News

Two Musicals, Two Families

No matter what the subject, musicals need to explore issues and themes everyone can relate to. Rick Elice, the co-writer of Broadway musicals The Addams Family and Jersey Boys (with Marshall Brickman), explains to Neil Litchfield about the stories connected with these two very different musicals.

How flowerchildren and Magnormos Bloomed

Melbourne Production Company Magnormos is entering its second decade in style, stepping up to stage a season of flowerchildren – the Mamas and Papas story at the Comedy Theatre. David Spicer and Lucy Graham report.

Written by AFI award winner Peter Fitzpatrick, flowerchildren is a musical about late sixties band sensation The Mamas and The Papas. It has great music and Jersey Boys style off-stage drama including a debilitating love-triangle, drugs, sex, deceit, alcoholism, and chronic over-eating.  

Meet King Kong

He is large, he is black, he is muscular, and he is the new kid on the music theatre block.

Early on Monday morning, as bleary-eyed office workers were beginning the working week, the long-awaited King Kong was revealed at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne.

Vale John Sumner

Melbourne Theatre Company is deeply saddened to announce that its founder and longest-serving Artistic Director, John Sumner AO CBE passed away on Friday 24 May, 2013, after a brief illness, aged 88 years.

Idina Menzel: Flying High

Original Broadway Wicked star Idina Menzel is Defying Gravity and heading for a concert tour of Australia. She took time out to chat to Coral Drouyn about the joys of being in love with what she’s doing.

Dame Julie Drops In

Like Mary Poppins with her magical umbrella, the great Julie Andrews is dropping in for a series of one-night stands round Australia and New Zealand. And she’s bringing one of Captain Von Trapp’s sons with her. Ahead of he tour, Frank Hatherley spoke to Nicholas Hammond, the American born Aussie who learnt his most important show business lesson from Julie Andrews, whilst playing Frederich in the movie of The Sound of Music.

Aussie Youth Theatre Companies Take on the World

Adelaide-based theatre companies Patch Theatre Company, Slingsby and Windmill Theatre are the flavour of the month in the USA. All recently secured international bookings, including a season on Broadway. Robert Dunstan reports.

It could be something in the water? But regardless what the secret recipe is – Adelaide is producing youth theatre that the world wants to see.

The Addams Family Down Under

Director Jerry Zaks and several cast members of the macabre family’s musical spoke to Neil Litchfield prior to its Australian Premiere in March 2013.

The invention of American cartoonist Charles Addams (1912 – 1988), The Addams Family was originally created as a series of 150 single panel cartoons, first published by The New Yorker in 1938.

Two Australian Premiere Musicals for Squabbalogic Season

Sydney based boutique music theatre company Squabbalogic Independent Music Theatre has announced its first ever official annual season for 2013, featuring two Australian premieres - Broadway’s 2010 political punk rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and arguably the most infamous musical of all time, Carrie The Musical, in a revised and reimagined version.

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