Stage Briefs

Ruthie Henshall to Tour

Ruthie Henshall is one of the most celebrated performers in the history of London theatre. Ruthie Henshall: Live & Intimate, her first solo tour of Australia, will play in Sydney and Brisbane this June. Tickets on general public sale in both cities on Thursday 28 March.

This new and intimate show is a rare opportunity to see this star up close and personal, reinterpreting highlights from her career as well as exploring the work of other iconic artists including Stephen Sondheim and Carole King to The Beatles and Barbra Streisand. 

The Beautiful Game Australian Premiere in Melbourne

Manilla Street Productions will present the Australian premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton’s The Beautiful Game in Melbourne in September 2019.

Set in Northern Ireland in the troubled 1970s, The Beautiful Game tells the story of ordinary people in an extraordinary situation. The story is centered on a local football (soccer) team, who attempt to overcome the emerging political and religious violencethat has engulfed their community. 

Into the Woods at Chatswood

Bloom Creative Productions will stage Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning musical Into the Woods in the Concourse Concert Hall at Chatswood, NSW, from March 21 to 23, 2019.

All your favourite fairytale characters are interwoven in Into the Woods - The Musical with the cast supported by a 15 piece onstage orchestra.

Wayne Scott Kermond brings his vaudevillian comedy to the role of The Narrator, opening the book and leading the audience through this story.

Star Guests For Musical Theatre Festival

Australian stage and TV stars Rob Mills and Jemma Rix will headline the first ever Australian Musical Theatre Festival in Tasmania.

Rob and Jemma will be the celebrity guests at the festival which will happen in Launceston from 23-26 May this year.

Rob is a household name as a regular on Neighbours and an Australian Idol finalist. His musical theatre career has included lead roles in Jesus Christ Superstar, Ghost the Musical and the original Australian cast of Wicked The Musical.

Lea Salonga to Tour in November 2019

Tony® and Olivier Award-winner, ‘Disney Legend’ and musical theatre royalty Lea Salonga  will be returning to Australia in November 2019 for an east coast tour.  Lea Salonga: In Concert will, for the first time, take to the QPAC stage in Brisbane and will return to Sydney and Melbourne, following her previous sold-out concert tour.

Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)

A new musical about the Philippines explores the effects of colonization on an indigenous culture.

McFadden Music will present Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre in late March/ early April.

Noli Me Tangere is the national novel of the Philippines. It was written by the national Filipino hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal about the long history of Filipino struggle for independence.

Extended Adelaide Festival Tenure for Neil Armfield and Rachel Healy

The Adelaide Festival Board has announced that it has extended the tenure of Joint Artistic Directors Neil Armfield AO and Rachel Healy. This represents the second contract extension for Armfield and Healy taking their total tenure through to and inclusive of the 2023 Adelaide Festival.

Adelaide Festival Reviews 2019

Click on the links below to read various Adelaide Festival 2019 reviews.

Image: Un Poyo Rojo

Grand Finale

Zizanie

Ulster American

Foehn

Picaresque

Jacqueline McKenzie Joins Cast of Mosquitoes

Australian actress Jacqueline McKenzie will play the role of Alice in the Sydney Theatre Company's upcoming Australian premiere of Mosquitoes by Lucy Kirkwood, directed by STC Resident Director Jessica Arthur. Jacqueline assumes the role previously announced to be played by Anita Hegh, following her withdrawal the production. Jacqueline joins a cast which also features Mandy McElhinney, Jason Chong, Charles Wu and Annie Byron.   

Geraldine Turner's Gypsy Heartbreak

David Spicer reports.

Music Theatre star Geraldine Turner has been heartbroken by the cancellation of a forthcoming season of Gypsy - which is the fifth time in her career that she has been cast in the lead role, in a production of the Stephen Sondheim/Jule Styne/Arthur Laurents musical, that has been called off.

Late last week it was announced that the blockbuster pro-am production scheduled for the Q Theatre in Queanbeyan for April-May has been cancelled "with great regret."