Only Everything: the romantic “dramedy” musical inspired by a local love story

Posted on 17 September, 2024

The right person at the wrong time – it’s a popular rom-com trope for a reason.

But from a meet-cute moment to tugging on an invisible string to risk it all for a second chance at love, one Canberra couple has gone through it all. And now they’re bringing their story to the stage with an original musical that will have you laughing, crying, and believing in the power of true love.

Written, produced, and performed by Shell Abdoo and Berin Denham, Only Everything is a romantic “dramedy” inspired by the deeply personal story of their relationship, from how they first met to the complexities of starting anew.

Meeting 10 years ago while both performing in a musical with the Canberra Philharmonic, what you do need to know was it wasn’t love at first sight – but as they prepare for their wedding on the closing weekend of the show (yep, they’re performing in a musical AND getting married all in one day), Shell and Berin believe that there’s nothing truly unique about their journey.

There’s just not a lot of stories being told about people in their 40s finding love again.

“At the time, Shell was married, and I was dating someone, so there was no romantic interest at that stage,” explains Berrin.

“Then five years after that, I was getting back into the dating scene, so I jumped onto an app and came across Shell’s profile and discovered that in those intervening five years, she had gotten a divorce and was now single.”

“I reached out to her, and she turned me down, but then a few weeks later we got chatting and built up a friendship. And now, four and a half years later, we’ve blended our families, and I’ve moved in with Shell and her youngest three children.”

As for what happened during the years in between? You’ll have to see Only Everything to find out.

“This is a story that’s quite relatable. There are not a lot of stories being told – especially in musicals – about people who are falling in love again or maybe for the first time in their 40s after they’ve been married, after they’ve gotten divorced, or when they’ve already had kids,” says Shell.

“So many people who have listened to our story, have heard what we’ve been working on and workshopping with the musical have said ‘Oh my God, I’ve been there.’”

Shell and Berin.

All completely set in Canberra and created by Canberra locals, the idea of Only Everything came about during the 2021 COVID lockdown. Giving them the time and space to reflect on their love story – and discuss their desires to stretch their respective talents to try their hand at writing a musical – what started as a simple conversation bloomed into a full production where the couple plays themselves.

“I grew up in the theatre, my parents met in shows and I’ve been a performer my entire life. Shell, on the other hand, was a musician for many years and still plays in many bands around time and had only recently come into theatre,” says Berin.

“As we started dating a lot of people asked how we got together and every time we told the story everyone started saying ‘Wow that’s an amazing story. That’s like a rom-com.’ And we realised that this is the story we should tell.”

Chipping away at the show for several years, when Berin proposed in 2023, the couple decided to take the musical one step further and turn the final weekend into a wedding extravaganza for friends and family – complete with attendees seeing the show on Saturday night and then attending the wedding on Sunday.

And (in a full circle moment), the date of their wedding is not only their fifth anniversary but the ceremony is being held on the grounds outside the Canberra Theatre Centre and the reception will be held in the back of the theatre.

It’s enough to make anyone swoon.

“We’re both performers and we’re on stage a lot so when we first said ‘let’s write a show’ it was intending to do it publicly. It wasn’t something that we planned on doing quietly for ourselves,” says Berin. “I’ve never written one before, but I have produced a few musicals in Canberra.”

“I’ve written songs my whole life and when you go through something as big and emotional as a love story to end all love stories – for Berin and I personally – as an artist, you need to express it, you want to write about it and hope that other people can relate and get swept up in those emotions,” adds Shell.

Holding workshops with friends, family, and industry colleagues to provide valuable feedback on their progress, Only Everything is directed by Rachel Thorton, musical direction by Nicholas Griffin, and sound engineering by James McPherson.

With only a cast of four, the show is minimalist. Still, the story cleverly interweaves the important people in their lives (like their children) without naming names or showing faces, using technology to help propel the events.

Hoping to eventually take the show on the road around Australia, in simple terms, Berin and Shell say Only Everything is like a combination of How I Met Your Mother and the musical Once.

Excited to hit the stage from Thursday 17 until Sunday 26 October to finally share their love story with the world, the name of this musical might be poetic, but when you dig down a little deeper – like the story itself – it’s so much more to the couple.

“I would have moments of saying ‘I don’t know if I’m doing this right’ and we’ve used that in the show. Berin is sure but Shell is dubious, she’s scared to love again,” says Shell.

“And in real life, I would often seek reassurance from Berin, and he would use the term “Only everything” to remind me that ‘You’re everything to me, this is everything.’ We thought it beautifully encompasses the vibe of our relationship.”