Stage Briefs

Preachrs Podcast OnLine & OnStage Launches Adelaide Fringe Season

Preachrs Podcast OnLine & OnStage have announced their five show Adelaide Fringe 2020 season, which includes producing collaborations with UK producer Fragility London and Australian producer Big Mood.   

First up, direct from an Edinburgh Fringe season they are presenting, in association with Fragility London, UK comedian/storyteller Andrew Silverwood’s solo show Call Me Janice. Gothenburg Fringe BFF Award Winner 2017.

Adelaide Fringe Ambassadors 2020

The Adelaide Fringe has announced its diamond anniversary ambassadors - Queen of Pop Marcia Hines, genre-bending artist Amanda Palmer and glamazon-drag superhero Fez Faanana.

The trio sets the scene for what is anticipated to be a memorable Fringe in 2020.

Adelaide Fringe Director and CEO Heather Croall said the ambassador program is a golden opportunity to showcase the Adelaide Fringe to the world.

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

STARC Productions returns to Adelaide’s Bakehouse Theatre in October 2019 with the romance Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune, by Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally.

School of Rock Adelaide Season

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash-hit rock musical, School of Rock is headed to Adelaide Festival Centre.   

School of Rock will premiere at the Festival Theatre in March 2020 with a waitlist now open for those wanting to be first in line for tickets when they go on pre-sale late September.

David Campbell Back in the Swing Tour

Australian ARIA award winner, singer and popular TV presenter David Campbell has announced a new national tour – his first solo show after eight years.

The Back in the Swing tour kicks off October 3, and features Campbell performing LIVE with a full band and tracks from his new album (Back in the Swing) at QPAC Brisbane, State Theatre Sydney and Hamer Hall Melbourne.

Seasons 2020

Theatre companies across Australia have announced their 2020 seasons. Click on the links below to read about individual seasons.

National

Bell Shakespeare

NSW

Sydney Theatre Company

Ensemble Theatre

Australian Plays Loses Funding

Australian Plays is the latest arts organisation left reeling after being told  it will no longer receive critical organisational funding from the federal government through its funding body, the Australia Council for the Arts from 2021.

Tap Dog Teaches Young Pup

Original Tap Dog member, Darren Disney, believes in “passing it on.”

Owner and dance instructor at D3 Dance Studio at Wyong, Darren teaches up to 200 dance students each week but makes special time available for young up-and-comers who have that something extra.

For the past five months, Darren has been teaching tap to Central Coast school teacher Brett Perkins in preparation for the young man’s role in Stepping Out, an English comedy/musical about a group of people from different walks of life learning to tap.

Sydney Gains High Standards Charity Concert

Good Egg Creative has announced a new charity concert for Sydney, HIGH STANDARDS, which will be held at the City Recital Hall on Monday 28 October, and raise much needed funds for the Actors Benevolent Fund NSW.

High Standards celebrates the greatest songbook of the 20th century, featuring magnificent tunes from such writers as Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Harold Arlen made famous the world over by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone and many more.

Queensland Theatre’s Storm Boy Takes Flight in Brisbane

Beth Keehn reports.

Ahead of the opening night for this joint production by Queensland Theatre and the Melbourne Theatre Company, Stage Whispers went backstage at QPAC’s Playhouse to meet Storm Boy’s Director, Sam Strong, and Puppet Designer and Associate Director, David Morton to learn how this production will immerse the audience in the classic story’s setting in the coastal wilds of South Australia’s Coorong beaches.