It is 1905, and in Australia women have just achieved the right to vote. Mirabella Martin is a highly successful, but rapidly ageing, soubrette.
She wants to catch the eye of Harry Rickards, boss of the Tivoli Circuit, but she thinks she needs to find a new act to secure her place on a bill dominated by American and British theatrical imports.
Her pianist, Tommy, tells her about the rage in the home country for male impersonation and encourages Mirabella to discover the power of pants. Mirabella hates the idea, resists the idea, tries to burn the trousers that Tommy has loaned her and only very reluctantly, and without any other options, takes to the stage cross- dressed. The audience love her and gradually, very gradually, Mirabella begins to embrace the liberation and opportunities that her on-stage persona create for her.
But when Harry Rickards finally turns up to see her, Mirabella is faced with a heart-wrenching decision between the he that shes learned to embrace and the she that might secure her future.
A delightful and very funny cabaret style show, Butterfly Dandy is a story about the pleasures and challenges of finding the new you in the most unlikely place and of realising that the ideal man might be closer than you think.