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ERIC
SCOTT
Re-run for naked Kookaburras
SVEN Swenson’s controversial
football drama The Truth About Kookaburras was one of the most talked about
productions of 2009.
In
the tiny Sue Benner Theatre, more than a dozen stark-naked men wreaked havoc in
a 3-hour modern-day whodunit set in the testosterone-drenched dressing shed of
AFL underdogs the Gold Coast Kookaburras.
Next
month, after almost three years in development, The Truth About Kookaburras returns to
Brisbane reshaped for its encore as the season opener for La Boite Indie 2012.
In preparing for the return season, Swenson
sought advice from triple Pulitzer Prize winning American playwright Edward Albee,
writer of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the shocking bestiality play The Goat.
Albee
conducted a workshop of the script with Swenson in October 2010 and challenged
him not to tame the wild-child play, but to push it even further.
“Never
permit it to be done without nudity. Don’t allow yourself to be talked into
cleaving it into two acts. Don’t ever shorten it, in fact it’s not quite long enough,
and I think you end it too quickly. Don’t become convinced to amalgamate roles
and reduce the cast,” Albee said. “The work can never, on its own account, make
you wealthy, but it might make your reputation internationally if you let it be
the way it wants to be.”
With
this advice in mind, Swenson returned to the rehearsal room in November 2010
with a team of 40 local artists.
“Kookaburras
takes an unthinkably large cast of 30 actors and
demands of them the rawest possible naturalism as well as highly stylized and
exacting theatricality,” Swenson said.
To
help achieve this precision, Swenson has called in movement expert Brian Lucas (The Chairs) and fight director Justin
Palazzo-Orr (As You Like It).
After
an 18-month rehearsal period, Swenson’s Pentimento
Productions will premiere this sharpened version for a new audience as part of
La Boite Indie 2012.
Comic horror and physicality from Zen Zen Zo
MICHAEL
Futcher directs a new version of The King and the Corpse!,
which took Brisbane audiences by storm in the mid-nineties.
Adapting their own piece for a new-look Zen Zen Zo Performance Company, Futcher
and Helen Howard offer a night of comic horror and physical imagery,
enacted to live music.
Devised from the ancient Indian fables of King Vikram and the vampire, Vetal,
the play follows the pair’s odyssey through a burning-ground, inhabited by the
vengeful spirits of those the King has executed.
Grasping at world domination, Vikram
follows the orders of the evil sorcerer, Shantil, who
instructs him to retrieve the cheeky vampire from a wattle tree in the middle
of this dark place of the dead.
To prevent
his own sacrifice, Vetal, distracts Vikram with tales which come to life around them. By turns
infuriated, humiliated, titillated and tormented, Vikram comes to understand that he is haunted not by the
human spirits around him, but by the pride and greed of his own soul, and that
his redemption can be won solely by his own efforts.
The cast includes experienced Brisbane favourites: Sandro Colarelli (reprising his role as King Vikram), Bryan Probets,
Liz Buchanan, Helen Howard and Chris Beckey,
joined by new-comers Lizzie Ballinger (as Vetal), Lauren Jackson (Secret Bridesmaids’ Business), Jamie
Kendall and Mel Budd (Cabaret) and Yenenesh
Nigusse (African
Drum and Dance), James Raggatt (Grease) with special guest artist Alex
Forero (Black
Fox).
Guy
Webster (As You Like It, La Boite) directs the
music, performed live by Cieavash Arean
(A Beautiful Life) and friends. Lighting by Ben Hughes. Design by Tiffany
Beckwith-Skinner.
3 -19 May, 7 Studio 3, Old Museum Building, Bowen Hills. Tickets: $45 Adults, $30 Conc,
$25 Full Time Student. Bookings: www.webticketing.com.au
(See
2012 Theatre reviews)
Comic look at the first Queen Elizabeth
OPENING
on May 26 for a four-week season at the Brisbane Powerhouse, Queensland Theatre
Company presents a new translation from Nobel prize-winning Italian playwright
Dario Fo, of Elizabeth, almost by chance a woman starring
Carol Burns in the lead.
Set
in her boudoir, an ailing Elizabeth clings desperately to her throne and her
sanity – after all, she hasn’t slept for 11 days - and to make matters worse
her love The Earl of Sussex is busy in an attempted coup d’état against her. There are boob lifts and leech-o-suctions, ripping
bodices, hearts held in treacherous hands, assassination attempts and constant
conspiracies, and Elizabeth suspects everyone is out to get her, even William
Shakespeare who in her mind, seems to be basing all of his plays on her life.
And then there’s that ghost of her beheaded cousin Mary Stuart. It’s not easy being
Queen.
Inspired
by historical accounts, and drawing on all the energy and spirit of original
commedia dell’arte, Italian playwright Dario Fo has created an Elizabeth of our
nightmares – pompous, potty mouthed, paranoid and certainly no virgin!
Wesley Enoch, QTC
Artistic Director, and Director of the play, says Nobel Prize Winner Dario Fo has drawn on the spirit and spontaneity of original 16th
century commedia dell’arte, to offer up a modern
stage masterpiece.
His works are often translated into other languages
with a local twist, and such is the case in this new adaptation of Elizabeth:
almost by chance a woman (1984), by Luke Devenish and Louise Fox for
Queensland Theatre Company. “Although
the obvious route to take would be to draw on Elizabeth’s ‘accidental’
throning, Dario instead draws on her womanhood as the quirk of fate,” he said.
“He paints an all-too-human portrait of Elizabeth, as frightened, flawed,
ferociously foul-mouthed, and quite unlike any other version seen of the Virgin
Queen.”
Starring
Logie award-winning Carol Burns as Elizabeth in her final hours of life,
this farcical and yet strangely moving production is at once a gloriously
wicked satire on the insanities of power, and a paean to human mortality. Its
equal parts a bawdy burlesque, riotous nose-thumbing of authority, and a
surprisingly touching insight into the challenges of womanhood.
Director: Wesley
Enoch. Cast: Carol Burns, Eugene Gilfedder, Jason Klarwein, Dash Kruck, Christen
O'Leary, John Rodgers
26
May – 24 June, Brisbane Powerhouse Tickets: $49.00
www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
Cast change for Hairspray
HARVEST
Rain's production of Hairspray opens at the Playhouse, QPAC next month, and Dakota Striplin
will join the cast, replacing Dan Venz in
the role of teen heart throb Link Larkin.
Dan,
who just finished playing Atreyu in Harvest Rain's
world premiere season of The Neverending Story, sustained a minor back injury during
rehearsals and has been advised by doctors that he needs four weeks rest to
fully recover.
Dakota
Striplin was
discovered in 2010 by Harvest Rain's CEO and Director
of Hairspray, Tim O'Connor, as winner of the Christmas Star competition that saw him
perform at the Riverstage in The Lord Mayor's carols in the city. He has since performed as Harry
Potter in the Lost Boys Theatre Company's sell-out season of A Very Potter Musical at the Metro Arts,
as well as at QPAC in Oscar Theatre Company's
production of Spring Awakening. He
was recently seen on national television as a contestant on Channel 9's new show, The Voice.
Hairspray
is
the story of pleasantly plump Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad
who's only desire is to be on television dancing on the popular Corny Collins
Show. When her dream comes true, Tracy is transformed from social outcast to
sudden star, but she must use her newfound power to vanquish the reigning Teen
Queen, win the affections of heartthrob Link Larkin
and integrate a television network - all without denting her 'do!
Featuring
Tod Strike), Rachel Dunham (Liz Buchanan and starring Simon
Gallaher as Edna Turnblad,
22nd
June to 1st July Playhouse, QPAC , Tickets from $49.80
Bookings: 126 246 or visit www.harvestrain.com.au Group discounts call 3840 7466
Web address www.harvestrain.com.au
Opera Queensland appointments
OPERA Queensland’s
current Treasurer Robert Hubbard has been appointed the new Chairman of
Opera Queensland.
Mr Hubbard replaces Mr Martin Kriewaldt,
who retired from the Board 14 years as Chairman. Also retiring are long
standing Board members the Hon. Prof. Peter Fardoulys and
Dr Cherrell Hirst.
