Twenty-five years after she first soared high above Stadium Australia at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Nikki Webster’s mini-me daughter Skylah is preparing to fly all on her own, landing the role in the new Australian production of the musical Annie.
“I am so proud. She’s just worked so hard,” Nikki, 37, gushes to Woman’s Day.
“She’s been so driven and determined. All I wanted for her was to have the experience of going through auditions, so the fact that she got a role. It’s just amazing.”
The adorable 10-year-old is the spitting image of her mum when she first shot to stardom at age 13.
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She is set to play the role of mischievous orphan Kate alongside theatre veteran Anthony Warlow and original Wiggle Greg Page in the much-loved musical.
Skylah calls it “the best experience” she’s had to date.
“It’s my first musical ever and I was really excited when I found out I got in,” she adds.
“I was crying. All I remember is mum screaming, ‘You’re in Annie, you’re in Annie!'”
A seasoned performer herself, and appearing in musicals like The Sound of Music and Les Miserables, Nikki says it’s been “beautiful” to see her daughter take up such an affinity for musicals.
“Growing up, our thing has always been to go and watch musicals. I think I took her first at about two or three.”
“I used to get those looks, like ‘Why are you bringing a baby?’ but I’d be like ‘Just you wait, as soon as the show starts, she’ll sit still’ and she did. She’s always in awe of them.”
Nikki adds that while she’s watched Skylah perform many times at her Sydney studio, Dance Nikki Webster, getting to see her eldest on stage on her opening night of Annie will be a moment she’ll never forget.
“From the moment I hear the orchestra play, and see the curtain rise, that will be my proudest moment,” she says.
“I’ll be incredibly nervous, like way more nervous than if I was performing, but I am also so excited for her.”
Nikki may have a lot more musicals in her future too, as Skylah’s got her sights on cracking the big time!
“My dream is to be a Broadway performer,” says Skylah, adding that landing a part in Hell’s Kitchen, Alicia Keys’ new musical, is at the top of her list.
And she’s certainly in with a shot, having such an entertainment icon as a mother and mentor.
“I used to sit there on the iPad just scrolling through all of mum’s performances, learning all the dances,” Skylah says.
“I loved the Olympics one, I used to think she was actually flying!”
And, given the chance, could there be a mother-daughter performance on the cards at the Brisbane Olympic Games in 2032?
“Skylah will be 18 then, so she might be a bit past it. I’m just hoping we get tickets to go and watch it,” says Nikki.
“It’d be so cool if we did it and I was the one to flip [through the air] this time,” Skylah adds.
