Koorliny Arts Centre Announces 2015 Season

On Friday night, July 25, invited guests gathered at Kwinana's Koorliny Arts Centre (WA) for their 2015 launch.

The Arts Centre was decorated with canopies and bubbles and guests enjoyed canapés…and bubbles before moving to the main auditorium for the announcement of the Centre produced shows for next year.

Koorliny Arts Centre Manager Ryan Taafe hosted the announcement of the four musicals which will be produced in conjunction with the Kwinana Industries Council.

Kicking off the year will be Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The February show will be directed by Katherine Friend, with the team, including Musical Director Justin Friend, who created Annie earlier this year. The production was introduced with a lovely performance by Elethea Sartorelli.

The second show was announced by Rachel Monamy powerfully singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". Evita will be performed in May, under the direction of Finley Award winning director Stephen Carr.

The Secret Garden will be performed in August, directed by Darren Bilston. It was announced with a duet from the show, well performed by Ryan Taafe and Allen Blachford. Chatting to the director post announcement, he stated how excited he is to be directing The Secret Garden, a show he loves.

The final show for 2015 will be the rock musical Tommy. It will be directed by Ryan Taafe, the champion of directing "Big, gay musicals", whose current production Xanadu opens shortly at Koorliny. Drue Goodwin powered through a number from the show, with exuberant crowd support.

Koorliny's 2014 season is only half completed with Xanadu and Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella still to open. The centre also hosts a large number of touring productions and in 2015 these will include The Last 5 Years and The One Day of the Year.

The first reminder that 2014 is beginning to wind down, the Koorliny Launch was a wonderful promise that 2015 will bring some fabulous theatre to Western Australia. I am curious to know whether Koorliny Arts Centre is the first in the country to announce their intentions for 2015.

Kimberley Shaw