The only way is up for talented musician Charlee Watt, who is continuing to develop and delight as an artist even at her tender age.
Hailing from Port Lincoln, 20-year-old Charlee Watt is a dynamic artist making waves in the cabaret and Fringe scenes across South Australia and the nation.
Charlee’s dedication to her craft and her innovative approach to cabaret and music performance continue to captivate audiences, making her a rising star to watch in the Australian performing arts scene.
Her passion for music and performance began at an early age with her father Malcolm playing Aussie rock and mother Kellie playing musical theatre songs throughout the household.
“Mum and Dad said I could sing before I could talk,” Charlee said.
“The Wiggles, Hi-5, [they] were on 24/7 growing up.”
Charlee started musical education around the age of six – learning vocals, piano, guitar and ukelele at the Creative House of Learning in Port Lincoln.
During her schooling at St Joseph’s School, Charlee was involved with musicals and at the time, was the youngest person to ever star as a lead.
Her music teachers at school such as Bill Kannussaar, Carolyn Coulson, Kym Rowe and Andrew Morris inspired and supported her to develop her skills.
This passion developed further throughout her teen years as she worked with local legends Lee Gunness, Leah Stuart-Douglas, Greg Eden, Jean Proude and her mentor, Lesley Gentilin.
They all helped shape Charlee’s experiences and enabled her the confidence to make significant achievements early in her career.
In 2018-19 Charlee participated in the Adelaide Festival Centre’s On Stage program, which gave her a chance to further refine her skills, opened up her potential and introduced her to SA industry professionals.
At the young age of 16, an opportunity to study under esteemed cabaret artists and perform at the Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival emerged when Charlee was awarded the prestigious Nathaniel O’Brien Class of Cabaret Scholarship in 2021.
She described this opportunity as “life-changing”, meeting and being mentored by international artists like Alan Cumming, Sarah Louise Young and being part of a world class performance.
In 2022, at the beginning of year 12, Charlee made her entrance into the Adelaide Fringe Festival scene with her original production, ‘Both Sides Now – Joni and Carole – An Interweaving of Blue and Tapestry’.
The show featured Port Lincoln musician Greg Eden and marked the beginning of several productions for Charlee based around the music of the 1960s and 1970s.
This was her debut show at the Adelaide Fringe and sold out before opening.
It also earned her a Weekly Emerging Artist Award.
In late 2022, and later again in 2024, Charlee travelled to a special place in the arts scene – the Sydney Opera House – where she sang in the Gondwana National Choir at the Voices of Angels concert.
“Truly, performing at the Opera House was surreal,” she gleamed.
“[It is] such an iconic venue…and amazing to be a part of the huge machine that is putting on a show of this scale at the Opera House.
“It really did feel like a milestone achievement which I am really grateful for.”
Charlee reflected on her passion for singing and performing, noting, “it is about making people feel something”.
“I used to struggle when I made people cry. They would come up to me in tears and I would be like ‘oh my, I’m so sorry’, but now I go, ‘I have done my job’, and to have that ability to make people feel something is very special.”
Charlee returned to the Adelaide Fringe scene in 2023 with her second original production, ‘Make Your Own Kind of Music’.
This tribute to the iconic sounds of the 70s again featured Greg along with local Port Lincoln guitarist John Williams.
This show further established her presence in the cabaret community and three years into performing at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Charlee has gone from stride to stride.
Her 2024 show – ‘Beating Up The Beatles’ – showcased this development.
The innovative performance received multiple five-star reviews, won the Encore Award at the Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival and was also featured at the Melbourne Senior’s Festival.
Another highlight was a sellout show in Cummins.
In late 2024, Charlee was awarded the Adelaide Critics Circle Emerging Artist Award for her performance and creation of her Beatles’ inspired show.
The annual SALT Festival, held in Port Lincoln, has given Charlee a space to showcase her Fringe shows to the Eyre Peninsula region.
“This will be my fourth year performing my shows as part of the SALT Festival. Each year has been a different show and this year’s show is a world premiere!” she said.
“It is really special to be able to give back a bit by performing here and bringing something new to the community and it is pretty special to perform in front of people who have watched me grow up and given me lots of encouragement along the way.
“Also performing for the kids I have taught music and singing to, or other younger kids who saw me at school and love what I do, is really meaningful to me. I’m really looking forward to working with other young locals in She Rocks for the opening night of the festival on Good Friday.”
Charlee admitted to being a harsh critic of herself, and analysing the work of artists she looked up to helped her to refine her own craft.
“If I don’t think that something was very good, I will analyse it and ask ‘Why wasn’t it very good?’, ‘Do I want to do any of that stuff’? versus seeing artists who I adore and love, and asking ‘Why was that amazing? Oh, maybe I can do that’,” she said.
With the momentum flowing, Charlee returned to the Adelaide Fringe Festival in February, where she reprised Beating Up The Beatles with performances at various venues, including The Arts Centre in Noarlunga, Eliza Hall in Prospect, The Shedley Theatre in Elizabeth and Plant 4 Bowden.
Charlee has been busy working on co-creating and co-writing new productions such as She Rocks! Love, Lyrics, and Legacies, celebrating the contributions of women in music, and as well as showcase local legends, promoting the talents of six young Port Lincoln musicians all under 18 and ready to rock.
Scheduled to open SALT Festival in April 2025, Charlee has aspirations to take this show to the Adelaide Fringe in 2026, and then fund a regional tour on Eyre Peninsula.
She had also been working on a coffee cabaret titled Caffeine Fiend, which had been in development with her co-creator/producer/mummager Kellie Grace.
Charlee secured the services of a director from State Opera and was looking forward to bringing this new jazz-infused show to the Adelaide Cabaret Fringe in May.
Charlee said the best piece of advice she has ever received was from 2021 Adelaide Cabaret Festival director Alan Cumming.
“You should be nervous before every single show. You should be nervous before you do anything. You should always have some kind of nerves and anxiety and fear and a feeling towards whatever it is you’re doing because it means you care,” she said.
“And if you are ever finding yourself going on stage or doing a performance or having a meeting or, you know, doing something for someone and not finding some kind of nerve deep, like within that, you need to step back because you don’t care enough.”
Charlee added that piece of advice resonated with her as she had been struggling with nerves and feeling anxious before a show.
“That has been very helpful and it is something that I refer back to a lot.”
Charlee is touring her Beating up The Beatles show with her full Adelaide jazz band to Streaky Bay as part of the Country Arts Shows On The Road tour in October, so be sure to catch the Fab One then.
