The Seed climbs upstairs Wednesday, January 30, 9:39pm
AEDST.
When
Kate Mulvany won the Philip Parsons Young Playwrights Award in 2004, she didn't just set
out to write another 'good night at the theatre' play. She decided to make it personal.
Based on the real-life story of the award-winning playwright, The Seed
premiered last year the Belvoir Street Downstairs Theatre and now makes the trek upstairs
as part of Company B's 2008 subscription season.
“Being commissioned by B Sharp to write The Seed was both
exhilarating and frightening," Mulvany said.
"Exhilarating in that a story so familiar and important to me, and my family,
was finally getting the opportunity to be told on an Australian stage. Frightening because
that story is not always a happy one and involves delving into the minds and hearts of
Australian War Veterans and their families – including my own."
Three generations of the Maloney’s reunite after thirty years: Brian is an IRA
soldier begrudgingly living in Nottingham. On his 80th birthday, he is visited by his
long-lost son Danny - a ten-pound pom and Vietnam Veteran, now living in Australia. Danny
is accompanied by his daughter Rose – a 30-year-old writer dealing with the
repercussions of her father’s involvement in the war and desperately trying to write
his story in order to conquer her own demons. As the characters settle in for what should
be an afternoon of celebration, the realms of truth and lies, war and peace, family and
foes become blurred and the three lives begin to entangle.
“My greatest gift was that my family were the biggest contributors to The
Seed," Mulvany said.
"Because of the brave contributions made, The Seed is a funny,
muscular and relevant piece in today's political climate."
Company B Artistic Director Neil Armfield said: "The Seed is a
beautiful work that boldly brings together the pain and anguish of a family wrought with
both physical and emotional memories of war, leavened by a tough and unsentimental vein of
humour."
Directed by Armfield and Iain Sinclair, the play stars Mulvany herself along with
Danny Adcock and Martin Vaughan.
The Seed recently won Best Independent Production at the Sydney Theatre
Awards, recognising it as one of the top plays on Sydney's stages last year.
The play opens at the Belvoir Street Theatre on February 21, with previews
commencing February 16. Bookings: (02) 9699 3444.
---
Motortown for Sydney premiere Wednesday, January 30, 10:50am
AEDST.
Independent theatre company little death productions and the creative team behind
last year’s hit Mercury Fur will present the Sydney premiere of Motortown
by Olivier Award winning playwright Simon Stephens at the SBW Stables Theatre from
February 15.
Danny has been serving in Iraq. He returns home, an outsider and finds himself in a
society he no longer understands. Staying with his older brother, he finds that he
can’t connect to the life he left behind. Through his encounters with his
ex-girlfriend, a petty arms dealer, some wealthy swingers, and a young girl whom he takes
for a picnic, Stephens paints a scathing indictment of contemporary society.
Less a comment on the Iraq war, than a critique of the society that the war
attempts to protect, Motortown is a collection of disjointed scenes linked by the
presence of a naïve and violent anti-hero.
Written by British playwright Simon Stephens during the 2005 London bombings, Motortown
was hailed an "instant modern classic" by overseas critics.
“I wanted to write a play which inculpated more than it absolved,” said
Stephens
“I wanted to write, as honestly as I possibly could, about the extent of my
guilt in creating and perpetuating the culture that drove these wars, and the guilt of all
of my audience.”
Directed by Ben Packer (Mercury Fur, Krapp’s Last Tape), the production will
feature an impressive cast including Sean Barker (The Return) and Simon Corfield
(The Bee) as brothers Danny and Lee.
Motortown commences previews at the SBW Stables Theatre on February 13.
Bookings: 1300 306 776.
---
The Hatpin to officially open 27/2 Tuesday, January 29, 1:36pm AEDST.
Rehearsals began this morning for the eagerly awaited world premiere production of
the new Australian musical The Hatpin, which has announced an official opening
night date of Wednesday, February 27.
Written by James Millar and Peter Rutherford, the musical focuses on a desperate
mother, Amber Murray, who makes a heartbreaking decision, the consequences of which are
still being felt today. Using the moral support she gains from her friendship with the
free spirited Harriet Piper, she fights the injustices of circumstance and tragedy to find
hope and strength. The piece is inspired by a true story.
Much attention has been focused on the show's stellar cast, which includes veterans
Caroline O'Connor, Barry Crocker and Peter Cousens. Melle Stewart, who has been with the
project since its workshop phase, leads the cast and is joined by Octavia Barron-Martin,
Nick Christo, Michelle Doake, Jodie Harris, Gemma-Ashley Kaplan, Tyran Parke and Jennifer
Peers.
In a recent interview with AussieTheatre.com, Millar said the show has changed
dramatically from its original form.
"The essential story is the same and the feel is the same but the script bears
no resemblance to the very first workshop," he said.
"It underwent its biggest change following the workshop we did last year. It's
far more detailed than what it was and operates much more like a thriller, but the flavour
of it hasn't changed."
The Hatpin commences previews at the Seymour Centre in Sydney on February
23. Bookings: (02) 9351 7940.
Click here
to view our interview with James Millar and Peter Rutherford, writers of The Hatpin.
---
Souris slams Government over arts support Monday, January 28, 4:40pm AEDST.
Shadow NSW Major Events Minister Geroge Souris says yesterday's announcement that Jersey
Boys will have its Australian premiere in Melbourne is another example of the State
Government's lack of support for the arts.
The Tony Award winning musical, which focuses on
the life of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, will premiere at the Princess Theatre in
March next year, following a number of other shows that have opted to open down south
instead of Sydney.
One of the reasons more musicals are opening in
Melbourne of late is the support producers are given by the Victorian Major Events Board. Jersey
Boys has Victorian Government support, as does Wicked, which opens at the
Regent Theatre later this year.
“It looks like NSW and its newly created
Major Events Board is either not interested in theatre, did not even know about Jersey
Boys, is seriously underfunded and could not even bid, or all of the above,"
Souris said.
“It is true, Victoria funds its Major Events Board to the tune of $60 million per
year, about three times NSW."
While Souris is angry over the number of shows
choosing Melbourne as their premiere city, Sydney has still hosted its fair share of major
openings, including Billy Elliot last December.
However, Souris said the benefit of a premiere
season is that such shows generate significant intrastate, interstate and international
visitation and are a sizeable multiplier in tourism, accommodation, food and travel,
making it important for Governments to bid against each other to help producers bring
major shows to Australia.
“By the time shows get to Sydney, the visitors have already been and gone (to
Melbourne)," Souris said.
“The same is happening with the current run of Phantom Of The Opera in
Melbourne. Phantom is due to move to Sydney later this year but by then Melbourne
will have creamed off all the visitors."
- Erin Graham
---
Quambatook premiere nears Monday, January 28,. 2:06pm AEDST.
Final preparations are
underway for the world premiere season of a new musical written by Australian country
music legend John Williamson and starring Darren Coggan and Belinda Wollaston.
Quambatook opens on February 7 at the EVAN Theatre in Penrith, with the
season being used as a launching pad for the show's future. Williamson hopes it will end
up "going around the world".
Williamson and Wollaston appeared at a special family fun day in Penrith on Monday
to celebrate the Australia Day long weekend and promote the musical, which has nearly sold
out its initial season.
For Williamson, the biggest thrill about Quambatook comes from his role as a
songwriter.
“It is an amazing experience to hear new interpretations of my music," he
said.
Press notes for the show read: "It is 1955 and in the small Victorian farming
town of Quambatook, 11-year-old Johnno is on a mission and nothing is going to stand in
his way. For years he and his family have happily sat around the radio, listened, sang and
played along with the songs from The Silver Haired Showman’s weekly radio show. But
ever since Johnno heard the Showman describe his experiences in the Northern Territory at
Uluru, he’s had only one desire; to see and experience the big red rock for himself.
Whether or not they make it to Uluru isn’t important, Johnno’s Mum tells
him, the fact is The Joy is in the Journey..."
Wollaston has most recently been seen in the Australian tour of Respect,
and other credits include Titanic, Mamma Mia and Summer Rain
for the Sydney Theatre Company.
Coggan is best known for his work on the country music scene, but has also appeared
in a number of stage musicals, including Shout! and Grease.
On Monday, Wiliamson performed a number of songs from the show, as well as a few
classics including his signature tune, True Blue. Wollaston joined him for a number of
songs, including a song from the musical written especially for her entitled The Joy Is In
The Journey.
Quambatook bookings: 1800 061 991.
AussieTheatre.com Gold members
can check out some more great photos from Monday's Quambatook event. Login or subscribe here.
---
Melbourne to host Jersey Boys Sunday, January 27, 1:06pm AEDST.
An Australian production of the hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys, which
tells the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, will open at Melbourne's Princess
Theatre in March 2009.
