Year: 2017

Photo by Lisa Tomasetti Sydney Theatre Company presents A Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures Production, MURIEL’S WEDDING – The Musical. Book by PJ Hogan. Music and Lyrics by Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall. Based on the Motion Picture by PJ Hogan, with songs by Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, originally written for ABBA. At the Roslyn Packer Theatre, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay. Well, here it is, a new Australian musical. It is based on the film of MURIEL’S WEDDING of 1994, an iconic, quirky, favourite of the nation. At its centre is a misfit, Muriel, who embarks…

Sydney Symphony Orchestra present GRIPPING SHOSTAKOVITCH, in the Concert Hall, at the Sydney Opera House. 15 November, 17 November and 18 November. I was taken to the GRIPPING SHOSTAKOVITCH concert by a dear friend. It was made up by the Cello Concerto No.1 in E flat major, Op.107 and the mighty, gripping, Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op.65, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, in the Concert Hall, at the Sydney Opera House. I am a relative ‘babe in the woods’ in my knowledge of music. However, I have, in my blissful ignorance, come to believe that Shostakovich is the GREAT…

Photo by Ashley de Prazer Motherboard Productions and Griffin Independent present, VIRGINS AND COWBOYS, by Morgan Rose, at the SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross. 30 November – 16 December. VIRGINS AND COWBOYS, is a new Australian play by Morgan Rose. This production was first presented in Melbourne from the Theatre Works season – the original cast in situ. In the first section of this play three ‘Cowboys’ are sitting, ostensibly – since they seem to be talking directly to us, as well – around a table with some beers in their suburban home and are talking to Sam (Kieran Law) about…

Photo by Robert Catto The Kings Collective, presents, WASTED, by Kate Tempest, at the Old Factory, Marrickville. 1 – 9 December. Kate Tempest is a British Poet, Performance Artist, Playwright and Novelist, a dynamic artist (slam-poetry) who has – is – speaking for a generation trying to find the way-to-survive in the modern world through a disillusioned lens. Her passions were ignited as a young woman and flashed into perspective, she has said, when the London March (and others) against the Iraq War, in which millions of people participated, was ignored, and made no difference to the World Governments’ direction…

Photo by Prudence Upton Ensemble Theatre presents, TAKING STEPS, by Alan Ayckbourn, at the Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli. 23 November – 13 January. The Alan Ayckbourn play TAKING STEPS, written in 1979, the twenty-fourth opus from his ‘genius’ (now having completed some 79 plays, the last one – so far – called ROUNDELAY, in 2014), is part of a faithful commitment of The Ensemble Theatre to his work and underlines the entertainment value that he inevitably delivers for audiences. There is usually some ‘challenge’ that the writer has given himself, for the audience’s delectation, in all of his plays, and in…

Photo by Robert Catto Highway Run Productions and Neil Gooding Productions and the Hayes Theatre, present HIGH FIDELITY, Lyrics by Amanda Green, Music by Tom Kitt, Book by David Lindsay-Abaire. Based on the novel by Nick Hornby and the Touchstone Pictures Film. At the Hayes Theatre Greenknowe Ave, Kings Cross. November 22 – December 17. HIGH FIDELITY is a musical of 2006, a famous Broadway flop (set in Brooklyn). It is based on the novel of 1995, by Nick Hornby (set in London), and the film of 2000, Directed by Stephen Frears, and starring John Cusack (set in Chicago). It…