News

Getting into a dress and glamming it up is a well-worn ticket to stardom for Australian male performers and Trevor Ashley has made a lucrative career out of it.

David Spicer reports.

No fewer than seven of his cabaret extravaganzas were staged in 2013; from cruise ships to the West End to the most prestigious stages around Australia.

His next big gig is Diamonds are for Trevor at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse, a tribute to Dame Shirley Bassey.

Heats of The Your Theatrics International Cabaret Contest (YTICC) wrapped this week after heats in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Auckland. The Grand Final line-up competing for the chance to win the largest cabaret prize in Australasia will be: Sydney heat winners Melody Beck, Sarah Gaul, Brendan Hay, Monique Salle, and audience vote winner Ben Hudson, as well as inaugural Adelaide heat winner Candy Chambers (aka Jamie Jewell), Brisbane winner Jessica Papst, Melbourne winner Jenny Wynter and wild-card Ivy Lucille, and finally Auckland winner Joanna Millett.

Cast members of King Kong are putting together a charity concert in support of Mission Australia, to be performed on January 19, 2014.

“A couple of months back, I decided to organise a charity concert for the cast of King Kong to perform in,” Josh Robson, who is currently performing in the production of King Kong at the Regent Theatre as part of the ensemble told Stage Whispers.

The season for 2014 at New Theatre in King Street, Newtown, ranges across drama, comedy and musical theatre, promising Sydney audiences will enjoy the work of local and international writers and the talents of seven women directors!

There are two Australian premieres, two Sydney premieres, adaptations of beloved novels, and revivals of a much-loved Australian contemporary play and a ground-breaking gay work.