Eddie Perfect returns to Australia to star in 9 to 5 The Musical

Actor and comedian Eddie Perfect is heading to Sydney to star in Dolly Parton’s famed musical 9 to 5.

When Eddie Perfect walked away from Broadway’s fame and fortune, he admits he was worried his career may never hit those heights again.

The Aussie actor and writer had been nominated for a Tony Award — theatre’s Oscars — for his work on King Kong and again for Beetlejuice, only to return home to give his daughters the chance of a more normal upbringing.

“We felt it was time to come back to Australia for the sake of our kids – we wanted to make sure our girls had a great education and perhaps a little more freedom and time in nature than what was possible in New York,” Perfect said.

“I was worried when we left because New York is an amazing place, but they’re a little bit like: ‘If you’re not here, you’re not here, and if you’re not here, you’re not anywhere’.”

But then Covid hit, the theatre world stopped — and Perfect was given the chance to have it all.

Eddie Perfect will take on the role of Franklin Hart Jr in 9 to 5 The Musical. Picture: Stuart Ramson

The plan was to come back to Australia for their kids to go to school, putting their international careers on the backburner until their daughters finished high school.

“But we’ve been able to cover our tracks a little bit because now no matter whether you’re in New York, the Czech Republic or in Australia, everyone is on the same Zoom call,” he said.

“So as long as I’m prepared to wake up any time of the night, no one really knows the difference, and I’ve still got a project I’m writing in New York with New York creatives and New York producers, so I get the best of both worlds.

“I get to be in Australia, the greatest country on Earth, and then I can dip in and out of the absolute urbanised insanity of New York when I need to.”

Eddie Perfect with his family in New York City the day after his musical Beetlejuice opened. Picture: Supplied

After being locked down in Melbourne, he’s now heading to Sydney to star in Dolly Parton’s famed musical 9 to 5.

Wife Lucy Cochran and their daughters are staying behind in Melbourne.

“It’s just me going to Sydney and I originally thought – well, my family is going to miss me so much – but I think they’re secretly incredibly happy that dad has something to do and a reason to leave the house because he was losing his mind,” he laughed.

“So it will be really good being in Sydney again for a bit and working on a commercial musical, which I haven’t done as an actor since I did South Pacific in Sydney when my kids were just babies.

“I was pretty excited to be on stage then, and I’m even more excited now.”

Dolly Parton’s West End smash-hit musical will open in February at the Capitol Theatre and tells the story of Doralee, Violet and Judy, three enterprising workmates pushed to the edge by their mean-spirited boss Franklin Hart Jnr, played by Perfect.

Eddie Perfect has come back to Australia. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“The show is super funny, the songs are amazing and the characters are really relatable and terrific,” said Perfect.

“It’s got a doozy of a villain and I get to play a villain, which is always the best fun – I just love villains and misfits.

“It’ll just be nice to walk into a room with another human being – and I think everybody loves Dolly Parton – if you don’t, there’s something wrong with you.”

He said Sydney’s stage wasn’t dissimilar to Broadway – at the end of the day, it was talented creatives putting their hearts into a production they hoped audiences would love.

“It’s still working with actors who are the best people in the world, is working with musicians and producers, and it’s turning up to rehearse and it’s making discoveries, and quickly turning a bunch of strangers into a work family,” he said.

“And the end result seems so magic – even magic to me.”

Tickets for 9 to 5 on sale now: 9to5themusical.com.au