News

GREASE Returns to Australian Stages

Leading Australian theatre producer John Frost and London theatre impresario David Ian today (January 22, 2013) announced that the ever popular musical GREASE will return to Australian stages later this year. Auditions will commence shortly for this new multi-million dollar production, and tour details will be announced in coming months.

Festival Fever Leaves Some Cold

It’s becoming a growth industry. No longer is one festival a year for enough for Australia’s major cities. Now Cabaret, Fringe, Comedy and even festivals of light are cramming the diary. Is the feast for audiences good for local artists?  David Spicer speaks with the Directors of the Sydney, Perth and Adelaide Festivals.

Twenty Years as Head Chief Rabbit.

The Australian Shakespeare Company’s adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows has returned for another season in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, where the show has been entertaining Melburnians for over a quarter of a century. The show is also playing at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens.

2012 Sydney Theatre Awards Winners

Belvoir dominated the mainstage awards at the 2012 Sydney Theatre Awards, presented tonight (January 14, 2013) at a star-studded ceremony attended by more than 300 members of the Sydney theatre community in the auditorium at Paddington RSL.

The awards, celebrating the best of Sydney theatre throughout 2012, featured Star Guest Presenters Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones, currently in Sydney rehearsing for Driving Miss Daisy.

Summer Soleil.

In 1998, alone in Las Vegas, I saw Cirque de Soleil for the first time, and began a love affair with its magic which will culminate (for now) with the Melbourne Premiere of OVO this coming Thursday. In the years between I have seen 8 different shows in four different countries, bought five soundtracks, eleven masks, celebrated my engagement, and taken as many friends and relatives as I could possibly gather. I am a member of the Cirque de Soleil Club and unashamedly hooked. Why? Well….because……

VALE: BILLE BROWN, AM.

Actor / Director / Playwright (b. Bioela, Queensland Australia, 11 January 1952 – d. 13 January 2013, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)

Often referred to as ‘The Boy From Biloela,’ acclaimed Australian stage, film and television actor and playwright Bille Brown passed away peacefully on Sunday 13 January 2013 after a short illness, aged 61, in a hospital on Brisbane’s northside. He had been ill for some time but refused to let on just how serious his condition was until recently.

Brand New Jersey Boys.

Those Jersey Boys are back in Melbourne for 14 weeks at the Princess Theatre. Coral Drouyn speaks with the new cast members and takes a trip down memory lane.

Romeo and Juliet, Possums and Picnics.

Shakespeare’s great romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet is being played out nightly at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens, where the star-crossed lovers regularly share their picturesque setting with furry guest artists and other festive distractions.

Claire Nicholls, playing Juliet’s mother, Lady Capulet, speaks to Neil Litchfield about the joys and challenges of playing the Bard under the stars.

Leading Theatre Producer Puts Company into Liquidation.

EXCLUSIVE

STOP PRESS -  Hit Productions is back seeking Government funds for tours in 2014. Industry appears to be giving Christine Harris a second chance.

Christine Harris, who runs Australia’s largest privately run theatre touring company, has placed her company Follow Your Dreams ( Aust ) Pty Ltd into liquidation, citing debts of $1.7 million.

A meeting was held on January the 9th in Melbourne, chaired by Liquidator David Loftus of SV Partners, to begin the process of winding the company up.

Mainstage Theatre Seasons 2013

All the season brochures for mainstage theatre companies in Australia now out. Of course you can’t see everything. Who has the time or the money? To help, Stage Whispers asked the theatre companies to select shows for different theatre ‘types’.

Theatre Tragics. For someone who goes to the theatre often, and wants to see a stand out production.

Something Edgy. For theatregoers whose priority is challenging and innovative theatre.

Just Entertain Me. Lots of laugh please.

Younger Audiences. I’m 21 or younger; speak to my generation.

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