Daniel Edmonds
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Musical director, pianist, composer
My ideal weekend would be:
Escaping the orchestra pit and exploring the world with friends and family. Three favourite places in Australia would be waterskiing at the south coast (my parents, who still live in Canberra, have a house there), exploring the excellent Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, or enjoying some of the great bars and restaurants in Melbourne where there's always a new discovery to be made. When I'm on a theatre schedule, a weekend can be a Monday. But I'll make the most of it!
My favourite place to eat out in Canberra is:
Two of my favourites are Ottoman and Water's Edge. But when I'm back home, my favourite place to eat is the dining room at mum and dad's place. We always have such a great time catching up, and mum is a truly excellent cook. It's hard to beat.
My proudest moment as a performer was:
Hopefully my proudest moment will be the next performance, the next achievement or the next creation. One of the best so far would be opening night on the West End in London as Caroline O'Connor's arranger and musical director in 2010. The show was called The Showgirl Within, about Caroline's life and career. Since then I've been proud to be the originating musical director for two home-grown productions: King Kong and Strictly Ballroom The Musical.
My most embarrassing moment as a performer was:
Having Kate Ceberano unbutton my shirt on TV. It's as if being dressed in a Latin American outfit to perform I Go To Rio for the upcoming World Cup wasn't enough!
Working as musical director on Strictly Ballroom is:
Never the same from one day to the next. I like that about it. When people ask "How do you do the same show every night?" the response is invariably "We don't!". It's live, it's fresh and we're always ready for the unexpected. The musicians, the cast, and the crew are all so great at what they do.
The best part of starting out in Canberra was:
The variety of different things I was able to do. Gigs with my band, corporate entertainment, theatre, writing original music, arranging for the Canberra Pops Orchestra and many more. A great training ground for a future career.