Tracy and friends

By Kath Gannaway
TRACY Bartram will be five people when she walks onto the stage in Illegally Blonde at Warburton on Thursday night.
Along with the four unique blondes she portrays – a sexually-frustrated headmistress, a garrulous Texan twin, a social-climbing working mother, and a seductive Russian bikini waxer – will be the Tracy most the audience know as a local mum.
A member of the local tap-dance class, Tracy is also a self-confessed Warburton homebody.
Her comedy career, which began with a 10 minute stand-up comedy gig in the mid-1980s, saw Tracy become a big-name talent on radio, television and the live comedy scene.
Illegally Blonde is the latest of a string of successful productions written and produced by Tracy and has been performed before sell-out audiences at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Comedy Festival.
Standing up before an anonymous mass is one thing, but she confided last week that the thought of performing before a home crowd is a little daunting.
“I know Ronnie (local identity, Ron Howard) has booked the second row; and I know I’ll probably know everybody in the audience,” she said.
“The flip side is that they’re my friends and I’ve never felt more at home in life than here in Warburton.”
Being among friends is important, and so is having the freedom to be herself.
Tracy said the initial curiosity factor when she first moved to Warburton three years ago after giving up her radio job soon disappeared and the Bartram family was quickly made to feel welcome.
“Our family is firmly entrenched here now and I have made richer and deeper friendships than ever,” she said.
“They’re authentic friendships, real friendships,” she emphasises the fact and qualifies it.
“In Melbourne, people are so busy it’s just hard to ever see your friends and there’s the status thing; people want to be your mate because you’re on radio.”
The move to the Yarra Valley was an escape from the rat race and, although she has now returned, spectacularly, to breakfast radio, she says she has no plans to get back in that particular race.
“Moving out of Warburton was never an option,” she said. “I’m a working mother living in Warburton and dividing my time, because I can’t do commercial radio in the valley.
“I escaped because I thought ‘I can’t live this crazy life’ and wanted something more real. That’s what I’ve found here. People accept you because of who you are, not what you are.”
Despite some trepidation, Ms Bartram says she is looking forward to presenting a part of herself which doesn’t get too much of an airing when she’s at home.
“My life has changed so much since I wrote it and I’ve pulled bits out, changed things, put in different songs and have a great band of people who are all extraordinary musicians,” she says. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Illegally Blonde is on at the Upper Yarra Arts Centre on Thursday, 22 June at 8pm. Phone 5966 5160 for tickets.