The world premiere of Stella: A New Australian Musical will open at Monash University’s Alexander Theatre, with a newly announced cast bringing the life of Miles Franklin to the stage.
by Paul Cashmere
The full cast for Stella: A New Australian Musical has been confirmed ahead of its world premiere season at Monash University’s Alexander Theatre in Clayton, running from 12 to 20 June 2026. The production, seven years in development, centres on the life of Australian literary figure Miles Franklin, tracing her personal and professional journey through a multi-genre theatrical framework.
Geraldine Hakewill, Johanna Allen, Shubshri Kandiah, Joe Kosky and Kaya Byrne will comprise the five-person ensemble tasked with portraying Franklin’s expansive life story. The performers remain on stage throughout the production, moving between characters and narrative moments while supported by seven live musicians integrated into the performance.
The announcement of the cast marks a key milestone for the production, which positions itself as a significant new work within Australian musical theatre. By drawing directly from Franklin’s writing, letters and diaries, the musical seeks to reposition her from a symbolic literary figure into a fully realised historical subject. While her name remains widely recognised through the Miles Franklin Award and The Stella Prize, her lived experience has received comparatively limited attention in contemporary storytelling.
Written, composed and lyrically developed by Monique diMattina, the production is directed by Julia Robertson, with musical direction by Vicky Jacobs. The creative team also includes Nick Fry on set design, Isla Shaw on costume design, David Letch handling sound and Sidney Younger responsible for lighting.
DiMattina said the work has been shaped through extended engagement with Franklin’s archive. “There is so much inspiration, pride and joy for us in Stella’s story, yet most people know nothing about Stella’s life,” she said. “Stella Miles Franklin left us so much in her extraordinary body of work, novels, plays and thousands of personal letters and diary entries. Stella has been a juicy companion over the seven years I’ve spent creating this musical. She is witty, courageous, loveable and edgy.”
Robertson emphasised the demands placed on the ensemble structure. “We are so fortunate to be working with a cast of exceptional calibre,” she said. “Together, this ensemble will embody the epic sweep of a forty-year journey, bringing scale, versatility and emotional truth to every note of diMattina’s sophisticated score.”
The musical’s score reflects a broad stylistic range, incorporating Australian and Irish folk traditions, bush ballads, salsa, neo-classical arrangements, pop, punk rock and conventional musical theatre forms. This compositional approach mirrors Franklin’s own international experiences and the shifting cultural contexts she navigated across her life.
Born in 1879 in regional New South Wales, Miles Franklin achieved early literary recognition with My Brilliant Career, published in 1901 when she was 21. The novel’s portrayal of an independent young woman resisting prescribed social roles established Franklin as a distinct voice in Australian literature. However, her subsequent career unfolded across multiple continents and under varying circumstances, including periods of financial instability and work under pseudonyms.
Her legacy has since been institutionalised through the Miles Franklin Award, one of Australia’s most prominent literary prizes, and The Stella Prize, which recognises writing by Australian women. Despite this, her broader biography, including her experiences during two world wars and her navigation of entrenched gender barriers, has remained less prominent in public discourse.
Stella: A New Australian Musical aligns with a broader trend in Australian theatre toward re-examining historical figures through contemporary performance language. By embedding Franklin’s own words into the libretto and adopting a resource-driven staging model, the production attempts to bridge biography and theatrical interpretation.
The decision to maintain a five-performer cast on stage throughout reflects both a practical and thematic choice, echoing Franklin’s own approach to creativity under constraint. The presence of live musicians within the staging further reinforces the immediacy of the work, positioning the performance as a continuous, unfolding narrative rather than a sequence of discrete scenes.
The production’s inclusion in the VCE Theatre Studies curriculum extends its reach beyond general audiences, positioning it as an educational resource for students engaging with Australian literature and performance. This adds an additional layer of scrutiny, with expectations around both historical representation and theatrical execution.
As with any reinterpretation of a recognised cultural figure, the production enters a landscape where audience perspectives may vary. Readers familiar with Franklin’s work and legacy may approach the musical with differing expectations regarding historical fidelity and narrative framing. The integration of diverse musical styles also introduces structural complexity, requiring cohesion across contrasting genres within a single storyline.
With opening night approaching, Stella: A New Australian Musical will test how effectively Australian theatre can synthesise literary history, biography and contemporary musical composition into a unified stage work. The confirmed cast signals readiness for that challenge, bringing a mix of stage and screen experience to a production that aims to broaden understanding of one of Australia’s most enduring literary voices.
The limited Melbourne season will serve as a first measure of audience and industry response, with potential implications for the future development and touring life of the production.
Dates:
Friday 12 June 2026 to Saturday 20 June 2026, Melbourne, Alexander Theatre
Tickets: $40 to $85
Booking: www.stellathemusical.com
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