2006: The Theatre Year In Review

AussieTheatre.com looks back at a big year in Australian theatre....


January
The new $6 million Australian musical Dusty (pictured) opens in Melbourne to mixed reviews. Tamsin Carroll is highly acclaimed for her portrayal of the show's namesake, Dusty Springfield. AussieTheatre.com's Michael Magnusson says: "In the same spirit and with as much assurance as John-Michael Howson, David Mitchell and Melvyn Morrow's previous hit Shout, Dusty has 'winner' written all over it. It has everything an audience relishes - a good story strongly and sensitively told, songs that they can go into the theatre already humming and a chance to see a new musical star in the ascent."

The Australian premiere production of the smash hit Broadway musical The 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee opens in Melbourne. AussieTheatre.com's Michael Magnusson says: "To a generation raised on musicals about presidential assassinations and pay toilets, a musical about a high school spelling competition is hardly going to seem unusual. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee isn’t heralding a new wave in music theatre but it definitely holds its own among the newcomers while we wait for the next best thing."

It is announced that Broadway star Mandy Patinkin will tour Australia in 2006.

The crème de la crème of the Sydney theatre scene comes out in force for the 2005 Sydney Theatre Awards at the Statement Bar, with those in attendance ranging from nominees such as Tim Draxl, Stephen Sewell, Chloe Dallimore and Gale Edwards to theatre industry mainstays such as Henri Szeps and Simon Burke. The ever-stylish Cate Blanchett also attended theatre’s newest awards night to present a number of the gongs including Best Actor and Actress as well as best direction and the best independent and mainstage productions.

Amanda Harrison is confirmed as a cast member in a revival production of the Sydney musical Boyband.

The Lion King announces it will close in Melbourne in June after a successful Australian run.

American playwright Wendy Wasserstein, who wrote the hugely successful play The Heidi Chronicles, loses her battle with cancer. She was 55.


February
The Melbourne Theatre Company extends its smash hit musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee due to unexpected interest in the production.

The 2006 Mo Awards are cancelled.

AussieTheatre.com reveals that The Production Company will produce the classic Broadway musical The Pajama Game as part of their 2006 season.

Sydney Theatre Company General Manager Rob Brookman confirms that the organisation is set to post a $150,000 deficit for 2005, their first loss in a decade.

The new arena production of the smash hit Australian musical The Boy From Oz is officially launched (pictured), with the tour to kick off at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Thursday, August 3. It will play five shows at the venue before moving to the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. It will also tour to Brisbane and Adelaide.

It is announced that the hit Australian stage show Dirty Dancing will be produced in London.


March
AussieTheatre.com reveals that the event that captured the heart of Australia's theatre community late last year, Light The Night, will return in 2006. Shaun Rennie (pictured) will again be at the helm.

Dusty transfers to Sydney and receives mostly negative reviews. AussieTheatre.com's Troy Dodds says: "The biggest disappointment about Dusty is the fact that it had so much potential and provided an unbelievable amount of excitement ahead of opening in Melbourne. How it went wrong is a mystery – more so, how nobody along the way picked up that this was at times a disjointed mess is unbelievable. If you love Dusty Springfield’s music – this production will fill your needs. If you’re after a lesson about her life – hit the biography books instead. It’ll suit your needs better and give you a more accurate and detailed look at her career."

One of America’s most respected newspapers, The New York Times, and its theatre critic Charles Isherwood slams the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Hedda Gabler. Isherwood was questioning the power of celebrity and said he "witnessed Cate Blanchett and the Sydney Theatre Company merrily desecrate Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler before an audience that didn’t seem to notice (or care) that a classic play was being publicly kneecapped".

AussieTheatre.com reveals that The Production Company will produce Thoroughly Modern Millie as part of their 2006 season.

The History Boys sets a new record for STC advance sales, having taken over $1.3 million at the box office before opening night, with over 80% of tickets sold before opening. This is the highest advance sales figure for any STC production in the company's history.


April
Chloe Dallimore (pictured) is confirmed as a cast member of The Production Company's Thoroughly Modern Millie. The Production Company announces that The Pajama Game and Camelot will be part of their 2006 season.

The Sydney Theatre Company refuses to confirm whether or not Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman will direct a play in its 2007 season. Newspaper reports suggest the Capote director will oversee a play written by Andrew Upton and possibly starring Hollywood actress Cate Blanchett. It is announced later in the year that Hoffman will indeed work with STC in 2007.

