THE STORY

What do you do when your husband leaves you for your teenage goddaughter? You dye your wedding dress black, write some killer songs and make a show #TrueStory

WHEN AND WHERE?

Catch it at ETCETERA THEATRE in CAMDEN 28 – 31 July 2025.  See the full tour dates.

WHO IS TRACY YARAD?

Australia-born, New York-based Tracey Yarad is a pianist and singer-songwriter with jazz sensibilities. Her career has taken her from touring Australia with her original music and having a Top 40 single in the ’90s, to a seven-year residency singing in 5-star hotels in Japan, to running her own music school for 18 years in the Blue Mountains of Australia, to New York. 

INTERVIEW

LPTM: The show has a very powerful story, what should we expect from your performance?

There is so much to pack into a 65-minute show slot. It’s impossible to tell it all. But, you will see all sides of the relationship starting with the deep love and the shared dreams and ambitions, then the shocking discovery and the fall-out from that, then finally to the starting over and how to navigate a new life. Trying to cover a lot in there.

The reviews have been hugely positive.  What has been the most surprising one for you?

Yes, the reviews have been incredibly positive and I’m extremely grateful to the journalists who made it out to the shows amidst 100’s and even 1000’s of shows, especially in Edinburgh. One of the most surprising reviews was from a journalist at the Ed Fringe in 2024. It was probably my least positive one, she gave me a low star rating OUCH!. Naturally your heart sinks when you see something like that in print. I am baring my soul and telling my deeply personal story and you are at the mercy of the reviewer. Surprisingly her review was a great gift though, beautifully and constructively written. I made some changes to the show after reading it and I believe it has improved the work. But, you can’t take on everything someone writes about your show, good or bad, I guess you have to take it with a grain of salt. 

You must have been feeling very sorry for yourself sometimes, could you lay it on thick here, the lows and the highs.

Oh my God, yes. It was totally unexpected when my ex finally came out and spilled the TRUTH beans. I kept saying to him, why, why, why, I simply couldn’t understand why he wanted to leave our marriage. His reasons were all lies for more than a year. I remember saying to him something like this; “If only you had met someone else! I could make some sense of it and move on.” But he kept lying and saying; “No I haven’t.” It’s so shameful to make a person, let alone your wife of more than 20 years suffer in ignorance, when if the perpetrator would just be honest you could start the healing process.

At first I was in shock. Your whole body goes into shock, you can’t eat, you can’t sleep, you can’t think, you can’t work, you can’t smile, you can’t laugh, you can barely sing.

I’d honestly drag myself to my piano to just play and cry and take in the comfort of that instrument, my beautiful Yamaha Grand. It’s majesty surrounding me in a huge healing hug, making space for me to let go. I had to also let go of that instrument. Tore my heart open again. 

But as you say there are highs and lows and the highs were the friends and family that came to me. A whole community of love kept watch over me almost on a roster, someone was always there beside me, to walk with me, listen to me, advise me, get drunk with me. I am eternally in their debt.

Ultimately, the horror has resulted in wonderful music.  Which is your favourite piece?

I loved the process of writing the songs, and the collaborations with other writers. Playing with words and feels on the piano. Working with a killer band in New York in 2021 I recorded everything and saw them come alive with production. I didn’t want every song to be a ‘slit your wrist’ lament. Some of the tunes are like tango and percussive piano-scapes. I think my favourite right now in this moment would be ‘Lost in Translation’, it’s an up-tempo jazz fuelled romp, telling the story of our time working as the in-house musicians for Hilton Hotel chain in Japan. It’s interwoven with stories and it offers up some comedic moments in this heavy real-life tale.

Being inspired by such adversity is unlikely to result in a hit show without all the years of music behind you.  Were you conscious of the muse?

Inspired by the adversity is an antonym of sorts, to feel a rush of inspiration normally only comes to me when I feel in a state of equilibrium or clarity. There was little of that at the beginning. So yes, the years of musical training and experience has become a way of life, second nature to sit and write, pen to paper, hands to keys, melody to voice. In All These Pretty Things the muse is me. Sometimes conscious and sometimes not, with or without her, the music came.

How would you describe your voice at this time, and have you found your music has progressed or changed in some way?

It’s the voice of maturity, it’s the voice of experience and it’s the voice of wisdom. Gotta say that living in New York surrounded by musicians all freakishly talented, I’m definitely nurturing my musicality gene. I’m happy to be caught in the under-toe of the New York music machine.

Is there another album of music inside you, off the back of this marital trauma?

You bet. There’s more than two more new show’s worth of material about what has happened since.

What is the most important thing for you to share with an audience, the music or the story?  What do you hope audiences will take home with them?

The music and the story are moulded into one. I want audiences to take home a sense of hope that life keeps going no matter the adversity and no matter the age.

There is one question which must pop into everyone’s head.  Why was your x-husband not prosecuted, surely his behaviour is criminal?

Woah, now there’s a question I have never been asked. Very delicate one to answer. You know we were running a music school for 18 years and had so many young kids and teens in our care. As teachers we have that responsibility the ‘duty of care’ and parents were stunned at his actions some said he was guilty of grooming. Looking back that really is an accurate accusation as he was gaining her trust and mentoring her like a father for ten years. 

Having said that, we feel sure that your show is cathartic, has there been a healing process for you?

Writing it was incredibly cathartic, it was the best therapist for sure, the cheapest one (haha) I spent a fortune on therapy, isn’t there a way to get that money back in a divorce settlement (hmmm too late all done and dusted). Definitely healed, when I play the show, I’m Tracey in the here & now and Tracey then is a completely different person I’m retelling her story. Fascinating process actually.

Finally, once bitten, twice shy (you know the saying) … is their going to be romance in your life again?

Well, there was someone for a little while, that was a big part of the healing process. I got myself a younger man, totally unplanned. Someone referred to having intimacy for the first time after a long relationship is like breaking a sliver thread. It absolutely frees you on a body/cellular level. Cleans out the cobwebs (wink).

I hope there is true romance again because life is about love and relationships and companionship. I have great friends in NYC and back home in Oz, but that special someone would be so very nice. I would take a chance on love again.