A new comedy web-series, Stage Mums, is the latest craze to hit screens, following in the wake of similar shows such as the US Dance Moms and the UK Dance Mums. For anyone who has been involved in a dance competition, they will immediately connect with the escapades and trials of the dance world for aspiring dancers.
Stage Mums stars Anna Massey-Waters and Tara Page, as Shaz and Trace respectively, debuted online and are now presenting a second series. The tongue-in-cheek creation, created by Massey-Waters, has been a YouTube sensation. Shaz and Trace are two ‘stereotypical’ Australian stage mums, both proud parents of talented triple threat teenage daughters, Shenaya and Abcde. The pair of mothers discuss pretentious children, parents, Australian eisteddfods, social media and castings, and will do whatever it takes to make their daughters stars.
Starting as an actress, Massey-Waters met Page during a local stage production and talked about collaborating for many years before beginning to write, and star in, Stage Mums. Massey-Waters is a former drama teacher; her daughter was an actress in a children’s television series and therefore the characters of Shaz and Trace are drawn from real-life experiences. For some, Stage Mums may be a little too close to the truth – stagey parents can be notorious for their reputation – however it seems to be a hit!
The series is filmed in Massey-Waters’ Gold Coast home by her husband, a camera operator and editor. He shoots several episodes simultaneously, with each one taking around two weeks to produce and upload to YouTube. At first Stage Mums began as a whim, however its many international hits online is definitely proving otherwise.