Lauren Brant Hi-5 House Party Interview

Lauren Brant Hi-5 House Party Interview

Hi-5 debuts their new cast line up in Australia with a brand new stage show!

This is Hi-5's first live -concert style' stage show as Stevie and Lauren welcome newcomers Dayen, Ainsley and Mary to the stage in a dance party extravaganza. Hi-5's favourite friend DJ Chats will be the -party meister' spinning records and keeping everyone on their feet.

The show will feature Hi-5's most popular song line up, after a shout out to their 150,000+ fans on Facebook to find out their most loved songs. It also features a sneak peek at songs featuring in the new revamped series Hi-5 House, premiering in Australia and New Zealand later this year.

Classic favourites such as -L.O.V.E' and -Ready or Not' will have audiences singing along and joining in, with the new songs like -Dance with the Dinosaurs' and -Come on in' performed for the very first time on stage. The show will also include the popular Featured Songs of the Week from the well loved Hi-5 television series including -Wish Upon A Star', -Wonderful', -So Many Animals', -Move Your Body', -Making Music' and more.

Look forward to joining in the familiar party games (there is even a limbo competition), and of course, lots of music and dancing, because that's what the Hi-5 House is all about! It's a non-stop dance party.

With so many interactive elements the audiences are really part of the fun. So put on your most colourful party clothes, your best dancing shoes and get ready for Hi-5 House Party!

2013 East Coast Tour Dates

Friday 1st of November: Karralyka Centre, Mines Road, Ringwood VIC - (03) 9870 2888
Saturday 2nd of November: Clocktower Centre, Mt Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds VIC - (03) 9243 9191
Sunday 3rd of November: Drum Theatre, 226 Lonsdale St, Dandenong VIC - (03) 9771 6666
Monday 4th of November: Geelong Performing Arts Centr, 50 Little Malop St, Geelong VIC - (03) 5225 1200
Thursday 7th of November: Albury Entertainment Centre, Swift St, Albury NSW - (02) 6043 5610
Saturday 9th of November: Canberra Theatre, Civic Square/London Circuit Canberra ACT - (02) 6275 2700
Sunday 10th of November: Illawarra Performing Arts Centre Burelli St, Wollongong, NSW - (02) 4224 5999
Tuesday 12th of November: Newcastle Panthers, Cnr King & Union Sts, Newcastle West NSW - (02) 4926 6200
Wednesday 13th of November: The CUBE Campbelltown, Camden Rd, Campbelltown NSW - (02) 4625 0000
Thursday 21st of November: Redcliffe Cultural Centre, Downs St, Redcliffe QLD – (07) 3283 0407
Saturday 23rd of November: Gardens Theatre, 2 George St, Brisbane QLD - (07) 3138 4455
Tuesday 26th of November: Mingara Recreation Club Mingara Dr, Tumbi Umbi NSW - (02) 4349 7799
Wednesday 27th of November: Panthers EVAN Theatre Penrith, 2740 Mulgoa Rd, Penrith NSW - 13 28 49

Friday 29th of November: Revesby Workers Whitlam Theatre, 2B Brett St, Revesby NSW - (02) 9772 2100
Saturday 30th of November and Sunday 1st of December: The Concourse Chatswood: 409 Victoria Ave, Chatswood NSW - 1300 795 012

Interview with Lauren Brant

Question: What should audiences expect from Hi-5 House Party Tour?

Lauren Brant: Yay! Basically that's what it is, a great big house party! A lot of the stage shows previously have been theatrical with a storyline, this show will still have fun little story lines but it is more a concert style, which means we have more songs than we've had in a Hi-5 show before which means more partying, singing and dancing!

We always like to teach the kids the moves before we do the song, so we make sure that everyone joins in, including the parents! In saying that, we suggest that mums and dads come in their workout clothes because we want them to dance along too and there is a lot of dancing!

It's going to be a big party and we can't wait to throw the party for all the different audiences we have around Australia.


Question: What else is special about Hi-5 House Party Tour?

