News

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - Full Cast Announced

Following the announcement of multi award-winning leading lady Esther Hannaford, the producers have revealed the full company of the Australian premiere production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

A talented cast of Australian performers will star in the Broadway hit musical which begins performances at a newly refurbished Sydney Lyric Theatre on 17 September 2017.

Dream Lover for Melbourne

Producer John Frost and Chief Executive Officer of Arts Centre Melbourne, Claire Spencer, today (April 30, 2017) announced that they would unite to reinstate the tradition of the annual summer musical in the State Theatre of Arts Centre Melbourne from 2017.

“In days gone by, Melbourne audiences looked forward to enjoying lavish musicals during their summer holidays. Shows like Hello Dolly, The Secret Garden and The King and I opened in late December at the State Theatre and played though January and February,” they said.

Oz Returns With Anthony Warlow as Wizard

John Frost and Suzanne Jones have announced that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s London Palladium production of The Wizard of Oz is coming to Australia. The Australian Premiere will be held in Brisbane in November, then travel to Sydney in December. This new stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz is a revision of the all-time classic. Developed from the ever-popular MGM screenplay, it contains the beloved Harold Arlen and E.Y.

Dr. Theatre Rescues Actress

Imagine being a prolific actress and a playwright at the same time as managing chronic back pain.  That’s the life of Kate Mulvany, who has been cast as the lead in Bell Shakespeare’s Richard III. It was her unique connection to England’s much maligned King that in part inspired her to take on the role. David Spicer reports.

When the skeletal remains of Richard III were exhumed in 2012, more than 500 years after he was killed in battle, Kate Mulvany felt awful for him.

Of Cats, Books, Plays and Writing

Throwing Shade Theatre Company’s new production of Australian play Down an Alley Filled with Cats plays at King Street Theatre, Newtown from April 25 to May 13. Playwright Warwick Moss and director Tom Richards play cat and mouse (or is it devil’s avocado?)

Warwick: Tom, what attracted you to the play besides it having been written by a genius. Why did you want to direct it?

No Small Role

Musical Theatre star Michael Cormick talks to Coral Drouyn on joining the cast of Cabaret for its Melbourne season.

New Aussie Play, New Sydney Theatre Venue

Neveen Hanna and Michael Wood appear in the new Australian play The Future Seekers, premiering at a new venue from 20 April. Here they talk about the play, their roles and performing in the theatre.

 

Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2017

Artistic directors Ali McGregor and Eddie Perfect (pictured left), together with Adelaide Festival Centre, have announced a program of 430 artists in 147 performances over the 16 days and nights of the 2017 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. There are 58 international artists from as far afield as the United States, Ireland, United Kingdom, Japan and New Zealand, together with 372 Australian artists including 234 from South Australia.

The Play That Goes Wrong

A group of out-of-work actors put on a short play in front of their friends and family in a pub and just a few years later it is a global phenomenon. David Spicer speaks with two of the founders of the Mischief Theatre Company - Henry Lewis and Jonathan Sayer - ahead of their play’s Australian debut and national tour.

Naturally something went wrong when I tried to interview these two men. The telephone hook-up was just after midnight London time, after they had finished a performance in the West End – but there was mishap.

2017 Green Room Award Winners

The 34th Annual Green Room Awards were presented live at Melbourne's Comedy Theatre on Monday night, March 27, 2017. The Association's Patron, Julia Zemiro, hosted the evening and was joined onstage by some of Melbourne's most influential performers and industry leaders to celebrate the outstanding work presented in Melbourne during 2016.

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