News

Paul Dellit Gets Lifetime Achievement Award

2022 maybe the Year of the Tiger, but it’s also the year of Paul Dellit; earlier this year he was awarded the Gold Matilda Award for service to the arts in Queensland, and now he has received the Alan Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award from the Actors’ and Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund for 2022.

“You can’t break the rules if you don’t know what they are”

Geoffrey Williams talks with Peta Hanrahan, the Artistic Director of The Dog Theatre, about the company’s reincarnation in Gippsland, and bringing the award-winning Born In A Taxi to the upcoming East Gippsland Winter Festival for performances of their acclaimed The Waiting Room and a series of improvisation workshops.

SW: It might be perceived by some of our readers that it’s a long way from Footscray to the heartland of Gippsland. How did this relocation occur? What were the primary motivations?

The Sound of Australian Musicals

Three new locally written musicals, are on stage now in Sydney and Melbourne. David Spicer reports on the stories behind Dubbo Championship Wresting (Hayes Theatre),The Deb (ATYP) and Driftwood the Musical (Umbrella Events), and what makes them unique.

Dubbo Championship Wrestling

Actor Aaron Tsindos is in the fight of his theatrical life. When I spoke to him he was training for his role as the star import of the (fictional) Dubbo wrestling league.

Its 2am, there is no-where else to go

Swings in the Wings

Image: Marika Aubrey in Come From Away

Beth Keehn speaks to some of theatre's unsung heroes, the understudies who are keeping theatre alive and kicking despite Omicron. 

Curtain Up, Light The Lights, It’s Showtime!

Image: Judy Nunn and Stuart Wagstaff in Blithe Spirit (1983).

Actress and author Judy Nunn dug into her extensive theatrical background for her latest book - Showtime! - set in Australia’s booming 19th Century post-gold rush theatre districts. Peter Pinne spoke with her about her writing, her life and her career.

Do You Hear The People Sing?

Image: Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg © Michael Wharley

Hairspray Finds Its Tracy Turnblad

Carmel Rodrigues has beaten hundreds of auditionees to play the coveted role of Tracy Turnblad in the Tony Award-winning production of Hairspray, set to open in Melbourne in August 2022 

Rodrigues was spotted through the open casting call process, where she auditioned after seeing Shane Jacobson, who is playing Edna Turnblad, on television talking about the search for Tracy Turnblad.

Tell Me Before the Sun Explodes

Playwright Jacob Parker’s new work Tell Me Before the Sun Explodes poses the question: What you would do if the world was about to end? In this Q and A he interviews of one of his actors, Tim McGarry (also a playwright), who recently adapted Boy Swallows Universe for Queensland Theatre.

Jacob Parker: OK, you have eight minutes before the sun explodes Tim! How are you spending it?

STAGE WHISPERS MAGAZINE: MAY / JUNE 2022 EDITION OUT NOW!!!

IN THIS EDITION

A Fairy Tale … For All Time

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella begins its national tour

The Sound of Australian Musicals

Three brand new local musicals have their premieres

Suspending Disbelief

Magic, and the magic of theatre

The PHANTOM of the SOPERA

Geraldine Turner Remembers Stephen Sondheim

Geraldine Turner reminisces about the late, great Stephen Sondheim, his songs and his shows, with Neil Litchfield.

Geraldine Turner first met Stephen Sondheim in 1977 when she was part of the International Music Theatre Forum at the Sydney Conservatorium, for which director Hal Prince, My Fair Lady lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and Steven Sondheim came to Australia.

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