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Miss Friby - The Company

Miss Friby is one of Melbourne’s leading avante show makers and boutique entertainment providers. From curated house troupes and vignettes to full scale stage spectacles featuring live music and opulent costume, Miss Friby’s unique brand of cabaret, burlesque and vaudeville shows are a tornado of rigorous choreography and satirical bite, promising an unforgettable audience experience.

To present work that is thought provoking AND entertaining. Our shows invite audiences to unwind, laugh and forget about their daily grind, but they also have satirical bite and a witty contemporary edge, encouraging new conversations about the world we live in.

Miss Friby - The Mission
Miss Friby - The Services

You want it, we create it. It really is that simple.

 

Our extensive experience in producing work for a wide range of clients, and our impressive networks of performers, musicians, designers and production staff, ensure that there is no limit to the entertainment solutions we can provide. 

Who the hell is Miss Friby?
Writer, Producer, Director, Choreographer, Performer, Musician, Songwriter, Costume Designer, Graphic Artist, Film Maker, Social Commentator, Burlesque Academic and Arts Administrator - there really is no straight answer to that question, but let's give it a red hot go!
Headstrong, disastrously inquisitive and painfully defiant, Elizabeth Dawson-Smith was put into her first dance class...
ABOUT the company

Miss Friby - The Company

Miss Friby is one of Melbourne’s leading avante show makers and boutique entertainment providers. From curated house troupes and vignettes to full scale stage spectacles featuring live music and opulent costume, Miss Friby’s unique brand of cabaret, burlesque and vaudeville shows are a tornado of rigorous choreography and satirical bite, promising an unforgettable audience experience.

 

The company has received high acclaim amongst the dance community (featured in the 'Immersed Dance Industry Gala' 2013/14), invited to present alongside top international clowns at 'So You Think You Can Clown' (Comedy Festival Hub 2012) and nominated for multiple Green Room Awards 'Innovation in Cabaret' (2012) and 'Best Ensemble' (2015). Not to mention the company's achievements as a featured finalist on Channel Nine's 'Australia's Got Talent' (2013).

 

Miss Friby's shows (Two Pound Parlour, Aphrodite's Bordello, Miss Friby's Box, Voodoo Vegas) and acts have been highly regarded amongst numerous festivals including Woodford Folk Festival (2014), Splendour in the Grass (2014/15), Falls Festival (2013-16), Rainbow Serpent Festival (2010-16), Apollo Bay Festival (2014) and The National Folk Festival (2013) as well as high end theatre venues such as the National Gallery of Victoria (2012) and the World Famous Spiegeltent (2009).

ABOUT - THE MISSION

Miss Friby - The Mission

To present work that is thought provoking AND entertaining. All Miss Friby shows invite audiences to unwind, laugh and forget about their daily grind, but they also have satirical bite and a witty contemporary edge, encouraging new conversations about the world we live in.

 

To build and develop new audiences for theatre and live entertainment, with a particular emphasis on dance and physical theatre, by creating original work that is accessible to a wide range of people, with engaging content and of the highest possible quality. 

 

To create more opportunities for artists through artist development strategies, collaborations, project development and presentation opportunities.

 

To build long term, ongoing relationships with artists, presenters and event organisers that foster collaboration and ingenuity.

ABOUT - THE SERVICES

Miss Friby - The Services

You want it, we create it. It really is that simple.

 

Our extensive experience in producing work for a wide range of clients, and our impressive networks of performers, musicians, designers and production staff, ensure that there is no limit to the creative entertainment solutions we can provide. 

 

All of our works are of the highest quality, both in talent and design and we take pride in our capacity to be flexible, collaborating with presenters and producers, and tailoring work that is perfect for its proposed audience, theme, setting and budget.

