Wicked got a boost on the eve of its Sydney opening by taking out six Helpmann Awards including Best Musical.
The industry awards were presented last night by Live Entertainment Australia at the Sydney Opera Australia.
A triumphant Producer John Frost told the Black tie event " this show is an absolute joy, Sydney you are in for a big treat then the rest of Australia."
David Spicer reports on the fastest and ‘silliest’ show on earth.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1980’s spectacular, Starlight Express, is being staged on a grand scale during July in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch.
Producer Stewart Macpherson is a brave man. In the midst of a recession he is rolling out the ‘biggest’ musical New Zealand has ever seen. It is too big for traditional theatres. This production is being staged in sporting and entertainment arenas.
It has been announced that Jersey Boys - The story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons - will play its final Melbourne performance at the Princess Theatre on July 25, by which time the Tony Award winning hit musical will have played 453 performances. Jersey Boys will open in Sydney, at the Theatre Royal, on September 18.
Prior to the Melbourne season, Bobby Fox spoke to Stage Whispers about auditioning and preparing for his first lead role, as Frankie Valli.
Four centuries ago Shakespeare immortalised the lovers Romeo and Juliet. Their tragedy has been retold ever since, across genres from the musical West Side Story, to film versions including Baz Luhrman’s startling re-interpretation. Irish director Orpha Phelan, here to direct Opera Australia’s production of her acclaimed interpretation of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, spoke to Neil Litchfield.
The Adelaide Cabaret Festival under the new Artistic Direction of David Campbell is proving an artistic success and being well patronized.
Kate Peters reports that the mood around the Festival theatre is euphoric.
There’s a buzz that I haven’t felt for a long time. With up to 4 venues all featuring excellent shows (lasting well into the night with a visit to the classy Piano Bar), this is a well-funded, enthusiastically supported festival which is now regarded as world class.
Actor Geoffrey Rush has won a Tony Award - Broadway's most coveted prize - for his heralded performance in Exit The King.
Rush won in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play category.
The win is the latest honour for the 57-year-old Australian, who has won an Oscar, two Golden Globes and three Screen Actors Guild awards for his film work.
The win was predicted by Peter Pinne in the current edition of Stage Whispers Magazine.
Kookaburra Founder Peter Cousens says the demise of his music theatre company has cost him his reputation and his home.
Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald Mr Cousens revealed the great personal financial cost of the failed venture.
"Having guaranteed the debts of the company, I have materially lost everything - my home job and no doubt, my reputation," he said.
The hit song from Chess claims “One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster,” but frankly you’re going to need much more than one night to savor Thailand’s theatrical delights, as Peter Pinne found out when he became Stage Whispers’ first official foreign correspondent.
Hundreds of friends, family members and fans packed Melbourne's St Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday May 21, 2009 for the state funeral to farewell legendary actor Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, who passed away at the age of 86.
The eulogies focussed as much on his war record as his acting career.
"People asked what was it like to have a famous actor for a father," said his son Dr Christopher Tingwell.
"I was prouder of him being a Spitfire pilot ... that fitted the bill more of a hero."
