Get ready to sing
Musical theatre fans are spoilt for choice in 2008,
with no less than 5 new productions gracing our stages throughout
the year.
Chronologically
and alphabetically, Billy Elliott is first cab off the
rank, running at the Capital Theatre, Sydney until February. With
music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall and directed
by Stephen Daldry, this highly acclaimed production is set against
the historic British miners' strike for the 1980s, and of course,
based on the hit British film. The four young boys cast as Billy
are sure to be the next crop of stellar Australian performers,
so make sure you see them before they’re all grown up.
Shout! is also wowing audiences this month,
firstly in Melbourne and then up in Sydney from March. Featuring
all of JO’Ks best-known songs, Shout! has been
a singalong hit since 2001 when it debuted starring David Campabell.
Now Tim Campbell (no relation!), most recently of Dancing
with the Stars fame and that ever-classy gameshow, National
Bingo Night, is taking the reigns of songs such as belt out
a catalogue of classic hits including 'She’s My Baby', 'Sing',
'Rock Around the Clock' and of course 'Shout!'.
Brand new work is about to premiere at Sydney’s
Seymour Centre, in the form of The Hatpin, an original
Australian work based on real events from the turn of the last
century. Starring musical favourites Caroline O’Connor,
Peter Cousens and Barry Crocker, it’s great to see new Australian
productions continuing to compete with international blockbusters.
News on further locations will depend on the success of the Sydney
season, so get out there and support new local work.
Fresh from its stellar Melbourne season, a revival
of Phantom of the Opera - complete with well-loved lead
Anthony Warlow - will play at the Lyric Theatre, Brisbane in February
and March, before moving on to Sydney’s Star City in May.
Audiences can’t seem to get enough of this mammoth production
– stay tuned for other city dates later in the year.
The ‘compact’ touring production of
Miss Saigon,
featuring video helicopters instead of real ones has just commenced
in Adelaide, and will show in Perth for six weeks from February.
Melbourne
is currently treating audiences to the Australian premiere of
Monty Python’s Spamalot
and the delightfully camp Priscilla
Queen of the Desert (which will be off to London’s
West End before hopefully returning to other cities in Australia).
Things just get bigger in March with a revival of Guys and
Dolls, featuring our very own “Sea Monkeys”,
Lisa McCune and Ian Stenlake, and musical theatre darling, Marina
Prior.
The best is yet to come for Melbourne though, with
the smash-hit Broadway production, Wicked hitting our
shores in July at the Regent Theatre. Casting rumours and gossip
are already flying, and tickets don’t even go on sale for
another couple of months. Expect lots of interstate travel packages
for this one – I’m already camping out in the online
ticket queue.
Opera lovers will be excited about Opera Australia’s
May performances of My Fair Lady showing in Melbourne
as well as the stunning Madame Butterfly.
With all this talk of blockbusters and large-scale
productions, it wouldn’t be right to leave out a small show
that has blown Australian audiences away, and it now in it’s
fifth Sydney season, accompanied by a national tour. Keating!
The Musical will be coming to capital city (and some regional)
stages near you again this year – and if you haven’t
made the effort to see this hysterical satire, make sure you catch
it this time round.
Speaking of satire, the eagerly anticipated Chaser’s
Age of Terror Variety Hour will also be serving up inappropriate
gags across the nation in 2008. In their own words:
"Like
The War On Everything, the Variety Hour will
include a diverse range of short segments, some of which will
be kind of okay-ish. It will combine sketches, songs, presentations
and interactive audience segments ranging from the satirical to
the just silly, and be constantly updated to incorporate up-to-the-minute
insensitive gags about the latest celebrity deaths as they happen."
Fabulous – can’t wait.
Yet to be confirmed, but gossip is mounting - two
other international productions are rumoured to be visiting our
shores late this year. The first, Matthew Bourne’s contemporary
dance interpretation of the classic film Edward Scissorhands
is sure to draw crowds from both the dance community and lovers
of the film. Australia most recently saw Bourne’s production
of Swan Lake, so we can’t wait for more stunning
movement from his company, New Adventures.
And perhaps the biggest, and most controversial
rumoured attraction is a full scale production of Avenue Q,
the Tony Award winning Broadway musical. Telling tales of real
life in New York City, Avenue Q employs both humans and
Henson-style muppets to entertain audiences with some risqué
situations and frank discussion about sexuality, politics and
relationships. Keep your eyes peeled for official news about a
production in Sydney or Melbourne in late 2008/09.
Belinda Yench
