General News
20 March, 2026
Show to honour Anzac spirit
A SPECIAL show is coming to Camperdown in honour of Australian soldiers who served in World War I, World War II and Vietnam with soldier stories brought to life through music, images and letters.
Promac Productions Australia is bringing a performance of Spirit of the Anzacs and Vets to the Theatre Royal, which has previously travelled as far north as Cairns and as far south as Hobart.
Promac Productions Australia founder and show director and narrator Christopher McKenna said the show has never made it to Camperdown in its ten-year history.
“I know there’s a strong following for the Seniors Month shows, so I reached out to Belinda Rowbottom at the Corangamite Shire and asked if the shire would like to put the show on as a special event leading up to Anzac Day 2026, and she thought it was a terrific idea,” he said.
“It’s a little bit of commemoration and a little bit of thinking, but people will also hear some music beautifully sung by a star Australian tenor in Roy Best, international soprano Alison Jones and our virtuoso on the piano William Schmidt.
“We do music from the Andrew Sisters, the beautiful ‘You’ll Never Know’, Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowing in the Wind’, Tom Jones’ ‘Green, Green Grass of Home’, John Denver’s ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ and the finale is a stirring rendition of many songs including the song ‘Bring Him Home’ from Les Misérables.
“It’s got three phases to it – it’s got the hits from World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War, as we cover a bit of 60s and 70s music, it’s got stories of diggers and Vietnam veterans, it’s got letters from diggers to families and vice versa and it’s got beautiful imagery on a big screen of slides from all three campaigns.
“The letters we found from diggers on the front line to home as well as from their families to them.”
This production is the only fully sanctioned production permitted to use the word Anzacs by the Federal Government’s Department of Veterans Affairs Canberra.
Mr McKenna said the company was thrilled with the honour, which is immortalised in an official letter from the Federal Government.
“The department came and saw our production and loved it,” he said.
“They thought it was great a company like ours was keeping the Anzac spirit alive by touring around Australia with a musical theatre show.
“There was a bit of kerfuffle where places such as Woolworths and Coles were selling Anzac biscuits without actually having permission to use the word.
“Anzac is a very sacred word.”
Mr McKenna said the show had a bit of everything, balancing commemoration with entertainment.
“There are quite a number of laughs along the way and a little bit of singing from the audience as well,” he said.
“It’s great fun – at times the show is poignant and moving, and other times it’s the opposite.”
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