 

Services include:

 

Full Length Theatre Spectacles (VIEW SHOW MENU HERE)

Themed Floorshows (VIEW HERE)

Roving Entertainers (VIEW HERE)

House Troupes (VIEW HERE)

Flash mobs

Event, festivals and club entertainment 

Acts for hire (check out some of our acts HERE)

Event hosting and MC work (VIEW HERE)

Live entertainment production

Artist Programming

Artist Collaboration

Film

Choreography 

Direction 

 

Not sure what you’re after? No worries, get in touch to discuss you’re requirements further, we will work with you to make something memorable for your clients & our audience.

VIEW SHOWS & SERVICES
WHO THE HELL IS MISS FRIBY?
Who the Hell is Miss Friby?
Writer, Producer, Director, Choreographer, Performer, Musician, Songwriter, Costume Designer, Graphic Artist, Film Maker, Social Commentator, Burlesque Academic and Arts Administrator - there really is no straight answer to that question, but let's give it a red hot go!

Headstrong, disastrously inquisitive and painfully defiant, Elizabeth Dawson-Smith was put into her first dance class at the age of three, as a last resort by desperate parents. Like a fish to water, Elizabeth was in like sin, and subsequently spent her entire childhood in and out of dance classes, from Melbourne's top dance institutions to community classes in Namibia (Africa) Elizabeth trained hard at every type of dance she could encounter until her late teens.

While Elizabeth's afinity for choreography, performance making and theatre based dance was becoming very apparent, Elizabeth was finding it harder and harder to 'fit in' with the typical pathway for professional dancers. As such, Elizabeth stopped dancing to pursue acting with a full year scholarship to the St Martins Performing Arts Theatre Program.

Graduating with a bag of physical and theatrical tricks, Elizabeth travelled both nationally and internationally as a street performer, working with performers and musicians all over the world (UK, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, Australia, South Africa, Slovenia, Germany, Netherlands, Croatia) for six years. During this period, Elizabeth trained in folkloric dance forms such as salsa, samba, capoeira, forro, gypsy, tango, waltz, foxtrot, stomp, hip hop, break dancing, fire dancing and circus whilst also exploring music and songwriting for the first time.
 
Elizabeth's success as a performer led her to teach, choreograph and produce shows for art, theatre and dance festivals in Brazil, Turkey and the UK, and upon her return to Australia, Elizabeth decided to complete a Bachelor of Creative Arts Industries and a further First Class Honours accreditation for her research thesis, 'Nineteenth Century (non-striptease) Burlesque Techniques'.

Under the Brazilian company name 'Friby Producoes' (Friby Productions) Elizabeth 
produced a huge array of shows and vignettes (Red Bennies, Spiegeltent, Loop, Rainbow Serpent Festival), but during an MC mix-up, the company was introduced as 'Miss Friby' and the name was adopted as a title for the entire cast when performing.

During one particular production, 'Table' at The Village Festival (2012), Elizabeth had to'fill the time' while a dancer changed costume, and flippantly created 'Miss Friby', distarous 
dictator and sparkly showgirl, to rant on for a minute or so - that was that. A new monster had arisen from the Miss Friby repertoire, she was loveable, charming and ridiculously 
infectious. Audiences wanted her, the shows were enhanced by her and everything she touched turned to sequins!

Two Pound Parlour (2013/14) was the first show created specifically for the character 'Miss Friby' but with each new show, audiences are often privy to a new 'Miss Friby', from depressed lobster, to cooking class cougar or top class showgirl. Miss Friby is as dynamic as the shows themselves, and has fast become the platform for Elizabeth's impressive range of characters, narratives and anecdotes.
 
