'Huge surprise' as ABC presenter, performer Lisa Pellegrino takes out two major NT arts awards

A childhood passion for recording family migration stories has led Lisa Pellegrino to double award success at the Northern Territory Performing Arts Awards. Read the details.

Lisa Pellegrino was recognised at the Northern Territory Performing Arts Awards 2025, at which she won both the Performer of the Year and People’s Choice Awards. Picture: Supplied

Few would be surprised to read that Lisa Pellegrino has always been engrossed in storytelling.

“I got my first Dictaphone when I was 10-years-old,” she said, “and I used to interview all my family, especially my grandparents and my mum, about migrating to Australia from Italy and Scotland in the 20s, 30s and 40s.”

She estimated that she may have thousands of photos, videos and voice recordings of her family in total.

Over the years, her passions have stayed mostly unchanged.

Last Tuesday, the performer and ABC Radio presenter was recognised at the Northern Territory Performing Arts Awards, at which she won both the Performer of the Year and People’s Choice Awards.

Lisa Pellegrino earlier this year ahead of the 12-hour Phone-a-Thon at Brown’s Mart. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

She said the awards came as a “huge surprise”, given the quality of the other finalists.

“But it was such a wonderful feeling, especially because I’m so passionate about the Northern Territory and performing here.”

“We have such a brilliant performing arts scene, so to be recognised among my peers and audiences is just brilliant.”

Earlier this year, Pellegrino debuted her one-woman show ‘We Keep Everything’, a deeply personal work of hers that the judges said resonated with migrant and multicultural communities.

“We Keep Everything was about my family’s story as migrants from Italy and Scotland, and the experiences of family, grief, memory, migration and longing for home,” she said.

“Even though it was about my family’s personal story, I didn’t want to be self-indulgent; I wanted people to see themselves and their stories, which people did, which is so beautiful.

“People saw their own losses, where they came from, what’s home to them, and they were able to reflect on their own experiences through that show – it was very healing for a lot of people.”

Debacle the Bear – Lisa Pellegrino. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

She said with plenty of anti-immigration sentiment floating around at present, it was “even more important to be sharing our stories of who we are and where we came from and where we’re going”.

“I’m always passionate about people who think that they haven’t come from somewhere interesting, and to help them realise that where they’ve come from is just as interesting and just as beautiful,” she said.

Asked what advice she would give to aspiring performers, she said: “Have no shame and ring around and ask for advice.”

“Follow your passions and your heart and your creativity, there’s so many opportunities or starting points or helping hints that people can give you that have already gone through it, so don’t be embarrassed to ask for advice or for tips and opportunities.”