News

Todd McKenney To Host 2015 Helpmann Awards

Live Performance Australia (LPA) has today (June 8, 2015announced previous Helpmann Awards winner and Australian favourite, Todd McKenney, as the host of the 2015 Helpmann Awards.

The 2015 Helpmann Awards will be held at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre on Monday 27 July on the set of Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Misérables and broadcast live on Foxtel Arts.

LPA Chief Executive, Evelyn Richardson said McKenney is no stranger to the Helpmann Awards stage and LPA is very excited to be working with him this year.

Bring It On The Musical For Sydney

Inspired by the 2000 film about interschool cheers squad rivalry, Bring It On The Musical plays at the NIDA Theatres, Kensington (NSW) from June 27.

Bring It On The Musical tells the story of the challenges and unexpected bonds formed through the thrill of extreme competition when rival high school cheer squads perform explosive dance and aerial stunts, tumbling and flipping across the stage, performing elaborate routines culminating in towering formations of human pyramids.

NATIONAL PLAY FESTIVAL 2015 IN ADELAIDE

Staged in a different Australian city every year and producing its eighth event in July, the National Play Festival is a must for theatre lovers. Lesley Reed reports.

In 2015 the National Play Festival, a fine showcase of contemporary new plays by Australia’s leading playwrights together with new works-in-progress by talented homegrown emerging playwrights, will be hosted by Adelaide.

Acting for Real

Coral Drouyn talks to Jonathan Peck, about to open in his first starring role at The Owl and the Cat in Melbourne.

An illustrious former Prime Minister – Malcolm Fraser – once said “Life wasn’t meant to be easy.” It’s especially true if you’re an actor. Ninety per cent of our actors are out of work at any given time and, whilst a writer can still write; a musician can still play; a designer can still design; an actor needs an audience to act.

A Festival of Fabulous Firsts: Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2015

Brimming with world firsts, a strong Australian flavour and a pinch of F-words, Barry Humphries’ 2015 Adelaide Cabaret Festival will be a smorgasbord of fabulous music, wit and comedy. Lesley Reed previews Humphries’ inaugural curation of an arts festival anywhere in the world.

Fast Five Questions with Keira Daley about Slapdash Song Night!

The next Slapdash Song Night! - motto “Singy-sing, talky-talk, drinky-drink!” - is on Friday June 5, at Ginger’s, upstairs at The Oxford Hotel, 1/132 Oxford St, Darlinghurst.

Guests on June 5 include Shondelle Pratt, ukulele-wielding comedian Jim Fishwick, singer-songwriter Courtney Powell, and the cast of Squabbalogic's upcoming Australian premiere of Triassic Parq.

A GENUINE SISTER ACT

On a whirlwind publicity trip to Brisbane, movie legends Hayley and Juliet Mills found a few minutes to chat with Stage Whispers’ Peter Pinne about their upcoming play Legends.

Brisbane Season Announced for Les Misérables.

Queensland Premier and Arts Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk announced today that Cameron Mackintosh’s current Australian production of Boublil & Schönberg's of Les Misérables will open at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre in November with tickets going on sale this Thursday 21st May.

I welcome Les Misérables to Queensland and am certain that audiences will not miss their chance to see this much-loved musical in a new production at QPAC,” the Premier said.

Australia Council Cut

Acclaimed theatre and film director Neil Armfield has expressed alarm at the decision by the Federal Government to cut ten percent of the budget from the Australia Council in this week's budget.

 

Instead the Minister for the Arts George Brandis has created a new $100 million dollar fund which his Ministry will administer called the National Programme for Excellence in the Arts. This is expected to focus on more popular programs and international touring.

The Importance of Being Miriam Margolyes

Popular character actress Miriam  Margolyes, currently touring Australia in her brand new one-woman show The Importance of Being Miriam, chats with Coral Drouyn.

Miriam Margolyes shares her initials with one of the great stars of the 20th Century, Marilyn Monroe, but that’s where the similarity ends. Miriam is a brilliant character actress, but she would be the first to concede she is no sex symbol.

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