Community
14 February, 2025
Success for Demby
CAMPERDOWN’S Theatre Royal saw a standing ovation for last Saturday’s variety show, which featured homegrown talent and visitors from further afield.
The Demby McKenzie and Friends variety show saw a sold-out venue, with variety show organiser Demby McKenzie saying the final 30 tickets were sold the day of the event.
“We could not be happier with how the night went, and how the night panned out,” he said.
“It’s not very often that we have to send people upstairs at the theatre, but we had to send a few people up there because we ran out of seats.
“I had my eight guests - all of them sang a duet with me, and then they sang their own solo.”
Mr McKenzie shared the stage with family members Madidi, Nikki and Toby, as well as friends Sarah Lim, Paris Leveque, Esther Lim, Luke London and Tarrant Edwards.
The variety show featured songs from various musicals including The Phantom of the Opera, Carousel, Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Wicked, Godspell, and Man of La Mancha.
Mr McKenzie said his highlight of the night was performing duets with the various performers.
“The duets were the best part of the night for me because it wasn’t about any one person, and everyone was so talented and so skilled, and it sounded so wonderful in the theatre,” he said.
“It was really great to have that chemistry with everyone on stage, and I think that really did read very well.
“I might be a bit biased, but the highlight for most people would have been our finale, which was One Day More from Les Misérables.
“A lot of people that I asked to come had already been in Les Misérables before, and some of them I had performed in Les Misérables with in Warrnambool, so we surprised everyone with a big group number at the end which was a really big hit.”
Mr McKenzie said the final tally was not yet confirmed, but ticket sales for the variety show raised over $700 for communities affected by bushfires.
He said the feedback from attendees was “wonderful and humbling”.
“So many people stuck around after the concert, which I really loved,” Mr McKenzie said.
“I made a beeline for my grandparents, and after I hugged them, none of us made two steps before we were caught by someone to thank us for coming and thank us for putting on a variety show like.
“It was just so wonderful – a lot of the time when we sing older songs, the younger crowd may not have even heard them before.
“It’s so good to perform them for people who genuinely love them.
“One lady said she worked for Ticketek in Melbourne for 20 years, and she said it was the best concert she had ever been to – I was chuffed with that.”
Mr McKenzie said he and his fellow performers were “overwhelmed with support” and eager to put on another show in Camperdown in the future.
“We have a plan for our next show, which is in Warrnambool,” he said.
“Given how well this one went, it would be silly of us not to consider one in Camperdown very soon.”
Read More: Camperdown