She says her new show, Broadway Baby, is coming to Canberra specifically at the request of the owners of the cabaret venue Teatro Vivaldi, Mark Santos and Anthony Hill. It will be her first time performing in Canberra in about five years – the last time was also at Vivaldi's.

"I love Mark and Anthony and what they do there ... and the space is so gorgeous," she says.

"They came and saw me in a few productions I did in Melbourne and Sydney and asked me, 'When are you coming back again?' and I thought, 'It's time for a Vivaldi's hit, time I was coming back again'.'

Broadway Baby takes its title from a song from the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies, one of many shows in which Burchmore has appeared. She recently played the Witch in what she says was an "extraordinary" Queensland production of another Sondheim show, Into the Woods, which she hopes might tour nationally – including, possibly, the Canberra Theatre, a place in which she has not yet performed.

As well as Sondheim songs the Canberra cabaret will feature some Jerry Herman numbers. Later in the year Burchmore will feature alongside performers such as Nancye Hayes in a production of the revue Jerry's Girls, performing numbers from Herman shows like Mame – in which she has played the title role – Hello, Dolly! and La Cage Aux Folles.

There might also be songs from other shows in which she starred, such as the ABBA musical Mamma Mia! and the Kander and Ebb musical Chicago.

But it won't all be songs from her stage career. Accompanied by her musical director, Michael Pensini, she says she will also sing some personal favourites – perhaps a little Irving Berlin; perhaps the song In My Daughter's Eyes that she recorded ("I have one daughter – she's incredibly special to me").

There will be stories from her life and career and, as you might expect, she has amassed a lot of them over the years.

She says the most "challenging" show business legend she ever worked with was Mickey Rooney, with whom she appeared in London in the stage revue Sugar Babies, along with another movie legend, Anne Miller.

"Tricky Mickey we used to call him," she says.

"He was a very troubled little man, very bitter about what Hollywood did to him. He was in his 70s when I performed with him and didn't care what he said, who he said it to or how he said it."

She says he was very talented but erratic on stage.

"We did eight shows a week and for five or six of those he'd be genius; the other three were a disaster. He'd insult the audience, insult Anne, be missing cues."

Miller, Burchmore says, was "absolutely professional" and "great fun", and gave her a pair of dancing shoes she still has.

She got to be in Sugar Babies in London after working in the show in Australia with another old-time Hollywood actor, Eddie Bracken. While never the star Rooney was – Bracken's heyday was in the 1940s, especially in a couple of Preston Sturges comedies – he had one lifelong marriage, in contrast with Rooney's turbulent personal life, and a steady career on screen, radio and stage. Burchmore speaks very highly of him.

"He was my mentor for life and an incredibly gentle man who gave me so much."

Now Burchmore is at the stage where she is mentoring young actors and students herself – the fact that she's sustained a long career in an industry known for very high levels of unemployment is inspiring in itself.

"If I can help young up-and-coming people that way, in telling how I did that, I'm very open."

She says, "The main thing is, never pigeonhole yourself in any particular form, be it jazz, cabaret, musical theatre."

While that can be easy to say – sometimes the pigeonholing is done by others – versatility is key in developing and sustaining a career.

"The other thing is, never sit idly waiting for the phone to ring. If I'm not in a show I create a show with me in it."

And here it is.

Broadway Baby is on at Teatro Vivaldi, ANU Arts Centre on October 23 and 24. Dinner and show $65. $85, $95 at 7pm; show only $35, $45, $55 at 8.15pm (prices depend on seat location). Bookings: 62572718.