Robert Hubbard has been a Partner in
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for more than 20 years, first joining the company
in 1984. During this time, he has been the auditor of some of Australia’s
largest companies and has led both the Advisory and Assurance practices of PwC
Brisbane. He has been Treasurer of Opera Queensland for the last 4 years and
believes passionately in the role of not-for-profit bodies in the arts and
broader charitable sectors. He is also the Chairman of Multiple Sclerosis
Australia and a Director of UQ Health Care.
Ms Sally Pitkin has also been appointed to the Opera
Queensland Board.
Sally Pitkin’s corporate career as a lawyer and
company director spans 30 years. She is a former Partner with national
commercial law firm, Clayton Utz, and acts as a
consultant to the firm. She is the Deputy President of the Australian Institute
of Company Directors (Queensland Division), the Deputy Chairman of the Export
Finance and Insurance Corporation, and a Director of Super Retail Group Limited
(ASX:SUL), Billabong International Ltd (ASX:BBG), UQ Holdings Pty Ltd, ASC Pty Ltd and the Committee for Economic Development of
Australia. She is also a member of the Queensland Competition Authority. She is
a graduate of the Queensland University of Technology holding graduate and
postgraduate qualifications in law. She is currently a doctoral student with
The University of Queensland and is completing her doctoral thesis on
governance in independent schools.
Carrie Underwood to tour
FROM
London’s Royal Albert Hall on June 21 to Sydney’s Opera House on July 2 – the
14-million album-selling, five-time Grammy Award-winning, 14 US #1 hit-scoring
dynamo – Carrie Underwood will tour
outside North America for the first time and include Australia, Chugg Entertainment confirmed today.
Chairman
of Chugg Entertainment, Michael Chugg,
said Underwood would end her first
Australian tour at the Sydney Opera House. She will play four concerts in
Australia, including a special show in Tamworth.
“The
last concert we did in Tamworth was Keith [Urban],” said Chugg,
“and we blew the lid off it. “Carrie will too. We worked the
itinerary to get her there on a weekend night and it’s the start of the school
holidays.”
Underwood
will tour Australia on the back of her self-described “stormier” fourth studio
album, Blown Away, released in
Australia last Friday, which includes the new hit single, Good Girl.
Tour dates:
Tuesday June 26 Melbourne Palais
Theatre www.ticketemaster.com.au
Friday June 29 Tamworth TRECC www.visittamworth.com
Saturday June 30 Brisbane Convention Centre www.ticketek.com.au
Monday July 2 Sydney Opera House www.sydneyoperahouse.com
Coldplay tour details
COLDPLAY, will perform
stadium shows on the Mylo Xyloto tour in Australia and New Zealand when
they Australasia in November.
This
will mark the first time the seven-time Grammy Award winners have toured
Australia since 2009 and their quick visit to headline 2011’s Splendour in
the Grass.
Since
their debut in 2000 with the global smash hit Yellow, off the equally
successful album Parachutes, Coldplay
have taken the world by storm with album sales in excess of 55 million
and a slew of nominations and awards, including picking up their seventh Brit
Award for Best British Group at this year’s ceremony.
With
the release of their fifth studio album, Mylo
Xyloto, Coldplay have experienced their greatest
success to date in Australia with the album achieving double platinum sales.
The band’s new single, Princess of China, which features guest vocalist Rihanna was released to Australian radio last Monday where it
was quickly snapped up to be the Most Added Song to playlists around the
country.
Supporting
Coldplay in Australia and New Zealand will be The Temper Trap whose new self-titled album is the follow up to
2009’s platinum-selling debut Conditions – a long-standing Top 10 ARIA
Album, which has now sold more than 800,000 copies worldwide. With the album
release locked in for 18 May, fans can expect to hear new material at the
shows, including Rabbit Hole and their new single, Need Your Love.
Opening
the stage at each show will be The Pierces. Originally hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, talented sister-act
Allison and Catherine Pierce will make their debut appearance in Australia this
November, following up their latest studio offering, You & I (available
now on iTunes in Australia), which has already had major success in the UK and
has just been released in the US.
Advance
Coldplay Mylo Xyloto
tickets will be available to all Visa Credit, Debit
and Prepaid cardholders from 12 noon
(local time) in Sydney and
1 pm (local time) in Brisbane, this Thursday, 17 May, 2012 until 5 pm (local time), Saturday,
19 May, 2012 or until presale tickets sell out at www.visaentertainment.com.au.
Coldplay, The Temper Trap, The Pierces Tour dates:
Saturday, 10 November, Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, Tickets on sale
from 9 am (local time), Friday, 25 May, www.ticketmaster.co.nz
Tuesday, 13 November, Etihad
Stadium, Melbourne Tickets
on sale from 9 am (local time), Friday, 25 May, www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100
Saturday, 17 November, Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Tickets
on sale from 9 am (local time), Friday, 25 May, 2012 www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Wednesday, 21 November, Lang Park Stadium, Brisbane Tickets on sale from 10 am
(local time), Friday, 25 May,www.ticketek.com.au
or 132 849
Memorial wake for Jill Shearer
THERE will a
monster send-off for Brisbane playwright Jill Shearer who died on Sunday May 6.
Plans are afoot for a memorial and wake to be held at La Boite’s
Roundhouse Theatre on June 3 from 11 am-2 pm.
It is an
event that will enable all Jill’s friends and associates to celebrate her life
and achievements.
If you wish
to attend please contact Angela Faria on
07 3366 0410 or by email to wagtailfilms@gmail.com
Acceptances must be in before the
cut-off date of May 31 for catering purposes.
Jill was not only a great playwright – the
only Australian ever to be produced on Broadway with her play Shimada in 1992 – but she was also a
great and feisty lady.
I am lucky
enough to have been called a friend.
We met often
at theatre opening nights and at the Glugs of Gosh monthly luncheons and her
wicked sense of humour kept us all laughing. She was always happy to share her
knowledge and would introduce me as” a fellow playwright” some honour for a
small time writer.
She rang me
one day to tell me she had received a$30,000 grant to write a book about her
Broadway experiences.
“Eric,” she
said." I have no idea how to write a book. You’ve been published can you
give me some advice?”
She actually
didn’t need any advice and wrote a fascinating book called Only on Broadway.
The last time
I saw her was on April 10. Her long time friend Prue Galley, who always brought
Jill to the Glugs lunches spoke to me and said she couldn’t attend the April
lunch because she was going away. So we organised that I pick Jill up from
home.
When my wife
and I arrived, Jill, who by then was truly desperately ill, had forgotten. She
apologised and said she should give it a miss. But then the old twinkle came back
into her eyes and she said: “But I could get dressed quickly.”
Which she did
– in ten minutes and we made it to the lunch.
That day she
was animated and chatted just like her old self, it almost looked as she had a
new lease of life. Maybe she knew her fate and gave one last performance for
her friends.
She was taken
to St Andrews hospital on May 1 suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer with
only days to live.
She died
peacefully on May 7.
She was a
lovely lady and is already sadly missed.
La Boite cancels world premiere shows
LA BOITE has announced the
cancellation of four performances of their current production A Hoax to
allow actor Shari Sebbens
to travel to the Cannes Film Festival for the Gala Screening of anticipated new
Australian film The Sapphires.
Sebbens will join
co-stars Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy
and Miranda Tapsell on the red carpet in France for a
special screening of The Sapphires on Saturday 19 May.
“The Sapphires is the only Australian feature
film selected as part of this year’s Official Selection at the special Gala
Screening Out of Competition at the Palais,” La Boite General Manager
Terese Casu said today.
“We’re delighted for Shari and the whole Sapphires
team. While no theatre company likes to cancel shows, we understand that
moments like these may only come once in a life time for an actor. We are very
proud to support Shari down that red carpet for the Gala Screening in Cannes
and wish the film every success.” La Boite has
cancelled the following performances of A Hoax: Thursday 17 May, 7:30 pm; Friday 18 May, 7:30 pm; Saturday 19 May, 7:30
pm and Tuesday 22 May, 11 am.
It's been a big news week for Sebbens,
who was also announced Wednesday as one of 13 finalists in the fourth
annual Heath Ledger Scholarship, designed to help the winner towards
a successful career in Hollywood.
Judging this year's awards are Twilight
director Catherine Hardwicke, Warner Bros Pictures exec Greg Silverman,
casting director Donna Issacson and Gregor Jordan.
