ca. 1974) and the twins, Lisa and Nicole (born ca. 1982). From a young age, she used to charge 20 cents for family and friends to come and see her dress up and put on mini concerts. Bassingthwaighte got her first role in a primary school production at Balarang Primary School of Peter Pan, playing the character Tinker Bell. She enrolled at Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts and graduated from the Australian College of Entertainment. After college, Bassingthwaighte successfully auditioned for a job at a theme park, Wonderland Sydney. She participated in a variety of performances, including 1950s, 1970s, country and Hanna Barbara shows. After working at Wonderland Sydney, Bassingthwaighte performed for two seasons as lead vocalist and stand-up comic at the Kaos Comedy Theatre restaurant in Sydney. During that time she auditioned for other musicals. Bassingthwaighte was chosen from over 6,000 people for the role as Mrs. Cohen in the Australian tour of the rock musical, Rent (1999). During Rent's tour, she auditioned for another stage production, Chicago. The casting directors were initially dubious given that she was not an A-List dancer, however she won the role of June and understudied the principal role of Roxie Hart. In 2002, during Chicagos run in Perth, Bassingthwaighte and some cast and crew members decided to visit The Pinnacles, a limestone formation and tourist attraction about north-west of Perth. On the way there they became lost and their 4WD broke down; they were rescued by a Navy helicopter. Her first lead role was in the Asian production Chang & Eng, which depicts the biography of the first Siamese twins; Bassingthwaighte portrayed Adelaide Yates in both the Singapore and Bangkok seasons of the show. Music career 2004–08: Rogue Traders Bassingthwaighte had considered a music career for some years and had been a member of an R&B group, but it did not work out, and her interest focused on other options. By 2004, she had begun working on her own demos: songs with an acoustic-rock sound and, later that year, she was recruited as the lead singer for Australian electro-pop band, Rogue Traders. Formed in 2002 with James Ash on keyboards and Steve Davis on guitars, the group had used a variety of guest vocalists and issued a debut album before seeking a permanent singer. After being presented with the band's music, Bassingthwaighte auditioned for Ash and Davis. The pair had auditioned