

The musical won the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards in 1990. The following year the published script and score won the Special Award in the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards.[4] Theatre critic Katharine Brisbane wrote in 1999:[5]

Bran Nue Dae in 1989 was a turning point in the short history of Aboriginal writing for the theatre. Twenty years of evolution: in writers, political activists, actors, dancers, singers and song-writers, preceded it.

Gail Mabo performed in the Sydney run of the musical in 1991.[6] A 1991 television documentary Bran Nue Dae tells the story of the creation of the musical.[7][8]

The musical was revived for an Australian national tour in 2020.[9]

The musical has been turned into a feature film of the same title, directed by Rachel Perkins starring Ernie Dingo, Geoffrey Rush, Jessica Mauboy, Missy Higgins, Deborah Mailman, Magda Szubanski and Dan Sultan.[10][11][12] It premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Film. It was theatrically released in Australia on 14 January 2010. It debuted with $2.5 million in its first week, solidifying it as a box office hit. It went on to gross over $7 million, making it one of the most successful Australian films of all time.[13]

1. ^ Australian Government – Culture and Recreation Portal Archived 29 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine Highlights in Australian theatre history
2. ^ "Bran Nue Dae : A Musical Journey". AustLit. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
3. ^ "Bran Nue Dae". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
4. ^ "Western Australian Premier's Book Awards – 1991 Winners". State Library of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 9 May 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
5. ^ Brisbane, Katharine (1999). "The Future in Black and White: Aboriginality in Recent Australian Drama" – via The Koori History Website.
6. ^ "Gail Mabo". Indigenous Law Centre. University of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
7. ^ Australian screen Bran Nue Dae
8. ^ "Bran Nue Dae". Filmnews. Vol. 21, no. 3. 1 April 1991. p. 12. Retrieved 28 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
9. ^ Bamford, Matt (21 April 2019). "Bran Nue Dae for landmark musical's 30th anniversary tour". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 27 October 2019.
10. ^ AdelaideNow Ernie's Bran Nue Dae Archived 3 July 2012 at archive.today
11. ^ "Rush adds shining light to Broome's Bran Nue Dae movie project". Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
12. ^ "Aboriginal Musical, Unoriginal Music: Australia's Hit Bran Nue Dae" by Aaron Hillis, The Village Voice, 8 September 2010, accessed 23 January 2022
13. ^ "Box Office: Daybreakers adds $468,319, Inside Film". Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.

• Chi, Jimmy; Patrick B. Amat; Garry Gower; Michael Manolis; Stephen Pigram (1991). Bran Nue Dae. Currency Press. ISBN 0-86819-293-7.
• Makeham, Paul B. (1996) Singing the landscape: Bran Nue Dae. Australasian Drama Studies (28): pp. 117–132.

• Bran Nue Dae at AusStage
• Bran Nue Dae at AustLit