A Hoax is a new
co-production between La Boite and Griffin Theatre
Company written by multiple Griffin Award-winning writer
Rick Viede,
and directed by Griffin Theatre Company Associate Director Lee Lewis.
This cancellation of four performances limits the
season to just 13 performances so bookings are essential. The La Boite season must close Saturday 26 May ahead of a Griffin
Theatre Company transfer in July.
Rick Viede is a new voice
in Australian theatre. His first play Whore
won the Griffin Award for outstanding new Australian writing, toured to New
York, and took out the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award.
His second play, A
Hoax, for which he won the 2011 Griffin Award, is inspired by the recent
spate of fabricated ‘misery memoirs’.
Viede introduces
us to Currah, a young Indigenous girl whose life is
changed forever when she hits the top of national best-seller lists for the
controversial memoir Nobody’s Girl. The world goes mad for the story,
and Currah goes mad for the attention.
But when it emerges that the memoir was actually
written by starry-eyed white male social worker Ant, what starts as a little white
lie triggers astonishing consequences.
A Hoax premieres at La Boite’s
Roundhouse Theatre 5 – 26 May, and transfers to Griffin Theatre Company 20 July
– 1 September. La Boite’s
Roundhouse Theatre, Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove Village.Show
Times Tues & Wed 6.30 pm, Thurs – Sat 7.30 pm, matinees 2 pm Sat 26 May and
selected mid-week shows
This
cancellation of four performances limits the season to just 13 performances so
bookings are essential. The La Boite season must
close Saturday 26 May ahead of a Griffin Theatre Company transfer in July. Tickets from $22. Bookings: 07 3007 8600.
(See 2012
Theatre Reviews)
Super puppet musical for Arts Theatre
FRESH out of college, Princeton is looking to take a bite
out of the Big Apple. His Avenue Q apartment may be shabby, but his neighbours
– including girl-next-door Kate, internet sexpert Trekkie, and Lucy the Slut – will help him discover his
purpose in life.
This TONY Award-winning musical is a must for anyone
who’s ever pondered life’s big decisions, or enjoyed a touch of schadenfreude.
Featuring live actors mingled with Sesame
Street-style puppets, this production will showcase the very best of Brisbane’s
Talent.
WARNING: this is not Sesame Street and is not suitable
for Children—contains adult themes and puppet Nudity.
Performing 2 June to 14 July 2012, Thursday to
Saturday at 8 pm;
Sundays at 2 pm; 24 Jun, 1 Jul). Adults—$39, Concession—$30, Groups 10+ $30, Members—$20
Bookings online: www.artstheatre.com.au or 07 3369
2344.
Ballet dancing comedy
AS PART of an Australian debut tour, Les Ballets Eloelle’s
Artistic Director, Victor Trevino brings his new work, Men in Pink
Tights’ to the Queensland
Performing Art Centre’s (QPAC’s) Concert Hall for two shows on June 1 and 26.
The technical and innovative choreography complements
the humour and audiences will be see the lavish costumes valued at around $3
Million.
Les Ballets Eloelle is one of the few all-male comedy ballet companies in the world. Its
mission is to create, present, preserve, and extend comedic repertoire of
classical and contemporary dancing, through performances of the highest
quality, presented to the widest possible audience.
Artistic Director Victor Trevino says Les
Ballets Eloelle is committed to the core art form of
ballet and promoting it through the comedic tradition of male comedy
ballet.
“This production is the ultimate send up of both
classical and contemporary ballet and will suit audiences male, female, young and old.
“Les Ballets Eloelle's Men
in Pink Tights boasts more than fifty classical ballets in its repertoire
and twenty of the best international male ballet dancers from 13 countries.”
The Men in Pink Tights programme will include
the company's signature work with the cast bringing their own brand of humour
to the roles of; Swan Lake Act II, Pas de Quatre,
Minkus Gala and the George
Balanchine creation Go for Barocco. The
show will also feature duets from both classical and neo-classical origins
showcasing a combination of pyrotechnics and comedy, while adhering to the
spirit of the originals. They include Spartacus, Grande Tarantelle, Romeo and Juliet, La Corsaire, Harlequinade and another signature
work The Dying Swan.
Friday 1 and Tuesday 26 June 2012 at 8 pm, Concert
Hall, QPAC, Cultural Centre, South Bank, Brisbane. Tickets:
$54.90 to 94.90 - Family $240 to $280
Bookings: www.qpac.com.au or 136 246
Exploration of maturity
QUT Gardens
Theatre’s new show, Biddies, features some of Australia’s most talented and Biddies
and is an uplifting
exploration of the concerns, frustrations, and limitations of a group of mature
aged women in a world still largely dominated by men.
Some of Australia’s favourite actresses make up the
cast, including Maggie Blinco and Linden
Wilkinson. Maggie has played in Australian greats All Saints, Blue
Healers, McLeod’s Daughters and Crocodile Dundee and Linden has
appeared in A Country Practice from 1987 – 1992 and more recently in Looking
for Alibrandi, Packed to the Rafters and Home
and Away.
Biddies: Friday, Saturday 18. 19 May, 7.30 QUT
Gardens Theatre, 2 George St, Brisbane
June highlights for QSO
QSO WITH EIVIND AADLAND
Featuring conductor Eivind Aadland and Roger Woodward (piano) 8 pm,
Saturday 16 June QPAC Concert Hall Tickets qtix
136 246
BACH Keyboard Concerto No.1 in D
minor
MAHLER Symphony No.9
In one of his few Australian appearances this year,
internationally renowned Australian pianist Roger Woodward will perform with
the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO). Throughout
his career, Roger Woodward has performed around the world at thousands of
concerts and at hundreds of festivals. Roger Woodward joins the Orchestra to
perform JS Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No.1 in D minor.
This will be conducted by the Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor, Eivind Aadland, along with
Mahler’s Symphony No.9. Eivind
Aadland is one of Norway’s most respected conductors
and the Orchestra welcomes his return as Principal Guest Conductor in 2012.
Join Queensland’s only full time, professional symphony orchestra for this
profound program and see one of Australia’s greatest pianists in one of his few
Australian concerts this year.
The Arts Centre Gold Coast and QSO
present GOLD COAST 2 ROMANCE AND PASSION
Featuring conductor Eivind Aadland, presenter Guy Noble and soloists Milica Ilic (soprano), Kang Wang
(tenor) and Warwick Adeney (violin)
7 pm, Friday
22 June Arts Centre Gold Coast Tickets 07 5588 4000
MUSIC ON
SUNDAYS 2
ROMANCE AND
PASSION
Featuring conductor Eivind Aadland, presenter Guy Noble and soloists Milica Ilic (soprano), Kang Wang
(tenor) and Warwick Adeney (violin)
11.30am, Sunday 24 June QPAC Concert
Hall Tickets qtix 136 246
Repertoire includes excerpts from:
VERDI La Forza del
Destino:
Overture
PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet
GOUNOD Romeo et Juliette
DVORAK Slavonic Dance No.7
DVORAK Rusalka, O Silver Moon
BEETHOVEN Romance No.2
FRANCK Psyche: Les jardin d’Eros
MASSENET Manon, Toi! Vous!..Oui c’est moi…
BARTOK The Miraculous
Mandarin
For tickets
to the Gold Coast performance please call 07 5588 4000.
For tickets
to the concert in the QPAC Concert Hall please call qtix on 136 246.
What’s happening at StageDoor dinner Theatre
NOW playing
until June 16 at StageDoor Dinner Theatre is My Three Mothers-in-law, an Australian comedy by Eric Scott, a comedy involving hilarious mix-ups, mistaken
identities, and outright deceptions.
For most, the thought of a day with the mother in law
is enough to make you head for the hills. Imagine then if your wife had three
Mother's-in-law. That is what David is facing when his wife Hillary finally
discovers her birth mother and biological father.
However their plans for a one on one with her birth
mother Delia are blown sky high when her adoptive mother and biological father
all turn up without warning.
A farcical turn of events ensue as David and Hillary
try to keep their "In-laws" apart while their 13 year old son Jason
finds his sanity in grandma's bottle of red wine.
A world premiere
musical
You Have Never Been To A Hair Salon Like This! Welcome
to "Sheer Perfection" where the staff are
crazy, the clients are wacky and the last thing on anyone's mind is styling the
perfect murder.
