Despite the lockdowns, Queensland’s thriving creative community showed its staying power as its productions in 2020 and 2021 were celebrated at this year’s Matilda Awards held on 30 March at Brisbane’s Powerhouse. Hosted by the talented Paul Dellit OAM and Judy Hainsworth, the awards reflected a flourishing diversity of show types and themes.
Todd McKenney, Rhonda Burchmore, Rob Mills and Asabi Goodman are joining Shane Jacobson, as Edna Turnblad, to star in the upcoming premiere of the Tony Award winning Broadway production of Hairspray, set to open at the Regent Theatre in August.
Director Jack O’Brien (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and Choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots), lead a Broadway creative team to present Hairspray in Australia as originally intended.
Australian Theatre For Young People (ATYP) will present the world premiere of The Deb from 6th April to 22nd May. The Deb marks the company’s first show in four years back at their newly renovated home at Pier 2/3 in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct.
Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and Queensland Theatre have revealed the stars of the revival of The Sunshine Club that will swing into the Playhouse from 9 to 30 July 2022.
Ballet dancers are seen but not heard. Yet the musical An American in Paris requires an extraordinary mix of skills. Broadway star Robert Fairchild – on tour in Australia - explains to David Spicer how challenging the title role is.
In 2016, I scored a single ticket to An American in Paris in New York, and the combination of Gershwin’s gorgeous music, an eye-popping set, and a full ballet made this one of my most enjoyable nights in the theatre ever.
Audiences are being brought closer to the action than ever before. Productions ranging from The Great Gatsby, to Peter Pan, to Blindness and Monopoly are set to entertain and immerse Australian theatregoers. David Spicer surveys the new landscape.
Tim Lawson in association with Michael Harrison and The Really Useful Group have announced that after two seasons at The London Palladium, the brand new production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will come to Australia, opening at the Regent Theatre, Melbourne on 10 November 2022. Melbourne’s opening will be the first staging of this newly reimagined production outside of the UK, and comes 30 years after the show was last produced professionally