The director of the new Australian musical Dusty, Stuart Maunder, along with co-writer John-Michael Howson, launches a scathing attack on Australian theatre critics, who had expressed their disappointment in the show since it opened in Melbourne in January. In an incredible finale to the Dusty: Little By Little television series on the ABC, Maunder said reviewers were "predictable". "They don't acknowledge the fact that the story is told well, they don't acknowledge the fact that you are moved in act two. When Tamsin sits on that bed and sings 'I think it's going to rain today', you are moved," Maunder said.

It is revealed that Simon Phillips is to direct the new musical Priscilla.

It is confirmed that Matthew Robinson's much talked about new Australian musical Metro Street is to be presented in concert version at this year's Adelaide Cabaret Festival, which gets underway on June 9.

It is announced that Broadway star Faith Prince will be coming to Australia later this year to present her cabaret show, A Leap of Faith.

Green Room Award winners include: Wayne Harrison for Best Set Design (Sunset Boulevard), Janet Hine for Best Costume Design (Saturday Night Fever), Richard Jeziomy for Best Set Design (Sunset Boulevard), Michael Waters for Best Lighting, Sound, A/V Design (Dirty Dancing), James Millar for Best Male Artist in a Supporting Role (Oklahoma), Lisa Sontag for Best Female Artist in a Supporting Role (Grease) and Ian Stenlake for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role (Oklahoma).

AussieTheatre.com exclusively reveals that a major Australian production of Titanic, which won Best Musical at the 1997 Tony Awards, is to be produced later this year.


May
Fiddler on the Roof (pictured) opens in Melbourne for its farewell Australian season.

Sydney’s theatre scene is stunned by news that Griffin Theatre Company Artistic Director David Berthold will stand down from the position at the end of the year. Berthold took over Griffin and its theatrical home, the SBW Stables Theatre in Kings Cross, in 2003 and turned the company around, guiding it through its emergence as one of Australia’s leading theatre organisations.

Australian dancer Josef Brown is cast in the West End production of Dirty Dancing.

Titanic's Australian season is confirmed and the production is officially launched with a lavish ceremony at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney. It is confirmed that Hayden Tee, Katrina Rettalick, Joan Carden, Robert Gard, Belinda Wollaston and Robyn-Jane Lacey are among the cast.

In a world wide exclusive scoop, AussieTheatre.com reveals that Helen Dallimore will play the role of Glinda in the West End production of Wicked.

The Australian Government announces they will provide $1.5 million to the Belvoir Street Theatre as a contribution towards their $11.3 million renovation.

Eurobeat opens in Melbourne. AussieTheatre.com's Troy Dodds says: "While Eurobeat won’t have any other major stage musicals running scared, it is plenty of fun and the first half provides exactly what is expected and promised. While there’s plenty of talent on stage expressed via various characters, it’s Lisa Adam who impresses most. Yes, she had the easiest task of all with her character representing the UK, but her vocal ability was stunning and she absolutely stole the show."


June
It is announced that this year's Helpmann Awards will be shown on the popular Fox 8 channel on Foxtel, moving from the Ovation network where it has been screened for the last couple of years.

The Melbourne Theatre Company's production of the Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is nominated for 10 Helpmann Awards including Best Musical. Dusty is nominated for nine awards.

Showtune Productions announces that Chita Rivera (pictured) will perform in Sydney and Melbourne for the first time in an exclusive and intimate series of shows.

AussieTheatre.com breaks news that Kookaburra will present the Stephen Sondheim musical Company as part of their first season, as well as the Stephen Schwartz favourite Pippin.

Angry American theatre fans storm internet message boards to voice their anger at the results of this year's Tony Awards, in which the jukebox musical Jersey Boys took out the coveted Best Musical award, while in one of the major surprises of the night, The Pajama Game won Best Revival of a Musical ahead of Sweeney Todd, which many considered the favourite to take out the gong.

It is announced that Dean Bryant and Mathew Frank’s award-winning Australian musical Virgins will see its US premiere at the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival.


July
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (pictured) wins Best Musical at the 2005 Helpmann Awards. Stuff Happens wins Best Play. Tamsin Carroll and David Campbell win Best Female Actor and Best Male Actor in a Musical.

Producer John Diedrich rubbishes rumours that suggest the upcoming Australian production of the Broadway musical Titanic is essentially going to be a ‘concert version’.

