Reviews

Neighbourhood Watch

By Lally Katz. Illuminate Educate. Bondi Pavilion. May 28 – June 6, 2015.

The theatre was packed with year 11 drama students lapping up a play by a writer who was young, hip and even knew the ins and outs of computer games.  

Neighbourhood Watch, first staged by Belvoir only a few years back, has crept onto the New South Wales Higher School drama list.

A teacher with them reliably informed me that as well keeping the students thoroughly engaged with the jokes and story line, there were influences of Brecht and magic realism in the drama to study.

Legends!

By James Kirkwood. Director: Christopher Renshaw. John Frost Production. Playhouse, QPAC. Opening Night: 2 June 2015 (later touring to Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne).

Star-driven plays have been the backbone of the commercial theatre since the days of Shakespeare. J.C. Williamson’s built their empire on them and these days Broadway or the West End couldn’t survive without them, but they’re been very thin on the ground in Australia in recent times. John Frost is redressing the situation following his success with Angela Lansbury in Driving Miss Daisy two years ago, by starring the Mills sisters, Hayley and Juliet, in a play about two aging down-on-their-luck cinema divas, who want to kick-start their careers on Broadway.

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

By Terrence McNally. Directed by Peter Rhodes. Lighting Design: Sean Churchward. Sound Design: Bernard Teuben. Castle Hill Players (NSW). Pavilion Theatre June 5-27, 2015.

First staged Off -Broadway in 1987, Terrence McNally’s play has been nominated for Tony awards and adapted for the screen with Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer in the title roles. It is a play not often found in community theatre repertoires as it involves some nudity and requires very sensitive acting and directing – both of which Castle Hill Players has managed to achieve. Though the action and the dialogue are very personal and revealing, the production is evocative, and the actors achieve a realism that is disarmingly natural.

An Australian One-Act Play Triple Bill

Wyong Drama Group. 'The Card Players' and 'Home Fires Burning' – Directed by Pollyanna Forshaw. 'The Maltese Mouse' - Directed by Alexandra Travers. The Grove Theatre. May 29-30, 2015

Normally at this time of year Wyong Drama Group play host to an open invitational festival of one-act plays. With the construction of $12.7m Performing Arts Centre due for completion next year, the festival is in hiatus, but clearly the urge to put a lot of energy into a very short season at their temporary home was still strong. The three plays were all penned by multi-award winning, former resident playwright Peter Kocan.

She Only Barks at Night

Living Room Theatre. Vet School Roundhouse at The University of Sydney. May 27 – 31, 2015

Performance installation is one of those theatre genres that often tiptoe a dangerous line between work that is evocative and inane. Living Room Theatre’s She Only Barks at Night slips back and forth between the two.

Anything Goes

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter. New Book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman. Directed by Dean Bryant. Princess Theatre Melbourne, May 31st-July 14th, 2015, then Brisbane and Sydney.

Oh what a glorious evening of perfect old-fashioned entertainment we were treated to with the opening of Anything Goes. No angst, no rock music, no moralising,…just plenty of  marvellous music, elegant costumes and showy dance routines. The fact that the humour is pure slapstick and corny hocum most of the time simply adds to the charm of the show.

Mary Poppins

Music & Lyrics: Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman. Additional Music & Lyrics:. George Stiles & Anthony Drewe. Book: Julian Fellowes. Empire Theatres Production.. Director/Choreographer: Alison Vallette. Musical Director: Lorraine Fuller. Empire Theatre, Toowoomba, 28 May – 7 June, 2015

Mary Poppins is great family entertainment and this production was great community theatre. The level of professionalism shown in direction, performance, lighting and design was top-tier.

Kurt Elling with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne (part of Melbourne International Jazz Festival). May 30-31, 2015

According to the quote from the Washington Post used to promote Kurt Elling's performances with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, "he has come to embody the creative spirit in jazz", and certainly there was plenty of creative spirit on display for his second and final performance at this year’s Melbourne International Jazz Festival.

Educating Rita

By Willy Russell. Directed by Mark Kilmurry. Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. May 27 - June 28, 2015

The Ensemble Theatre on Sydney’s north shore lays claim to being the country’s longest, continuously running professional theatre company, thanks to a very healthy base of subscribers. It’s built up this loyalty with seasons of largely conventional plays rather than radical ideas. Educating Rita, which it’s staged a number of times before,is among such conventional works: a 1980 British comedy with just two actors in a two-act narrative.

Dreamgirls

Book and Lyrics by Tom Eyen. Music by Henry Krieger. StageArt. Directed by Terence O’Connell. Chapel off Chapel, 28th May – 14th June, 2015.

We have so much to thank StageArt for. They’re a brave company who are committed to bringing us musicals that Main Stage producers won’t touch – thus giving us a chance to see shows we otherwise would never see. Earlier this year it was the marvellous In The Heights – a production in a league of its own. Now it’s Dreamgirls, a 1981 Tony winner and later a successful film, but a show that even 34 years later we would not be seeing were it not for StageArt.

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