News

Debut Play for Sydney Writer

For new Sydney writer Jordy Shea, finding a company that nurtures up and coming theatre makers proved to be easier than expected. His first play, It’s Been a While will debut at the King Street Theatre, presented by Smoking Gum Theatre from July 16-19.

It will be Smoking Gum’s second production, after Colony which played during the Sydney Fringe in 2013 at the TAP Gallery. Founded by Lucinda Vitek and Eunice Huang, the company is one of the many emerging groups of artists keen to stamp their mark on the Sydney theatre scene.

The King and Jason

Jason Scott Lee joins the cast of the King and I for the Melbourne season only, opening on June 12th. Coral Drouyn caught up with him during rehearsals, to chat about revisiting the role he conquered in London’s West End in 2000.

The Wizardry of Reg

Iconic performer Reg Livermore hsa returned to the stage as the Wizard in Wicked. He talked to Coral Drouyn about things past and present, and his own particular magic of a lifetime in theatre.

Hayes Theatre Co Cabaret Season 2014

For six weeks from June 2 to July 13, 2014, Sydney’s Hayes Theatre Co is turning into an exclusively cabaret venue.

Hayes Theatre Co will play host to experienced masters of the craft of cabaret including as Mark Nadler, David Campbell and John Bucchino, Rhonda Burchmore and Donna Lee; up-and-coming young stars like Tom Sharah, Gillian Cosgriff, Brendan Hay, Matt Gilbertson, and Hilary Cole; and even a show where the two worlds meet – Phil Scott’s collaboration with Blake Bowden, Mario.

Pete the Sheep: On Tour

Monkey Baa Theatre Company is touring a new 50-minute musical based on Jackie French and Bruce Whatley’s quintessentially Australian picture book to 54 venues this year.

It’s about Shaun, the sheep shearer, and Pete, a sheep, who set up their own shearing salon and are inundated with woolly clients. The composer/lyricist is Phil Scott, best known as pianist / performer in The Wharf Review. Neil Litchfield asked him about the challenge of writing songs for children.

New Comedies On The Move

Two seriously comic new plays feature characters on the move — by presidential jet plane or by cruise ship. FRANK HATHERLEY talks to their very grounded directors. In Melbourne, the director is working with three first-time playwrights. In Sydney, the director is working with Australia’s most successful playwright: himself.

Sam Strong, at 37, has directed very many new Australian plays. “I grew up theatrically”, he says, “directing new work at all the usual Melbourne independent venues.”

THE SONGS THAT GOT AWAY: THE MUSIC OF HAROLD ARLEN

Johanna Allen Pays Deserved Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

Music history is full of famous songwriters but there was something about Harold Arlen’s work, together with the legendary artists who sang them, that drove vocal powerhouse and Adelaide Cabaret Festival regular, Johanna Allen, to create The Songs That Got Away: The Music of Harold Arlen, a show she proudly brings to Adelaide for this year’s festival.

Exposing Edith: Showcasing a Legend in Adelaide and Overseas

Much has been written, said and performed over many decades about the life and music of Edith Piaf, but Adelaide audiences will have a chance to decide for themselves who the legendary singer really was when Exposing Edith plays the 2014 Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival in June, before the show heads overseas later this year.

A Spotlight On Shadows

Unique dance company Pilobolus has perfected the art of creative shadow storytelling. On the eve of their Australian tour with the acclaimed Shadowland, two of the company’s directors took time to answer questions from Coral Drouyn.

Few of us didn’t, at some time in our childhood, make shadow images on a bed sheet with the aid of a torch for our friends’ amusement. It’s a far cry from the hi-tech and sophisticated art of Pilobolus, about to tour nationally with their amazing shadow piece Shadowland.

Catherine Alcorn as Christine McVie

Catherine Alcorn, who stars in Go Your Own Way: The Story of Christine McVie at Glen Street Theatre from May 27 to June 1, speaks to Neil Litchfield about the inspiration for the show.

On the eve of Fleetwood Mac’s long-awaited comeback tour, Christine McVie decided she would not give in to the pleas for her to rejoin the band. Instead, she tweeted “Sorry folks. No tour.”

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