News

David Williamson: Addicted to Playwriting

Managing Carmen – a play about a cross-dressing AFL footballer - is the latest blockbuster in the making from David Williamson, set to open in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. Frank Hatherley meets Australia’s best-known dramatist, without his high heels on.

David Williamson announced his retirement from playwriting in 2005. He was drained, he had a major heart problem, he’d been hospitalised half a dozen times and, anyway, he was “out of fashion”.

Queensland Theatre Company Season 2013

Love, art, laughter, drama, catharsis, glamour, song and adventure in the spotlight

Queensland Theatre Company unveiled its Season 2013 today (October 14) to a capacity  Playhouse at QPAC.

QTC’s Artistic Director Wesley Enoch said QTC’s onstage journey would showcase a range of works that take ticketholders around the world, shine the light on home grown talents and create theatrical moments of national importance across a world of love, art, laughter, drama, catharsis, glamour, song and adventure.

Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones to Tour in Driving Miss Daisy

Producer John Frost has now announced that due to an unprecedented demand for tickets, following the Brisbane premiere season of Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic play Driving Miss Daisy, the production will tour to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

A Perth season has also been added, 

Quit Horsing Around, This Is Puppetry

At a Fitzroy cafe, Finn Caldwell has ordered boiled egg with soldiers. Perhaps he is homesick. But if War Horse continues as it has begun, chances are the English actor turned Puppetry Director will have to get used to a global lifestyle.

War Horse has, ironically, taken on a life of its own. Since opening at the National Theatre in 2007, millions of people have seen the stage show in London’s West End, New York, Toronto and Los Angeles. Hollywood director Steven Spielberg even turned it into a movie.

Whipping Up the Fun in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

When the Australian production of the stage musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang opens at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre, Jennifer Vuletic’s Baroness Bomburst will add the ‘naughty’ touches to this family entertainment. She spoke to Neil Litchfield.

STOP PRESS: Jennifer won the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role on a Musical at the 2012 Sydney Theatre Awards.

Rob Guest Endowment 2012 Finalists Selected.

Following hundreds of applications and auditions, judges Kellie Dickerson, Jason Coleman and Stuart Maunder have selected the following six finalists for the 2012 ANZ Trustees Foundation, Rob Guest Endowment:  Kirby Burgess (An Officer & A Gentlemen), Andy Conaghan (South Pacific), Euan Doidge (A Chorus Line, Legally Blonde the Musical), Samm Hagen (Rock of Ages), Glenn Hill (Legally Blonde the Musical, Dr Zhivago) and Allyce Martins (Wicked).  These six finalists will perform with a full orchestra at the 2012 Rob Guest Endowment Gala Concert 

Calling all Music Theatre writers for the next big hit

The Victorian College of the Arts at the University of Melbourne is calling on Music Theatre writers to submit new works, which could be developed into a major stage hit.

Works selected will be put through a three-stage development process which will end with a “main stage” showcase for the general public and industry producers.

Industry Consultant and Lecturer in Music Theatre at the VCA, Martin Croft, said the New Work Music Theatre Project was a great opportunity for writers to create the next big thing in Australian Music Theatre.

KING KONG Musical Live On Stage in Melbourne

After five years in development the spectacular musical KING KONG  will premiere 15 June 2013 at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne for its exclusive Australian season, produced by Global Creatures, makers of Walking With Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular (WWD) and How To Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular (HTTYD, in association with DreamWorks Theatricals).

From Bangarra to Ballet

The Australian Ballet have announced that Ella Havelka from Bangarra will be joining the company.

She will be the first Indigenous dancer to join The Australian Ballet. Havelka will perform her final shows with Bangarra Dance Theatre in Terrain in Brisbane this week and will start rehearsing with The Australian Ballet in Sydney in November.

Artistic Director David McAllister said he was thrilled that Havelka had accepted the offer to join the company.

Travelling Full Speed on the Freeway to Success.

Australian Cabaret performer Tim Draxl appears in his acclaimed show Freeway: The Chet Baker Story as part of the 2012 Melbourne Festival. He spoke with Coral Drouyn.

It all began with an un-birthday present. You don’t know what an un-birthday present is? That’s a present your parents give you on a sibling’s birthday, so that you won’t feel left out.

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