Supported: Mandi Lodge loves audience feedback.
Erin Pearson
“BE PROUD, celebrate your body and enjoy it,” says Busting Out! front-woman Mandi Lodge. “You’re not the only ones with dangly boobs.”
Following a sell-out tour across the country Busting Out! will roll into Geelong this October.
In turn a musical, stand up comedy, theatre and cabaret, Lodge said Busting Out! poked fun at “boobs” in an amusing and humorous performance.
“We do see boobs used mainly for feeding babies, that’s the biggest thing they are used for, but we show they aren’t just sexual or milk making machines, they are fun, and we can even make them sing,” she laughed.
Lodge grew up in a small Northern England village near the town of Huddersfield.
Since arriving down-under 10 years ago, she’s starred as Mrs Lovett opposite the late Rob Guest’s Sweeney Todd and performed in numerous musical theatre shows, concerts, film and TV.
“When I’ve spoken to friends on Facebook they are all very supportive and my mum thinks it fantastic, but I don’t know if dad realised I’m topless on stage,” Lodge laughed.
“When you see your boobs and your tummy on the big screen at the back of the stage, you’re like ‘OK get used to it, this is me’ and it becomes very liberating.”
Created by Emma Powell (Mamma Mia), Busting Out! has sold more than 300,000 tickets and has grossed in excess of $10 million.
Negotiations have begun to stage the show in London, New York and Las Vegas.
The musical comedy sees Australian comics Bev Killick, Katie Houghton, Louise Steele and Wendy Grose feature onstage alongside Lodge.
Lodge said the show begins with a rendition of Everybody Likes Tits before chatting with the audience to “break the ice”.
“We chat to the audience and encourage them to chat back to us,” she said.
“I think we cover the whole spectrum, we see 18-year-olds to 90-year-olds with walking frames come in.
“One older lady came in with oxygen by her side and she told us she had to keep having an extra little suck because she couldn’t stop laughing.
“We love that sort of feedback and women feel quite comfortable telling us their own breast tales because they feel so much better about their own bodies by the end of the show.”
Proceeds from the show have seen $50,000 raised for breast cancer research and support.
Busting Out! will be performed at GPAC on Saturday October 2.
