While the COVID-19 era has been a time of introspection for everyone, the two years preceding COVID was such a hectic and tumultuous period for Eddie Perfect that he had to take stock. After moving to the Big Apple with his wife and daughters to write songs for the much anticipated Broadway Musical King Kong – Alive on Broadway, Perfect faced an existential crisis when the production was panned by critics (although it ran for ten months). After grasping a second opportunity with the stage musical adaption of the hit Tim Burton film Beetlejuice, it appeared to be a case of déjà vu when audiences weren’t initially warming to the production with its themes of death and grief. Then, when the show garnered eight Tony nominations including one for Perfect himself for his score, and an amended version of the opening number at the Tony Awards ceremony went viral on social media, the show became a hit.

Having ‘made it’ on Broadway, Perfect had his legs cut from underneath him and returned to Melbourne when COVID struck and the show closed. Back in Melbourne, Perfect had to endure the second lockdown. Not surprisingly, the tunesmith and performer used all that...