Reviews

Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical

Composed by Alan Menken, Choreography by Christopher Gattell. In cinemas for one night only, February 19, 2017. Screening at Event cinemas in NSW, QLD, SA, WA and NT, and at Village Cinemas and Cinema Nova in VIC and TAS.

Seize The Day This Sunday, 19 February! 

If you’re a Broadway buff that thought they’d missed the boat on Newsiesonce it bumped out of New York in 2014, this Sunday brings a rare and absolutely unmissable treat to you! For one day only, Australian cinemas will be joining the rest of the world in celebrating Disney’s Newsies: The Musical as a filmed event.

Saturday Night Fever

Book: Nic Cohn. Music: The Bee Gees. Spotlight Theatre, Benowa, Gold Coast. Director/Choreographer: Clay English. February 10th to March 4th, 2017

Saturday Night Fever opened last Friday night to a very enthusiastic audience. Based on the 1977 film starring John Travolta, Spotlight’s production had all the pizzazz of the era.

In the role made famous by JT, Jackson Brash gave a fantastic performance and danced brilliantly, receiving a standing ovation. The supporting principals: Hannah Rigby, Ruby Hunter, Jack Harbour, Johnathon Fife and Marcus Du Toit, all turned in creditable characterizations, complete with New York accents.

Blood Brothers

By Willy Russell. Beenleigh Theatre Group. February 10 – 25, 2017

Blood Brothers originally began its journey in the early 80s, starting out as a play in Liverpool before becoming a musical and achieving critical acclaim in the West End. It follows the story of Mrs Johnstone (Fiona Buchanan), a struggling single mother from Liverpool who can barely afford to feed her several children.

Little Shop of Horrors

Book and Lyrics: Howard Ashman, Music: Alan Mencken. Director: Kate Foster. Bangalow Theatre Co. A & I Hall Bangalow. February 10th to 18th, 2017

Bangalow is a little town a few kms west of Byron Bay and this is only their second production.

Little Shop of Horrors was a popular choice judging from the capacity crowd and their reactions.

Director Kate Foster made good use of the limited facilities at her disposal and along with the Musical Director Margaret Curtis and Choreographer Anouska Gammon created a fun show for all the family.

Chicago

Music: John Kander. Lyrics: Fred Ebb. Book: Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins. Directed by Kim Angus, Musical Direction by Andrew Dobosz. Koorliny Arts Centre, Kwinana, WA. Feb 10-25, 2017

Koorliny Arts Centre kicked off their 2017 season with great style, presenting an exciting, very polished production of Chicago.

Directed by Kim Angus in a Brechtian, consciously theatrical style - with actors and stage management visible at the side of stage. This was an intelligent production with a wonderful sense of style.

The fourteen member band are seated across the rear of the stage. The orchestral performance is very tight under the leadership of Andrew Dobosz, and singing is top notch.

You’re My World - The Cilla Black Story

Fringe World. Directed by Danielle O’Malley. Downstairs at the Maj, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth WA. Feb 7-11, 2017

In You’re My World - The Cilla Black Story, Danielle O’Malley transports us back to a Cilla Black Concert at the height of Cilla’s fame, a true celebration of the 1960s singing icon.

Barbu

Cirque Alfonse. Director - Alain Francoeur. Artistic Directors - Antoine Carabinier Lépine, Julie Carabinier Lépine. Sydney Opera House Studio. 8 February – 4 March 2017

It’s the show that dares to push the boundaries of contemporary circus.

Literally translated as “bearded”, Barbu is the creation of Canadian Circus Troupe, Cirque Alfonse and is something to be experienced!

Eclectic and original, the show melds together elements from the Montreal Circus at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries with art, cabaret, traditional Canadian folk songs and modern electronic music.

The Laramie Project

A play by Moises Kaufman and The Members of the Tectonic Theatre Project. Woy Woy Little Theatre's “Flash Community Art Project”. Directed by Jessica Alex. Peninsula Theatre, Woy Woy. Feb 10-12, 2017.

Once upon a time, the US town of Laramie, Wyoming, was best known as the setting for a famous TV western from the early 1960s. All of this changed in October 1998 when 21 year old Matthew Shepard was tied to a fence post, pistol whipped, beaten, tortured and then abandoned in freezing conditions. He was discovered 18 hours later, by a cyclist – who had mistaken him for a scarecrow and was rushed to hospital where he clung to life for the next five days as news of the brutal crime hit national headlines.

Bruce

The Last Great Hunt. Directed by Wyatt Nixon Lloyd and Tim Watts. Fringe World. Perth Town Hall, Cathedral Square, Perth WA. Feb 9-15, 2017

This ‘back by popular demand’ show has had a previous sell-out season in Perth and enjoyed success at the Adelaide and the Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. Presented by The Last Great Hunt, this epic story tells the saga of Bruce, a floating block of yellow foam with a wonderful heart.

A story of space travel, romance, police drama, dozens of characters and the space-time continuum all performed with two performers, a pair of gloves and a block of foam. A major action adventure, beautifully imagined on the smallest scale.

Tapestry: The Songs of Carole King

Sung by Vika Bull and Debra Byrne. Enmore Theatre, Sydney. Friday 10 February, 2017

It’s a few minutes before 8 at the Enmore and the enthusiastic crowd is strikingly different to normal, not so young, not so eager to get tanked up at the well-stocked bar. All shapes and sizes, they’ve come to see original Young Talent Timer (when she was 14) Debra Byrne perform, with Vika Bull, the magical songs from Tapestry, Carole King’s 1971 enduring pop album.

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