Jersey Boys is the story of how four
boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music
sensations of all time. The Four Seasons sold more than 175 million records worldwide,
their biggest hits being Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry and Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You.
The musical opened on Broadway in late 2005 and
to date has played more than 900 performances at the August Wilson Theatre. It won Best
Musical at the Tony Awards in 2006.
"Australians will fall in love with Jersey
Boys, which I am convinced will be the biggest hit we have seen since Mamma Mia!,"
said Paul Dainty, the show's co-producer.
"Jersey Boys has been such a smash
hit on Broadway because it brilliantly combines a cavalcade of classic pop hits with the
universal story of four neighbourhood pals and their journey through life."
The musical is currently preparing for its
premiere on the West End, with other international productions slated for late 2008 ahead
of the Melbourne premiere next year.
Co-producer Rodney Rigby said he had no doubt
the show would be a success in Australia.
"Every time I have seen Jersey Boys
over the last three years on Broadway, Chicago or San Francisco, the audience stand and
cheer, not just at the end of the first show, but during the first act," he said.
"This is a dazzling, behind-the-scenes look
at a true story, breathtakingly told with one musical hit after another."
Heard some news? Got some gossip? SMS
the AussieTheatre.com Gossip Line on 0424 569 298.
---
Priscilla celebrates 500 performances Sunday, January 27, 10:47am AEDST.
Smash hit Australian musical Priscilla may have to vacate Melbourne's Regent
Theatre shortly to make way for the arrival of Wicked, but by no means will it be
the end of the journey for the jukebox tuner.
The show recently celebrated its 500th Australian performance, most of those being
in Sydney where it ran from 11 months from October 2006 at the Lyric Theatre, leaving only
after a stoush with Miss Sagion over the right to be housed at the venue.
In Melbourne, the show has attracted good box office figures, rising above fears
that it would not be able to overcome its Sydney-centric script.
“Priscilla seems to have cornered the market in fun," said
producer Liz Koops from Back Row Productions.
"Going by the number of flashing pink cocktails we sell each week (around
2,000) that may be the case, but I think it’s because the story we tell every night
is our own, and Australians have taken Priscilla into their hearts and their
minds. And we are very proud of that. ”
A UK production of Priscilla is now confirmed for early 2009, with further
productions being considered for Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, France, the USA, Canada,
Japan and New Zealand.
The UK production will be the first Australian show to be mounted in the West End
by Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Really Useful Company.
Priscilla features 20-full scale production numbers, including the disco classics I
Will
Survive and Finally, over 500 spectacular costumes, 200 gravity-defying headdresses,
23 tonnes of scenery and, as its dazzling centrepiece, a six tonne 10 metre long custom
made bus named “Priscilla”.
Priscilla stars Tony Sheldon (Bernadette), Jeremy Stanford (Tick) and Daniel
Scott (Felicia) who bus it across the outback to perform a gig in Alice Springs, joined on
the road by Bill Hunter (Bob) and Colette Mann (Shirley).
Hunter's appearance in the musical gives audiences a wonderful chance to see him
re-create the role he played so well in the film version.
“It's great to be given the opportunity to reprise the role of Bob 15 years
later, especially in the musical form, and to be doing it at the marvellous Regent
Theatre”, said Hunter.
Priscilla is selling in Melbourne until March 30.
---
Wicked not yet cast, confirms Frost Wednesday, January 23, 10:19pm
AEDST.
Despite the rumour mill working overtime, Wicked producer John Frost has
confirmed that casting has not yet been finalised for the blockbuster musical, which opens
in Melbourne on July 12.
Wicked, which tells the untold story of
the witches of Oz, comes to Melbourne's Regent Theatre after extraordinary success
overseas, particularly on Broadway where it has been playing to packed houses since 2003.
Frost told The Age that casting for the
Australian premiere season should be confirmed shortly.
"We're down to about 30 and offers have
gone out, but we've still got six roles to cast and that should be settled in the next
three weeks," he said.
"The roles have become iconic and there's
huge anticipation and speculation within the industry about who's going to get what."
In a major development, it is understood that Wicked will soon announce a
major naming rights sponsorship deal. In addition, The Age also reports that Wicked
has been put onto the school curriculum as a drama text choice.
Wicked tickets are expected to go on
sale next month.
Make sure you logon to our Wicked
website at AussieTheatre.com/Wicked for
all the latest news and information on the smash hit musical, including a special
countdown clock!
---
Bunin play readies for Ensemble Wednesday, January 23, 9:44pm
AEDST.
Keith Bunin's play The Busy World Is Hushed will commence previews at Sydney's
Ensemble Theatre on January 31 ahead of a February 8 opening night.
The Australian premiere is directed by Mark
Kilmurry and stars Vanessa Downing, Lee Jones and Matthew Moore.
It focuses on Hannah (Downing), an
unconventional church minister who is a loving mother, but meddlesome and demanding. She
needs an expert to help her interpret a newly discovered gospel, but hires Brandt (Moore),
who is young, charming and hopelessly unqualified. Along the way we meet Hannah's son
Thomas (Jones), who is forever at odds with his mother. Eventually their pressurised
relationship explodes, revealing painless secrets, unexpected honesty and unshakeable
bonds.
The Busy World Is Hushed will play at
the Ensemble Theatre until March 8. Bookings: (02) 9929 0644.
---
Women will be angry a week longer Wednesday, January 23, 7:49pm
AEDST.
The producers of Angry Young
Women In Low Rise Jeans With High Class Issues, playing at the Old Fitzroy Theatre,
have announced an extension to the sell-out show's smash hit run.
Along with its double-bill partner Mile High by Sydney writer Byron Kaye,
the show will be extended for a week and will now close on Sunday, February 9.
Already enjoying a return season after its successful premiere at the Tap Gallery last
September, the hilarious satire on modern dating, coupledom and female issues has sold out
most of its scheduled performances.
Producer Megan Alston said that with the additional shows, the company hoped it
could meet the huge demand for the tickets from audiences who can't get in.
In his review of Angry Young Women In Low Rise Jeans With High Class Issues
for AussieTheatre.com, Troy Dodds said, in part: "Given Angry Young Women In
Low-Rise Jeans With High Class Issues aims to explore the core differences between
men and women, the fact that it is written by a man opens up several possibilities and
pre-conceived notions. Firstly, there could be automatic frowning with the common catch
cry of 'what would a man know about women’s issues', and secondly, one fears this
could just be a 90 minute rant that paints men as the dominant sex and makes a mockery of
women. Thankfully, Matt Morillo delivers a balanced, funny and entertaining series of
skits and monologues and never really delves into opinion-based matter, preferring to go
for easy laughs and light entertainment."
Growing up Garland: Lorna's incredible life Wednesday, January 23, 7:24pm
AEDST.
Wonderful is a word Lorna Luft uses often and why wouldn’t you if your version of
normal was growing up with Frank Sinatra and Humphrey Bogart as neighbours and your mother
is Judy Garland, a star that everyone, musical theatre fan or not, could not fail to have
missed.
However, 'growing up Garland' was something Luft, who will perform live in
Australia next month, never really thought about.
"I didn’t know anything different," she told AussieTheatre.com.
"It is a bit of a myth that we all would open the refrigerator door and burst
into song, a common misconception."
While she may have followed her mother's footsteps into show business, Luft makes it very
clear that Garland was no teacher.
"All you had to do was watch her," she said.
"She wasn’t a teacher, she was a performer and unlike most people who
only have still photos of their family members when they are gone, I had and still have a
whole library of movies, television and a wealth of material all to learn from."
Luft made her television debut at 11, on The Judy Garland Show. By 19, she was
stopping the show on her own, starring on Broadway in Neil Simon’s hit musical,
Promises, Promises. Her career continued on the New York stage in the musical Snoopy
before taking a dramatic turn alongside Farrah Fawcett in the highly commended drama Extremities.
In addition to regional theatre productions of Grease, Carnival, Little Shop of
Horrors, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Girl Crazy, Mame and Gypsy, she has
starred in national tours of They're Playing Our Song and as Miss Adelaide for
two years in Jerry Zaks' world tour production of Guys And Dolls.
Luft is about to head off on her first UK tour in 10 years with her show Songs My
Mother Taught Me: Live in Concert, which will play 15 venues from late January until
Valentine's Day.
Luft said she is at a time of her life where she is ready and comfortable with the legacy
of Judy Garland and the music. She said it was the right time for her and so she felt
ready to put together a show that acknowledged and celebrated the music she says was left
to "all of us".
"You don’t really know your parents until you are in your
40’s," she said.
"In your 20’s you have no idea, in your 30’s you start to get to
know them and in your 40's you have had some of the experiences they had and it is just a
natural understanding that comes from being this age."
Lorna Luft is at the Factory Theatre in Sydney on February 29. Bookings: (02) 9550
3666.
