The spark: Manda Rozen-Flannery on her inspiration for Charity.
Manda Rozen-Flannery (she/her) is a next generation arts leader with a sterling reputation as a successful performer, writer, director and producer.
Manda launched Heirlume Productions in 2025, making her producer and solo show debut in Liza’s Good Judy at Midsumma Festival, a cabaret she wrote both the script and musical arrangements for and returning to the festival in 2026 with Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens.
A graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Manda’s performance highlights include Sonja in The Life, Sheila in A Chorus Line, Kiss Me, Kate with Queensland Opera, and Dance Captain for both Sweet Charity and West Side Story.
As Artistic Director of Heirlume Productions, Manda leads the charge on Sweet Charity. The upcoming season, from June 18-28 at Chapel Off Chapel, will embody the same contemporary, queer, and socially-conscious lens we’ve grown accustomed to.
What draws you to the story of Sweet Charity? Considering it's the 60th anniversary of the Broadway premiere, is it important in your creative practice to explore existing works in new ways or are you drawn more to creating new works?
For me, Sweet Charity is quintessential musical theatre, and I've loved it for as long as I can remember. It has it all - a score packed with bangers, some of the best dance sequences ever made for the stage, and a kooky book that's (mostly!) stood the test of time. I've always felt the pull of Charity Hope Valentine - this unbridled, beating heart that can't quite follow the societal restraints modeled around her. There's always been something inherently neurodivergent and queer-coded about her, which I'm excited to see teased out in this production.
Oh, existing works in new ways! That's why Heirlume Productions was born. In fact, Heirlume was born from the little idea seed that turned into this production of Sweet Charity!
As an artist, I'm really drawn to how we pass stories from one generation to the next, and what those stories mean in new contexts, or with our collective retrospect. In a world obsessed with the latest trends, Heirlume asks us to look back and see how far we've come, but also how far we have to go.
How do you think today's audiences will relate to the story of Sweet Charity?
Well, first things first, incredible women having to sift through a dating pool of mediocre men is clearly not something confined to app-driven dating in 2026!
But in all honesty, I think audiences will relate to this show, but it also might push them a little out of their comfort zone. We've all felt like Charity at one moment or another - defiant, joyous, vulnerable - but our director, Madi, is crafting an incredible production that highlights what it's like for womxn to live in a man's world... something that I certainly wish had changed a lot more in the past 60 years. I'm excited for people to experience the brilliant work of the creative team, the cast, the musicians and for more people to see what Heirlume offers the Melbourne indie musical theatre scene.
I think Chapel Off Chapel is the perfect place for our Sweet Charity. We're not doing a flashy, Broadway blockbuster version of the show, and the Chapel allows the audience the audience to be so close, and so intimately connected to the story unfolding in front of them (and... possibly around them).
How has adapting the musical to include more queer representation affected your interpretation of the work?
For me, this interpretation was always right there for the taking. 1966, a moment between two worlds - the before; the peak of the picture perfect, nuclear family, enforced by McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare, and the after; Stonewall, Woodstock and Second Wave Feminism. Nothing needed to change in the script or score for these threads to be woven in... which is pretty cool in itself.
It allows for the world of the show to feel more true, more lived in. This lens allows us to give light to the stories of people who would have really existed at this time, but weren't given the light of day... and certainly didn't have musicals written about them.
Can you tell us your favourite line or moment in Sweet Charity?
Don't make me choose a favourite child! I think I'll say the dance sequence in "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This" - again, quintessential musical theatre!
If you could give Charity one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don't change. The world is a better place for having people like you in it. Let the world catch up to you.
Sweet Charity plays for a limited season of performances 18 - 28 June at Chapel off Chapel, a co-presentation with Heirlume Productions.