A laugh a minute musical spoof filled with all your
favourite hit songs, bad hair jokes, murder, mystery and most fun you will
ever have in, or out of the barber's chair.
Opens June 23 2012. Bookings for all shows: 07 3216 1115 or www.stagedoordinnertheatre.com.au
La Boite open for Indie 2013 applictions
LA BOITE Theatre Company is now taking applications for La Boite’s 2013 Indie season.
Entering its
fourth year, La Boite Indie has gained considerable
momentum, establishing itself as one the most successful platforms for
independent theatre in Australia. La Boite is on the
hunt for outstanding contemporary independent works made with passion and
rigour to join the program for the 2013 season.
“We are
thrilled to announce that La Boite Indie will
continue in 2013, and are even more excited to be launching applications early
with the hope of working with some of the nation’s most deserving independent
artists next year,” Program Manager Nicholas Paine said.
“Our theatre
will once again be transformed from a 334-seat thrust stage to a 100-seat
end-on space. We believe that this scale better suits most independent work and
enables various costs to be kept within the reach of independent companies and
artists. In some cases, depending on the work, La Boite’s
small rehearsal room may also be used for La Boite
Indie presentations.”
La Boite Indie has welcomed eight vibrant and diverse
independent theatre companies to the Roundhouse Theatre in 2010 and ’11. Six
Indie productions take to the stage in 2012, including Pentimento
Productions’ The Truth About Kookaburras, Sarah
Winter’s a dinner with gravity, Motherboard Productions’ La Voix Humaine, nest ensemble’s
Home, Monsters Appear’s A Tribute of Sorts
and The Danger Ensemble’s Children of War.
La Boite is looking for compelling theatre; whether that be a production of a new international text, a new
Australian play, a work of contemporary performance, an inter-arts performance
event, or live art, extending the offer for works from diverse practices both
locally and across the nation.
Companies and
artists wishing to submit a work for Indie 2013 can find full details and
conditions for entry on La Boite’s website www.laboite.com.au Applications close 5 pm Monday 18 June, 2012.
Contact Program Manager Nicholas Paine on (07) 3007 8622 or nicholas@laboite.com.au for more
information.
What’s On at Urbane, Euro and Laneway
Urbane was awarded a very prestigious and much
revered 2 hats at therecent Good Food Awards, and The
Euro scored one! The trio of dining venues at 181 Mary Street in the
award-winning Urbane, her brasserie sister The
Euro and the upstairs bar The Laneway have announced their winter
program:
Twilight dining at the Euro
With Brisbane gearing up for a big Winter of headline
shows, sporting events, exhibitions and festivals, The Euro has announced an
early dining program to enable people to dine early and be at theatres or
stadia or concert venues for curtain calls and kick offs.
Twilight Dining at The Euro includes complimentary
valet parking (worth $40) which means guests can come in for a 5 pm sitting,
chose from the dedicated menu, at $35 for two courses and $45 for three. To
book ring The Euro on (07) 3229 3686):
Tuesday May 29: Five courses, five beers, one Euro
On May 29 at The Euro experience the perfect marriage
between fine food, and boutique beer.
Course # 1 is Binchotan grilled,
local tiger prawn, chilli and fennel salt matched with the famous Fosters.
Tuesday May 29 from 6.30 pm, The
Euro, 181 Mary Street, City
$135 pp. Places are limited and bookings are
essential on (07) 3229 3686
Wednesday May 30: Whiskey appreciation
at The Laneway
Learn to truly appreciate the mysterious
characteristics of a single malt whisky at The Laneway as resident bar expert Kal Moore guides you through the aspects of a truly great
drop.
The Laneway, upstairs, 181
Mary Street, City. $85pp. Places are limited
and bookings are essential on (07) 3229 3686
For patrons planning a visit to Urbane, Sub-Urbane,
The Euro or The Laneway, valet parking is now
available. Entrance is via Spencer Lane andcost is
$40. Simply pre-book by calling either 07 3229 2271 (if
you’re coming to Urbane or Sub-Urbane) or 077 3229 3686 (if you’re coming to
The Euro or The Laneway).
The burgers of May
The Laneway is home to gourmet burgers and a
brilliant beer menu, and the cooler weather is the perfect temperature for burger
appreciation!
Live dates on stage
BLIND dates – are they romantic adventures or awkward
catastrophes? Anything can happen when Bojana Novakovic tackles a new date every night in Ride On Theatre’s The Blind Date Project on
stage at Brisbane Powerhouse from Tuesday 22 May 2012.
The Blind
Date Project is an personal and improvised meeting between Anna (Bojana Novakovic)
and a different mystery performer each night.
Set in a kitsch Karaoke bar, and guided only by text
messages from the director (Tanya
Goldberg), this is a show about two people desperately searching for
connection. There is no script and each date is unique – it could lead to love,
lust, or devastation, depending on the night.
Performer and Co-creator Bojana
Novakovic says “Mark Winter
(Co-creator) and I specifically avoided making this theatre sports or a comedy
act. It’s funny, but it’s more than that. It is an experience where the danger
of performing without scripts lends itself to the thrill of what is being
explored: fear of facing the unknown, daring to date blindly and taking huge
risks in the name of love.”
Bojana Novakovic is an AFI-award winner
(for ABCs Marking Time) and her film roles include Blackrock, Edge of
Darkness, Drag Me to Hell, Devil and Burning
Man. Her theatre credits include performances for Melbourne Theatre
Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, and Malthouse
Theatre.
Ride on Theatre is described by The Age as “one of
the most exciting companies on the independent theatre scene”. Headed by
Co-Artistic Directors Tanya Goldberg and Bojana Novakovic the company has produced The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself, Way to Heaven, Fake Porno,
Family Stories, An Oak Tree, Bone, Merchant of Venice,
Debris and Loveplay.
The Blind Date Project, Conceived by Bojana Novakovic and Mark Winter with Thomas Henning; Directed by
Tanya Goldberg; Performed by Bojana Novakovic and guests; With Lucy Moir
as the Karaoke Queen.
Tuesday 22 – Saturday
26 May; Brisbane Powerhouse. Tickets: $20 - $25. Bookings: www.brisbanepowerhouse.org and 07 3358
8600
Looking for his pound of flesh
NEW Farm Nash
Theatre’s next production will be Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, directed by Brenda White.
In 16th
century Venice,
when the merchant, Antonio cannot repay the money he has borrowed from the
Jewish moneylender, Shylock for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly
vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead.
Shakespeare’s
tale of justice, cruelty, friendship and love comes to life onstage with the
story of Shylock’s deadly claim for a pound of Antonio’s flesh and, of the
horror and helplessness of Antonio’s friends and of the mysterious young lawyer
who comes to his rescue unfolds.
The
production features Amelia Batch, Joshua
Bird, Eamonn Clohesey, Tegan Devine, Guillym Davenport,
Dennis Fadil, Bronte Geitz,
Nigel Munro-Wallis, Kate Rohde, Sandy Sharma, John Tiplady,
Chris Vaag, Andrew Whitmore and Henry Young.
Merthyr Road Uniting Church, 52 Merthyr
Road, New Farm from May 12-June 2 at 7.30 pm with a 2 pm matinee on Sunday May
20th
Adults: $20
Concession: $15 School Students & Members: $12
Bookings:
phone 3379 4775 or e-mail nashtheatre4@bigpond.com
Tina Arena’s Brisbane concert
TINA Arena returns to Brisbane in style with a full concert program with the
Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Due to overwhelming demand, the Queensland
Symphony Orchestra (QSO) has announced a second show
for 8 pm on Friday 6 July in the Lyric Theatre, QPAC.
Tina will perform in the Lyric
Theatre, QPAC at 8 pm on July 5 July and 6.
Prepare to be enthralled by one of
Australia’s brightest stars as Tina and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra
perform all the favourites you know and love from Chains to Call Me
to Don’t Cry For Me Argentina and more!
Tina brings her symphonic concert
tour to Brisbane after highly acclaimed sell-out shows in Sydney and Perth.
Audiences will be treated to magnificent repertoire, as broad and diverse as her
amazing career, specifically arranged for a symphony orchestra.
