Amanda Muggleton The Men Who Got Away - Thank God!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, as the saying goes. Amanda Muggleton is following that advice when it comes to her love life. The new cabaret show The Men Who Got Away - Thank God!, which is premiering in Canberra, is her first show at Teatro Vivaldi in 10 years. Muggleton says she is offering a light-hearted look, in story and song, at the ups and downs of her relationships with men over the years.

"I've ended up with nobody at the moment - footless and fancy free."

But she does not want the show to be seen as self-pitying or vindictive: "It's very healthy to be able to laugh at yourself."

She had thought of creating an autobiographical show - among the working titles were Muggling Along and It's a Mug's Life - but then narrowed the focus from the professional to the personal and has honed the show with musical director John Martin and director Rodney Fisher.

And she is certainly not short of material. She says she's had some long-term relationships - eight or nine years - "but usually it's my career that got in the way".

Being an actress and singer on stage and screen, she has to go where the work is, and the long and sometimes unpredictable absences are hard on relationships. And being with a fellow actor can lead to competitive feelings and envy if one is more successful than the other.

Of one of her ex-partners, from Melbourne, she says, "I didn't like the way he ate. He had far too much love of food and made noises when he ate."

Muggleton's men were certainly not lacking in variety. She's had relationships with men 20 years older and 20 years younger than her - "What do you think, I'm naughty but nice?" - men with no money and men with plenty of money.

Regarding the latter, she will sing The Moon and the Stars from Jason Robert Brown's show Songs for a New World.

And on it goes.

"I have made mistakes, not realising the man is gay - I've had two or three of those," she says.

"Most women do - they've got a wonderful feminine side."

Illustrating that ill-fated attraction is The Boy From ... a parody of The Girl from Ipanema by Mary Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim from The Mad Show.

Other songs in the show include Somethin' Stupid, Nature Boy, The Masochism Tango and Nature Boy . It isn't too hard to imagine scenarios where they might be applicable - likewise for Noel Coward's Mad About the Boy and a lesser-known Cole Porter number, I Loved Him But He Didn't Love Me.

No doubt all will be revealed on the night - or almost all. And, of course, there's a song made famous by Judy Garland, The Man That Got Away.

She says she hasn't talked to any of the exes about the show and whether they are in it "which is why I'm a bit guarded - I wouldn't like them to know".

One of the men she met was in Canberra in what turned out to be a rather messy situation. She was in a relationship with someone she liked but dumped him for the Canberra man, only to find that didn't work out as she had hoped.

"I regret that."

British-born Muggleton has lived in Australia since 1974 and has a long list of credits on stage and screen, including Chrissie Latham in Prisoner and plays and musicals including The Book Club, HMS Pinafore, Annie, Shirley Valentine and Master Class.

Asked if she has any relationship advice for people based on her experiences, she says, "Don't bother!"

But then she backtracks: "No, that's too harsh."

Anyway, she says, she is very happy the way she is, with "a fantastic circle of friends" and a lot going on - including a reading for a film in development, a radio collaboration with Martin and, next year, another tour of The Book Club.

And in October, there's a Mediterranean cruise with the one man who's been there all her life: her father, now 89 years old.

Muggleton has been single for about a year. She doesn't rule out another relationship. but wouldn't enter into one lightly.

"It's absolutely got to be right: the stakes are so high."