- UK Correspondent Skye Crawford
---
Blanchett's shot at history Wednesday, January 23, 1:32pm
AEDST.
Sydney Theatre Company Artistic Director Cate Blanchett could create history by winning
two Oscars in the same year after being nominated for her work in the films Elizabeth:
The Golden Age and I'm Not There.
While a select few actors have received multiple
nominations, nobody has ever claimed a double win at the one ceremony. Blanchett is
nominated in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories.
The Oscars are scheduled to be held next month
but the ongoing screenwriters strike that has shut down production on many American
television shows threatens to derail the event, with speculation it could meet the same
fate as the Golden Globes, which were cancelled after actors boycotted the ceremony.
Blanchett, who along with husband Andrew Upton
is now in charge of the Sydney Theatre Company, is expecting her third child. On Monday,
her 'baby bump' was obvious when she attended the Sydney Theatre Awards at Paddington RSL.
In other news, police are investigating the
death of Australian actor Heath Ledger. The 28-year-old was found dead in his New York
apartment earlier today, sparking tributes from around the world.
While Ledger was best known for his stellar film
work, his Perth-based stage credits include Peter Pan, The Name Of The Father,
Bugsy Malone, Boyfriend, Royal Hunt Of The Sun and Hamlet.
- Troy Dodds
---
O'Connor, Campbell performing in New York Tuesday, January 22, 9:28pm AEDST.
The Hatpin star
Caroline O'Connor and Helpmann Award winner David Campbell (pictured) will perform in New
York tomorrow as part of Australia Plays Broadway, a concept designed to showcase
and introduce American audiences to Australian talent from the worlds of theatre, opera,
dance, symphony, rock and cabaret.
Also performing as part of the Lincoln Centre
event is Eskimo Joe, Australian Dance Theatre, Christine Anu, Shannon Noll, Richard
Walley, the Pembroke Orchestra, Lisa Moore, Pei-Jee & Pei-Sian Ng, Raymond Crowe, the
Qantas Choir, Daniel Sumegi and many others.
The key objective of the performance is to
express the imagination and calibre of Australian talent by designing an evening
showcasing Australia as a sophisticated and innovative culture through diverse elements of
the arts.
Approximately 1,000 guests made up of supporters
of the arts, corporate sponsors, American-based Australian executives, and significant
industry representatives, producers, directors, actors and American-based Australian
entertainers will be in attendance.
After the event, O'Connor will return to
Australia to commence rehearsals for The Hatpin, the James Millar and Peter
Rutherford drama that opens at the Seymour Centre in Sydney next month.
---
Armfield pays tribute to Gow Tuesday, January 22, 12:33pm AEDST.
Company B Artistic Director Neil Armfield has paid tribute to Michael Gow for his
work on Toy Symphony, which last night swept the Sydney Theatre Awards.
Among its seven awards, the show won Best Mainstage Production and Best New
Australian Work.
Armfield said Gow's first full-length play in years was a major triumph for Company
B.
“It’s a great testament to the
fabulous work that has always and will continue to come from Michael Gow, as well as the
artistic and creative expertise of our talented team," he said.
"Michael is one of Australia’s finest playwrights and we were very proud
to premiere his newest work at Belvoir Street Theatre.”
Armfield said Company B is well on track to have another solid year.
“We enjoyed record audiences in 2007, with five sold out seasons – including Parramatta
Girls, Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf, Exit the King, Keating! and Toy
Symphony," he said.
"We’re very much looking forward to 2008 – our current production, Ngapartji
Ngapartji, sold out in less than a week, so we’ve certainly got off to a flying
start."
---
Seven awards for Toy Symphony Monday, January 21, 10:50pm AEDST.
Company B is
celebrating after its production of Toy Symphony, which saw an incredible
partnership between Michael Gow, Richard Roxburgh and Neil Armfield explode onto the
stage, won seven awards at the Sydney Theatre Awards tonight.
The show won Best Mainstage Production, Best Direction for Neil Armfield, Best
Actor In A Lead Role for Richard Roxburgh, Best Actress In A Supporting Role for Monica
Maughan, Best Actor In A Supporting Role for Russell Dykstra, Best New Australian Work and
Best Lighting Design for Damien Cooper.
In her review of the play for AussieTheatre.com, Joanna Erskine said, in part:
"The plot is fragmented, but intensely satisfying. There are moments of utter madness
and imagination, but you don’t question it. The highs and lows of the mind of the
artist are celebrated. But most importantly, it is essentially Australian. A classroom
history lesson of Como, complete with rickety overhead projector has us reeling with
nostalgia about what it is to grow up in this country. The bushfires, the beaches, the
footy, the textbook way our ‘Captain Cook’ history is taught. It is an enjoyable
ride, and we laugh at the characters as much as we laugh at ourselves. There are no major
messages here. Gow has no agenda and he doesn’t need one. Toy Symphony is
the best new Australian play I have seen in a long, long time."
Company B also took home the Best Score Or Sound Design award for its production of
Exit The King.
"It is such a privilege to work in a company that is a unique
institution," said Armfield, the company's Artistic Director.
A production that will appear as part of Company B's 2008 season, The Seed,
was also honoured, winning Best Independent Production for its season at the Belvoir
Street Downstairs Theatre.
Famous critic Katharine Brisbane was given the Lifetime Achievement Award, The
Australian's John McCallum labelling her the "den mother of Australian
theatre".
Best Costume Design was won by Stephen Curtis for The Government Inspector,
while Robert Cousins won Best Set Design for his work with The Season At Sarsaparilla.
Jay's Place won Best Production For Children, while Billy The Rabbit
won Best Cabaret Production. Toni Scanlan won Best Actress In A Lead Role for her work
with King Tide.
The Sydney Theatre Awards are a concept created by a range of the city's leading
theatre reviewers, and are presented annually.
- Troy Dodds
---
Critics name Billy Elliot Best Musical Monday, January 21, 10:46pm AEDST.
Some of Sydney's leading theatre critics have named Billy Elliot
2007's Best Musical at the annual Sydney Theatre Awards, presented tonight at the
Paddington RSL.
Since opening in December last year, Billy
Elliot has been performing well at the box office and is expected to run for at least
a year at the Capitol Theatre.
Set in the North East of England, the musical is a funny, heart-warming and feel-good
celebration of one boy’s dreams set against the historic British miners’ strike
of 1984/85. The story follows the journey of a young boy raised in a small mining town
who, after stumbling across a ballet class while on his way to a boxing lesson, realises
that his future lays not in the boxing ring, but on stage as a dancer.
Genevieve Lemon won Best Performance By An
Actress In A Musical for her work in the show, while Best Performance By An Actor In A
Musical was won jointly by Lochlan Denholm, Rhys Kosakowski, Rarmian Newton and Nick
Twiney (all pictured).
Rising star Christie Whelan won Best Newcomer
for her work with Company, which played at the Theatre Royal last year.
"This is a lovely honour," Whelan said.
"Thank you to Kookaburra for putting on such a great show and giving me the
opportunity to play such an amazing role."
- Troy Dodds
---
Cabaret confusion at theatre awards Monday, January 21, 9:24pm AEDST.
The farce surrounding the Best Cabaret Production category at the Sydney Theatre Awards
reached a bizarre low tonight when Billy The Rabbit took out the award in a clear
deviation from where the category has gone in the past.
When the Sydney Theatre Awards nominations were
announced last month, there was incredibly just one un-named nomination for Best Cabaret
Production, despite a raft of shows across Sydney in 2007.
It turns out that un-named nomination and
eventual winner was Billy The Rabbit, a show that The Studio presented back in
March of last year.
Since the Sydney Theatre Awards returned two
years ago, the Best Cabaret Production category has nominated artists such as Tim Draxl,
Queenie Van De Zandt, Judi Connelli, Genevieve Lemon and Tim Minchin.
Artists such as Chelsea Plumley, Natalie Gamsu,
Katrina Retallick, Tyran Parke, Robert Bertram, Hayden Tee, Paul Capsis and Queenie Van De
Zandt all performed acclaimed shows in 2007, but none earned a nomination.
When theatre fans voted in AussieTheatre.com's
2007 Awards, they named Queenie Van De Zandt, Erin James, Hayden Tee, Chelsea Plumley and
the cast of Listen To My Heart as finalists in the Best Cabaret Show category in
what was a wide-open voting affair.
The fact that the voting panel determined there
was only one worthy nomination has been questioned extensively by those in the industry
and general theatre fans alike and was a sour note during an otherwise successful
presentation tonight.
- Erin Graham
---
Sweeney Todd flick opens Thursday Monday, January 21, 10:23am AEDST.
Tim Burton's screen adaptation of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd
will land in Australian cinemas this Thursday, bringing with it positive reviews from
overseas.
Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan
Rickman, Timothy Spall, Jamie Campbell Bower, Jayne Wisener and Sacha Baron Cohen, the
movie has already won two Golden Globe awards.
In his review for The New York Times,
AO Scott said, in part: "Mr Depp’s singing voice is harsh and thin, but
amazingly forceful. He brings the unpolished urgency of rock ’n’ roll to an
idiom accustomed to more refinement, and in doing so awakens the violence of Mr
Sondheim’s lyrics and melodies. Some of the crowd-pleasing numbers, like The Ballad
of Sweeney Todd, have been pared away, but their absence only contributes to the
diabolical coherence of the film, which moves with a furious momentum toward its
sanguinary conclusion."
Depp stars in the title role as a man unjustly sent to prison who vows revenge, not
only for that cruel punishment, but for the devastating consequences of what happened to
his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barber shop, Sweeney Todd becomes the
Demon Barber of Fleet Street who "shaved the heads of gentlemen who never thereafter
were heard from again."
The film will be shown in all commercial
cinemas.
---
Sydney Theatre Awards handed out Monday Sunday, January 20, 12:14am AEDST.
The Sydney Theatre Awards will be presented tomorrow night, acknowledging the shows and
performers who shined on the city's stages during a busy 2007.
Leading the list of nominees is the Company B production Toy Symphony with nine
nominations, including Best Mainstage Production, Best Director, Best New Work, Best Actor
(Richard Roxburgh), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Monica Maughan) and Best Actor in a
Supporting Role (Russell Dykstra).
Several productions have received five nominations each: Exit the King, The Government
Inspector and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf; with Billy Elliot
and The Seed each receiving four nominations, and King Tide, The 25th Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee and Sunday In The Park With George receiving
three.
The Sydney Theatre Awards was created by a group of Sydney theatre critics to recognise
the strength, quality and diversity of theatre in Sydney.
Vying for Best Mainstage Production are Exit the King (Company B), The
Government Inspector (Bell Shakespeare), Toy Symphony (Company B) and Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Company B). The nominees for Best Independent Production
are Brilliant Monkey (Pork Chop and Riverside Productions), Deeply Offensive
and Utterly Untrue (Version 1.0), The Seed (Mimmam Productions/B Sharp) and 2000
Feet Away (Frogbattleship/B Sharp).
The awards ceremony begins at 6pm on Monday at the Paddington RSL. Click here to see the full list of nominations.
AussieTheatre.com will have a complete wrap-up of the Sydney Theatre Awards shortly
after the ceremony's conclusion on Monday night.
---
Campbell to defend title Saturday, January 19, 11:09am
AEDST.
Helpmann Award winner David
Campbell will defend the It Takes Two title he won with Jolene Anderson last year
after it was confirmed he would be involved in the hit television show again in 2008.
It Takes Two pairs professional singers with celebrities, with the public
voting out one couple each week.
While it has not been confirmed who Campbell will "mentor" this year, the
celebrities involved in 2008 are Home And Away actor Paul O'Brien, golfer Scott
Draper, All Saints star Virginia Gay, model Chloe Maxwell, actor and writer Julia
Morris, news anchor John Mangos, weather presenter Sara Groen, Dancing With The Stars judge
Mark Wilson, controversial ironwoman Candice Falzon and AFL player Russell Robertson.
Also joining Campbell as one of the professional
singers will be respected stage actor Rachael Beck, who last year was paired with
Ernie Dingo.
Campbell and Anderson stole the hearts of the
viewing audience last year, and in the months following their victory there were rumours
that Anderson could be bound to make her musical theatre debut. It is rumoured she was
offered a role in Shout!, but given Campbell could not reprise his turn as Johnny
O'Keefe, turned the chance down. She remains a key cast member on All Saints.
It Takes Two will be shown on the Seven
Network later this year.
---
Michael Kantor undergoes surgery Friday, January 18, 9:35pm AEDST.
Melbourne director Michael Kantor has undergone surgery for a heart condition and will no
longer direct the Malthouse Theatre production of Tartuffe, which is due to open
at the Merlyn Theatre on February 15.
23-year-old Matthew Lutton will now direct the show, which stars Marcus Graham and
Barry Otto.
According to The Australian, Kantor was admitted to hospital on Saturday
and diagnosed with a "coronary irregularity". He has successfully undergone
standard treatments and procedures and is expected to return to work in late February.
The production is Malthouse's first for the 2008 season. Kantor is the company's
Artistic Director.
---
End of a Broadway era: Rent to close Thursday, January 17, 11:05pm
AEDST.
One of the most successful and groundbreaking musicals in Broadway history has announced
it will close on June 1 after a run of more than 12 years.
Rent, which played professionally in Australia in the late 1990's and has
enjoyed countless productions from amateur musical societies, will leave the Nederlander
Theatre after 5,012 regular performances and 16 previews.
The seventh longest running show in Broadway history won the hearts and minds of
audiences for several reasons. Addressing AIDS, homelessness, poverty, lack of healthcare
and homophobia, it touched on issues never before seen in a musical. And in the process,
it launched the careers of Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina
Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp and Daphne Rubin-Vega.
Much of the original cast re-united for the 2005 film version of the show.
Rent also became universally known after its creator, Jonathan Larson,
died suddenly during the show's journey to Broadway. He passed away of an aortic aneurism
and never saw his creation enjoy the success it would ultimately achieve.
While it opened to a strong reaction back in the mid 1990's, nobody predicted the
enormous international success that was to come.
Writing for The New York Times today, Campbell Robertson said, in part:
"The length of its run is not nearly as significant as the kind of show it was. An
East Village rock version of Puccini’s opera La Bohème, Rent
brought a youthful energy — and young theatergoers — to Broadway, to a degree
not seen since Hair. It also brought with it a real-life story so affecting that
it would have overwhelmed the musical itself had the substance of the musical not been so
intertwined with the story of its creation."
---
Hollywood breaks silence Wednesday, January 16, 9:28pm
AEDST.
If the Q
Theatre Company's production of Sunday In The Park With George pulls off a
surprise upset and wins Best Musical at Monday's Sydney Theatre Awards, just who gets up
to accept the award will be a show in itself.
Will it be the Chief Executive Officer of the Penrith Performing and Visual Arts
(PPVA), John Kirkman, or the production's director and designer, David Hollywood
(pictured)?
Hollywood departed his position as General Manager of the Q just months after Sunday
In The Park With George was presented after the company became part of the PPVA,
joining the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre and the Penrith Regional Gallery as
venues run by the organisation.
It is known that Hollywood did not part ways with the company in the best of
circumstances.
When Sunday In The Park With George was nominated for Best Musical
alongside Billy Elliot, Miss Saigon and The 25th Annual Putnam County
Spelling Bee, the PPVA issued a statement quoting Kirkman, who was touting the coup
such a nomination was for a regional theatre company.
Hollywood was angered by the comments, which he saw as an attempt by the Joan
Sutherland Performing Arts Centre to take undue credit for the musical’s critical
success.
“Apart from the venue and a little bit of the marketing support they really
didn’t have anything to do with that production,” Hollywood told The Blue
Mountains Gazette.
“The nomination for best production of a musical in 2007 in Sydney was acknowledging
my contribution to that production . . . John Kirkman is not acknowledging that. He’s
saying that I was the director and designer (on a production) that was done in
collaboration with the Joan and the implication is the Joan and the Q have produced this
wonderful thing, which they didn’t — I did."
According to the Gazette, Hollywood is also still bitter at the PPVA Board’s
decision not to follow-up on interest to transfer Sunday in the Park with George
to Sydney – “a fantastic opportunity to showcase our talent with minimal
risk”, he said.
For his part, Hollywood is also thrilled by the musical’s recognition —
but unhappy at the high price it took on him personally.
“A $250,000 production up against Billy Elliot — that’s pretty
amazing and I’m very proud of that, but the aftermath of it has been . . . the whole
political shenanigans of Penrith . . . and I’m a victim of it,” he said.
---
Smith returns to Bell Shakespeare Tuesday, January 15, 6:44pm AEDST.
She won hearts as Ariel in Bell Shakespeare's 2006 production of The Tempest and
now Saskia Smith returns to the company for its forthcoming production of As You Like
It, which opens in Sydney next month before touring the country.
For her work as Ariel, Smith was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award and during a
busy 2007 she starred opposite iOTA in Hedwig And The Angry Inch and with Margi
De Ferranti and Kaye Tuckerman in Listen To My Heart at the now defunct Statement Cabaret Lounge.
In As You Like It, Smith plays Rosalind, the daughter of a banished Duke,
who is forced to flee the court after her uncle unjustly accuses her of treason and
threatens to kill her. Masquerading as a countryman and accompanied by the court jester
and her cousin Celia, the trio venture into the enchanting Forest of Arden.
Rosalind’s disguise comes in handy as she tests the devotion of her noble admirer
Orlando, another exile, and teaches him lessons of the heart.
