As the sister of a comedian and a burlesque artist, Kiara Macri was evidently born for the stage. After a series of popular Fringe World shows in recent years, she has returned in 2021 to take audiences out for a night at the cinema, taking classic musical moments from the Silver Screen and bringing them to life with her beloved cabaret troupe in Kiara with a K: The Silver Screen, showing at Connections Nightclub from Friday, January 15 until Tuesday, January 19 (get more info and tickets here). MICHAEL HOLLICK caught up with Kiara to find out why she wanted to channel her passion for musical cinema into a show unlike anything she had put her hand to before.
What was the genesis for this show?
Originally I had a whole other idea, which I won’t spoil now as I still hope to perform it in the future, but unfortunately one of the cast members was in London and unable to join us due to travel restrictions. But for this show, I thought “what is left that I want to perform that inspires me and my cast?” And the answer was quite obvious in the end, movie musicals!
Who else is in the show? I heard a rumour that you have been able to tempt those near and dear to start alongside you?
That’s my sisters! One is the current reigning Miss Burlesque of WA and the other has previously hosted the title, so that means there are a total of three Miss Burlesque titles in the show’s cast, but for only two people in our three-person cast. I’ll let you figure out the maths! Both of my sisters were absolute shoe-ins for being in my show. From the very first time I came up with the idea, I was like, “so you guys are gonna be in this” and they were like “great, cool.” There was no question about it.
Is there any sibling rivalry between you and your sisters?
I think that we got all our sibling rivalry and conflict out in my early years in my childhood. There was always a bit of an age gap between them and myself, as I have gotten older, the age differences have started to feel smaller and they were both like “oh, you’re not so annoying anymore!”
I really respect them, and we’re all on the same wavelength, so we’re all on the same page when it comes to this performance style. Veruca Sour is the oldest and she obviously does burlesque and then Nicola is the middle one and she is a comedian and then I’m sort of the singer, dancer…whatever else I can throw in there and so we’re not at all competing. We complement one another. I’m really proud of the working relationship I have with my sisters because that’s just a massive part of what makes the show.
When you tell people about your show, what are you most proud of?
I am very proud of having just put my show on at Fringe. And now, a few years later, to have kept adding, growing and improving it each year. I used to feel like I had spent a chunk of my life trying to get into musical theatre schools and having dreams of Broadway but I was getting setbacks and not quite fulfilling my dreams or goals. But then I was able to turn that around and say “I’m just gonna do it anyway.”
I’m just proud that it’s happening and that it’s relatively successful and that it has a cast that I absolutely love. I just adore everybody in the Fringe community. It is full of wonderful people that are so supportive, so helpful and so full of advice, they are like beacons of talent!
And finally, what fruit is Kiara with a K most like?
Cherries, because they are my favourite but also because that deep cherry red colour is the main colour of my cabaret in my brain.