News

New Zealand Theatre 2012

New Zealand’s major theatres and theatre companies are publishing their 2012 programmes and there is plenty to get excited about. Aneta Ruth reports.

Homegrown writing is all the rage this coming season. All the kids are doing it. It’s ‘trending’.

A Chorus Line: Homecoming for Gerrard Carter

Gerrard Carter who plays Larry, the assistant choreographer, in the new Australian production of A Chorus Line, has returned to Australia after 16 years dancing in Europe, on Broadway, and even at the Oscars. He speaks to Neil Litchfield.

A Chorus Line is very much the dancers’ and performers’ story. Are there parallels in your own career?

Carnegie 18: Musicals in the Raw.

Arts Centre Melbourne doesn’t just workshop new musicals. It puts them on. This year the venue is producing a three-week season of the most successful new work tried out at the venue last year.

It’s part of the program called Carnegie 18. That’s a medical term used to describe the stage of development when an embryo’s inner-ear is formed.

This year’s program takes place from February 1 to 7, showcasing three new Australian musicals.

The first new work is The New Black.

An Officer and a Gentleman The Musical: Songs for Download

A CD featuring five songs, plus video clips, from An Officer and a Gentleman The Musical  is free now with the May / June 2012 edition of Stage Whispers.

www.stagewhispers.com.au/news/our-amazing-print-and-first-ever-e-edition

Our earlier coverage of the music downloads.

Geoffrey Rush Australian of the Year

Geoffrey Rush has been named Australian of the year - marking his extraordinary 40 year contribution to cinema and the performing arts.

He is pictured above reading the news in Stage Whispers Magazine. ( OK that is a joke)

But we at Stage Whispers salute him and laud the decision to recognise a leader in the performing arts for this honour.

The second Australian of the Year award in 1961 went to Dame Joan Sutherland.

Sir Robert Helpmann followed in 1965.

But since then many more sportsmen and woman have got the gong.

The Boys: The Women and The Playwright.

Griffin Theatre Company has revived Gordon Graham’s the play The Boys, 21 years on from its premiere production at Sydney’s Stables Theatre. The playwright, and the four actors who play the women in the play spoke to Neil Litchfield.

I began my conversation with Gordon Graham by asking what led him to write a play based on the brutal rape and murder of Anita Cobby.

Cate and Andrew exit Stage Left.

The hunt is on for a new artistic director of The Sydney Theatre Company following confirmation that Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton are stepping  down at the end of next year.

It’s not unexpected – Cate Blanchett told Stage Whispers last year that she always intended that her joint role with her husband to be a short term appointment with a departure date on the horizon.

The pair have been joint directors of the company since 2008, when they succeeded Robyn Nevin. A new artistic director will take over in 2014.

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