News

Eddie’s Ladies….or is that Shane’s?

When the revamped concert version of Eddie Perfect’s Shane Warne – The Musical opens tonight at The Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the charismatic Eddie will be joined on-stage by two of Australia’s best known and most talented leading ladies.

Kristin Chenoweth: From Broadway with Mum and Dad

Known to local theatre fans mainly though the Internet, this top Broadway diva is about to tour Australia with her Oklahoma parents – and she couldn’t be more excited. Frank Hatherley phones her in New York.

To Australian ‘musical theatre tragics’ Kristin Chenoweth is best known as the exotically named star of the original Broadway Wicked album. As Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, she sang the brilliantly funny ‘Popular’: just one listen and you were hers forever.

Two Musicals, Two Families

No matter what the subject, musicals need to explore issues and themes everyone can relate to. Rick Elice, the co-writer of Broadway musicals The Addams Family and Jersey Boys (with Marshall Brickman), explains to Neil Litchfield about the stories connected with these two very different musicals.

How flowerchildren and Magnormos Bloomed

Melbourne Production Company Magnormos is entering its second decade in style, stepping up to stage a season of flowerchildren – the Mamas and Papas story at the Comedy Theatre. David Spicer and Lucy Graham report.

Written by AFI award winner Peter Fitzpatrick, flowerchildren is a musical about late sixties band sensation The Mamas and The Papas. It has great music and Jersey Boys style off-stage drama including a debilitating love-triangle, drugs, sex, deceit, alcoholism, and chronic over-eating.  

Meet King Kong

He is large, he is black, he is muscular, and he is the new kid on the music theatre block.

Early on Monday morning, as bleary-eyed office workers were beginning the working week, the long-awaited King Kong was revealed at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne.

Vale John Sumner

Melbourne Theatre Company is deeply saddened to announce that its founder and longest-serving Artistic Director, John Sumner AO CBE passed away on Friday 24 May, 2013, after a brief illness, aged 88 years.

Idina Menzel: Flying High

Original Broadway Wicked star Idina Menzel is Defying Gravity and heading for a concert tour of Australia. She took time out to chat to Coral Drouyn about the joys of being in love with what she’s doing.

Dame Julie Drops In

Like Mary Poppins with her magical umbrella, the great Julie Andrews is dropping in for a series of one-night stands round Australia and New Zealand. And she’s bringing one of Captain Von Trapp’s sons with her. Ahead of he tour, Frank Hatherley spoke to Nicholas Hammond, the American born Aussie who learnt his most important show business lesson from Julie Andrews, whilst playing Frederich in the movie of The Sound of Music.

Aussie Youth Theatre Companies Take on the World

Adelaide-based theatre companies Patch Theatre Company, Slingsby and Windmill Theatre are the flavour of the month in the USA. All recently secured international bookings, including a season on Broadway. Robert Dunstan reports.

It could be something in the water? But regardless what the secret recipe is – Adelaide is producing youth theatre that the world wants to see.

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