Ordinary Days is the ‘hug’ of a musical that you need in your life
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Billed as the ‘best musical you’ve never heard of’, Ordinary Days is coming to The Q and if you’ve been looking for something uplifting to propel you from winter to spring, we may have found it.
That’s because Ordinary Days – playing at The Q from 5-7 September – is no ordinary musical.
“I think when most people think musical theatre, they think of jazzy musical numbers, razzle dazzle, you know, and this musical is not that,” explains Vanessa Valois, who plays Deb in Ordinary Days.
“It’s small, it’s intimate – it’s almost like watching your favourite TV show with your favourite characters and going on a really intimate journey with them.”
Billed as a ‘hug’ of a musical, Ordinary Days has just four characters and is set in New York City over a handful of days, which means you get to know each of the ‘beautiful’ characters intimately. There’s Warren the struggling artist, Deb the driven graduate student, and Jason and Claire – a couple navigating moving in together for the first time.
The Ordinary Days cast in rehearsals.
While Ordinary Days is a ‘sung through’ musical, Vanessa says it’s almost easier to describe it as a play, because of the “gorgeous music and underscoring” and the personal, relatable storylines of each character, such as her role of Deb, who Vanessa describes as searching for her place in the world.
“She’s got these huge ambitions but doesn’t really know how to get there or what she actually wants. She just knows she wants to do something great and so she’s just 100 miles an hour trying to get to something great without really taking stock of whether she’s enjoying the process or whether she actually wants to be on that journey in the first place.”
Not only is this four-person show a heart-warming treat for audiences, Vanessa says it was also a creative treat for the cast and crew, who first started rehearsing during Covid lockdowns in 2020, when larger productions had ground to a halt.
“It made me just cherish every rehearsal…it was such a privilege to be rehearsing something and also to be in a room with people who are just wildly talented.”
The Ordinary Days cast in rehearsal.
Four years later, Ordinary Days is being staged as part of The Q’s Q The Locals series and Vanessa couldn’t be happier.
“The ultimate takeaway from this musical is about finding the beauty in everyday things – in those small glimpses of life that are gorgeous and just embracing that.
“It’s a different show and not a show you see [being staged] often, but it is so beautiful.”
Ready to end your winter with a warm hug? Tickets to Ordinary Days are on sale now.
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Ordinary Days
Where: The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, Queanbeyan
When: 5-7 September
Tickets: theq.net.au/whats-on/ordinary-days
Photography: Vanessa Valois