It is announced that Chloe Dallimore's role as Millie in the Melbourne production of Thoroughly Modern Millie will be her last in Australia for some time, with the Helpmann Award winning performer to base herself in New York.

It is announced that some of the best independent theatre productions that played in Sydney last year will be part of a special concept titled Bite.

Sydney choreographer and musical theatre actor Roseann McDonald, who worked extensively with musical societies, dies at the age of 75.

AussieTheatre.com reveals that the hit Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is to be produced in Sydney next year.

Peter Cousens’ Kookaburra - The National Musical Theatre Company announces Pippin, Company and Floyd Collins will be the first shows it produces.


August
Playwright Mary Rachel Brown is named the winner of the 2006 Griffin Award for her black comedy Australian Gothic. A fable of tyranny masquerading as protection, Australian Gothic illustrates how government driven fear is still a dominant mode of social control capable of paralysing our most intimate relationships.

The rock musical Hedwig and The Angry Inch opens its Sydney season at @Newtown.

AussieTheatre.com reveals that a production of Sunday In The Park With George will be part of the Q Theatre's 2007 subscription season.

Rumours begin circulating that the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot will be produced in Australia next year, with an announcement anticipated at some point in the near future.

AussieTheatre.com reveals that the hit West End musical Billy Elliott is set to be produced in Australia.

Rehearsals for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical (pictured) commence at the Brent Street Studios in Sydney. Director Simon Phillips fills all 27 roles in the musical spectacular, with Michael Caton the final member to sign on.

Melbourne Theatre Company announces that its world premiere production of Joanna Murray-Smith’s Ninety, to be staged by Artistic Director Simon Phillips in the Arts Centre Fairfax Studio from December 2006 to February 2007, has been postponed to 2008 due to a change in actor Rachel Griffiths’ availability.


September
The Ensemble Theatre Company announce they will present the world premiere production of David Williamson’s Lotte’s Gift, a play he developed at the Noosalongweekend Arts Festival earlier this year.

Speculation mounts that one of the world's most successful musicals, Phantom of the Opera, will return to Australia next year.

The Sydney season of the musical Eurobeat extends due to an increased demand for tickets. The show, originally scheduled to close on September 14, extends to September 24.

Tyran Parke (pictured), Amie McKenna, Drayton Morley, Buster Skeggs, Natalie Gamsu, Phillip Dodd, Jenny Peers, Luke Joslin, Barry Langrishe and Laurence Coy are announced as the cast for Sunday in the Park with George at the Q Theatre.

Two of Australia’s brightest young theatre stars – Lucy Durack and James Millar – are accepted into the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Voice of Musical Theatre competition in the United Kingdom.

Stephen Collins, the Chair of Griffin Theatre Company, the only theatre company in Sydney entirely dedicated to the professional development and production of new Australian plays, announces a change of artistic director. Stepping down at the end of 2006, David Berthold will hand the artistic baton across to incoming director, Nick Marchand.

Respected costume designer Christopher Essex, who worked on shows such as Hot Shoe Shuffle and Get Happy, loses his battle with cancer. He was 61.

A totally unknown 16-year-old singer with very limited professional experience wins the 4th Annual Cabaret Showcase at the El Rocco Room at Bar Me in Sydney. Elenoa Rokobaro, a student of the newly opened and highly regarded Australian International Performing Arts High School (AIPAH), beat very strong competition including many experienced professional performers to take out the prize.

It is confirmed that Billy Eliott is coming to Australia.

It is announced that the Melbourne Theatre Company will mount its own production of the hit Alan Bennett play The History Boys next year.

It is announced that Oscar winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, in his first international theatre collaboration, will direct the world premiere of Andrew Upton’s play Riflemind as part of the Sydney Theatre Company’s 2007 subscription season.

AussieTheatre.com reveals that Sophie Katinis, a WAAPA graduate last seen in the failed Channel Seven series Headland, has been offered the coveted role of Ellen in the upcoming Australian revival of Miss Saigon.



October
The first ever major Australian production of Titanic (pictured) opens in Sydney. The show receives outstanding reviews, which huge wraps for youngster Alexander Lewis.

The 2006 Pratt Prize finalists are announced: Artemisia by Gary Young and Paul Keelan, The Beauty Spot by David Young, Life's a Circus by Anthony Constanzo, Once We Lived Here by Dean Bryant and Matthew Frank, The Paradise by Marty Fields and The Wild Blue by Anthony Crowley.