What unfolds is a series of humorous misunderstandings, gender confusions and
mistaken identities as brothers, lovers, friends and foes are tricked, tried and tested in
a pastoral pastiche of life, love and the whole damn thing.
Director John Bell said the production would be dedicated to designer Jennie Tate,
who died of cancer late last year.
"We had been working closely the last few months on As You Like It and
Madama Butterfly for Oz Opera, which begins rehearsing in June 2008. Her set and
costume designs for both shows are exquisite and it is my great regret that she did not
live to see them realised," Bell said.
"On all the shows we did together (some people will remember her riotously lovely
The Comedy Of Errors) Jennie had to scrimp and save and make a tight budget yield
astonishing results. She did so, thanks to her canniness and professionalism. I always
wanted to say to her: ‘Jennie, I’m doing a show with a big fat budget, so you
can stop worrying and enjoy yourself’… But I never got the chance. I regret that
too."
The play opens at the Sydney Opera House Playhouse on February 5. It then tours to
Canberra, Shepparton, Bendigo, Mildura, Frankston, Warrnambool, Ballarat, Dandenong,
Warragul, Sale, Ringwood, Geelong, Moonee Ponds, Nunawading, Launceston, Hobart,
Kalgoorlie, Perth, Bunbury, Geraldton, Karratha, Bathurst, Griffith, Albury, Orange, Wagga
Wagga, Lismore, Newcastle, Gosford, Penrith, Cairns, Townsville and Rockhampton.
---
The day after the world changed Monday, January 14, 10:01pm AEDST.
The world changed forever when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center's two
towers in New York on September 11, 2001. Neil LaBute's play, The Mercy Seat, is
set one day later on September 12 - the first day of a new world and a new way of
thinking.
The play makes its Australian premiere thanks to the Red Stitch Actors Theatre in
Melbourne next month and comes down under after sensational reviews in the United States. The
New Yorker labelled the piece "the work of a master".
The Mercy Seat continues LaBute's unflinching fascination with the
often-brutal realities of the war between the sexes. In a time of national tragedy, the
world changes overnight. A man and woman explore the choices now available to them in an
existence different from the one they had lived in just the day before. Can one be
opportunistic in a time of universal selflessness?
Directed by Alex Papps, the play kicks off a solid season for the Red Stitch Actors
Theatre. The company will also present the Australian premieres of The Winterling from
March 19 and The Pain And The Itch from April 30. The world premiere of Intelligence
by Michael Gurr opens on June 11.
The Mercy Seat opens at the Red Stitch Actors Theatre in St Kilda on
February 6. Bookings: (03) 9533 8082.
---
Latest Tunks play heads west Monday, January 14, 9:36pm AEDST.
Western Sydney-born playwright
Wayne Tunks will head back to his roots next month when his new drama opens at the
Riverside Theatres in Parramatta.
Silvertop Ash, a haunting new drama for the 30th Gay and Lesbian Mardi
Gras Festival, plays at the Riverside from February 14 to 23.
Tunks’ stellar career has featured many successes, including The Subtle Art of
Flirting (a three season sell out), We’ll Always Have Wagga, Go
West and last year’s Christmas hit, Hell Hath No Fury.
Hamish is a 17-year-old from Mittagong whose parents don’t seem to understand him.
The school bully seems to be gunning for him and his best friend Aaron wants more from him
than he may be able to give. Silvertop Ash is the story of one boy’s
struggle for acceptance.
Directed by Felicity Burke (Nasty Little Secrets), the cast of six includes
seasoned theatre professionals Janine Penfold (Birthdays, Christmas & Other Family
Disasters) and Peter Flett (STC’s 12 Angry Men in Sydney, Melbourne and
Brisbane) as Hamish’s parents and Wayne Tunks (The Bridesmaid Must Die!, Unrequited)
as the Detective determined to discover the truth. The younger cast includes NIDA graduate
Ben Gerrard (as Hamish) and newcomers Nicholas Baldas (as the bully) and Samuel Faull (as
Hamish’s best friend Aaron).
Bookings: (02) 8839 3399.
---
Statement closes: Blow to cabaret Monday, January 14, 2:54pm AEDST.
Sydney's cabaret scene has been dealt a massive blow with the closure of the
popular Statement Cabaret Lounge in the CBD.
AussieTheatre.com can reveal that 18 Bites Of The Big Apple, a show presented
late last year by graduates of WAAPA, was the last production to be hosted at the venue,
which is located underneath the iconic State Theatre.
Over a number of years Statement became Sydney's most popular cabaret venue, hosting shows
from artists like Hayden Tee, Katrina Retallick, Queenie Van De Zandt, Natalie Gamsu,
Belinda Wollaston, Margi De Ferranti, Phil Scott, Genevieve Lemon and many others.
2007 was the venue's most successful year, presenting shows from veterans like Chelsea
Plumley and Amanda Harrison as well as a raft of rising stars.
Tyran Parke, who ran the venue with Alistair Thomson and Sydney theatre publicist Amanda
Buckworth, confirmed that the ride was over for the Sydney venue, but said it was not a
financially based decision.
"The three of us felt that with all we have on our plates we couldn't put the energy
into it that we wanted to," Parke said.
"We all feel incredibly sad about it. We actually sat down and had lunch and tried to
find a solution but it just wasn't possible."
Thomson's own business is taking off while Buckworth has become one of Sydney's most
respected and busiest publicists and Parke has an upcoming engagement with The Hatpin
before touring his own cabaret show.
"It got to a stage where we weren't going to be free to produce shows at Statement
until June and hence we thought it was best to bring it to an end," Parke said.
"For the moment Statement is not operational but TAA (Parke, Thomson and Buckworth's
company) is still running and there is still a few shows we would like to get on in
different places."
Parke hinted the trio could return to a cabaret venue at some stage but for now, they need
to concentrate on their own projects. He thanked the venue's many supporters, including
regular pianist Bev Kennedy, for their support over the years.
The closure of Statement means Sydney is left with only one permanent cabaret venue, El
Rocco at Kings Cross. However, other venues - including the AB Hotel in Glebe - have
started producing cabaret on a more regular basis.
- Troy Dodds
---
Daughter of Judy Garland to perform in Australia Monday, January 14, 12:00am AEDST.
Lorna Luft will perform in Australia for the first time in over three decades when she
appears in a one-off show at The Factory Theatre in Sydney late next month.
Direct from the UK tour of her show Songs My Mother Taught Me, celebrating
the musical legacy of her mum Judy Garland, she will be performing an exclusive, intimate
night of songs from her new album and her career in film and theatre.
Born into showbusiness, to legendary entertainer Judy Garland and producer Sid Luft, Lorna
made her television debut at 11, on The Judy Garland Show. By 19, she was
stopping the show on her own, starring on Broadway in Neil Simon’s hit musical,
Promises, Promises. Her career continued on the New York stage in the musical Snoopy
before taking a dramatic turn alongside Farrah Fawcett in the highly commended drama Extremities.
In addition to regional theatre productions of Grease, Carnival, Little Shop of
Horrors, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Girl Crazy, Mame and Gypsy, she has
starred in national tours of They're Playing Our Song and as Miss Adelaide for
two years in Jerry Zaks' world tour production of Guys And Dolls.
She starred alongside Craig McLachlan in the 2006 blockbuster UK premiere production of
White Christmas: The Musical, quickly following that success with the 2007 hit
revival of Rodgers and Hart’s Babes in Arms, at the prestigious Chichester
Festival Theatre.
In concert, Lorna has appeared at some of the world’s most prominent venues including
The Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, The London Palladium, Royal
Albert Hall and L’Olympia in Paris. In 2006 and 2007 she garnered acclaim for her
surprise duet appearances with singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright at his celebrated
tribute concerts to Judy Garland, Rufus Does Judy, which have recently been
released on CD and DVD.
In 2004, her one woman show Songs My Mother Taught Me had its debut on the West
End to great success; it gained rave reviews in the UK and USA. The show is now currently
enjoying a world tour, keeping alive the cherished musical legacy of her family.
Lorna Luft is at the Factory Theatre in Sydney on February 29. Bookings: (02) 9550
3666.
---
Howson developing Bobby Darin musical Monday, January 14, 12:00am AEDST.
John-Michael Howson is part of a creative team developing a new Australian musical based
on the life of former American teen idol Bobby Darin.
Howson, who helped develop the hit musicals Shout! (based on the life of
Johnny O'Keefe) and Dusty (based on the life of Dusty Springfield), has confirmed
that the show will be workshopped in June.
The flamboyant entertainer said there is obviously a market for the bio-musical.
"People identify very much with the music," he told Melbourne radio
station JOY 94.9.
"People have grown up with a lot of those songs, they are songs that have been
in our lives."
