For some, standing in front of hundreds of people is a nightmare come true. but for Nicky Pummeroy, it’s just another Saturday.
BETTY sat down to get a backstage glimpse into the life of a woman onstage.
Nicky is no stranger to the stage, having been a dancer from a young age and a household rock star her whole life.
“I actually started with ballet from a very, very early age, but from what my parents tell me, I was always singing and dancing,” Nicky said.
“I would have been seven and eight, maybe nine.”
Nicky left ballet to immerse herself in the world of gymnastics, the most dance-like of the Olympic sports.
“It has a lot of dance components, so really, I was always dancing and then just singing in the background,” Nicky said.
However, that would all change when Nicky got her big break: singing a solo Christmas carol at her local church.
“I was only in Grade 5 and that was my first solo,” she said, chuckling slightly.
From there, her musical performance career spiralled, going from nursing homes to weddings and school concerts — at one point singing at 30 weddings within seven years.
Her first time stepping into the warm glow of the stage was in her high school production of Smithy, playing the leading lady.
Little would Nicky know, this production would be the pivotal point of her narrative, pushing her theatrical career into motion.
“I was hooked from that moment on,” she said.
Her school careers adviser saw that enthusiasm and love in Nicky, and encouraged her to apply for a course in Melbourne called, ‘Small Companies and Community Theatre’ at Swinburne University.
So the Euroa local packed up her bags and moved to the big smoke to pursue her passion.
“I got into it [the course] and that was it. That’s what I do now: community theatre,” she said.
Since returning to regional Victoria, Nicky has been fully immersed in the world of amateur theatre, being involved in the Shepparton Theatre Arts Group and the Euroa Little Theatre.
In 2001, STAG put on their performance of Fiddler on the Roof, and Nicky stole the show as daughter, Hodel, but 22 years later, she took on the role of the mother, Golde, a full circle moment.
Her motherly personality has manifested in her desire to mentor younger actors in the area.
“That’s the part I love, mentoring the young people in our area and seeing them shine and knowing that you had a little something to do with that kid’s success,” she said.
In total, Nicky has received six Georgy Awards, a Victorian Music Theatre Guild judges’ choice award and a commendation from the guild for her work with STAG.
However, she is most well known for her work as Eliza in My Fair Lady in both STAG and the Albury Wodonga Theatre Company performances.
When looking back on her time so far as a local theatre icon, Nicky keeps getting drawn into the theatre because of the connections she makes during each production.
“It’s the connection with people — I love working with people with all different abilities, different ages, different backgrounds, all of it,” she said with a sense of passion.
“I love that community feel of all coming together.
“It’s like a clock, and if you open up the back of the clock, you see all the little working pieces going on and then you turn it around and you can see this beautiful face and it all works in unison, that’s how theatre feels to me.”
Nicky has three children, and one of them, Emma, has adopted the theatre-loving passion of her mother.
Nicky said that if she could give her daughter advice on theatre, she would say this:
“Just enjoy it. Enjoy every moment because it is so much fun and then it’s over like that and you put in so much effort and you immerse yourself for three months fully and then all of a sudden it comes to an end.”
Nicky is a staple of regional Victorian theatre, and the team at BETTY can’t wait to see what she does next because she’s one to look out for.
This story originally appeared in Betty. You can find the full publication at tinyurl.com/BETTY-Oct2023