Community Theatre

Community Theatre Seasons 2013

They will be swinging from the chandeliers in 2013 as The Phantom of the Opera dominates the community / amateur theatre circuit. The World Amateur Premiere season of the Lloyd Webber hit at Melbourne’s CLOC, and subsequent productions across Australia and New Zealand, promise amongst the biggest and most complex productions ever staged by community theatres. Elsewhere the Calendar Girls juggernaut rolls on, while old favourites are being revived, sprinkled in with plenty of local play and musical premieres.

ACTEWAGL CAT AWARDS: WINNERS 2012

The 2012 CAT Awards (Canberra Area Theatre Awards) were presented at a Gala Awards Night on February 16, 2013.

BEST SET DESIGNER FOR A PLAY - Sam Lloyd - Seasons Greetings - Bay Theatre Players, Batemans Bay

BEST SET DESIGNER FOR A MUSICAL - Wendy Glover (concept) and Mal, Donna and Amy Copeland (construction and artistry) - Crazy for You - MoonGlow Productions, Wollongong

Eurobeat Prepares Penrith for Eurovision

Penrith Musical Comedy Company (NSW) presents Eurobeat – Almost Eurovision at the Q Theatre, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre this May. Fresh of their sold out season of Hairspray last year the company wants their audience to come and laugh out loud at this take-off of Eurovision, ahead of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest mid-May.

Divas Come Together for One Night

In putting together a “One Night Only” production St George Theatre Company has managed to assemble a powerhouse of leading ladies for DIVAS LIVE on April 27 at the Civic Theatre, Hurstville Entertainment Centre.

The “dozen of divas” are some of Sydney Community Theatre’s most popular and recognised talents and between them all have performed across most of Sydney’s theatre companies.

Director / Diva Michelle Lansdown and Choreographer Craig Nhobbs explain how DIVAS LIVE came about.

Black Stephen Sewell Comedy for Epping

Theatre on Chester (Epping, NSW) present It Just Stopped by Stephen Sewell from April 12 – May 4, directed by Linda Lorenza.

It Just Stopped is a more than a black comedy – it questions what we will value the day the world just stops, and what we would be willing to trade for our own survival.

Spelling Bee Musical for Canterbury

Canterbury Theatre Guild (NSW) presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee from April 19.

Spelling Bee is a one-act musical comedy by William Finn (A New Brain, Falsettos, Elegies), conceived by Rebecca Feldman, book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss.

The show portrays a spelling bee at the fictional Putnam Valley Middle School. Six quirky adolescents compete in the contest run by three equally quirky grown-ups.

Hotel Sorrento Heads for Home

Hotel Sorrento by Hannie Rayson is being performed on stage in the town of its inspiration and origin this April, for the first time since it was written and published in 1990. The story was based on the lives of three sisters who grew up in Sorrento, but the degree to which it adhered to the facts of their lives is mostly unknown.

Les Misérables Returns to Chatswood

Les Misérables returns to the Chatswood stage after an absence of 20 years when Willoughby Theatre Company revisits the grand musical theatre epic from April 10.

Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, the Broadway, London and international hit Les Misérables will now be seen at Chatswood’s magnificent new theatre, The Concourse.

Steaming at Castle Hill

It’s 1981 in London’s working class East End … and in the Turkish Room at the local Public Baths, six women gather to share laughter, tears and the drama of their lives in Steaming, Nell Dunn’s hit play staged this April by the Castle Hill Players (NSW).

Party From Hell in Mike Leigh Comedy at Limelight

WITH pineapple and cheese at the ready and Donna Summer on the stereo, Abigail’s Party is a 1970s English class comedy that’s been described as the “social get-together from hell”.

Directed by Karen Tropiano at Limelight Theatre (WA) from April 4, Mike Leigh’s play follows a simple premise: Beverly invites two new neighbours over for drinks with divorcee Sue, whose 15-year-old daughter Abigail is having a party next door.