Reviews

The line-up for the 2026 California Crooners Club, is led by Adelaide favourite son, Hugh Sheridan, with a style that is a mix of stylised contemporary crooner, jazz-infused pop, and high energy cabaret-style showmanship. He is joined by former musical collaborator, Emile Welman, an internationally recognised jazz and R&B performer. The trio is completed by new member, Isaiah Firebrace, known for winning The X Factor Australia in 2016 and representing Australia in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. He primarily sings in the pop, soul, and R&B genres.

Now is a lyrical work that edges into what might be called Theatre of the Absurd.  It is a tale of parallel worlds: the quotidian, everyday world that we think is real, and another world, a world of the mind, called Now where imagination can make dreams come true.  At least, this is my understanding of Helene Tardif’s short play.

A young man, a Son (Andrew Drava) is seen by his parents – Father (Marc Opitz), an overworked advertising man, and melancholy Mother (playwright Helene Tardif) – as a lazy layabout. 

Between schools and community theatres, Perth theatre patrons have had a few opportunities in the last few years to see School of Rock. Despite this, Darlington Theatre Players’ incarnation feels fresh and fun.

Clocking up 33 years in the Australian comedy scene, comedian Dave Hughes’s observations have become part of Australia’s zeitgeist. Loveable larrikin “Hughesy” has been a regular fixture on the comedy circuit, television and radio since he started his career at 22 in Perth, Australia.