News

Annie Childrens Cast Announced

Brisbane children's cast now been announced - see the article - Link

Our earlier coverage of the casting of the Sydney children follows.

On August 25, 2011, producer John Frost today announced the 24 children who have been cast in the upcoming production of the ever-popular Broadway musical Annie. There will be three different casts alternating in the roles of Annie and the seven orphans.

New Musicals Australia Announces Next Round of Workshops

New Musicals Australia has announced the next round of works selected to undergo workshops for further development in November / December 2011, and the creative teams.

Behind the Phantom Mask: Meet Ben Lewis

Desperate times call for desperate measures. During previews for Love Never Dies, line changes came so fast and furious that Ben Lewis, playing the Phantom, jotted them down on the handiest prop. Lucy Graham went backstage to peak behind the mask.

An Officer and a Gentleman

World Premiere Musical For Sydney in 2012

It was announced today (August 15) by Barry O’Farrell, Premier of NSW, that Sydney has won the right to host the World Premiere season of the new musical An Officer and a Gentleman in 2012.

Neil Litchfield was at the musical's launch, on the Flight Deck of the HMAS Sydney, at Sydney’s Garden Island, and spoke to members of the creative and producing team afterwards.

Perth Premiere Attracts Ad Ban

Advertising for the Perth Theatre Company’s Australian Premiere of Tender Napalm by British playwright and provocateur, Philip Ridley (The Pitchfork Disney, Mercury Fur) has proved a bit too provovative.

Banned from billboards in Mt Lawley and Osborne Park as too explicit, the publicity image of a waist up naked couple in an embrace (see image) was banned by the Public Transport Authority, believing it breaches the Australian Association of National Advertisers’ code of ethics.

Transparency

Powerfully written, thought-provoking... Part thriller, part social-drama.

In September 2011, for the first time in its history, the Seymour Centre will produce a new Australian play from the ground up in partnership with Riverside Theatres and directed by Tim Jones, Artistic Director of the Seymour; the Australian premiere of Transparency, a bold new Australian play by Suzie Miller

Opera (and Musicals) for the Masses.

Opera Australia should have the largest audience in history in 2012 – announcing a series of blockbuster productions that will tour Australia.

Included are fireworks on the harbour, English translations of popular classics and a taste of Broadway.

Teddy Tahu Rhodes (pictured) stars in the award-winning Lincoln Center Theatre’s production of South Pacific, that will run for four weeks at the Sydney Opera House before heading off on a national tour.

It’s the first season under the artistic leadership of Lyndon Terracini.

How to Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular to Premiere in Australia

In Melbourne this morning (March 7, 2012) Lucy Graham joined the media pack at Hisense Arena to meet the stars, ahead of the World Premiere of How to Train Your Dragon-Arena Spectacular.

After three months of rehearsals, Director Nigel Jamieson is ‘not getting too much sleep’, saying while the show is completely safe, there are so many interconnected computer cues, that the slightest glitch has the potential to bring the show undone.

Circle Mirror Transformation.

Annie Baker sets her critically acclaimed play Circle Mirror Transformation in an acting class to channel the uncertainty, curiosity and suffering of five ordinary people with a lot of emotional baggage. Directed by MTC Associate Director Aidan Fennessy, it opens on Friday 19 August 2011 at 7pm at the MTC Theatre, Lawler Studio.

Awful Theatre for Brisbane

If you enjoy theatre that is provocative, challenging and fiercely imaginative you’ll be right at home with The Black Lung’s I Feel Awful, set to hit the stage for Queensland Theatre Company and Brisbane Festival from August 31. I Feel Awful is a black comedy about adoration, betrayal, bad art and awful people.

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