Reviews

The Big Time

By David Williamson. Ensemble Theatre. Directed by Mark Kilmurry. January 18 - March 16, 2019

The question posed every year by David Williamson’s annual World Premiere productions at the Ensemble Theatre is has his latest play earnt its stripes on the quality of the work or his famous name? The answer in 2019, for play number 54, is that The Big Time is one of his best in recent years, likely to delight the company’s traditional audience.

Playtime 2

By Kier Shoosmith and cast. Connections Nightclub, Northbridge, WA. 21-23 January, 2019

Playtime 2 is the sequel to the popular Playtime from last year’s FringeWorld. Playing a very short season at Connections Nightclub, this is Play School if it was made for millennials. Songs, play and craft to help people in twenties navigate the scary adult world.

Bright, colourful and happy, this unlikely combination of children’s theatre (for adults) and big issues, is funny and refreshing and keeps its audience involved throughout.

Les Misérables

Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg. Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. Original French text byAlain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel. Additional Material by James Fenton. Adaptation by Trevor Nunn and John Caird. Young Australian Broadway Chorus. National Theatre, St Kilda. January 18 – 26, 2019.

A brilliant new production under the fabulous direction of Robert Coates, Young Australian Broadway Chorus present an outstanding staging of the Boublil and Schonberg’s musical Les Misérables currently on at the National Theatre, St Kilda.

The French novel by Victor Hugo, written in 1862, considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century, was adapted into a musical in 1980 and has since become the second longest running musical in the world.

Maisie

Music and Lyrics by Paris Ceglinski. Amor é Music. Fringe World. The Studio, Subiaco Arts Centre, WA. 18-19 January, 2019

This fun-sized musical for kids deserved a longer run, playing just four matinee performances on the opening days of the Fringe World festival.

For those who remember the early days of Barking Gecko, this was a step back in time, with a packed studio and children seated on the floor at the front. A warm family experience and a lovely first theatre experience for some.

The Tempest

By William Shakespeare. Presented by Oz Act. Loch Ard Gorge, Port Campbell National Park. 19 & 20 and 26 & 27 January 2019

The return of Oz Act to Loch Ard Gorge for a performance of The Tempest is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the more mystical elements of this play. The surroundings create a perfect backdrop for the themes of isolation and being subject to the force of nature.

Cyrano de Bergerac

By Edmond Rostand. Adapted by Glyn Maxwell. Blue Sky Theatre Productions and Open Gardens South Australia, Collingrove Homestead (and other SA gardens), 11 January to 2 February 2019

The comedy and tragedy of a Frenchman with a large nose was Edmond Rostand’s peerless creation in 1897. Written for a nation that was in danger of forgetting its art and culture, Cyrano de Bergerac symbolises the still relevant struggle between skin-deep attraction and the lasting beauty of a soul.

Velma Celli’s A Brief History Of Drag

Chapel Off Chapel (Melbourne), January 18 and 19; The Factory Theatre (Sydney), February 4 and De Parel Spiegeltent (Perth), February 7 to 10, 2019

We all love a good drag show and when one pops up that is defiantly different, first we raise an eyebrow and then embrace the new with open arms.

Velma Celli, aka Ian Stroughair, delivers a novel new show that is honest and bona fide authentic. More importantly it is his own personal story as a musical theatre artist and journey into solo performance.

Beauty and the Beast

Music: Alan Menken. Lyrics: Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Book: Linda Woolverton. Ballina Players, Players Theatre. Director: Jacquie McCalman. 11th – 20th January 2019

Ballina Players never cease to entertain their audiences and their first production of the year, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, has set a very high standard for the 2019 season.

With a cast of around 50, the stage sprang to life and there wasn’t one dull spot in the whole performance.

As is the practice at Ballina, the January show is their youth production and with the majority of the cast and their five piece band under 25 it was an exhilarating experience. The best show I have enjoyed for the ten years that I have been reviewing there!

The Voice Behind the Stars

Written & performed by Eliza Jackson. Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, 18 – 19 January 2019; Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney, Jan 23 & 24; The Gold Digger, Fringe World, Perth, Feb 10 - 13.

The name ‘Marni Nixon’ is probably best known to the fans of movie musicals: she’s the singer whose voice was dubbed in to replace the singing voices of Deborah Kerr (The King and I), Natalie Wood (West Side Story) and Audrey Hepburn (My Fair Lady).  She also did some high notes for Marylin Monroe in ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’.

Brett and Wendy … A Love Story Bound by Art

Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image. Sydney Festival. Riverside Theatres Parramatta. January 18 – 27, 2019.

Using music, dance, projections and snatches of dialogue, Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image emphasises the visuality of theatre as it explores one of the most famous and vibrant Australian art stories. Brett Whiteley and Wendy Julius met and fell in love as teenagers at a time when social and artistic boundaries were being challenged and broken. Together they embraced a new era of excitement and risk-taking … in life and art.

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