Reviews

Stirling Players’ production of Newsies is highly energized, and packed to the brim with talented young people giving their all.

Teenage misfits don’t come much more extreme than Carrie White. Based on the classic horror book (and 1976 film) by Stephen King, and the screenplay by Lawrence D Cohen (who also wrote the book for the musical), this Carrie is all-singing, all-dancing – all-horror. The 1988 script doesn’t hit all the usual musical high notes – despite being coproduced with the Royal Shakespeare Company, with choreography by the legendary Debbie Allen, the original Broadway production famously tanked but gained a cult status.

Galleon Theatre Group are based in the Domain Theatre in Marion. This intimate space suits their latest offering perfectly. The action takes place in one room for the entirety of the play. A hospital room, designed by Rosie Aust, Kym Clayton and Michael Ralph and dressed by Elaine Latcham, provides a large performing space for the action to follow.

The first of Ensemble Q’s Sundays by the Lake performances was well worth the trip out to the University of Queensland. The concert took place in the stunning building no. 49 which has a glass wall so you can look out across the stage to the lake, trees and wildlife beyond. It was the perfect setting for the melancholic themed program, featuring works by two composers who tragically died young, but who continued to compose even in the face of cruel and final illness.