December is filled with drama as a party at Marie's gets out of hand, disaster strikes A Midsummer Night's Dream and Penny has to address some rumours at the Pony Club Disco.  Read backstage at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, with fellow soprano Emma during West Australian Opera's, The Pirates of Penzance. Follow me on Instagram @diary_of_a_diva_podcast, Facebook @diaryofadivapodcast

November brings more angst as no-one tells Penny her singing sounds good and she makes an unwise choice for the St. Kate’s Day Balloon Debate. The Rocky Horror Show, contraception, Shakespeare, magic mushrooms and chocolate digestives all get a mention. Recorded in noisy South Fremantle with new friend and pianist extraordinaire Robert Graham. Instagram @diary_of_a_diva_podcast

Penny heads towards her 16th birthday exhausted, ‘sex-starved’ and a bit depressed. St. Helen's school holds a beauty contest, the speculation continues about the ideal way to lose your virginity and Penny has a near death experience in Wales. Follow on instagram @diary_of_a_diva_podcast. Original music by Finn Pearson 

So it turns out my favourite poem of 1986 is rather beautiful but quite problematic! Agnes herself came from a wealthy Roman family and, when she refused to marry any of her many suitors (girls can be so picky!) she was killed, oops, I mean martyred. She was 12 years old. She became the patron saint of virgins and sometime later it became a thing to try to dream of your future husband by following special rituals on on the Eve of St. Agnes, January 20th. I did give this a go back in the day but I don’t think I ever managed to go to bed without eating...

Penny is in a philosophical mood, faced with the end of Jesus Christ Superstar, the beginning of the Fifth Form, her impending 16th Birthday, marriage, the trials of getting old. She sees her first full frontal naked man (never to be forgotten!) and there are some questionable fund-raising activities at the Village Show. No guests this month, it’s just you and me. How intimate! Follow on Instagram @diary_of_a_diva_podcast

Back from camping Penny throws herself back into home activities, rehearsals for Jesus Christ Superstar, riding, and going to the pub. Some unsolicited style advice from London’s trendy Kings Road has a lasting effect and listen out for some foreshadowing, references to important characters in Penny’s future love life! My guest is the brainy and glamourous Lilly Stent who brings some valuable Gen-Z insights to proceedings.

The French camping holiday continues and Penny and Hilary are ’on the rampage’ once again, no-one is safe! The lake appears to be the place to be seen but will the girls kiss the right kind of frogs? Neighbour Matt Coomber is this month’s guest but only made it to the end of the holiday...more of August to come! Instagram @diary_of_a_diva_podcast, send me a message!

Penny and partner in crime, Hilary, head off on the hovercraft for a camping trip ‘on the Continent’. The girls practice their French, everything from language to kissing and guest, diva extraordinaire Elisa Wilson, provides hilarious insight about her own, quite contrasting holidays growing up in Western Australia. Follow on Instagram @diary_of_a_diva_podcast

Brother Chris and Bestie Ruth are guests for the latest flurry of drunken summer escapades and Lloyd-Webber musicals. Do siblings still know how to annoy each other, even in their 50s? And where are Penny’s loyalties when she finally meets, Ruth’s big crush? Recorded in an English spring garden complete with noisy songbirds and panting dogs. Follow on Instagram @diary_of_a_diva_podcast

Penny enjoys getting manhandled at the Abingdon School Fete, sets her sights on her Dad's boss's (rich!) son and takes her very first O-level. Things get meta when she find her 1984 diary and finds it 'hilarious'. Cabaret Artist and guest Brendan Hanson (pictured) reveals his early musical tastes, his love of a frosted mullet and an extremely loud laugh! 

Radioactive strawberries, creepy anonymous letters and a futurist fashion show...but mostly May is about scandal! As previously suspected, 15 proves to be a dangerous age for nice young ladies.  Recorded with fellow cabaret artist, journalist and fashionista Glynis Traill-Nash.

Disastrous Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, toad rescue, and unsupportive parents all conspire to distract Penny as she obsessively prepares for her all important audition for Jesus Christ Superstar. Read with musician and cabaret collaborator Joe Louis Robinson at home in South Freo. Theme music by Finn Pearson with some added tinkling on the ivories by Joe. Cabaret tickets!

Finally some genuine teenage angst as Penny realises her 'main character energy' is on the wane, she never gets the parts she auditions for and unrequited love rears its ugly head. Penny and old school pal Marie, revert to their worst teenage selves, have one too many drinks and giggle. You have been warned.  March 1986 is dedicated to the memory of Rebecca Martin.

February! The winter weather is too cold to play lax but perfect for tobogganing, gliding and gossiping as school goes a bit 'Meangirls'. We find out how girls learnt to French Kiss in the 80s; (it’s not what you think!) and for the first time some names have been bleeped out to protect the guilty. If you know you know… Recorded with legendary musician Bourby Webster, on a boiling hot day in ‘Woop Woop’ with occasional noise pollution from husbands making Limoncello on the terrace.

January 1986! Series three and Penny is joined by her long suffering Mother and her own teenager; 15 years and 3 months at the time of recording, exactly the same as Penny in January 1986. What could possibly go wrong? Recorded in noisy rural Oxfordshire, complete with passing helicopters, squeaky shoes and bonking fish. Recollections of 1986 may vary!

Christmas Parties are the perfect hunting ground for Penny and her friends, so many boys to G.O.W, but who’s keeping count? That’s right…everyone. Join Penny and musical theatre star Morgan for the season finale, recorded at the Quarry Amphitheatre, with a little surprise at the end, Penny on vocals, Finn on guitar. Enjoy!

Penny flies to the UK and persuades Tracey, her old rival, to be November’s guest! So many questions in this episode. Will Neil ever call? Does God exist? Who will lose their virginity first? Penny stars in her first ever opera, The Trappisberg Murders, and there is a cameo appearance from Penny’s future husband, Jack. CONTENT WARNING - much giggling. 

Penny turns 15 and gets her first heady taste of being a groupie as she watches Neil’s band play at the “Harvest Piss Up”. The phone, shared between all the family, won’t stop ringing and is triggering Penny’s PMT making her hate everyone. Worried she is in the friend zone she tries to convince Neil that she is not like other girls…will her plan work? Read with Sass, friend of the pod and easily excited 1980s Catholic school girl.

ABC Radio’s Drive Program host, Geoff Hutchison, is Penny’s guest for September; as Embryo Youth Theatre’s performance of Pirates of Penzance continues and show-business tightens its grip on our diva-in-waiting! School recommences, opera rehearsals begin and despite having ‘nothing to prove’ Penny is determined to get off with someone, anyone, as soon as possible. Recorded at home, any attempt to sound professional is ruined by Otto, noisy frogs and pesky crickets.

As Penny’s Mediterranean adventure draws to a close the ‘Mystery of the Missing Snog’ is finally solved! August’s guests, musical theatre stars Amber Scates and Ethan Jones, bring a unique insight into The Pirates of Penzance, and we welcome a raft of new characters to the podcast as the Wallingford Corn Exchange becomes the center of the universe. Meanwhile what horrible catastrophe can possibly lead the ever positive Penny to give a day her first 0/10 rating? Recorded in December 2021, the closing night of Cinderella, extremely noisy birds, trains, and the Fremantle Doctor all getting in on the act.