Tina has performed around the world,
in four different languages, on her own and with legends such as Chaka Kahn,
Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder and Mark Anthony. She has
starred in musicals and as a soloist backed by orchestras and been acclaimed by
her fans and peers.
Most recently, Tina surprised
spectators along the Champs Elysees in Paris, her adopted home, with her spine
tingling a’capella rendition of Advance Australia
Fair in tribute to Cadel Evans victory in the
Tour De France.
Tina’s international success is
particularly unique, having sold over one million albums in France alone,
including two chart topping albums in French language. She is also one of few
Australians to be awarded the Order du Merit for her outstanding
contribution to French culture. Yet, Tina remains a fiercely proud Australian
and one of Australia’s highest selling female artists and a multiple ARIA award
winner.
Please click here for an image of Tina Arena.
Tickets
available at 9am on Thursday 3 May.
Join the
waitlist tat www.qpac.com.au Bookings: QTIX 136 246 or visit www.qtix.com.au
New ticket release for Brisbane’s Jersey
Boys
SIMILAR to
audiences all around the world, Queenslanders can’t wait to see Jersey Boys – The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, and are snapping up tickets. Because of the huge demand the producers have announced that new seats will be
released for sale as from 9 am Monday 14 May. Jersey Boys opens at QPAC on 13 July 2012.
The show smashed the box office record for a second week of
trading by taking in excess of $NZ1.9 million gross, beating previous records by
over $NZ500,000.
This
demonstration of support by New Zealanders for this internationally acclaimed
musical falls at the same time that Jersey Boys notches up
its 1,000th performance in
Australasia on Thursday 26 April.
Rodney Rigby, Producer, said “We are thrilled that New Zealand
continues to embrace the great story of four guys from the wrong side of the
tracks. The 1,000th show of Jersey
Boys not only marks the great success of
the production in New Zealand and Australia, but, of equal importance,
recognizes the outstanding contribution of everybody associated with the
production worldwide.”
Jersey Boys opened in
Melbourne in July 2009 and played for 13 months before transferring to Sydney
in September 2010. Over 1,000,000 people saw the
show in Melbourne and Sydney by the close of run in December 2011. Following the season in Auckland Jersey Boys will play in
Brisbane and Adelaide.
Jersey Boys opens at
Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s (QPAC’s) Lyric
Theatre from Friday 13 July 2012. Tickets on sale now via qpac.com.au or call 136 246.
Information & Bookings: http://jerseyboysaustralia.com.au
The ageless story of Pinocchio
THE Brisbane Arts Theatre continues
its tradition of presenting quality children’s theatre with the classic tale of
Pinocchio!
Gepetto, the
woodcarver, has only ever had one wish: To have a real son. With the help of
the Blue Fairy and Mr Cricket, his wish comes true as his favourite puppet,
Pinocchio, magically comes to life!
But like all young boys, Pinocchio
gets into all kinds of trouble, and it is up to Gepetto
& Mr Cricket to find and save him.
Performing every weekend between April
16-June 16 Saturdays @ 2 pm, Sundays at 2 pm (13 & 20 May, 3 & 10 June
only)
All tickets $16 Groups 10+ $13. Bookings:
07 3369 2344 or online at www.artstheatre.com.au
Celebrating indigenous contemporary dance
BLAKDANCE 2012 is an international showcase celebrating First Nation contemporary
dance.
For the first time six renowned international and
Australian First Nation choreographers will work with established and emerging
dancers to create a new production called Blakdance 2012.
This production will include a suite of works devised
by each choreographer. It will be a timeless cultural collection that will
surprise and engage audiences through traditional and contemporary First Nation
dance and storytelling as each choreographer has their own unique style and
traditional voice.
Rita Pryce (Baiwa Dance
Co), Jacob Boehme (Idja Dance Theatre)
and Tammi Gissell (Figures
of Speech) represent the Australian independent choreographers whilst the
international choreographers include Sandra Laronde
(Red Sky) and Jack Gray and Cathy Livermore (Atamira DancE Collective), respectively from Canada and New
Zealand.
Blakdance 2012. is a
showcase where international, national and local choreographers, dancers,
industry members and audiences can come together to celebrate and gain a deeper
understanding of First Nation Australia through contemporary dance practice.
It’s an opportunity to share; where traditional dance meets contemporary
performance, where the storytelling is from global cultural voices. Throughout
the week there will also be forums, a cultural artists’ symposium and master
classes.
This showcase event is created by BlakDance
Australia Limited. BlakDance Australia Limited was
born from an Ausdance National program called Treading
the Pathways. Like Treading the Pathways, BlakDance
Australia Limited’s purpose is to support Indigenous Australian dance and
dancers.
Blakdance 2012. will be
held at Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane as part of the GreenHouse. Dates:
4 – 9 June at the Bille Brown Studio,
Queensland Theatre Company, Montague Road, Sth Brisbane .
Performances
and Forums – including a work from each
choreographer; Thursday 7 June, 1 pm (with
post forum) and 7.30 pm; Friday 8 June, 1 pm (with post forum) and 7.30 pm (with post forum); Saturday 9 June, 1 pm and 7.30 pm
$38, $28 Concession, $25 Under 30, $21 School Groups
(1.5 hour duration)
Cultural
Artists’ Symposium – free event – Wednesday 6 June, 5 pm
– 7 pm
Bookings: Queensland Theatre Company www.queenslandtheatre.com.au Call 1800 355 528
For all
information on the master classes and professional development program contact BlakDance admin@blakdance.org.au 07 3220
3377.
Music from the sea
ON MAY
20 and May 27, the Brisbane Chorale and the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra will
present Seascapes featuring Vaughan
Williams’ choral epic A Sea Symphony and works by Debussy commemorating
the 150th anniversary of his birth.
Vaughan
Williams set music to poems by American poet Walt Whitman. From its opening
exultant words “Behold, the sea itself” to the quiet visionary conclusion, the
symphony is an exhilarating and intense journey where man’s exploration of the
majestic, timeless sea becomes a voyage of self-discovery and a metaphor for
the soul’s voyage to eternity.
Early
Debussy works were both originally composed for piano four-hands but later
orchestrated because of their appeal. Marche ecossaise is his tribute to
Scotland. The delightful Petite Suite opens with a gentle view of the
sea in its opening movement.
Concert 1: 3 pm
Sunday 20 May, Lake Kawana Community Centre,
Sportsman Parade, Bokarina. Tickets & Bookings 20 May:
$30/$25/$15 (Tel 5413 1400)
Concert 2: 3 pm Sunday 27 May, Conservatorium Theatre, Southbank (part of the 4MBS Festival of Classics) Tickets & Bookings 27 May:
$35/$25/$15 (QTIX 136
246 or www.qtix.com.au)
Searching for a cast for Breaker Morant
CENTENARY
Theatre Group is holding auditions in June for a September production of Breaker Morant by Kenneth Ross Audition -
Sunday 24 June at 1 pm at the Chelmer Community
Centre, Cnr Queenscroft and
Halsbury Streets, Chelmer.
Season 08 -29
September 2012 - Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 6 pm
Cast
required:
Lt Harry Morant
mid 30s British , aristocratic but lacking in drawing room
poise, strong arrogant features and manners, contradiction of a man – poet yet
pragmatist, reckless yet suspicious, frivolous yet solemn
Lt Peter Handcock mid 30s
Australian bushman type
Handlebar waxed moustache
Lt George Witton late 20s
early 30s Large man
Major Thomas late 20s Australian .country bush solicitor fresh boyish face, gains strength,
assurance and confidence through performance,
shrewd. not urbane, earnest
believer in clients
Major Bolton 40s middle class English solicitor, poised and
polished, has reservations but fights
vigorously to win case
Lt Colonel
Denny mid 50s President of court,
English, used to exercising authority
(also first interrogator?)
Dr Johnson
late 50s Scot,
dour, preserver of life,
contemptuous of the court martial (also second interrogator?)
Van Rooyan
50s bearded Dutch farmer (also trooper
or Doctor Johnson?)
Mr Robinson 40s a failure, symptomatic of alcoholism,
hollow featured, nervous , subordinate attitude (also Colonel Hamilton, third
interrogator and officer?)
Lord Kitchener 50s British autocratic manner and bearing, good
looking heavy walrus moustache
Sergeant
Major Drummitt 40s British stiff parade ground manner
Corporal
Taylor late 20s British forceful, aggressive, crisp military manner, displays nervous energy
(also corporal?)
