News | Stage Whispers

New Zealand Theatre 2012

New Zealand’s major theatres and theatre companies are publishing their 2012 programmes and there is plenty to get excited about. Aneta Ruth reports.

Homegrown writing is all the rage this coming season. All the kids are doing it. It’s ‘trending’.

Read more

2012 is set to start with a musical theatre bang, with new productions of two Broadway classics, two hit productions on the move to new capital cities and small musicals, local and international, opening in the space of a few weeks. World premieres of major musicals for both Sydney and Melbourne in May, and seasons for smaller Aussie musicals on sporting themes follow. Find out what Stage Whispers writers think will set your feet tapping in 2012 and beyond.

Read more

Brushes With Fame: From Judy Garland to Maria Callas.

Have you ever had a chance meeting with a show business superstar? A hit show on the subject, first produced by the Melbourne Theatre Company, is about to tour Australia. It’s about five anonymous women and their separate brushes with iconic divas Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Maria Callas. The show is called Songs for Nobodies and was written by Joanna Murray-Smith especially for the performer Bernadette Robinson.

On the eve of its Sydney’s opening, Bernadette Robinson spoke to Neil Litchfield.

Read more

A Chorus Line: Homecoming for Gerrard Carter

Gerrard Carter who plays Larry, the assistant choreographer, in the new Australian production of A Chorus Line, has returned to Australia after 16 years dancing in Europe, on Broadway, and even at the Oscars. He speaks to Neil Litchfield.

A Chorus Line is very much the dancers’ and performers’ story. Are there parallels in your own career?

Read more

Carnegie 18: Musicals in the Raw.

Arts Centre Melbourne doesn’t just workshop new musicals. It puts them on. This year the venue is producing a three-week season of the most successful new work tried out at the venue last year.

It’s part of the program called Carnegie 18. That’s a medical term used to describe the stage of development when an embryo’s inner-ear is formed.

This year’s program takes place from February 1 to 7, showcasing three new Australian musicals.

The first new work is The New Black.

Read more

An Officer and a Gentleman The Musical: Songs for Download

Producers John Frost and Sharleen Cooper Cohen today (January 27, 2012) announced that fans of their World Premiere musical An Officer and a Gentleman will be able to download new music clips of songs from the show.