Reviews

Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Book: Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins. Music & Lyrics: Various artists. Director: Phyllida Lloyd. Choreographer: Anthony Van Laast. Set & Costume Designer: Mark Thompson. Musical Director: Christina Polimos. Princess Theatre, Melbourne. October 3, 2024 - January 26, 2025.

It's uncommon for the subjects of a biographical musical to be living and actively participate in its production. However, Tina Turner and her second husband, Erwin Bach, served as Executive Producers for the original production of Tina - The Tina Turner Musical, which opened to widespread acclaim in April 2018. Sadly Ms Turner passed away (aged 83) just as the Sydney production was opening in May 2023. Ticket sales for the show in Australia have been extraordinary, and worldwide, it has attracted millions of theatregoers and devoted fans of Ms Turner.

Jane Eyre

By Charlotte Bronté. Adapted for stage by Ali Bendall. Director Ali Bendall. Genesian Theatre. 5 Oct – 10 Nov, 2024

Charlotte Bronté published Jane Eyre under the male pseudonym Currer Bell in England in 1847. In 1868 in faraway Australia, St John’s Church was opened in Kent Street Sydney. Over 150 years later they come together in this in this farewell production in the building that has been the home of the Genesian Theatre Company for 70 years.

Little Shop of Horrors

Music by Alan Menken and lyrics and book by Howard Ashman. The Attic Productions. The Art House, Wyong. Oct 3 – 6, 2024

The Attic Productions has brought their first full musical to the stage with the effervescent and simultaneously ominous Little Shop of Horrors.  The small cast of only fourteen actors managed to fill the space with energy and optimism as the story goes from bad to worse for all of mankind.

Twenty Million Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

Created and Performed by Pummel Squad. Melbourne Fringe. Festival Hub: Trades Hall – Meeting Room. October 2 – 10, 2024

Pummel Squad are a crowd favourite; people are queueing in droves to see their new    fringe show. The experimental theatre collective formed in 2023 boasts absurd, wacky and eccentric mayhem. This is no ordinary theatrical performance; it is a show that stretches and leaps into new territory, offering curious new techniques to tell their story which includes clever popular culture references lucidly tied into the main narrative.

Mamma Mia! the Musical

Book by Catherine Johnson. Music and Lyrics Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus. Tall & Short Theatre Co. The Pavilion Performing Arts Centre Sutherland. October 4th-6th 2024.

Newly formed in 2024, Tall & Short Theatre Co have a very bright and long future, if their 2nd ever show is anything to go by. Following up from their inaugural production of Cruel Intentions the Musical, Mamma Mia! was a delight to view and included some superb performances.

Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon

Choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Queensland Ballet, Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane. 4 to 19 October 2024

The life of French fashion icon, Coco Chanel, has inspired many works of art. As the designer most celebrated for freeing women from corsets and celebrating a more sporty feminine ideal, it is fitting that her latest incarnation should appear in a celebration of dance.

Silly Cow

By Ben Elton. Arena Theatre Productions. Directed by Simon James. City of Gosnells Don Russell Performing Arts Centre, Thornlie, WA. Oct 4-12, 2024

This week sees a mini–Ben Elton Festival playing in Perth and Peel, with two of his works - Silly Cow and We Will Rock You playing concurrent seasons and allowing a keen fan to see both in one day. Silly Cow is being presented by Arena Theatre Productions, and while there was not a huge crowd at its second performance (a Saturday matinee) it was very warmly received.

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Book: Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins. TEG Dainty. Director: Phyllida Lloyd. Musical Supervisor: Nicholas Skilbeck. Choreographer: Anthony Van Laast. Set and Costume Designer: Mark Thompson. Sound Designer: Nevin Steinberg. Lighting Designer: Bruno Post. Projection Designer: Jeff Sugg. Princess Theatre, Melbourne. 3 October 2024 – 26 January, 2025

Tina celebrates the life and work of Tina Turner, a legend of Rock and Roll who won 12 Grammy Awards. Really, really celebrates! The singing, music and choreography are phenomenal, the costumes, lighting and staging are extravagant, and the acting is nuanced, engaging and moving. Surprisingly, for a musical celebrating a legendary live performer, the acting turned out to be central.

The Boy from Oz

Music and Lyrics by Peter Allen. Book by Nick Enright. Presented by Free-Rain Theatre / Anne Somes. Directed by Kristy Griffin. The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. 1 – 20 October 2024

As one of our most beloved home-grown musicals, any production of The Boy from Oz automatically invites comparisons with the original production with Todd McKenney, the hacked-script New York version starring Hugh Jackman, and of course with Peter Allen himself. A local amateur company could not be expected to have the sheer breadth of talent of the 1990s original, or the sheer breadth of cash of the Broadway do-over.  What Free Rain have pulled off here is fun, poignant and full of verve, capturing the vibrance and resilience of Peter Allen himself.

Three Sisters

By Anton Chekhov, adapted by the company. Tempest Theatre. Directed by Susie Conte. The Studio, Subiaco Arts Centre, WA. Oct 2-5, 2024

Tempest Theatre’s one hour adaptation strips Chekhov’s original Three Sisters to its essence. A visually beautiful, quite poetic production, it looks at the women’s lack of choice, and how they are trapped by circumstances, giving us a much more sympathetic and relatable tale that resonates more strongly with the audience.

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