Reviews

Long Day's Journey Into Night

By Eugene O'Neill. Independent Theatre. Directed by Rob Croser. Goodwood Institute. March 19 – March 28, 2015.

"Family isn't a word; it's a sentence." This reviewer cannot take credit for coining that particular phrase; nor can Eugene O'Neill - but if a tagline were needed to directly and pithily summarise the general mood of Long Day's Journey Into Night, it would probably do well enough.

Handle It

By Laura Jackson. Director: Janys Hayes. Aspiring Musical Theatre Company. The Street Theatre, Canberra, ACT. March 13 – 15, 2015

Handle It is a one act play written and performed by Laura Jackson. It is a fascinating exploration of how Generation Y interacts with the internet and the nexus of intimacy and publicity, showing how badly things can go wrong after one night.  Laura Jackson shows us seven different characters, each with different views and attitudes, and giving a variety of judgment and compassion. 

The Importance of Being Miriam

Directed and Devised by Peter J Adams. Miriam Margolyes and John Martin. Produced by Andrew McKinnon. Arts Centre Melbourne. 19-22 March, 2015, then touring.

Miriam Margolyes is not only a skilled actor, she’s a wonderful raconteur, a true storyteller. For two hours or so last night, in the first performance of The Importance of Being Miriam, she joked, rambled, confided in the audience and at times moved us deeply in a thoroughly entertaining show. Accompanied by the able John Martin on piano, Ms Margolyes was warm, unpretentious and thoroughly engaging.

Saturday Night Fever

Music & Lyrics: The Bee Gees (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Barry Gibb). Book: Robert Stigwood assisted by Bill Oaks. New Version arranged and edited by Ryan McBride. Director: Madeleine Johns. Musical Director: Sherree Drummond. Choreographer: Brodie Jones & William Motunuu. Redcliffe Musical Theatre & Our Village Production. Redcliffe Cultural Centre, Redcliffe, Qld. 19 March - 12 April, 2015

Ever since the stage version opened in London in 1998, Saturday Night Fever has been in continuous production somewhere in the world. Based on the 1977 movie, which in turn was based on a 1975 New York magazine article Tribal Rights of the New Saturday Night, the story of Brooklyn youth Tony Manero whose love of dancing makes him forget his crummy homelife with a deadbeat alcoholic father the story has resonated with audiences around the planet. Add the iconic disco songs of the Bee Gees and you have a match made in disco heaven.

Dinner

By Moira Buffini. Black Swan. Directed by Kate Cherry. Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, Perth, WA. 14-29 March 2015

The opening of Black Swan's 2015 season, is a high impact production of Moira Buffini's Dinner - a gorgeously designed and sumptuously performed production.

Billed as a WA Premiere (which overlooks community theatre Playlovers' production of Dinner from around 2006), it is one of the strongest productions to emerge from Black Swan in recent years.

Walking With Dinosaurs The Arena Spectacular

Allphones Arena Sydney – 18th – 22nd March; Hisense Area Melbourne – 25th – 29th March; Brisbane Entertainment Centre – 1st – 5th April; Newcastle Entertainment Centre – 9th – 12th April; Perth Arena – 17th – 19th April and Adelaide Entertainment Centre – 23rd – 26th April 2015.

On billboards and online, Walking With Dinosaurs the Arena Spectacular boasts everywhere that it is “the biggest show Sydney has ever seen”. Sydney is, in fact, where it started out in 2007, and after enjoying hit success internationally this esteemed production returns to its place of origin with an updated treat for its viewers, incorporating “colourful changes” that are motivated by recent scientific findings - including the feathering of some major species. 

A Woman On The Edge

Written by Rod Anderson. Presented by: Anderson/Dawson Productions. The Spiegeltent, Salamanca Place, Hobart. Director: Rod Anderson. March 17 (Hobart) & 22 (Launceston) 2015

Claire Dawson’s character Sisi - seen again in A Woman On The Edge - is a young, mad bag that everybody loves. In this Rod Anderson & Claire Dawson production at The Spiegeltent for the Tasmanian International Arts Festival (formerly 10 Days On The Island) Claire Dawson dominates the stage in a One-Woman-Plus show. Claire even appears as her own backing group in some amazing arrangements of old and new songs.

The Producers


By Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
. Director: Kirsten Burdon
. Musical Director: Matthew Reid
. Choreography: Kerrie Boness and Brendan Cascarino. Campbelltown Theatre Group Inc. Town Hall Theatre. March 13 – 28, 2015.

Campbelltown Theatre Group dazzles us with a colourful and fast moving production of The Producers.

Perfect Wedding

By Robin Hawden. Director: Doug Moses. Ipswich Little Theatre. Incinerator Theatre, Ipswich. 4-21 Mar 2015

Farce goes together with community theatre like fish and chips. They’re a natural. Audiences love them, actors love being in them, and theatre companies love their box-office appeal. Perfect Wedding was a perfect example of the genre and a perfect start to Ipswich Little Theatre’s 2015 season.

Danny Elfman’s Music From The Films Of Tim Burton

Adelaide Festival. Adelaide Entertainment Centre. March 14, 2015

Throughout the history of cinema, certain filmmakers have developed such close working relationships with the composers who provide the underscore for their movies that the work of one becomes intrinsically associated with the other – Alfred Hitchcock & Bernard Herrmann; Sergio Leone & Ennio Morricone; David Lean & Maurice Jarre; Steven Spielberg & John Williams; to name just a few of the most famous.

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