Lauren Brant: We will be introducing our new cast members; we had a movie released at the beginning of this year showcasing our audition process for the new cast members to join myself and Stevie in the group. This will be a really nice opportunity for everyone to come along and see the new guys before the TV show comes out, later on!


Question: Can you tell us how you went about joining Hi-5?

Lauren Brant: I joined Hi-5 in 2009 and before I was a member of Hi-5 I'd always been a performer in every aspect including singing, dancing, acting and modelling as well. I was teaching children at a talent academy and when the Hi-5 auditions came up, it was the perfect marriage between performing and my love for children. I am a Queenslander and I travelled to Sydney, to where Hi-5 is based, to audition and got the gig… two weeks later I was on my first day at work! It was a very exciting process and I still can't believe it's been four and a half years, already!

Question: Are you looking forward to touring your home town with the Hi-5 show?

Lauren Brant: It's always nice to tour a show around Australia, we spend a lot of time in Asia as we have a massive fan base there and in Asia there is a lot more places to perform. In Australia there are a lot of opportunities and the theatres are always booked out; when we do get to tour Australia, it is very exciting for us!

We've just spent two months in Asia filming a TV show, which will air later this year; it's been very cool to spend some time in our own country as it is the most beautiful country and I've toured so many places and Australia is the most beautiful.


Question: What do you enjoy most about being a member of Hi-5?

Lauren Brant: The best part is hanging out with the kids! Seeing kids smile and having the privilege to make children happy and in turn make their parents happy is beautiful and a great opportunity. We get to do a lot of fantastic work with children, not just performing as we are ambassadors for the Starlight Foundation and for World Vision so we are always visiting hospitals and we've been to the Philippines and Cambodia with World Vision to create awareness for children in poverty. We get to do a lot and I think we're making our difference in the world and it's a massive honour to be able to do that, in this tradition.


Question: Do you have a preference between performing live or recording Hi-5 for television?

Lauren Brant: TV show filming is me all the way, as an actor that is what I like doing, that is my passion and when I finish with Hi-5 I'd like to continue to host and work on TV. However, doing the live shows is awesome because we get to see and meet the fans which is rewarding. I am the type of person who can't do one thing for a long time so when we're doing the shows and we are into the third week of the tour (doing the same show, three times a day), I start really getting cheeky on stage, and I'll mix it up or play little pranks onstage (laughs) which is fun! I'm lucky that I play myself in Hi-5; we have the opportunity to mess around a little bit because we interact with the audience a lot. You never know what the audience response is going to be either as you base the show on their responses. As an actor, my preference is filming.


Question: How do you prepare for the upcoming Hi-5 tour?

Lauren Brant: We go into two to three weeks of rehearsal, we'll have a script and we all need to make sure we keep fit and healthy as it's an hour show and we do the show three times a day with fifteen songs per show which also means fifteen dances. There is a lot of being on the road and travelling in between which means I have to make sure I have my fitness regime up and in rehearsal I give everything my best so we have the best show we can have, to take to the road.


Question: Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Lauren Brant: I don't have the exact same thing that I do, every time, but I do like to go out to the stage with the best possible attitude so I pull a prank or a trick so I can get the other cast members to laugh so we enter the stage with a big smile.


Question: How do you cope with the travel involved with a show like the Hi-5 House Party Tour?

Lauren Brant: It suits me being able to do lots of different things, I can't sit still but in saying that it is a massive sacrifice that we do make as there are so many things that we miss being in this job, I've missed weddings, birthdays and all sorts of things because of our touring schedule. I do miss my family, we are a close family and touring all the time can be difficult but fortunately my family is very supportive and I can pick up the phone and call them, at any time.

Travel also creates a really nice vibe between the group as we spend so much time together and experience so much together that we can be there for one another. We always create games, write songs and we tend to rap, one of us will drop a beat and we go around the circle and everyone has to rap. We are all young performers so we are always getting up to funny stuff!

Travel is a part of the job and I'm glad I've been given the opportunity!


Interview by Brooke Hunter