In a typical case of art imitating life, Elizabeth runs the production and Miss Friby runs the show, but they are both the wildly imaginative, wondrously talented and aesthetically demanding showgirls 'you'd do well to keep on your radar' (thebeat.com).
ABOUT HISTORY

PERFORMANCE HISTORY

THEATRE/CABARET PRODUCTIONS
Miss Friby - All Alone ...AT Last - Bigwest Festival (2015)
Top Spot - Ruby's Music Room (2015)
Miss Friby's Box - Fall Festival (TAS, NSW, VIC 2013-16), Woodford Folk Festival (2014), Splendour in the Grass (2014/15), Phoenix – monthly residency (2014)

Two Pound Parlour - Revolt Productions (2013), Revolt Productions (2014), Rainbow Serpent Festival (2014)
Miss Friby's Charming VignettesApollo Bay Music Festival (2014), Rainbow Serpent Festival (2013), Byron Bay Community Centre (2013), Woodford Folk Festival (2012), Castlemaine Teatre (2012), National Gallery of Victoria (2012), Red Bennies (2011)

Aphrodite's Bordello - Melbourne Fringe Festival (2012)
Table - Dead House Walking (2011), The Village Festival (2012)
Milk - Royal Melbourne Show (2010), Rainbow Serpent Festival (2010), National Dance Week (Brazil 2008/9), National Teatre Week (2009),
Cara's Da Rua - National Dance Week (Brazil 2008/9), National Teatre Week (2009)

BOUTIQUE ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION

Ballarat Laneway Festival – Roving Fire Performer (2015)
Crown Palladium – 'Rock'n'Roll Flash Mob' (2015), 'Stars of the Silver Screen Roving Performers' (2014), 'Wild West Roving Performers' (2013)

The Annual Tarantino Ball - 'Kill Bill Burlesque Show' (2015)

Cairn's Casino - 'Sina King's Burlesque 54' (2014)
Electro Swing Club - 'House Dance Troupe' (2013-16)
Melbourne Comedy Festival Hub – 'Spaghetti Slobs' (2013)
The Village Festival – 'Variety Show Host' (2013-14), 'How to woo a bogan cooking class' (2015)

Immersed Dance Industry Gala – 'Boots' (2013), Spaghetti Slobs (2012)

Rainbow Serpent Festival – 'Synchronised Sunbakers' (2011)

EVENT PRODUCTION/PROGRAMMING
Electro Swing Club Casting and programming (2015-16)
Summer of Love Marketing (2013)
Dead House Walking  Producer/Programmer Melbourne (2011)
Fora Do Tempo Festival  Producer/Programmer 'Opening Ceremony' Brazil (2006-9)

Danca no Laboratorio – Producer/Programmer Brazil (2008)
*MISS FRIBY see 'Theatre/cabaret productions' listed above, all Miss Friby events are produced in house (2008-16)

MUSIC COLLABORATIONS

Woohoo Revue - performance (songwriting and vocals) (2016)

Bonnie Love - songwriting and performance (backing vocals) (2015-16)

Rapskallion - songwriting & performance (backing vocals) (2010-2015)

Kill Ya Darlings songwriting & performance (lead vocals) (2012-14)

The Desert Thieves - performance (backing vocals) (2014)
Underscore Orchestra - songwriting and recording vocals (2014)

 

FILM

Alcherra Entertainment – 'Motion Capture Animation for App development' (2009)

'Tango' the film - Rapskallion film clip

'Two breathe' - 'Best Film' recipient 2012 (Queen Street Film Festival

Client Testimonials

'We received glowing feedback about the show from audience members and our partners'

- Marcia Ferguson, Bigwest Festival

'Miss Friby's shows are adaptable and flexible within eclectic spaces, the cast are always lovely to work with and the company is open to producer/presenter 

collaboration'

- Ian Pidd, The Village & Falls Festival

'Miss Friby's House Troupe has been an incredible addition to the Electroswing Club. We have a great relationship with the dancers, and feel so safe when Miss Friby is in charge!'

- Dannie Mackenzie, Woohoo Revue & Electro Swing Club

'A professional, provocative show with a variety of acts, great costuming and 

choreography'

- Emma Lee Luther, 'Global Village' Splendour in the Grass

'Miss Friby has become a staple at Rainbow Serpent Festival they continue to surprise me with their performances and are an audience favourite'

- Talulah Rae, Rainbow Serpent Festival
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