Trooper Botha 30s Dutchman
in British army, slightly
comical, played with some sympathy (also
trooper?)
Corporal
Sharp 20s cockney soldier
Additional
extras Officers and Troopers some judicious doubling………
Inquiries to
Rod (director) 0416 164 064 or Rhyll (SM) 0414 816
976
Irish songstresses
CELTIC Divas Australian tour arrives in Brisbane
on Saturday June 16 at The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley. The
new album Celtic Divas II has just
been released by ABC/Universal Music.
Celtic Divas
will introduce the Irish duo Lumiere, featuring Éilis
Kennedy and Pauline Scanlon and the vocals of Noriana
Kennedy and Nicola Joyce (Grada).
Noriana Kennedy is one of
Irelands newest folk talents, Noriana represents
the new generation of Irish folk singers who engage you with their unique
songbook which crosses oceans from Waterford to America, Scotland and a
thousand heart worn places in between. Likened to many as a young Mary Black,
she has a rare gift of being able to connect with any listener through
understatement and simplicity. Her debut album
Ebb n Flow marks the first steps into what promises to be a long journey.
Nicola
Joyce is the fourth Celtic Diva, Jwho is best known as the lead singer of Gráda, one of Ireland's most successful
touring bands. Whether she sings ancient Irish songs, contemporary folk,
or her own original pieces, Joyce’s performance is remarkably heartfelt and
honest. As a full-time touring musician for the
past six years, (twice in Australia
with Gráda) Nicola has played in 30 countries around
the world and performed alongside some of its greatest musicians.
From
Galway, Nicola has released two albums to date. The latest, Natural Angle, was recorded with Grammy
award- winning icon and producer, Tim O’Brien, and was named by USA’s National
Public Radio as one of the Top 5 Folk Albums of 2010.
Together
Celtic Divas bring a fresh outlook and Irish warmth to their shows. The charm
about their performances is the bond and respect the four girls have between
them.
The Tivoli, 52
Costin Street, Bowen Hills, Saturday June 16 at 8 pm.
Bookings: 132 849 or www.ticketek.com.au
These cooks won’t spoil broth
ADRIAN
Richardson, Alastair McLeod, David Pugh, Hajime Horiguchi,
Jeremy Clark, Tony Kelly, Paul
McGivern, Kym Machin are leaders in Australia’s dining scene who
create magic from simple ingredients. On Saturday night, June 16, they will donate their time to children, by way of starring in the 2012
Variety of Chefs Ball.
Now in its third year, the Ball showcases a roll call
of culinary greats with marquee names from Melbourne, Noosa
and Brisbane. The Great Eight will create a dining experience, each bringing
their own specialty to the shared kitchen, allowing guests to taste an
incredible range of flavours over the evening.
Les Riley, CEO of Variety the Children’s Charity, said this year’s
chefs had been dubbed The Great Eight
because every one of them answered “yes” to taking part. “All of our chefs
donate their time, their expertise, and their passion for this event. Their
commitment to Variety, and the children we help – when
we are in the middle of the current Chef-Obsession era – is truly humbling,” he
said.
David Pugh, Queensland Food
Ambassador and owner of Restaurant II along with cutting-edge culinary creative
Kim Machin now of Spring,
have cooked at all three Variety of Chefs events, while Queensland’s Alastair
McLeod of Bretts Wharf and Tank Restaurant will
appear for the second year running.
This year welcomes first time star chefs Hajime Horiguchi from Noosa’s Wasabi; Jeremy Clarke from the
recently multi-million dollar made over The Hilton; Tony Kelly from Stokehouse; Paul McGivern from Jetty
(no stranger to the event having managed the kitchen at the event in 2011), and
flying up from Melbourne, Adrian Richardson, chef owner of Charlton’s La
Luna.
The official
launch of the 2012 Variety of Chefs Ball, when the full menu, and who is creating
what, will be revealed, will take place on May 10 at the Hilton Hotel.
Variety the
Children’s Charity is dedicated to empowering
Australian children who are sick, disadvantaged or who have special needs to
LIVE, LAUGH and LEARN. Each month in Queensland alone, Variety receives over
$250,000 worth of appeal requests for children in need. Through grants to
children who are sick, disadvantaged and who have special needs, Variety – the
Children’s Charity fills a vital gap between what families, schools and communities
are able to afford and what our special kids need to lead engaged and
fulfilling lives.
2012 Variety of Chefs Ball 6.30 pm Saturday 16
June, The Grand Ballroom, Hilton Hotel Brisbane. Dress: Black Tie/Formal. Cost: $225 per person; $2250 for table of ten; Limited Platinum packages
available. Bookings: 07 3907 9300 or georgie@varietyqld.org.au.
www.varietyofchefs.com.au
Centenary Theatre’s world amateur premiere
THE Centenary Theatre Group is
working on its next production – Perve. It’s a new play which premiered at
the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in May 2011. Centenary
is the first theatre company outside of the Abbey to perform this play.
It comes with a warning about strong
coarse language, adult themes and it being rated M for mature audiences
only.
The play is directed by John Boyce, current artistic director
of the Brisbane Arts Theatre, and features Tom
Yaxley as Nick, Jason Nash as Gethin, James Fitzgerald as The Authority, Kerry Thomas as Lorraine (Gethin & Sarah’s mother), Helene Holland as
Taylor’s Mum, Lauren Alice as Sarah
(Gethin’s little sister) and Kaitlyn Woods as Layla.
It's the tale of Gethin,
who has just finished his film course and reckons he’s the next Scorsese. His mum wants him to film her friend’s wedding video
– before the couple gets divorced.
But Gethin
is interested in a more daring project – one that will get him into dangerously
deep water, question his idealism and turn his life
and that of his family upside down.
Annoyed at the way everybody gets so
hysterical about paedophilia and how quickly society is to judge those who are
accused of it, Gethin places himself in the firing
line, starting a rumour that quickly turns around to bite him, but not before
secrets come out and consequences arise that he never thought would, helping
him learn about responsibility and raising questions about the validity of our
paranoia.
Perve is an irreverent
and unsettling play that interrogates paranoia, ambiguity
and innocence in our highly sexualized world. It premiered at the Abbey
Theatre, Dublin in May 2011. The CTG’s production will be its world amateur premiere.
This play is
suitable for mature audiences only - adult themes –
coarse language.
Playing – 5, 11, 12 13, 18, 19, 20,
25 and 26 May
To book on-line go to www.centenarytheatre.com.au
For more information bookings call
0435 591 720
Shakespeare in the absurd
THE Brisbane Arts Theatre,
Queensland’s oldest running community theatre group,
tackles the unique blend of Shakespeare & Absurd Theatre with Rosencrantz
& Guildenstern Are Dead!
The play concerns the misadventures
and musings of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters from William
Shakespeare's Hamlet who are
childhood friends of the prince, focusing on their actions while Hamlet plays
as background. The action on stage is in fact the off-stage action in
Shakespeare’s tragedy, with the exception of a few short scenes in which the dramatic
events of both plays coincide. The two characters find themselves on a boat,
taking Prince Hamlet to England with the troupe that staged a performance at
the Danish palace. They are intended to give the English king a message telling
him to kill Hamlet. During the voyage, the two are ambushed by pirates and lose
their prisoner, Hamlet, before resigning themselves to their fate….
Performing 28th April to 26th May, Thursday
to Saturday, 8 pm. Adults—$31
Conc/Child $25. Groups 10+ $25
Bookings online: www.artstheatre.com.au or (07) 3369
2344
(See 2012 Theatre Reviews)
Kiwi comics make Australian début
NEW Zealand’s folk comedy duo Flight of the Conchords is coming to Australia!
The Frontier Touring Company will be bringing Kiwi funny men Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement for their first ever run of Australian headline shows this
July.
In a career spanning almost fifteen years, Flight of the Conchords has become one of Australia’s
favourite comedy and musical acts, with the band gaining notoriety for their ditties
including Carol Brown, Foux Da Fafa,
Epileptic Dogs and many more.
Throughout their live performances the duo picks up
multiple instruments, including the ukulele, toy piano, keytar,
synth and a
‘1987 DG-20 Casio electric guitar set to mandolin’ to create the sounds of some
of the most bizarre singalongs heard on-stage.
