News

Cast Announced for Chess The Musical

Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Paulini, Rob Mills, Alexander Lewis & Mark Furze are set to star in Chess The Musical touring Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane from April to June 2021. 

Snowmen

The male leads play second fiddle in the Disney musical Frozen – which centres on the relationship between two sisters – but they don’t mind at all. David Spicer spoke to the men playing Olaf, Hans and Kristoff at the beginning of what is expected to be a national tour.

Matt Lee is a Disney veteran, having toured the world as Bert in Mary Poppins. In this production he’s swapping soot for snow as the hot Snowman Olaf.

BMF Brings Waves of Beautiful Music to the World

Kitty Goodall reports.

The 4th annual Brisbane Music Festival (BMF) is back for 2021 running from February 12 through to December 12. BMF’s 48-person creative team is presenting 24 events (including seven world premieres) across 11 venues, all supported by a comprehensive ‘pay to play’ digital offering.

Guitar Virtuoso Starts the Year with a Flamenco Flavour

Southern Cross Soloists are starting their 2021 playlist with a bang. Their maiden show Souvenirs De Aranjuez features none other than ARIA Award-winning virtuoso guitarist Slava Grigoryan supported by a team of talented musicians at QPAC. Originally intended as a 25th birthday celebration for the ensemble, instead their first concert of 2021 will mark the beginning of the the Southern Cross Soloists’ journey toward their jubilee.

Putting People Centre Stage in Our Town

In final rehearsals: Our Town by Thornton Wilder, Queensland Theatre (QT) at the Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane, 30 January to 20 February 2021

In the lead-up to opening night for QT’s production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Beth Keehn from Stage Whispers sat in on rehearsals and met some of the Our Town creative community.

Putting people centre stage: Lee Lewis and Nathalie Ryner set the scene for Our Town

Ordinary Life Made Extraordinary in Our Town

In final rehearsals: Our Town by Thornton Wilder, Queensland Theatre (QT) at the Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane, 30 January to 20 February 2021

Hugh Parker and Amy Lehpamer talk connections – and cooking!

Musicals in 2021 and Beyond

Major musicals will roar back into life in 2021, once theatre-goers have had injections of both confidence and a vaccine.

The elimination of community transmission of COVID-19 in most of Australia has given large scale Performing Arts a shot in the arm.  WA opened up first. Next came NSW with 75% to 85% of tickets available for sale. Queensland is allowing 100% capacity from January.

Image from Hamilton - US Nagional tour. Photogapher: Joan Marcus.

 

Hamilton

 

Queensland Theatre's Our Town is THEIR Town

In final rehearsals: Our Town by Thornton Wilder, Queensland Theatre (QT) at the Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane, 30 January to 20 February 2021

Jimi Bani and Andrew Buchanan tell Stage Whispers why Our Town is THEIR town. 

Does Sport Score On Stage?

Plays and musicals about sport don’t always hit it out of the park, but Sunshine Supergirl - a new show about the life of tennis legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley - looks set to ace audiences at the Sydney Festival and beyond. Jasper Bruce reports.

Sport and theatre have a troublesome relationship. True, there have been high-profile attempts to transplant sport onto the stage. In the wrong hands, however, something is often lost in the translation. After all, sport relies on immediacy, while theatre operates under the illusion of it.

Drummer Queens

A female percussion group is beating a new path around Australia this year. David Spicer spoke to Joe Accaria, the creator and composer of Drummer Queens, which is on stage in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

David Spicer: Men like making lots of noise and are often associated with drums - what prompted you to create a show for female drummers?

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