BACKSTAGE AT MIDSUMMA WITH Trent Cliffe | I'm Only Dating these Men because my Uncle Bequeathed me Money and I Need to Get Married by the End of the Year

In today's Backstage at Midsumma, we speak to co-writer-director-performer Trent Cliffe, one of the creative minds bringing the new musical I'm Only Dating These Men Because my Uncle Bequeathed me Money and I Need to Get Married by the End of the Year to Explosives Factory in the first week of Midsumma!

A wild, heartfelt new musical comedy about one man’s race to find true love - or at least a legal spouse - before his eccentric criminal uncle ruins his life. In this two man show, Larry learns he’s inherited $946,000; but only if he’s married to the love of his life within a year. One year to find a partner or his life as he knows it will be undone. What awaits him in the dating pool?

Q: Take us back to the start. When did this show first drop into your head? How did it get to where it is now?

The show went through a lot of iterations until we got to where it is today. It really first started as a play about two men who get stuck in an elevator and one of them pitches his musical that incorporates all of the musical numbers from The Simpsons.

Then after we realised that that wasn’t it it turned into a sketch show. We wanted to have a through line in a story; we wanted to say something. 

So one day we decided to make it about queer dating and use some of the stories from our own lives, our friends and some of the funny sketches that we had written for previous shows compiling it altogether into what we have today.

And then we made it a musical.

Q: What will people find in your show that they won't find anywhere else in Midsumma?

Someone who watched the show the other day described it as a fever dream in the best possible way. 

Not only is it super goofy and very funny but it also touches on points and ideas that we all have experienced when dating. I think the combination of exaggerated characters and goofy humour mixed with real, relatable experiences makes it such a fun show to watch.

Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?

We have some pretty zany and crazy characters throughout the show that people won’t expect and with that some original punchlines that hopefully strike a chord.

Q: You're on a blind date. Nervously, you walk into the bar. Across the smoke and pool tables you see them - there they are. Your exact target audience member, personified. Can you describe them?

Our ideal audience is someone who loves theatre, musicals, and maybe has been in a couple of them before. Also, just those sorts of people that really enjoy sitting around with their friends and hearing them tell or reenact silly stories about dating - especially queer dating gone wrong. 

Q: What has been the most memorable moment in the process so far?

The best part of the process definitely has to be the writing sessions that Luke and I have had. We would often be somewhere at a commitment that we had to do and be wishing that we were writing together. The process of making this show has been super fun and I really hope that people enjoy it.

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I'm Only Dating These Men Because my Uncle Bequeathed me Money and I Need to Get Married by the End of the Year plays 19-23 January at Explosives Factory.

Click here to get your tickets!