In other news, Howson last night launched a scathing attack on Australian theatre
critics after being read lines from AussieTheatre.com's review of Shout!, which opened in Melbourne on Thursday
night.
"I'm not going to break my heart over something called
AussieTheatre.com," Howson told JOY 94.9.
"I don't care what they say... the reward is when a couple of thousand people stand
up and cheer."
Howson defended the decision to make Shout! light-hearted instead of
focusing on Johnny O'Keefe's darker periods.
"We could have written a dark piece about JOK, but you can't sit there and for
two hours assail people with misery," he said.
"It's not beyond us to write sophisticated and witty lines but if you do that you
often go over the head of the audiences you attract."
---
Bassingthwaighte to host dance show Monday, January 14, 12:00am AEDST.
Natalie Bassingthwaighte, who starred in musicals such as Footloose
and Grease, will host a new reality dance show for Channel Ten that will
premiere next month.
So You Think You Can Dance?, a hit overseas, pits dancer against dancer,
following them through a gruelling 12 week competition. The winner will receive a cash
prize, a 'money can't buy' experience and the title of Australia's favourite dancer.
For around a decade Bassingthwaighte starred in a range of musicals, the highlight
being taking the lead role of Ariel in Footloose, which played at the Capitol
Theatre in 2002. She has appeared in Grease twice - the last time being 2005 -
and also took roles in Little Shop Of Horrors, Rent and Chicago.
It was when Bassingthwaighte switched to television and landed a role on Neighbours
that she became a household name, but she is best known today as the lead singer of
the popular band Rogue Traders.
While So You Think You Can Dance? is likely to be a hit for Channel Ten,
its lead-up period has not been without controversy. The Sunday Telegraph last
year reported that dancers were being urged to boycott the show over claims they were
forced to sign an illegal contract. The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance's head of
Equity Simon Whipp called the document "the worst'' contract he had seen in the
business.
Bassingthwaighte has also been linked with Kookaburra's forthcoming production of Tell
Me On A Sunday. It would be her first theatrical appearance in three years.
---
Season At Sarsaparilla hits Melbourne Friday, January 11, 10:00pm AEDST.
The Sydney Theatre Company's acclaimed production of The Season At Sarsaparilla opens
in Melbourne on Monday night at the Arts Centre Playhouse.
Directed by Helpmann Award winner Benedict Andrews, the production stars Martin
Blum (Harry Knott), Brandon Burke (Ernie Boyle), Green Room Award winner Peter Carroll
(Girlie Pogson), Eden Falk (Rory Child), Sydney Critics Circle Award winner John Gaden
(Clive Pogson), APRA Award winner Alan John (Deedree), Sydney Theatre Award winner Hayley
McElhinney (Judy Pogson), Adelaide Critics’ Circle Award winner Amber McMahon
(Joyleen ‘Pippy’ Pogson), Jessica Marais (Julia Sheen), Colin Moody (Rowley
‘Digger’ Masson), George Fairfax Memorial Award winner Luke Mullins (Ron
Suddards), AFI Award winner Pamela Rabe (Nola Boyle) and Emily Russell (Mavis Knott).
The play is the second production of MTC’s 2008 season. The production began
previews on Wednesday, January 9 and closes Saturday, February 16.
In an ordinary street in 1960’s suburban Australia, the Boyles, the Pogsons and the
Knotts live out the Great Australian Dream of frugal comfort and conspicuous normality.
But there is drama here in these Hill’s-hoisted tracts of battlers and good-sorts
– just peek over the fence!
In his review of the Sydney season of The Season At Sarsaparilla for
AussieTheatre.com, Kieran Colreavy said, in part: "While this play explores the
minutiae of the tedious and monotonous lives of the Pogson, Boyle and Knott families, it
is far from boring. Instead, it is a chilling indictment on the emptiness of the
conservative, suburban Australian way of life, contrasting the great Australian dream with
the dreary, repetitive reality. As one day rolls into the next and the characters follow
the same wearisome routine, day in, day out, they struggle to give meaning to their
lives."
The Season At Sarsaparilla opens on Monday. Bookings: 1300 136 166.
---
How Tamsin Carroll helped find Brad Friday, January 11, 6:17pm AEDST.
Award-winning actress Tamsin Carroll played a crucial role in the decision to cast Andrew
Bevis as Brad in the forthcoming production of The Rocky Horror Show, which will
open at the Star Theatre in Sydney next month.
When producers struggled to find a Brad through the normal channels, Carroll suggested
they look at the possibility of bringing Bevis back from London to take on the role a
suggestion that would ultimately bear fruit.
Speaking to AussieTheatre.com from rehearsals earlier today, Bevis said he knew nothing of
the 'search for Brad' that was underway in Sydney.
"I didn¹t know anything about it, but they contacted me and I was very interested in
it straight away," he said.
"I was going to head back to Australia for the summer anyway, though now I
will obviously be staying longer. I love being back here it's blue and it's warm. I
haven't had a summer for about eight years."
Bevis appeared in a number of West End shows during his time in London, including Jerry
Springer The Opera and Sweeney Todd, but said there is something special
about the Australian theatre industry that makes it a pleasure to work in.
"I have loved the work in London, but it's certainly a very different feeling
over there. People treat the industry more like a job, as they have
consistency of work," he said.
"It's a little different here the excitement and passion is at a completely
different level."
Bevis said audiences would be thrilled by the production that is being put together by
respected director Gale Edwards.
"It's going really well we started on Monday and this production is very different
to how it has been done before," he said.
"It's the first time in 30 years that the blueprint has been able to change.
The whole thing is quite spectacular. The set design is amazing and I think audiences will
be in for a real treat."
The Rocky Horror Show is expected to run in Sydney until September before moving to
Melbourne.
Bookings: 1300 136 166.
---
Rocky Horror finds a Brad Thursday, January 10, 11:12pm
AEDST.
The search is over - Andrew Bevis has been cast as Brad in the forthcoming Australian
production of The Rocky Horror Show, which opens at the Star Theatre in Sydney
next month.
Bevis joins iOTA, Sharon Millerchip, Tamsin Carroll, Kellie Rode, Paul Capsis and
Michael Cormick in the principle cast. The rest of the cast was announced last year, but
producers had trouble finding a Brad, even holding additional public open auditions at one
stage.
A prolific piano player, Bevis began his theatrical career aged 18 as Trainee Musical
Director on the Original Australian production of The Phantom Of The Opera. He
then made his stage debut as Barnaby Tucker in the acclaimed revival of Hello, Dolly! (GFO)
before touring Asia and South Africa in the international cast of Les Miserables.
He was then invited to join the original London production at The Palace Theatre in
London’s West End performing the roles of Montparnasse and Marius.
Andrew recorded the voice of Prince Lune for The Cat Returns (Disney Animations)
opposite Tim Curry, Anne Hathaway and Elliot Gould.
The Rocky Horror Show's well-known and much-loved storyline goes something
like this: Squeaky-clean sweethearts Brad and Janet knock on the door of an eerie house to
use the phone after their car breaks down in the rain on a dark and stormy night. Little
do they know but they’ve just walked into a convention of beings from the planet
Transsexual, led by the irrepressible leather-clad sweet transvestite Frank-n-Furter. What
ensues is a night of music, mayhem and naughtiness where fantasy becomes reality.
Rehearsals for the new Australian production started earlier this month.
Members of AussieTheatre.com Gold
knew Andrew Bevis had been cast in The Rocky Horror Show earlier this week! Join Gold today and take advantage of great special offers and giveaways.
---
Short & Sweet prepares to kick off Thursday, January 10, 9:26pm AEDST.
Short & Sweet Sydney kicks off its record-breaking seventh festival next week with the
first 11 tasty theatrical treats of the season.
Newtown Theatre plays host to the first of around 140 10 minute plays chosen from more
than 1,500 international entries. The Seymour Centre joins the following week with its own
parallel program.
Plays were submitted this year from as far afield as Finland, Singapore and Ireland as
well as from all over Australia from Geraldton to the ‘Gong and south to Tasmania.
The best of these are brought to life by more than 500 directors, actors and technicians
in the biggest showcase of independent theatre talent in the world.
There were colourful scenes at the red-themed festival launch on Tuesday night where
festival director Vanessa Badham promised the best Short & Sweet ever.
“The response has been utterly unprecedented,” she said.
“The quality and range of the entries that we’ve received have really
blown us away.”
Short & Sweet founder Mark Cleary added: “Short & Sweet is making a
real impact in the theatre world, not just in New South Wales or Australia, but
globally.”
There's a charged selection of political plays this year - many plays about the War on
Terror and the occupation of Iraq. There are also spoofs of Australian bush ballads, noir
send-ups, risque comedies and a zoological smorgasbord of meerkats, bears, squid,
dolphins, dragons, swinging ape-men and even a giant chicken. There are plays about Bob
Dylan, Rene Descartes, Eva Braun, Juanita Neilson and Rachel Corrie. There are funny
plays, sad plays, plays about sex including a most unusual use for balloons. There are
plays about the nature of plays themselves, even plays without characters!
