When Sydney cabaret sensation, Catherine Alcorn, took the rare opportunity to enjoy a girls’ night out after a performance last year, like many mums, she expected an evening to relax and unwind over girl talk, dinner, cocktails and dancing.
And so it came as a shock when an audience member pulled her aside at the bar and said, “Can I tell you something? Don’t wear your gold dress anymore. My friend and I saw you tonight and you look 20 pounds lighter than in your show the other evening.”
The encounter led Catherine to an interview with Lisa Wilkinson on Channel 10’s, The Project, and into an unexpected role as an ambassador for body positivity.
But the award-winning artist hasn’t always felt so confident within herself. Despite having been described as “a jewel in the crown of Australian entertainment” with a voice of “voluptuous power”, Catherine has shared candidly about experiences of being teased during childhood about her weight and then bypassed for roles in the entertainment industry due to her size 12-14 body.
So how has she risen above her critics to make her triumphant USA and Sydney Opera House debuts this year alone, also playing to sold out audiences around the world in her most famous role as The Divine Miss Bette?
“Turning 30 liberated me!”, Catherine says. “As did becoming a mother. I stopped caring about things beyond my control, where I didn’t fit in, what jobs I wasn’t booking, how I looked and those unrealistic industry moulds I was never going to fit into. That’s why I love getting older.”
“I’ve had friends pass away way too young, so I now find it sad when people complain about their age, or their wrinkles or obsess over their physicality. You’re alive! We’re here for such a short time that we need to make the most of it and not worry about things beyond our control.” She adds. “Having an 18 month old also means I’m literally too tired to care.”
It’s this embrace of genuine womanhood and her inner va va voom that made Catherine the obvious choice to headline, Steppin’ Out, the all-singing, all-dancing variety show spectacular on International Women’s Day, Friday March 8, at The J Noosa to close the second WINDO International Women’s Week Festival.
She will appear alongside inspirational speakers, Survivor finalist Tara Pitt and men’s wellbeing expert, James Greenshields, comedians Jenny Wynter and Carolyn Mandersloot, local singer songwriters Lara-Jane Stewart and Alisha Todd, Noosa Professional Dance Academy and the Sunshine Beach State School’s chorale group and award-winning string orchestra.
For tickets and information, visit www.windowomen.org.
