Reviews

Eugene Onegin

By Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Co-Opera (SA). Thomas Edmonds Opera Theatre, Wayville. May 4-7, 2017.

Most theatregoers know Tchaikovsky’s ballets,Swan Lake and The Nutcracker Suite. Eugene Onegin is his most famous opera among avid opera lovers but remains little known generally. Co-Opera has given this opera much love and attention to detail in its most lavish and ambitious production yet.

A lyric opera, it is packed with dramatic moments and very closely follows Alexander Pushkin’s novel, but in verse.

The Play That Goes Wrong

By Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields. Lunchbox Theatrical Productions/Kenny Wax Ltd/Stage Presence, with David Atkins Enterprises and ABA Production. Director: Mark Bell. Australian Cast Director: Sean Taylor. Playhouse, QPAC, Brisbane. 4 - 14 May, 2017

The Play That Goes Wrong is silly, ridiculous fun. A cross between Noises Off and Fawlty Towers, it trades on familiar theatrical tropes where an amateur theatre company put on a play and everything that could go wrong does – missed lines, forgotten props, doors that won’t open, dead bodies who move, pratfalls, and the set falling down in spectacular fashion, all in the name of a laugh.

Tim Rice and Elton John’s Aida

The Hills Musical Company. Stirling Theatre, Adelaide. 5-20 May, 2017

Say the word Aida and it immediately conjures up images of pyramids, animals, huge sets and lavish costumes. Generally known to audiences through Giuseppe Verdi's 1871 opera and based on a story by Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, the tale of star-crossed lovers is in turn loosely based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics by Tim Rice. Geelong Lyric Theatre Society, Victoria. Director: Davina Smith. Musical Director: Bradley Treloar. Choreographer: Molly Carter. Geelong Performing Arts Centre. May 5 - May 13, 2017

The Geelong Lyric Theatre Society (GLTS) production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat rockets along. Fifty minutes in, the lights announce intermission – catching me by surprise.

For those who aren’t up to date with their Bible stories or their Andrew Lloyd Webber, Joseph retells the story of the son of Jacob from Genesis 37- 50.

In 1967, Webber and Tim Rice wrote Joseph for a school’s end-of-term concert, accounting for the shortness of the musical and the way the whole story is told through song.

La Comtesse Bis

By Moliere. Melbourne French Theatre. 4 to 6 May 2017

No need to lament the passing of another French Film Festival for the year, MFT is here to give us our dose of genuine French culture. A production that will delight Francophones and Francophiles, Melbourne French Theatre (MFT) proudly celebrates 40 years of bringing French theatre to Melbourne in its 101st production.

Shen Yun

Australian Tour. March / April 2017

Founded in New York in 2006, Shen Yun is a performance extravaganza featuring classical Chinese as well as ethnic and folk dance, with a full orchestra which blends Chinese and Western traditions.

Cabaret

Music by John Kander. Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Book by Joe Masteroff. Directed by Gale Edwards. Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne. May 1 – 20, 2017

Despite (or perhaps because of) one of the finest casts ever assembled, this production of Cabaret, a stalwart and favourite of Musical Theatre everywhere, tantalisingly holds out the promise of brilliance, only to snatch it away at the last minute. That’s not to say it isn’t good – it is in part – but it never seems to gel, to find a cohesive creative vision.

Let The Sunshine

By David Williamson. Galleon Theatre Group. Domain Theatre Marion. May 4-13, 2017

While David Williamson’s Let the Sunshine doesn’t have nearly as much bite in terms of social satire as in many of his earlier plays, Adelaide company Galleon Theatre Group’s strong casting and magic touch with edgy comedy ensures an enjoyable production of the play.

Documentary film-maker and left-leaning Toby has career embarrassments to contend with and has escaped Sydney for Noosa with wife Ros. He hasn’t found satisfaction there, either, because the place has changed and now contains exactly the sort of people he detests.

Private Peaceful

By Simon Reade, adapted from the book by Michael Morpurgo. Promise Adelaide. The Bakehouse. May 4th – May 6th

It’s nearly 100 years since the end of “The Great War” and here in Australia we have just celebrated our annual remembrance of the sons and daughters who made the ultimate sacrifice for “King and Country”.

Private Peaceful at The Bakehouse is an ironically-named telling of one young British soldier’s story. It moves from childhood to growing up on a farm, then to the trenches of Belgium and the battle of Ypres.

Is That a Burrito in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy You Have a Burrito?

Written & performed by Lauren Bok. The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, Melbourne CBD. 2-7 May 2017

In one of her routines, Lauren Bok mimes waking after a one-night-stand and not knowing who he is or where she is, and then dressing and escaping.  It’s not especially original, but she does it so well, it’s funny.  When she can’t find her knickers and her top, she turns to the audience for help.  A woman in the front row obligingly points to a plausible spot on the stage.  Ms Bok nods a hurried but grateful thanks, ‘finds’ knickers and top, then climbs out a ‘window’.  Her interaction with the audience throughout has a rela

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