Short & Sweet presents five weekly programs (with 10 short plays each night) from
January 16 at the Newtown Theatre, and four parallel programs running at Seymour Centre
Downstairs from January 22. 90 plays make up the main program, with the judges’
choice from each of the weeks progressing to the Gala Finals at the Seymour Centre’s
Everest Theatre on February 22 and 23.
A series of one-off “Wildcard” performances of another 40 shows will also play
10 at a time on Saturdays at 3pm, with the winner also progressing to the Gala Final.
AussieTheatre.com will review every play in the 2008 Short & Sweet
Festival. Our team of Troy Dodds, Kieran Colreavy, Joanna Erskine, Maz Dixon and Rochelle
Fernandez have the festival covered.
---
Adelaide Fringe launches guide Thursday, January 10, 9:26pm AEDST.
With the Adelaide Fringe Festival only weeks away, the countdown has begun with the
release of the Fringe Guide. With 543 shows, 5470 performances and an estimated 3000
artists taking part, the 2008 Adelaide Fringe is the largest fringe festival ever to take
place in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Fringe Opening Night Party on Friday, February 22 kicks off the three week celebration
with an estimated 40,000 people expected to fill Adelaide’s East End Precinct with
risqué outdoor theatre, street entertainers and a buzzing atmosphere until the main stage
kicks in with live music.
Fringe Director, Christie Anthoney said: “2008 is going to be a fantastic Fringe
year, it’s only the second annual Fringe and we smashed the 500 events barrier for
the first time. Adelaide Fringe is one of the best platforms in the world for emerging and
professional artists who want to bring fresh work to a hungry audience.”
While comedy and visual arts lead the way, theatre and cabaret are well represented with
104 and 54 shows respectively.
Adelaide Fringe launches guide Thursday, January 10, 9:26pm AEDST.
With the Adelaide Fringe Festival only weeks away, the countdown has begun with the
release of the Fringe Guide. With 543 shows, 5470 performances and an estimated 3000
artists taking part, the 2008 Adelaide Fringe is the largest fringe festival ever to take
place in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Fringe Opening Night Party on Friday, February 22 kicks off the three week celebration
with an estimated 40,000 people expected to fill Adelaide’s East End Precinct with
risqué outdoor theatre, street entertainers and a buzzing atmosphere until the main stage
kicks in with live music.
Fringe Director, Christie Anthoney said: “2008 is going to be a fantastic Fringe
year, it’s only the second annual Fringe and we smashed the 500 events barrier for
the first time. Adelaide Fringe is one of the best platforms in the world for emerging and
professional artists who want to bring fresh work to a hungry audience.”
While comedy and visual arts lead the way, theatre and cabaret are well represented with
104 and 54 shows respectively.
City of Sydney to end another theatrical era Thursday, January 10, 6:48pm AEDST.
The City of
Sydney has struck again. Five years after dumping the Sydney Cabaret Convention, the
council's new licensing requirements are set to cost the city one of its most respected
small theatres.
The New Theatre in Newtown will close in just eight weeks, pulling down the curtain
on one of Sydney's longest running theatre companies.
In order to comply with the City of Sydney Place of Public Entertainment (PoPE)
licensing requirements, the New Theatre has to undertake compulsory building upgrades that
must be completed by March 2008. Quite simply, the theatre doesn't have the $70,000 it
will take to do the work.
The New Theatre, which as a production house has been running for 75 years and has
been at its King Street site since 1973, is not giving up without a fight. It is calling
on everyone from businesses to individuals to help raise the $70,000 required to undertake
the work. Problem is, the money must be found in the next two months.
A further $70,000 will then need to be raised over the next 18 months to provide
disabled access.
"If New Theatre is unable to generate the initial $70,000 to complete the
first stage of these compulsory building upgrades, it will be forced to close its doors in
March, and Sydney will lose not only an important theatre space but also one of its oldest
theatre companies," the company said in a statement.
The iconic theatre space on King Street was created by a group of passionate
theatre practitioners and idealists who had a vision. Working voluntarily, and with a
one-off injection of government funds instigated by the then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam,
they turned a derelict television factory into one of Sydney’s first independent
venues, offering a smaller scale alternative to the big city theatres.
In the ensuing 34 years, the venue has provided a home for New Theatre, one of the oldest
continuously producing theatre companies in Australia with a proud history that has
contributed towards much of Australia’s social development and theatre history.
The New Theatre receives no ongoing funding from either state of federal governments, nor
does it attract the huge corporate sponsor dollars that enable other companies to stay
viable.
New Theatre holds a special place in many people’s hearts. Now it’s time to give
it a hand. Every donation, large or small, will help. All donations of $2 and above are
tax deductible. To make a donation or for more information on how you can assist New
Theatre, please contact Luke Rogers, Theatre Administrator, on (02) 9519 3403 or email newtheatre@bigpond.com.
---
Shout! revival readies for opening Thursday, January 10, 12:00am
AEDST.
The revival
of the Australian hit musical Shout! opens in Melbourne tonight after a week of
previews that have gained strong reaction from audiences.
The bio-tuner, which looks at the life of the legendary Johnny O'Keefe, stars Tim
Campbell, Alexis Fishman, Mark Holden, Glenn Shorrock, John Paul Young and Colleen Hewett.
It runs at The Arts Centre's State Theatre for a limited season before the
production moves to the Lyric Theatre in Sydney in March.
It has not yet been announced if the show will tour beyond Melbourne and Sydney.
Shout!, written by John-Michael Howson, David Mitchell and Melvyn Morrow,
is based on the life of Johnny O’Keefe - JOK - a rock star decades ahead of his time.
O’Keefe dared to dream that he - an Australian - could stand beside the giants of
Rock, Elvis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and the like. In the Fifties and
Sixties such a fantasy was considered absurd.
O’Keefe failed in his bid for international fame but he inspired generations of
Australians to believe that they could be as talented as anyone. Outrageously
self-confident he backed it up with more than 30 chart hits and 50 albums, hosted four
television shows, had five nervous breakdowns and a serious car accident and died, aged 43
and worn out, in 1978.
Shout! is directed by Stuart Maunder. Bookings: 1300 136 166.
AussieTheatre.com's Anne-Marie Peard will be at the opening night of Shout!
at the State Theatre and her review will be online this weekend.
---
McKenna "thrilled" with nomination Tuesday, January 8, 4:18pm AEDST.
Amie McKenna says she was surprised but thrilled when she found out she was nominated in
the Best Actress in a Musical category at the Sydney Theatre Awards, which will be
presented later this month.
McKenna is nominated for her work with Sunday In The Park With George, which
played at Penrith's Q Theatre last year, alongside Anne Looby, Magda Szubanski and
Genevieve Lemon.
The nomination is one of three for the Stephen Sondheim musical. It is also nominated for
Best Costume Design and Best Musical, where it is up against blockbuster shows Billy
Elliot and Miss Saigon as well as the Sydney Theatre Company's 25th
Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
"I don't think I'll win, as the other women in my category are amazing veterans, but
it's nice to be in such good company," McKenna told AussieTheatre.com.
"What I do think is amazing is that this tiny regional theatre company is up against
shows like Miss Saigon. That is an amazing achievement and Penrith should be very
proud."
Q Theatre boss John Kirkman agrees.
"It is a great coup for Penrith and western Sydney that Sydney’s pre-eminent
theatre critics have recognised the power and importance of regional theatre,” he
said.
“It’s also testament to the continued, substantial and much appreciated support
from Penrith City Council and ArtsNSW for programs of cultural excellence and significance
for Penrith and the region.”
McKenna will perform a solo show at Slide in Sydney on January 30.
Who do you think will win the gongs at the Sydney Theatre Awards this year? Click here to
have your say in our forums.
---
New Adelaide Festival boss named Monday, January 7, 9:21pm AEDST.
South Australian Premier and
Minister for the Arts, Mike Rann, has announced Paul Grabowsky (pictured) will be the
Artistic Director of the 2010 Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts.
The distinguished pianist, composer and conductor was selected from an outstanding field
of candidates to direct the Festival in its 50th anniversary year in 2010.
Multi-award winning Grabowsky is known for his work as founding director of the Australian
Art Orchestra, which was established in 1994 and has appeared in Adelaide on many
occasions.
He was Commissioning Editor of Arts and Entertainment for ABC Television from 1996 to 1998
and was a commissioner of the Australian Film Commission from 2003-07.
More recently, he was Artistic Director of the highly successful Queensland Music
Festival.
Paul’s catalogue of works is formidable. It includes two operas, orchestral and
chamber works and multi-media pieces.
