Dance through the eras as Retro Lights returns for dazzling Fringe summer
Retro Lights is back at Fringe World this summer with a brand-new all-ages show packed with energy, lights, dance and music. Get down to The Hat Trick at The Pleasure Garden on Saturday and Sunday nights right through the festival to be taken on a musical journey featuring an incredible light show where circus and dance infuse—with tickets on sale now. BRAYDEN EDWARDS caught up with Retro Lights performer and co-creator Sophie Dennis to find out how the show will have audiences singing and dancing their way through the eras.
It’s great to have Retro Lights back in 2025! How has the show changed since you last hit our stages?
It’s great to be back at Fringe World Perth, especially with Retro Lights again! After last year’s show, the team was straight in the studio, talking through what we loved and how a new show could come together. Over the past year we have created new choreo, characters, and interactions. We have one performance the same as last year—a crowd fave—but other than that, every performance in the show is new.
I was also six months pregnant during last year’s shows, so another change is that there is a baby in the team, and it’s easier for me to perform without a big bump!
And what was one audience reaction or feedback from last summer that you remember?
It would have to be all of the kids’ reactions to the light-up saxaphone with Mark Turner—they loved it when he came into the crowd and sat with the audience! They were really special moments.
We also met an incredible audience member after the show; his feedback made our season! He loved the show, creativity, and energy—he was there with 20 friends and said he can’t wait for our next one!
Retro Lights is described as a ‘musical journey.’ What eras of music are we journeying into? And what role do the lights play?
We cover as many eras as we can. From the 1940s to the current day, with a range of genres including country, pop, soul, R&B and dance! We align costumes, props, and lights to the song and program our light props. We can program different patterns, colours, and pictures into our hula hoops, poi, skipping ropes and more.
And is there a particular decade that was particularly fun or challenging to recreate with the lights and costumes?
We have a performance near the end of the show that was really challenging—not so much because of the decade but the concept linking the music to the costume for the ‘reveal!’ We made the costume ourselves, and without giving too much away, it’s a really exciting performance, and we can’t wait to showcase it!
What is the background of yourself and the Retro Lights team? How did all of it come together to create this show?
We all work together performing for events across WA, so we know each other really well. We are best friends; we message and talk all the time, and so Retro Lights was born out of a group of creative friends and their love for music, performing, dancing, and enjoying ourselves. We are also sharing ideas, concepts, and music, and the show was created by us all.
And what does the All the Lights team get up to during the rest of the year?
During the year we work together, train together in the studio, and we go to festivals and events. We all have ‘day’ jobs—we work in fitness, mental health, and health and safety, so that keeps us busy!
And what are you most excited about in this 2025 Fringe season?
This year we are in a new venue, The Hat Trick in the Pleasure Garden. It’s bigger, and the layout really suits our show.
Like every year, being part of the Fringe community is so special, immersing ourselves in the event, spending time with artists, and getting to as many shows as we can.
If you could travel back to any place and time for a music and light show, what would it be and why?
Great question! I’d travel back to the 40s, the era of swing music with iconic artists such as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. The fashion, the classic music, live bands… I’m not sure the rest of the team will agree, though—we have fans of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s on our team!
Retro Lights is showing at The Hat Trick at The Pleasure Garden on Saturday, January 18; Sunday, January 19; Saturday, February 8; Sunday, February 9; Saturday, February 15 and Sunday, February 16, 2025. Tickets are on sale now from fringeworld.com.au