Musical comedy Miss Westralia is set to parade the Harvey stage, bringing laughs and a wave of nostalgia

A wave of nostalgia is set to wash over Harvey tomorrow as a musical that explores the heritage of Australian beauty pageants parades the stage. The musical comedy, Miss Westralia, follows the story of Geraldton woman Beryl Mills, who after winning the first Miss Australia Pageant in 1926, is thrown into the spotlight and faced with moral dilemmas, stigma and international fame. Harvey plays its own role in Australian pageant history, having been home to a historical pageant winner. Winner of Miss Australia 1969, Terri Knight, will be in attendance and said she was excited to learn more about Beryl’s story. “It’s just bringing back a whole heap of memories of how I was involved in very much the same thing,” she said. Ms Knight said it was considered a a great opportunity for a woman to be asked to be part of a Miss Australia pageant and the community would rally behind their entrant. “For me, at that stage, it was all about fundraising money for a wonderful cause for people afflicted with polio and things like that,” she said. “It has been interesting because polio was something that was around in those early years and here we are talking about a pandemic now in a different form, “It was absolutely a joy to be involved in my community of Harvey and I had amazing support,” she said. Shire of Harvey president Paul Gillett said the Shire was pleased to be included in the WA tour of Miss Westralia. “We are excited to be able to host and showcase such outstanding Western Australian produced theatre, local history and storytelling,” he said. “The story of Beryl Mills, the girl from Geraldton as the inaugural winner of The Miss Australia contest in 1926 is a pivotal moment in Australian history in recognising and celebrating the role of women in Australian society.” The show hits the Harvey stage at 7.30pm tomorrow at the Harvey Recreation and Cultural Centre.