Features

Daniel Assetta talks SIBLINGSHIP

Real-life siblings Daniel and Chiara Assetta chronicle their childhood journey in their Cabaret, Siblingship. The singing, dancing, Italian-Australian pair will escort you through their lives with classic show tunes and pop music. Siblingship made its premiere in 2019, playing to sold-out audiences in Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra. It’s returning to Riverside Theatres, Paramatta for an encore season in December 2020, and is the perfect early Christmas gift for any theatre-loving sibling.

Daniel and Chiara Assetta

Daniel Assetta is one of Australia’s most accomplished young musical theatre artists. He began his training at GY Dance, and then graduated from ED5 International with a Diploma in Performing Arts. Daniel will be starting 2021 appearing in the upcoming Australian premiere of Hamilton as ‘Samuel Seabury’. Past credits include Tony (alternate) in West Side Story (Opera Australia/GWB), Al in A Chorus Line (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Elder Young in The Book of Mormon (Gordon Frost Organisation), and The Rum Tum Tugger in the Australian/New Zealand tour of CATS

Chiara began her training at GY Dance in Sydney before graduating from ED5International in 2016. Recent credits include Teresita in West Side Story (Handa Opera Australia), choreographer for The Dismissal: A New Australian Musical, and Brian in the musical adaption of Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens. She also has extensive film and television credits, and has been a featured vocalist for The Voice, The Footy Show, and at several large scale events.

With the show opening in just a few weeks, I had a chat with Daniel about the writing process, and what audiences can expect from the sibling spectacular.

How did you come up with the concept of Siblingship (besides the obvious)?

Ever since I can remember, Chiara and I have always wanted to put on our own shows. As kids, we were obsessed with creating performances for every family event and function. We would choose a theme, arrange music together, make props and costumes, and choreograph our own routines. The shows fell anywhere between ‘Hits of the 80’s’ through to our own two-person version of ‘The Lion King’. Obviously our passion grew into professional careers over time, so it really was inevitable that something like Siblingship would be created. Over the last 5 years we started brainstorming songs and ideas drawing on inspiration from our childhood, and the show started to take shape from there.

What has been the most challenging part of the cabaret writing process?

We realised very early on in the process that we were way too attached to our own childhood stories. There were SO many memories that we needed to figure out which ones would be funny to an audience and not just a hilarious personal joke. So in order to create the perfect show we brought my husband, Tobias Madden, on board as our brilliant collaborative writer. He was able to look at everything we wanted to include and shape it to form a brilliant script. Siblingship runs just over an hour, so it was definitely a difficult process to try and squeeze the first 18 years of our lives and the sibling experience into one epic show. I couldn’t be more proud of what we have as our finished product, and that is due to a huge team effort.

And the most exciting?

The most exciting part of the writing process would be that we have included some of our all-time favourite songs in the show. Arranged by our talented musical director, Nicholas Griffin, the music of Siblingship contains the ultimate bucket list of songs, blending the worlds of musical theatre and pop. Without giving too much away, we’ve even managed to weave in a few of our old childhood competition duets. So it’s obviously incredibly special.

What is your favourite number to perform?

One of our favourites would have to be a segment we like to call ‘The Awkward Love Duet Medley’. The title pretty much says it all. As for how it unfolds, I guess you’ll just have to come along to Parramatta Riverside and see.

Why should audiences come and see Siblingship?

Siblingship is a show that has a little bit of something for everyone. Whether it’s the nostalgia of the 90s and early 2000s, being in a love/hate relationship with your brother or sister, growing up with a passion for performing or simply just a love of theatre like Chiara and I. We know that it’s been a very strange year for everyone and we’re overjoyed that our arts industry in Australia is finally opening up. We are so grateful to be part of that and we would love for audiences to come along, laugh and enjoy a fun night out to kick-start the holiday season. After such an overwhelming response to our sold-out season last year at The Hayes, we really are so excited to be bringing Siblingship back, one last time.

SIBLINGSHIP

Limited Tickets Available!

Venue Riverside Theatres, Parramatta

Dates 17-19 December 2020

Times Thurs 8:00pm, Fri 8:00pm, Sat 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Price $50-60

Bookings https://riversideparramatta.com.au | (02) 8839 3399

Running time 70 min

Gabi Bergman

Gabi Bergman is a Melbourne-based performer and educator, and is the current Deputy Editor-in-Chief of AussieTheatre.com. She holds a Double Arts degree in Theatre Studies and Film/Screen Studies and a Master of Teaching (Secondary Education). Gabi has always been an avid lover of theatre, specifically musicals, and spends way too much money than she’d like to admit on tickets. Her most prized possession is her crate of theatre programs.