Anthony ‘Broph’ Brophy and Matt Dowling are resurrecting their old ABC radio segment, but only for one day.
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For 17 years, Matt hosted a breakfast show with the ABC, and for more than a decade of that, he partnered with Broph for their segment, Broph’s Vinyl Vault.
“We both claim that we came up with the idea of the segment but the fact was I think we both met up and basically were on the same page from the start,” Matt said.
They’d first talked to each other about the possible segment at a media event, and they could have sworn telepathy was at play.
“The genesis of us getting together was that we had gone to a joint event, which was a media event, and I said to Matt, ‘I’ve been thinking about what we’ll be talking about in this particular segment and how it should look’,” Broph said.
“Matt looked at me really quickly, and he said, ‘I haven’t had this conversation with you before, but I just talked to my producer this morning, and that’s exactly what we wanted to do’.
“It was incredibly successful in that period.
“We had a formula that resonated with our audience, and it was that we would pick out either a song or an artist, bring back a bit of nostalgia, and then talk about something about the artist or the song that people don’t know.”
But all good things must come to an end, and only a year after celebrating their decade-long run, the vault door closed.
“So that went to air for 11 years on my program every week for a total of 436 episodes,” Matt said.
“Leaving that job I guess, closed the vault.”
The final episode was an emotional time for both presenter and audience, Broph said.
“The final episode we did, I must say it was pretty emotional, so we had to pre-record it.
“I must admit that throughout the whole recording, I couldn’t look at Matt.”
It turned out, however, that it wasn’t the last the world would see of the pair.
They’re reprising the segment for the It Takes Two: Volume 2 concert, as it’s a “nice fit” for “looking back at these hits of yesteryear”.
The segment will run as the joining force to bring together duet classics.
“The show will feature a couple of segments in each half, which will basically be like a live stage version of Broph’s Vinyl Vault, so we’ll try and recreate a bit of the vinyl vault magic onstage,” Matt said.
With only one month until the curtain rises, the two must work together to come up with the segment in a scary new platform.
“One of the challenges will be, I think, that being on the radio, we could have a bit of time and go on a bit of a tangent, so we will be conscious of the fact that we can’t waffle on for too long,” Matt said.
Although being face-to-face with a crowd of faces will be a new venture for the segment, the duo are excited to throw themselves into the show.
“It’ll be fun, and hopefully, a lot of people will have been listening to the program and enjoy seeing it on the stage as well,” Matt said.
“The audience’ll know most of the songs and they go through different decades and different genres.”
In terms of on-stage experience levels, Matt and Broph couldn’t be more different.
Matt is familiar with the stage, spotlight and crowds, being a STAG local.
“I joined STAG in 2011 and did a play called Watershed,” Matt said.
“I just gradually got involved in plays, and then musicals, and I guess I’ve been pretty much involved fairly steadily ever since.
Anthony, however, has only been on stage once before, and it didn’t go as planned, he said.
“This is a bit of redemption for me because I had a part in my school play and they did The Wiz,” Broph said.
“I was the chief munchkin, and I’d been practising the voice, and I was pretty good at it.
However, his dreams of a Tony award came crashing down when he was caught “mucking around” and not taking the role as seriously as his director would have liked.
“I was demoted to a flower in the forest,” Broph said with a laugh.
Although their theatre resumes look vastly different, their excitement for the show is one in the same.
“I’m really excited, just a little nervous about the live part of it,” Broph said.
The live show is a second volume of last year’s It Takes Two performance with added Broph and extra Matt, of course.
“Last year’s performance was a very successful show so they [STAG] decided to do it again,” Matt said.
“It’s volume two, so it’s got to be different, so they [STAG] wanted to have some new songs added in, and one of the challenges is to have that same feel but make it different.
“So that’s how Broph’s Vinyl Vault got its rebirth.”
The show is on Saturday, March 9. The matinee begins at 2pm and the evening show begins at 7pm at Riverlinks Eastbank, Welsford St, Shepparton. Tickets cost $40.
Book your tickets over the phone on 5832 9511 or book online at tinyurl.com/ItTakesTwoVol2
Cadet Journalist