Reviews

La Passion de Simone

Music by Kaija Saariaho. Libretto by Amin Maalouf. Sydney Chamber Opera. Directed by Imara Savage Carriageworks, Sydney. January 9-11, 2019

The high-concept and difficult work La Passion de Simone has been described as at the cutting edge of the operatic form. Written by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho as a meditation on the life of French philosopher Simone Weil, it consists of a solo singer Jane Sheldon with the backing of a 19-piece orchestra and four vocalists. It’s fitting that it’s staged at the Sydney Festival, where new ideas can be shown to limited, adventurous audiences.

Macbeth

By William Shakespeare. The Australian Shakespeare Company. Director: Glenn Elston. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (Melbourne). Dec 21, 2018 – Feb 23, 2019.

The Australian Shakespeare Company production of Macbeth is well and efficiently presented within the beautiful environment of the edge of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens.  Stunning huge trees including a magnificent pine serve as an excellent backdrop.  When expertly lit they enhance the simple set - mostly comprising an offset castle structure that also serves as wings. All the action is smoothly presented on a simple open-air stage.

 

Jersey Boys

Music: Bob Gaudio. Lyrics: Bob Crewe. Book: Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice. Dodger Theatricals, Rodney Rigby, TEG Dainty, Joseph J. Grano, Pelican Group, Michael Watt, Tommy Mottola in association with Latitude Link and Anita Waxman. Director: Des McAnuff. Musical Director: Luke Hunter. Choreographer: Sergio Trujillio. Lyric Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane. Opening Night: 5 January 2019.

Jukebox musicals may come and go but Jersey Boys is still the gold standard. Five years after the original Australian season ended, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons is back in Brisbane again in a new highly-polished production. With a cast of new and old faces, this doco musical with more than a touch of The Sopranos about it is still a fantastic blast of 60s doo-wop heaven.

La Bohème

Music by Giacomo Puccini. Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Opera Australia. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. January 2 - March 28, 2019.

This sumptuous production, transplanted by Director Gale Edwards from Paris to the decadence of the Weimar Republic, will dazzle anyone who has not seen it before – but on opening night the performances did not generate the ‘fireworks’ that exploded over the Harbour a few days before.

North by Northwest

Adapted by Carolyn Burns. Presented by Adelaide Festival Centre. Produced by Kay + McLean Productions. Directed by Simon Phillips. December 29, 2018 to January 20, 2019

There were literally fireworks for the Adelaide opening night of North by Northwest, a play based on Hitchcock’s film. The excitement of New Year’s Eve was present in the audience of this well-travelled and well-received production. This latest incarnation for the stage is fast-paced, stylish and clever.

Wicked

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Winnie Holzman. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire. Adelaide Youth Theatre. Arts Theatre, Adelaide. 21-23 December 2018.

Wicked was first performed in San Francisco, USA, in the summer of 2003, before transferring to Broadway later that year, where it is still running. It opened in the West End of London in 2006, arriving on our shores in Melbourne in 2008. It’s an alternative telling of the backstories in the land of Oz, which first came to fame through the L Frank Baum children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, and then through the immensely popular 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

Cairo Jim and the Tomb of Martenarten

Adapted by Emilia Stubbs Grigoriou from the book by Geoffrey McSkimming. Bookcase Productions. The Pioneer Theatre, Castle Hill. December 21 – 23, 2018

It’s always daunting to adapt a novel for young people to the stage – especially one of a series of 19 about an intrepid archaeologist-cum-poet like Cairo Jim and his companions, Doris the Macaw and Brenda the Wonder Camel. It has to capture the tenor of the prose, the imagination of the author – and his outrageous puns and poems – as well as sustaining the belief of Geoffrey McSkimming’s faithful readers.

Peter Pan Goes Wrong

By Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields, adapted from J M Barrie’s original text. Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, Kenny Wax Ltd & Stage Presence in association with David Atkins Enterprises & ABA present a Mischief Theatre Company Production. Arts Centre Melbourne, the Playhouse. 21 December 2018 – 27 January 2019

Peter Pan Goes Wrong?  It certainly does.  In this show, what can go wrong, goes wrong.  Think of any disaster, mishap, mistake, scenery disaster, wardrobe malfunction, inept and talentless cast, missed cue or dropped line - anything that can befall a live theatre show and in this show it does.  Hilarious.  I don’t think I have laughed so much in the theatre for years.   

Spirit Of Christmas

Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Simon Kenway. Director: Sean Mee. Host: Sofie Formica. Lucy Durack, Josh Piterman. Jaewoo Kim, Hanna Bennett, Jerrod Smith. Spirit of Christmas Choir, Brisbane Birralee Voices. Concert Hall, QPAC, Brisbane. 21-22 December 2018

Carols and community singing have been part of the Australian Christmas tradition for years: Melbourne has Carols by Candlelight, Sydney has Carols in the Domain, whilst Brisbane has Spirit of Christmas, which is now in its 35th year. QPAC’s annual confection of carols and seasonal songs with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra is always a joyous celebration and this year was no exception.

The Nutcracker

Ballet by Ben Stevenson. Music by Pyotr Iiyich Tchaikovsky. Based on The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816) by ETA Hoffman. Queensland Ballet. Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Nigel Gaynor. Voices of Biralee. Lyric Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane. Dec 20, 2018

The Queensland Ballet, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and The Nutcracker are a perfect fit and yesterday’s full-house at the Lyric Theatre showed why Ben Stevenson’s version of this classical ballet has become an annual treat. Fairy tale characters and toys coming to life is the ultimate child’s fantasy and this production delivers on all fronts including a magical snow-storm onstage and in the auditorium as a first-act finale. For many kids, and there were many, it was their first experience of magic in the theatre and they were agog with wonder.

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