True North (from Bananaland) - Max McKenna with Kate Miller-Heidke and the cast of Bananaland

'True North’ is from Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall’s new musical comedy BANANALAND.

BANANALAND is a celebration of the glorious absurdity of following an impossible dream. And 'True North' is about the crazy optimism you need to pursue a career in the arts. It features Max McKenna in the lead role of Ruby Semblance, joined by Kate Miller-Heidke and the cast of the show in an incredible chorus of backing vocals.

Let’s set the scene: The band Kitty Litter has just played yet another poorly attended and badly received show, this time at the Dubbo Leagues Club. Their furious, earnest, and unintentionally hilarious brand of dramatic political rock music is just not finding an audience, despite the fervent passion of the band. They are tired, broke and ill-nourished, but they still believe. Lead singer Ruby Semblance is driving the tour van late at night and losing herself in the dream, and begins to sing ’True North’ to the only person who’ll listen - herself.

The song reflects Kate and Keir’s own experiences in pursuing their art, while trying to stay true as they navigate the brutal, unforgiving world of the music industry. Kate says, "The character of Ruby contains a lot of Keir, and his unwavering commitment - including tattoos - to a series of sadly unsuccessful bands. But I think many artists could perhaps relate to the lyric ‘Someone has to change the world. Why not us?’ To be an artist requires you to imagine a world that doesn’t yet exist."

’True North’, like the character of Ruby and much of the show in general, was written with Max McKenna in mind. Max had previously played Muriel in the premiere Sydney Theatre Company season of Kate and Keir’s previous work, 'Muriel’s Wedding The Musical’,

"Max is in possession of one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. On stage Max is hilarious, radiant, heartbreaking… just a superstar. To write for their voice is a privilege!"

Of writing the song, Keir says, "This was one of the last songs we wrote for the show, and it went through a few different incarnations before we landed on this. For music theatre nerds, this is the traditional ‘I want’ song - it gives you an insight into what drives our protagonist Ruby, and hopefully it helps the audience to buy into her dream of changing the world through her music.”

BANANALAND makes its world premiere on 16 September, at QPAC for Brisbane Festival. Tickets are on sale now. https://atqp.ac/BFBananaland23

Stream True North here: https://maxmckenna.lnk.to/TrueNorth