His music has been performed throughout the world, including New York, London and Berlin
as well as on the homefront - with his compositions featured in the opening and closing
ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The Premier was delighted with the selection of this highly regarded performing artist.
“I’ve known of Paul’s work over the years including some of the
brilliant feature film scores which he has composed, arranged and conducted for leading
directors such as Fred Schepisi, Paul Cox and Gillian Armstrong,” Mr Rann said.
“His trio is considered one of Australia’s most influential contemporary jazz
groups working recently with such luminaries as Paul Kelly, Archie Roach and Branford
Marsalis.”
Chairman of the Adelaide Festival Corporation Ross Adler AC said: “I am pleased to be
leaving the Festival in such great shape with an outstanding and experienced Artistic
Director for its 50th anniversary. With numerous accolades - including four ARIA Awards,
an AFI Award, two Helpmann Awards, a Sidney Myer Performing Artist of the Year Award and
most recently the Melbourne Prize for Music - we have an esteemed artist ideally qualified
to lead Australia’s pre-eminent international arts festival.”
Grabowsky commented: “Having performed at Adelaide Festivals over the years and
having attended many more as a patron, I feel truly honoured to accept this appointment.
The Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts is the holy grail of arts festivals and I feel that I
am at the right place in my career to present an event of the highest international
calibre. I look forward to creating a significant festival that will capture the
imagination of Australia.”
The 2008 Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts commences on February 29 and will be current
Artistic Director, Brett Sheehy’s last before he takes the reigns of the Melbourne
International Arts Festival.
---
Websters open performing arts school Monday, January 7, 12:00am AEDST.
Talented duo Nikki and Scott Webster will open a performing arts school to assist people
wanting to get a start in the entertainment industry.
According to The Sun Herald, the school will offer classes in everything
from singing and dancing to acrobatics, accepting tots up to adults. There will be an open
day on February 2 ahead of its official opening.
"I've been dancing since I was five and have been in dance schools growing up
and I know what I liked about them," Nikki told the Herald.
"I can tell students what the industry is about. I just want to see people following
their dreams and having fun."
Nikki came to public attention eight years ago when Sydney hosted the Olympic
Games, and has remained a household name through her recording career and appearances in
musicals, most famously The Wizard Of Oz. During a desperate phase to escape her
"cute" image portrayed at the Olympics, she posed for numerous men's magazines.
Brother Scott is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
Both he and Nikki are expected to teach at the school, as well as other industry experts.
---
Hit Sydney comedy returns Monday, January 7, 12:00am AEDST.
Writer
Matt Morillo didn't think Sex in the City was funny enough. With this in mind, he
set out to write his own play about what makes women tick. He began with a series of
character studies based on simple listening, discovery and whatever flew into his head.
Out came Angry Young Women in Low-Rise Jeans with High-Class Issues, a
light-to-serious look at the psychology of urban goddesses.
It's one thing to be beautiful by an act of God. It's another to be paying for it every
day of your life. These girls are coffee-driven, sensitive, wired, misunderstood and
fuming with awkward issues. Who'd have dreamed that when she bares her soul, temptation
could be so self-conscious? The play parades a series of foxy, witty and anxious women who
bear the expectations of the world like an itchy muffler. They are frustrated with the way
of the world, the perceptions men have of them and their own reactions to it. How, for
example, do you resolve contradictions like dressing as a hooker and still being a
feminist? So they go head to head with such issues as Electra complexes, bikini waxes, low
rider jeans, their oversexed mothers, g-strings, brazen teenagers, men's sexual fantasies,
side effects of birth control drugs, mean teenagers on the train, sympathy sex and the
artistic integrity of penises and vaginas in independent films.
Angry Young Women in Low-Rise Jeans with High-Class Issues has been an
off-Broadway smash hit. Stella Green Productions presented the Australian premiere of the
play last year, and it was such a success that the company is bringing it back for a
return season.
The play stars Megan Alston, Celia Bickmore-Hutt, Justin Thomson, Mitch Firth,
Sebastian Goldspink, Emma Leonard, Phoebe Leonard and Lizzie Mitchell.
Before Angry Young Women in Low-Rise Jeans with High-Class Issues, Matt
Morillo had been a fixture on the New York independent film scene for seven years. He is a
producer, writer/director and "other half" (with Rich Barbadillo) of KADM
Productions.
He debuted auspiciously at the age 23 with his romantic comedy, The Pretenders.
His next project, Good Tidings, a 15 minute short film about a young girl
suffering through her parents' divorce, was deemed "a thought-provoking drama powered
by Jessica Durdock's moving performance" (Don Lewis, Film Talk).
This production is directed by Byron Kaye, a graduate of the Ensemble Acting
Studios. He has directed several plays, including Wasted Hearts, which he wrote; Orphans
by Lyle Kessler; Lone Star by James McLure; and his adaptation of Woody
Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters. Byron also directed Friday Night Drinks
for Stella Green Productions.
Angry Young Women in Low-Rise Jeans with High-Class Issues opens at the
Old Fitzroy Theatre in Sydney on January 9 and plays until February 2. Bookings: 1300 GET
TIX or www.trstheatre.com.au.
---
Lewis takes over Raoul Monday, January 7, 12:00am AEDST.
Alexander Lewis, who
rose to critical acclaim in the 2006 production of Titanic at the Theatre Royal,
will take over the role of Raoul from John Bowles when The Phantom Of The Opera
opens in Brisbane next month.
Lewis (pictured), who has also appeared in Sweeney Todd for Opera
Australia and Macbeth for the State Opera of South Australia, is a graduate of
the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
The Phantom Of The Opera opened in Melbourne last year and has been an
outstanding success, moving to Brisbane from February 6 ahead of a transfer to Sydney
later in the year.
The musical also stars Anthony Warlow, Ana Marina, Julie Goodwin, John O'May, Derek
Taylor, Andrea Creighton, David Rogers-Smith, Jackie Rees, Nadia Komazec, Joanne Abbott,
Sean Andrews, Sarah Bakker, Eleanor B
When
Kate Mulvany won the Philip Parsons Young Playwrights Award in 2004, she didn't just set
out to write another 'good night at the theatre' play. She decided to make it personal.
Final preparations are
underway for the world premiere season of a new musical written by Australian country
music legend John Williamson and starring Darren Coggan and Belinda Wollaston.
The producers of Angry Young
Women In Low Rise Jeans With High Class Issues, playing at the Old Fitzroy Theatre,
have announced an extension to the sell-out show's smash hit run. 
The Hatpin star
Caroline O'Connor and Helpmann Award winner David Campbell (pictured) will perform in New
York tomorrow as part of Australia Plays Broadway, a concept designed to showcase
and introduce American audiences to Australian talent from the worlds of theatre, opera,
dance, symphony, rock and cabaret.
Company B is
celebrating after its production of Toy Symphony, which saw an incredible
partnership between Michael Gow, Richard Roxburgh and Neil Armfield explode onto the
stage, won seven awards at the Sydney Theatre Awards tonight.
Some of Sydney's leading theatre critics have named Billy Elliot
2007's Best Musical at the annual Sydney Theatre Awards, presented tonight at the
Paddington RSL.
Helpmann Award winner David
Campbell will defend the It Takes Two title he won with Jolene Anderson last year
after it was confirmed he would be involved in the hit television show again in 2008.
If the Q
Theatre Company's production of Sunday In The Park With George pulls off a
surprise upset and wins Best Musical at Monday's Sydney Theatre Awards, just who gets up
to accept the award will be a show in itself.
Western Sydney-born playwright
Wayne Tunks will head back to his roots next month when his new drama opens at the
Riverside Theatres in Parramatta.
Natalie Bassingthwaighte, who starred in musicals such as Footloose
and Grease, will host a new reality dance show for Channel Ten that will
premiere next month.
The City of
Sydney has struck again. Five years after dumping the Sydney Cabaret Convention, the
council's new licensing requirements are set to cost the city one of its most respected
small theatres.
The revival
of the Australian hit musical Shout! opens in Melbourne tonight after a week of
previews that have gained strong reaction from audiences.
South Australian Premier and
Minister for the Arts, Mike Rann, has announced Paul Grabowsky (pictured) will be the
Artistic Director of the 2010 Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts. 
Writer
Matt Morillo didn't think Sex in the City was funny enough. With this in mind, he
set out to write his own play about what makes women tick. He began with a series of
character studies based on simple listening, discovery and whatever flew into his head.
Out came Angry Young Women in Low-Rise Jeans with High-Class Issues, a
light-to-serious look at the psychology of urban goddesses.
Alexander Lewis, who
rose to critical acclaim in the 2006 production of Titanic at the Theatre Royal,
will take over the role of Raoul from John Bowles when The Phantom Of The Opera
opens in Brisbane next month.