The broadcaster Kerri-Anne Kennerley has broken her collarbone and chipped her ankle after falling from a trapeze during Wednesday night’s performance of Pippin at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre.
Kennerley plays the role of Pippin’s grandmother Berthe. The final part of her signature song, No Time At All, is made from the trapeze in this production of the Stephen Schwartz Broadway classic.
Kennerley was not wearing a harness and was not clipped to the trapeze, in what a spokesman for the production said was standard practice. According to producers, the show stopped briefly before Kennerley got to her feet, brushed herself off and resumed singing. The audience gave her a round of applause before she was taken to St Vincent’s hospital.
Kennerley’s Statement
In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Kennerley, 67, said: “Pippin has truly been one of the best moments of my life, beyond all expectations.
“The actors have always been supportive and now more than ever. What happened is just a random walk in the world of drumming and circus. I have always felt safe in their hands but accidents just happen. ”
Kennerley will be replaced by an understudy “for now,” the producers said. That, perhaps, would exclude her if not for the entire Sydney season, which is set to end on January 31, 2021.
At the time of writing, Kennerley was still in hospital, but he hoped to return to her home in Sydney later on Thursday.
“In my big number, I have to get on a trapeze and go up 15ft (4.5 metres),” Kennerley told the Senior in a promotional interview.
“I’m helped by a very fast-moving artist, a trapeze artist and we do a number of moves including the Bird, and where I have to hang on to my feet.”
‘Good Riddance To 2020’
In a video recording of a performance taken by an audience member in a costume circle, Kennerley is seen falling off the stage after losing her grip on the hands of a trapeze artist above her. The members of the cast and instant workers form a protective circle that works for their humble colleagues in what appears to be a pre-exercise situation.
In a statement posted on Instagram by her agency 22 Management, Kennerley said: “Good riddance to 2020.”
She said he is well trained in the system and is getting stronger. “I’m devastated that I can’t finish the run. It was just so much fun. I broke my collarbone quite severely and have a slight chip of my ankle bone. I will know within a week if I need surgery. But I’m hoping my injury will heal in the natural course of time but for now I have to bow out. I will miss my Pippin family!!”
Kennerley’s casting in Pippin was controversial. The frontline of the morning show presenter was criticized in 2019 for its airborne statements about sexual violence in indigenous communities, before being chased away (furloughed) by Channel 10 in the massive redundacnies cycle announced in August 2020.
Pippin canceled the show last week amid Covid’s new outbreak in Sydney, but work this week went ahead as planned.
