News

Staged by Toneelgroep Amsterdam exclusively in Adelaide and for the first time in Australia, visionary director Ivo Van Hove bravely combines three of Shakespeare’s plays, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra into one epic and continuous six-hour political drama, Roman Tragedies.

On 21 March 2014 a cast of 60 international and local artists will converge on the purpose-built 1276sqm stage on Sydney Harbour in Opera Australia’s (OA) modern adaption of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

Along with the Principal Artists announced last year, the full Madama Butterfly company hails from 11 different countries. The cast joins the company of 626staff and crew that come together to make Handa Opera on Sydney Harbourhappen. The Principal Artists will alternate between the ‘Butterfly’ cast and the‘Pinkerton’ cast.

Sydney’s new home for independent musical theatre, the Hayes Theatre Company, named after Australian triple threat legend Nancye Hayes, opens in February 2014 with a new production of her breakthrough show Sweet Charity. Director Dean Bryant spoke to Neil Litchfield prior to rehearsals.

How do you scale back a Broadway musical like Sweet Charity for an intimate space?

High profile performers Geoffrey Rush, Nancye Hayes, Jacki Weaver and Rhonda Burchmore, and theatrical producer John Robertson, have been recognized in the 2014 Australia Day Honours.

Geoffrey Rush has been recognized with the Companion (AC) in the General Division, for eminent services to the arts as a theatre performer, motion picture actor, and film producer, as a role model and mentor for aspiring artists, and through promotion of the Australian arts industry.

Winner of an Oscar, two Golden Globes and an Emmy Award, he was 2012 Australian of the Year.