Community Theatre

Nineteenth Century Charm, Sherry and Ghosts

In Melbourne and Sydney, community theatres are custodians of historic venues which give audiences a unique experience. Our correspondents Simon Parris and Carol Wimmer describe what it’s like to attend a performance at the Lilydale Athenaeum and Genesian Theatres, respectively.

Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre

Not just a beautiful historic venue, the Athenaeum Theatre, Lilydale is surely one of the most generous and hospitable theatres in Australia.

Cancelling the Biggest Show on Earth!

Well, maybe not! But when you are a community theatre with a significant diversity of activities, that’s what it seemed like to Ipswich Little Theatre Society members.

The importance of Postponing Earnest

For St Luke’s Theatre Society, 2020 meant many changes.  Firstly, because of construction work on their home premises, they had to find alternate premises for the year.  They negotiated with the Anglican Christ Church at Yeronga.  The first play was set to be Oscar Wilde’s classic The impo

Dark Stages

The Stage: The Pavilion Theatre Castle Hill, home of Castle Hill Players

The date: 19th March 2020

The play: Andrew Bovell’s Things I Know to be True

The Director: Me! (Carol Wimmer).

How to Keep Your Little Theatre Open During the Coronavirus Epidemic

Stage Whispers Perth correspondent Kimberley Shaw shares ways of making your audience and company as safe as possible during the outbreak of Covid 19. 

Be aware that advice is changing very quickly, so little theatres (with an audience under 500) may NOT be able to perform next weekend, but these measures will also be helpful when we return to business after the worst of the outbreak. 

Bookings

Community Theatre Cancellations

Community Theatres across Australia are cancelling or postponing their seasons due to the Corona Virus pandemic.

In Victoria CentreStage Geelong announced that their planned programming of West Side Story has been postponed and not be onstage during the originally planned March 27th– April 4th season at the Geelong Arts Centre.

The Mousetrap Set To Thrill and Chill Hunters Hill

Sadly, this production closed with its dress rehearsal.

The eerie whistling of ‘Three Blind Mice’… a chilling scream… then silence.  

Beautiful - The Carole King Musical At Miranda

This production has been postponed.

Long before she was Carole King, Brooklyn born Carol Joan Klein fought her way into the record business as a teenage songwriter, initially as one of the staff songwriters at the Brill Building and later as a solo artist. She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the US, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

Don’t Dress for Dinner at Cronulla

An evening of hilarious theatre is promised by the director of Arts Theatre Cronulla’s first play for 2020, Don’t Dress for Dinner. Originally staged in Paris where it ran for two years, the English version of this infidelity comedy adapted by Robin Hawdon ran in London for six years, opened on Broadway in 2012 and has since played in theatres all over America and the English-speaking world

Singin’ In The Rain at Rockdale

Rockdale Musical Society brings Singin’ In The Rain to the Rockdale Town Hall in March 2020

Based on the classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, the stage production of Singin’ In The Rain promises high-energy choreography, a superb score and a joyous story,.

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