The Nelson Meers Foundation is proud to have once again supported the Sydney Festival with the 2024 production, Send for Nellie, produced by Sue Donnelly.  Nellie was singer and cross-dressing cabaret artist Nellie Small, the toast of the town in top hat and tails, a queer black icon from a time before anyone thought those words could go together.

Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1 Theatre 10-14 January 2024

This is an important excavation of the story of an extraordinary woman.  For 40 years, Nellie was an entertainment industry legend, a dashing figure who sang jazz and blues in prestige clubs, dressed a la Fred Astaire and lived in North Sydney in a very showbiz arrangement with her talent manager Edith, and Edith’s husband Ted.  It’s time to Send for Nellie!