The speculation is confirmed - a major new production of one of the world's most successful musicals, Phantom of the Opera, will be staged in Australia next year. It is announced that Anthony Warlow will star in the tuner.

Australian musical theatre performer Lucy Durack reaches the top six of the BBC Voice of Musical Theatre competition in the UK.

Titanic confirms it will play a Brisbane season.

Miss Saigon's 2007 revival is launched in Melbourne. David Harris, Laurie Cadevida and Juan Jackson are confirmed as cast members.

It is announced that Michael Gow will present his first full-length play in a decade next year at the Belvoir Street Theatre, and he’s got some heavy artillery joining in – respected actor Richard Roxburgh will star in the play. The play, Toy Symphony, is being credited as a dazzling tour-de-force of theatrical invention.

Priscilla opens at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney and receives mostly positive reviews.

Australian theatre is shocked following the death of the industry's most respected publicist, Judith Johnson. She died suddenly and just a week before the opening of what was to be her last show, Priscilla. The theatre community attends her funeral in their droves.



November
AussieTheatre.com breaks the biggest theatre story of the year - Robyn Nevin (pictured) is to quit the Sydney Theatre Company at the end of 2007 and hand the job of Artistic Director to Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton. In a statement, Nevin said: “In 1999 I said I wanted STC to be a fine drama company. Well I think it is that now, and getting there has been an extraordinarily volatile and hugely satisfying journey thanks to the staff, the artists and the audiences of Sydney. And now it is time to hand it on to the next generation.”

The Sydney Theatre Company holds it annual Pier Group Cabaret.

Priscilla star Daniel Scott is ruled out of the show for at least two weeks following an incident after a performance.

Griffin Theatre Company makes an unprecedented move and extends the season of its upcoming production Holding the Man before the show has officially opened. “Ticket sales have been unparalleled, with next to no seats available for much of the current season,” said Griffin Artistic Director David Berthold. “Griffin has never seen this level of box office enthusiasm. Holding the Man has already sold as many tickets as we’d normally expect to sell in an entire season, and we are yet to open.”

Australian theatre star Amanda Harrison gives birth to a baby girl.

The Crypt Theatre in Sydney is shut down by Leichhardt Council, which claims it is a fire hazard.

It is announced that Australian theatre veteran Sharon Millerchip will be part of the cast of Pippin, the first show to be presented by Australia's new music theatre company, Kookaburra.

In a major shock, the $80,000 prestigious Pratt Prize is scrapped, with the judges deciding to commission two of the six finalists to create new musicals instead.

The critically acclaimed Australian production of the Maury Yeston and Peter Stone musical Titanic announces it will close in Sydney on December 17, two weeks ahead of schedule.

AussieTheatre.com reveals a new Australian musical written by Guy Noble is set to premiere in Sydney next year. Karaoke The Musical, which is lightly based on the story of Cinderella and is set at a karaoke competition, is likely to open at the Theatre Royal in October 2007.

Titanic sets up a mammoth clash with the revival of Miss Saigon, with news that the Maury Yeston and Peter Stone musical will play a Melbourne season after its Brisbane run early next year.

Due to overwhelming demand Company B announces that Casey Bennetto’s award-winning musical Keating! has been extended into January 2007.

AussieTheatre.com reveals that the Griffin Theatre Company's production of Holding The Man will play a return season at the SBW Stables Theatre next year.



December
James Strong AO, chairman of the Australia Council for the Arts, welcomes the appointment of Kathy Keele as the organisation’s new chief executive officer.

An emotional Julia Philipson wins Open Mic Idle for 2006 in a tightly fought grand final battle at the Seymour Centre in Sydney.

Performers meet in Sydney and Melbourne on December 14 to discuss the proposed conditions of employment for actors involved in the upcoming production of Phantom of the Opera after word that the producers may seek to implement Australian Workplace Agreements with the production, a first for theatre in Australia.

It is announced that an Australian season of the musical Respect will open in Brisbane early next year.

It is announced that the Tim Lawson production of Fiddler on the Roof, which opened in Sydney in September 2005, is to return to Australia early next year for a season at the Burswood Theatre in Perth.

It is confirmed that the surprise hit musical of 2006 Hedwig and the Angry Inch (pictured) will return to Sydney in 2007.

The national tour of Titanic - taking in Melbourne and Brisbane - is controversially cancelled in a major shock to a devastated cast and crew.