News

Rob Guest Endowment Concert 2013

David Spicer reports on the awards’ first outing in Sydney.

Having sat through umpteen award nights both professional and amateur, which are sometimes drawn out affairs, I was cautious about the prospects of sitting through another industry event.

But the Rob Guest Endowment concert has a different vibe. It is fun, punchy and filled with good will.

The audience comprises mainly members of the public, put in a good mood by folksy jokes from Bert Newton.

“Look at Rhonda Burchmore’s legs,” he quipped.

RED STITCH ACTORS THEATRE 2014 SEASON

New Artistic Director of Red Stitch Theatre, Ella Caldwell has announced her inaugural season for 2014 revealing eight plays including two world premieres (Out Of The Water and The Mesh), two Australian premieres (Belleville and The Flick) and four plays never before seen in Victoria (This Year’s Ashes, Grounded, Glory Dazed and Eurydice).

‘Wagner Roos’ Welcome ‘Ring Nuts’ to Melbourne

In the Northern Hemisphere they’re called “Ring Nuts”, but the Australian cohort have been dubbed “Wagner Roos”. They are the unique breed, travelling to wherever Wagner’s Ring Cycle is on. “Wagner Roos” are in heaven with The Ring currently on stage  Melbourne, courtesy of Opera Australia, The City of Melbourne and patron Maureen Wheeler. Lucy Graham dons her horned helmet to investigate if these enthusiasts have more money than sense.

Will State of the Art Sydney Theatre Precinct be Saved

Hugh Jackman has joined Dean Carey in raising the final dollars needed to save the Forum performance precinct in Leichhardt from being converted into a child care facility.

Premiere for Stage Version of Cult Film

Adelaide based Growling Grin Productions stage the Australian premiere of the stage adaptation of Radha Bharadwaj’s 1991 cult-classic film Closet Land during November 2013. Lesley Reed reports.

Set in an unspecified place and time and based on Radha Bharadwaj’s 1991 cult-classic film of the same title, Growling Grin Productions’ staging of Closet Land uses multimedia alongside live performance to generate what promises to be a gripping psychological thriller that will appeal to modern audiences.

Harvest Rain Season 2014

Queensland musical theatre company Harvest Rain Theatre’s 2014 season, their first full season as a fully professional company, was launched at an all singing and all dancing season launch on November 18, 2013.

The Stars Come Out To Play.

Mandy Patinkin and Nathan Gunn talk to Coral Drouyn on the eve of their Australian Concert Tour.

Sweet Charity to Launch Hayes Theatre Co

The first show at the Hayes Theatre Co (formerly Darlnghurst Theatre) is an up-close and personal production of the classic musicalSweet Charity, starring Verity Hunt-Ballard produced by Luckiest Productions and Neil Gooding Productions. Sweet Charity will play at the Hayes Theatre Co from7 February - 9 March 2014

From Here to Eternity

Whitney Fitzsimmons checks out the new jewel in the crown for Sydney Independent Theatre, Eternity Playhouse, and gives the thriving scene a once over.

5 Pounds of Pure Gold

Jason Cavanagh is a fine young actor, one of Melbourne’s best, but he’s also a creative realist. He knows only too well that in a city like Melbourne, where there is so much theatre – Main Stage, independent, and high quality community – you have to be entrepreneurial to survive. So he created his own theatre company; 5 pound theatre. The company, and its innovative productions, have gained great critical acclaim, but critics don’t ensure commercial success, or bums on seats.

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