Bernadette Robinson’s acclaimed performances in multiple sell-out seasons of the one-woman musical plays Songs For Nobodies and Pennsylvania Avenue have confirmed her standing as one of Australia’s leading singer/actresses.
Audiences and critics alike loved both shows: “The audience is on its feet with a standing ovation” (The Age), “Bernadette Robinson’s performance is theatrical alchemy” (Herald Sun), “Beyond virtuosity to the sublime” (The Australian). After he saw Songs For Nobodies for the second time, Barry Humphries announced that “Bernadette is a major talent and a spellbinder”. Like Humphries, Australia’s general theatre-going public had discovered Bernadette’s virtuosic acting skills and her uncanny ability to inhabit the voices of famous singers such as Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and many others.
Together with eventual winner Cate Blanchett, Bernadette was nominated for a Helpmann Award (Australia’s Olivier Awards) in 2012 as Best Female Actor In a Play.
Bernadette played the role of Beatrice in Nick Enright and Terry Clarke’s The Venetian Twins, and has appeared in lead roles with Chamber Made Opera and Wellington City Opera. She is a familiar figure on Australian concert stages, having given sell out concerts at the Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Festival Centre, the Melbourne Recital Centre and its neighbour, Hamer Hall, and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
In 2013, Bernadette recorded performances for a new cable TV show and CD called Studio At The Memo. Hosted by Australian rock star Tim Rogers, the series featured leading performers from Australia and overseas, including Rogers, Martha Wainwright, Tex Perkins and Kate Miller-Heidke.
Bernadette studied voice with the legendary Dame Joan Hammond at the Victorian College Of The Arts before embarking on her professional career in productions of The Pirates of Penzance and Cats. She presented her earlier solo shows You Might As Well Live, Calling All Angels and Patsy Cline: Her Songs, Her Story around Australia to critical and audience acclaim.
In addition to her one-woman shows, Bernadette has had great success performing at high profile events for large corporates across Australia and (singing in English and in local languages) in Tokyo, Beijing (during the 2008 Olympic Games), Shanghai (during the 2010 World Expo), Hong Kong, Macau, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Toronto.