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Perth performers Amy Manford and Genevieve McCarthy make history as first women to score Disney concert rights

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Lily HoffmannThe West Australian
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Camera IconCredit: Theatre Performers, Genevieve McCarthy (pink) & Amy Manford from Disney in Concert in Perth.

Performers Amy Manford and Genevieve McCarthy have done what was thought to be impossible.

The pair behind Perth’s newest female led production company have scored the tightly held rights to Disney In Concert: A Dream Is A Wish — and will be the first to bring the musical experience Down Under.

Camera IconCredit: Ross Swanborough/The West Australian, Ross Swanborough

“It was a lot of three AM phone calls, midnight emails, it’s quite hard to get in touch with Disney, their phone number is not floating around on the internet,” McCarthy told AAA.

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“It’s the first time this show has been entrusted to an all female production house, so we are the first female producers of this particular show and I think we are some of the first producers ever to be so green.

“I think (Disney) usually trust these shows to really well established production houses and well established national orchestras, but I think they saw our fire and our enthusiasm and our ambition.”

While they might be green as producers and business owners — starting their joint venture MM Creative last year — the pair are anything but on stage, both having carved out an enviable career on London’s famous West End.

Camera IconCredit: Theatre Performers, Genevieve McCarthy (pink) & Amy Manford from Disney in Concert in Perth.

McCarthy was nominated for a best supporting actress gong in the Off West End Theatre Awards in 2018 and appeared in blockbuster The Spy Who Dumped Me, while Manford just scored a leading role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s upcoming Australian production of The Phantom of the Opera.

But in the wake of COVID-19, the pair decided to move home to the safety of Perth in 2020 and make their own luck — stepping off stage and behind the scenes with their own production house.

A year later and they are daring to take on some of the most recognisable tunes in the world with the help of the WA Symphony Orchestra at the Riverside Theatre.

“We have a massive LED screen behind the orchestra playing all of the original Disney footage so it’s just going to be a concert like no other,” Manford said.

“Disney has stood the test of time because the music is gorgeous, the orchestrations are stunning, and I don’t think people realise what that’s going to be like (to experience in person).”

Disney In Concert: A Dream Is A Wish will be held on October 29 and 30. Ticketing information is available at www.mmcreativeproductions.com for pre-sale on July 26.

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