After getting their start in stand up comedy, Bret
and Jemaine created a radio series for BBC Radio 2
before launching into acclaimed HBO comedy series Flight
Of The Conchords. The
series spanned two seasons and earned them 10 Emmy
nominations and a WGA nomination for Best Comedy
Series.
Most recently, both performers have been pursuing the
big screen. Bret took on the role of Music Supervisor for The Muppets movie
and recently won the Best Original Song Oscar for his composition Man Or Muppet. This track beat out its counterpart from the
film Rio to win the award, a film that coincidentally featured Bret’s
partner in crime and upcoming Men In Black III star
Jemaine Clement.
It’s hard to pinpoint what has kept the duo from
touring our shores all this time, was
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS
Thursday 5 July Sydney Opera House, All Ages. sydneyoperahouse.com Ph: (02)
9250 7777
Saturday 7
July Brisbane Entertainment Centre
All Ages. ticketek.com.au 132 849
Tuesday 10 July Newcastle
Entertainment Centre All
Ages. ticketek.com.au │132 849
Wednesday 11 July WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong All Ages. ticketek.com.au 132 849
Friday 13 July Adelaide
Entertainment Centre All
Ages. ticketek.com.au 132 849
Saturday 14 July The Plenary, Melbourne All Ages. ticketmaster.com.au │ 136 100
Wednesday 18 July Challenge Stadium, Perth All Ages ticketmaster.com.au 136 100
New Disney on Ice spectacular
THE new Disney on Ice spectacular Let’s Celebrate! features
more than 50 characters from 16 Disney stories, Disney On Ice presents
Let’s Celebrate! will take over the Brisbane
Entertainment Centre from June 28 –
July 1, with tickets on sale at Ticketek 13 28
49 or ticketek.com.au\disneyonice.
The show is a montage of
Disney characters celebrating holidays and festivals from around the world, and
is the first time audiences will see Princess Tiana
and Prince Naveen, live on ice, from Walt Disney
Pictures’ The Princess and the Frog.
Classic and
contemporary Disney songs, an original storyline, brilliant costumes and high
energy action will celebrate some of the world’s most popular events — from
Halloween with the Disney Villains, to a Valentine’s Day Royal Ball, featuring
the Disney Princesses. More than 50 characters
from 16 Disney stories will take audiences on a world tour to exotic
destinations like Brazil for a Carnivale parade,
Hawaii for a luau party and Japan for a Cherry Blossom festival.
June 28 – July 1 Brisbane Entertainment
Centre. Bookings: Ticketek 13 28 49 or www.ticketek.com.au\disneyonice
Simple Plan for
fun
GET ready for
the return punk-pop ensemble Simple Plan
this winter when the band embarks on a tour that sees them hit metropolitan and
regional venues large and small in an extensive east coast tour.
Their latest offering Get Your Heart On! (out now through
Warner Music Australia) stormed the ARIA charts upon its release late last
year, armed with fan favourite and ARIA Top 10 single Jetlag (featuring Natasha Bedingfield).
Known for their dynamic, energetic and entertaining live performances, Simple Plan’s
recent shows in their homeland of Canada were no exception,
“Bouvier
and his bandmates returned the love with a fun and
fast-paced 90-minute show ‑ jumping, twirling, chasing each other around,
and diving off stage like they were a pack of hyperactive high-school students
in their first band.” – Edmonton Journal,
Canada
Since their formation in 1999 and
amidst the multiplatinum releases, sold out headline tours and numerous awards
Simple Plan have always made one thing clear – their music is all about the
fans.
Joining Simple Plan on tour is We The Kings,
whose current single Say You Like Me from
their latest album Sunshine State Of Mind
(out now through Liberator) is racing up the US Singles Charts, having hit
Top 30 with no sign of slowing down.
The double platinum selling
predecessor ‘Check Yes Juliet’ won over Australian listeners with its catchy
hooks and the band sold out two headline shows alongside their Soundwave
appearances last year.
Rounding out the lineup
will be local power-pop dance quintet THE
NEVER EVER, a group of exuberant Sydneysiders ready to get crowds moving
with their boundless enthusiasm and danceable tunes.
Fri 1 June Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, NSW All Ages Ticketek 132 849 or www.ticketek.com.au
Sat 2 June Festival
Hall, Melbourne, VIC All Ages Ticketmaster 136 100 or www.ticketmaster.com.au
Sun 3 June Panthers,
Newcastle, NSW All Ages Moshtix 1300
438 849 or www.moshtix.com.au
Wed 6 June Uni Hall, Wollongong, NSW All
Ages Big Tix 02 4968 3093 or www.bigtix.com.au Oztix 1300 762 545 or
www.oztix.com.au
Fri 8 June Southport RSL,
Gold Coast, QLD All Ages Oztix 1300 762 545 or www.oztix.com.au
Sat 9 June Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane,
QLD All Ages Oztix 1300 762 545 or www.oztix.com.au
Sun 10 June Caloundra
RSL, Sunshine Coast, QLD All Ages Oztix
1300 762 545 or www.oztix.com.au Caloundra RSL 07
5438 5800
All persons under the age of 18 must be accompanied
by a responsible adult
Big season for Pops orchestra
JOINED BY world-class performers, the Queensland
Pops Orchestra will perform genres ranging from jazz and classical to
musical theatre and country in their 2012 season at Queensland Performing Arts
Centre.
In May, returning to QPAC
after their performance of You and I at the 2011 Brisbane Cabaret
Festival, husband and wife duo Ian Stenlake and Rachael Beck join the Queensland
Pops Orchestra for On Broadway. A celebration of the musicals of The
Great White Way, this concert will have the audience laughing, crying, sighing,
and melting to the glorious sounds of the stage.
Virtuoso clarinet and saxophone artist Andy Firth
returns to perform with the ‘Pops’ for a third time to get you swinging with Music
to Swing By in August. Supported by jazz star on
the rise Sarah McKenzie on piano and vocals..
To close out the season in October, the ‘Pops’ will
be joined by Australian music legend Troy Cassar-Daley
to present a unique combination of orchestral and country sounds celebrating
this great nation we live in. In A Big Country Troy will share a collection
of his great hits, while introducing listeners to his new material in a
spectacular fashion.
To book go to www.qpac.com.au or phone 136 246.
2012 Season Queensland Pops Orchestra
Music to Swing By Sat 18 Aug, 2 pm & 8 pm Concert Hall, QPAC, Cultural Centre, South Bank Tickets: $60 to $79,
Students $33
A Big Country Sat 20 Oct, 2 pm
& 8 pm Where: Concert Hall, QPAC, Cultural Centre, South Bank.
Tickets: $60 to $79,
Students $33
Bookings: www.qpac.com.au or phone 136 246
QPAC’s international
series
THE
Queensland Performing Arts Centre has announced a new QPAC
International Series. Tagged Bringing the
World to Brisbane, the program, initially planned to run over the next five
years and beyond, will see some of the world’s finest performing arts companies
travelling to Brisbane for exclusive appearances in that city.
In a sense
the scheme has already been trialled with the Paris Opera Ballet’s Brisbane
debut in 2009 and the subsequent visit to Australia for the first time of the
National Ballet of Cuba.
The QPAC International Series will be expanded in 2012. While once again the central attraction will be a
world-renowned ballet company, The Hamburg Ballet, the offering will
also include associated visits by the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra and
artists of the Hamburg State Opera.
The Hamburg
Ballet is led by the great choreographer John Neumeier,
the man who has shaped its repertoire and style and who has kept it at the
forefront of world dance for four decades. During that time, a number of
Australians have danced within the company, but the company has never visited
Australia.
Audiences
will experience two major examples of Neumeier’s work. Nijinsky, a work based on the life, meteoric
career and descent into madness of one of Neumeier’s
heroes, the legendary Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. This is choreographed to music by Chopin, Schumann, Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich.
Neumeier’s second work is his three-act version of
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream, set to music by Mendelssohn and
Ligeti, and based on Shakespeare’s comedy.
The orchestra
for the performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be the Queensland
Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Brisbane-raised conductor Simon
Hewett who is Hamburg Ballet’s resident ballet conductor and who has
recently been appointed Musical Director of Stuttgart Opera.
