Reviews

Grease Live on Stage

By Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Drew Anthony Creative. Directed by Drew Anthony. Planet Royal Theatre, Lake St, Northbridge, WA. June 1-26, 2022

Drew Anthony Creative presents this tight and slick production of Grease at Planet Royale, a production that has its audience bopping in their seats and leaving with smiles.

Iolanthe

By W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Western Australia. Directed by Michael Brett. The Dolphin Theatre, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA. June 2-11, 2022

Presented by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Western Australia, Iolanthe is, as G&S Society President Kevin Langoulant describes it, deliciously fanciful Victorian nonsense. Well-presented and beautifully sung, this Victorian comedic operetta remains a lovely distraction, 140 years after its first performance.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Book by John Logan. Presented by Carmen Pavlovic, Gerry & Val Ryan and Global Creatures. Capitol Theatre. From June 2022

La Féerie, a French title that translates as "fairy play", was a French theatrical genre known for “fantasy plots and spectacular visuals,” lavish scenery and technical stage effects. Moulin Rouge! The Musical slips almost seamlessly into a modern interpretation of that genre.

Owl & the Albatross

By Paris Balla. Theatre Works & Ryan Hamilton. Theatre Works, Acland Street, St Kilda. 1 -11 June 2022

2023.  The city is like a furnace and blanketed with smoke.  Jane (Cassandra Hart) takes her asthmatic teenager Owl (Geo Valentine) down the coast and dumps them (that’s how Owl sees it) on Owl’s old Grandad, Albert (Don Bridges).  He lives alone in a lighthouse overlooking an ocean choked with rubbish.  He’s self-sufficient and unexpectantly having a teen around is bad enough – let alone a prickly ‘gender fluid’ teen – and at first it’s a discombobulating experience for him. 

Gods and Little Fishes

By Richard Sydenham and Jamie Oxenbould. New Theatre, Newtown, NSW. May 31 – Jun 25, 2022

Imagine the grief of a travelling salesman who wins a fortune in the Opera House Lottery, only to see his eight-year-old son kidnapped for ransom and then found murdered in bushland. 

Australia’s first kidnap-for-ransom case in 1960 is the inspiration for this tender and strangely funny new play by Richard Sydenham, who directs, and Jamie Oxenbould, who plays a version of the grieving father.

21 Pornographies

Rising Festival. Arts House, Meat Market, North Melbourne. Jun 1 – 4, 2022.

“If you imagine you are looking into a huge mansion, with endless corridors and halls…” Danish dancer /choreographer Mette Ingvartsen eloquently describes a story with filmic detail, as she walks into the performance space; it is only the beginning of one of her many vignettes.

Galileo

Sydney Choreographic Ensemble. Riverside Theatres Parramatta. 1 - 4 June, 2022

Galileo is a new contemporary ballet by choreographer Francesco Ventriglia, the artistic director of the Sydney Choreographic Centre. Founded by Ventriglia and Neil Christopher   in early 2021, the centre made its mark on the Sydney dance scene at Riverside Theatres in April last year with its stunning production, GRIMM. It returns to Riverside with its latest production that is equally as stunning.

Once

By Enda Walsh, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. Black Swan Theatre Company of WA and Darlinghurst Theatre Company. Directed by Richard Carroll. Regal Theatre, Subiaco, WA. May 28- June 12, 2022

Every so often you see a show that absolutely ticks all the boxes and is a complete joy to experience. Black Swan Theatre Company of WA and Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Once is a beautiful production that touches the soul, and I highly recommend that you stop reading now and go and book a ticket.

Don Carlos

By Giuseppe Verdi. Metropolitan Opera. Sharmill Films. Screening at select Australian cinemas – June 11, 2022.

Don Carlos is an epic production in every way. Verdi’s longest opera, this production comes in at approximately four and a half hours and is presented in its original French instead of the usual Italian, taking the production back to its roots. However, the Met’s claim of presenting the original version is in some doubt. It is more like the five act Italian version sung in French with several additions from the original.

9 to 5 The Musical

Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton. Book by Patricia Resnick. Directed by Jeff Calhoun. Lyric Theatre QPAC, Brisbane. 31st May-2nd July, 2022

9 to 5 the Musical is (not surprisingly) a lot like its creator, Dolly Parton. It is Big, Bold and Brassy, Raunchy without being Sexy, Broad but not Deep, Good-naturedly OTT and In Your Face, Self- Aware without being Self-Absorbed, and with a finger on the pulse of how to make money. These are all Dolly Parton. But there’s more.

9 to 5 is also High-Energy, Ball-Busting Entertainment – just like Dolly!

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