Like the
ballet company, the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hamburg State Opera
have never performed in this country. The
impetus for the visit was the appointment of the Australian conductor Simone
Young to the dual posts of Musical Director and Principal Conductor of the
Orchestra and General Manager of the opera company.
Over the past
four years Simone Young has been leading a new production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. It
has been seen several times in Hamburg, most recently in February of 2012, and
Australian Wagnerites will get a taste of her interpretation in two concert
performances of Das Rheingold, the opera that opens the Ring
Cycle.
Members of the permanent ensemble at the
Hamburg State Opera will be joined by guests artists including bass, Falk Struckmann, mezzo soprano Anna Larssons
and baritone Eike Wilm
Schlute,
In addition
Ms Young and the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra will give a single, performance
of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, known as Resurrection. Swedish
mezzo Anna Larssons, will be joined by Korean
coloratura Hang Lee Young from the Hamburg State Opera as soloists. Mahler lived in Hamburg for six years, during which
time he was First Conductor of the Hamburg Opera, and it was during his sojourn
there that he composed the Second Symphony.
The national
exclusive season by Hamburg Ballet, Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra and, Hamburg
State Opera will be presented at QPAC from 23 August
to 5 September 2012. Tickets on Sale Now www.qpac.com.au or phone
136-246
One woman hit show returns to Brisbane
JOANNA Murray-Smith’s critically
acclaimed one-woman show, starring Bernadette Robinson will return to Brisbane for a strictly limited season from May 16 – May 27.
Currently performing Sydney’s encore season, Songs
For Nobodies had its World Premiere Season in Melbourne in 2010,
where it has just finished a sold out encore season, receiving extraordinary
reviews. Songs For Nobodies has had similar
success in both Sydney and in Brisbane where it played at The Brisbane
Powerhouse in November last year.
With direction by Simon Phillips, Robinson plays five ordinary women and five iconic
singers, Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf
and Maria Callas. Each “nobody” recounts an intimate tale of how her life was
transformed by an encounter with one of the icons.
Robinson brings to life each nobody and each
legendary singer. Her voice shifts from the smoky blues of Billie Holiday to
the soprano of Maria Callas, via Garland, Cline and
Piaf.
Bernadette Robinson’s ‘tour de force’
performance has had both audiences and critics raving. Songs
For Nobodies is a Melbourne
Theatre Company Production and is produced by Harley Medcalf,
Duet Entertainment.
Songs For Nobodies Brisbane Encore
Season QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre May 16 – May 27 Tickets
from QPAC www.qpac.com.au
or by phone 136 246
Dangerous liaisons
HUGO Weaving and Pamela Rabe play the wicked duo at the centre of
a new Sydney Theatre Company production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses
directed by Sam Strong.
Exploring lust, love, manipulation, self interest,
and sexual politics, the production is at STC’s Wharf
1 with previews from Saturday 31 March. The cast also includes Justine Clarke, Geraldine Hakewill, Jane Harders, James Mackay, Heather Mitchell, TJ Power and Ashley Ricardo.
Vicomte de Valmont
(Weaving) and the Marquise de Merteuil (Rabe) manipulate all around them with the precision and
discipline of master puppeteers, plotting an elaborate game of revenge,
seduction, humiliation, and cruelty. These combatants will stoop to the lowest
levels of deviousness in order to win. T
heir crossfire is
indiscriminate, making casualties of friends and foes alike. The novel Les
Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos
de Laclos was adapted for the stage by Christopher
Hampton for a Royal Shakespeare Company production in 1985. It was later
adapted for the 1988 film Dangerous and inspired the 1999 film Cruel
Intentions which relocated the story to a New York high school.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses is Sam Strong’s STC debut. Strong is Artistic
Director at Griffin Theatre Company and recently directed one of the theatrical
highlights of the 2012 Sydney Festival, The Boys.
31 March to 9 June 2012. Opening Night: Thursday 5
April, 8 pm, Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company, Pier 4, Hickson
Road, Walsh Bay
Box Office: (02) 9250 1777. www.sydneytheatre.com.au
Tickets: $35 - $90 (transaction fees
may apply)
Cirque du Soleil heads our way
CIRQUE du Soleil is returning to Australia with its critically-acclaimed and
family-friendly big top production OVO.
Brisbane will
host the Australian premiere season presented under the trademark
blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau (big top) at Northshore Hamilton, with the 2012-2013
national tour then moving to Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth. Since its
world premiere in Montreal, Canada in April 2009, OVO has visited more than 15 cities in
Canada, United States and Mexico, delighting over two million spectators. The Australian tour will be the first time OVO
has toured outside North America.
Starting February 10 2012, advance
online tickets for OVO will be available exclusively for Cirque Club
members. Cirque Club membership is free and registration is quick and
simple. Member benefits include advance tickets, special offers, and insider
information on the world of Cirque du Soleil. To join go to www.cirqueclub.com
Tickets for OVO will be on sale to the
general public on Monday February 20 2012 at cirquedusoleil.com/ovo .
OVO, meaning “egg” in
Portuguese, is a rush into a colourful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects
work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight, and look for love.
When a mysterious egg appears in
their midst, the insects are awestruck and intensely curious about the object
that represents the enigma and cycles of their lives. It is love at first sight
when a gawky, quirky insect arrives in this bustling community and a fabulous
ladybug catches his eye – and the feeling is mutual.
The cast of OVO is comprised of 55
performing artists from 14 countries specializing in many acrobatic acts. One
highlight of OVO
is the stunning Flying Act in which a group of scarabs soar high above the
stage, from both edges to the middle landing on a platform. This breathtaking
act combines many circus disciplines: banquine,
Russian swing and swinging chair.
Cirque du Soleil - OVO - 2012/2013 Australian tour :
Brisbane - From July 14, Northshore
Hamilton; Sydney - From September 13 2012, Showring
at The Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park; Adelaide - From December 6 2012, Location to be advised; Melbourne - From January 17 2013, Melbourne Docklands; Perth - From April 14 2013, Langley
Park
Tickets for all cities on sale Monday
20 February 2012 at cirquedusoleil.com/ovo
The Nutcracker – on ice
INTERNATIONAL ice dancers, the
Imperial Ice Stars will return to Australia next winter with a new production
of The Nutcracker on Ice.
Over the last seven years, The
Imperial Ice Stars have performed to more than three million people across five
continents, at some of the world’s top venues: London’s Royal Albert Hall and
Sadler’s Wells, Singapore’s Esplanade Theatre, Montreal’s Place des Arts and
Moscow’s Red Square.
This award-winning troupe’s previous
world tours (Sleeping Beauty on Ice, Swan Lake on Ice and Cinderella
on Ice) have been greeted with nightly standing ovations and five-star
reviews.
For their latest production, The
Nutcracker on Ice, acclaimed Artistic Director Tony Mercer has once
again teamed with four-time figure skating World Champion and dual Olympic gold
medallist Evgeny Platov,
and dual World Champion Maxim Staviski to create
choreography that further raises the bar, with high-speed leaps and throws, and
acrobatics, coupled with graceful ice dancing.
Set in early 1900s St Petersburg, The
Nutcracker on Ice boasts sets by leading Australian scenic
designer Eamon D’Arcy in this his fourth Imperial Ice
Stars show, stylish costumes and special effects.
This new production follows the
classic Russian tale of Maria, the little girl whose love brings to life her
cherished Nutcracker doll – a magical Christmas gift from her mysterious
godfather – leading to adventures with the Mouse King, the enchanted Prince,
and the Sugar Plum Fairy.
The story was written in 1816, by the
German author E T A Hoffman, and was later adapted by
the French writer Alexandre Dumas in 1847.
From this adaptationTchaikovsky
and choreographer Lev Ivanov created their ballet, The Nutcracker, which was first
performed in St Petersburg in 1892 and has since become a perennial Christmas
favourite the world over.
Sydney – Capitol Theatre – 6-10 June;
Canberra – Canberra Theatre Centre – 13-17 June; Adelaide – Adelaide Festival
Centre – 18-22 July; Melbourne – The Arts Centre – 25-29 July; Perth – His
Majesty’s Theatre – 2-12 August; Brisbane – Lyric Theatre, QPAC
– 20-24 June.
