A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, at Princess Theatre – musical theatre review
With the reason only revealed late in the piece, global superstar Neil Diamond is presented…
Death of a Salesman, at Her Majesty’s Theatre and touring – 175 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval – theatre review
They have gone back to the well and the result is every bit as impressive as it was first time around (which was three years ago). I speak of Anthony Lapaglia, Alison Whyte and Josh Helman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, one of the finest plays of the 20th century. It won the…
Case 137 (M) – 116 minutes – movie review
Protests in the heart of Paris are rife. We are talking 2018. Society is on the precipice and people are struggling, so they pour their anger and dissatisfaction into verbal and violent demonstrations. Many are from the regions – first time protestors, families even, some who haven’t had cause to come to Paris before. Police…
Break of Day, at Merlyn Theatre, at Malthouse Theatre – theatre review
A mother’s desire to see her daughter escape from a good for nothing, small-town, working-class existence drives the fierce drama Break of Day. She (Pam – Kat Stewart) had aspirations too when she was her daughter, Rae’s (Sherry-Lee Watson) age – 17. But that was the year she gave birth to Rae and the die…
Artefact (or, Repatriation: The Musical), at Chapel Off Chapel – concert review3
Imagine turning a break-in at the British Museum in London into a compelling rock musical. Well – it has happened. And, I am not just talking about any run of the mill heist either. Rather, it is about stealing back stuff that didn’t belong there in the first instance. So it is that Artefact (or,…
Marginalia (Pummel Squad), at fortyfivedownstairs – theatre review
If theatre of the absurd tickles your fancy, you will have a field day with theatre company Pummel Squad’s Marginalia. It is a new play adapted from Nikolai Gogol’s 1936 satirical short story ‘The Nose’. That was about a St Petersburg official who awakens to find his proboscis has disappeared and taken on a life…
Ride the Cyclone (Entr’acte Theatre Company), at Cube 37, at Frankston Arts Centre – musical theatre review
Imagine making an occult-driven musical from the misfortune of a group of high school children losing their lives in a tragic Big Dipper incident. Your first reaction would surely be how dreadfully inappropriate, downright maudlin and an act of moral turpitude. And yet that is what Canadian writers and composers Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell…
A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, at Princess Theatre – musical theatre review
With the reason only revealed late in the piece, global superstar Neil Diamond is presented as a tortured soul in the superbly written, directed and produced musical A Beautiful Noise. Aggressive and recalcitrant, an older Diamond (played by Terence Crawford) is in therapy, pushed to undertake soul searching by his third wife, Katie. Incidentally, while…
Jersey Forever, at Palais Theatre, Coliseum Theatre and touring – concert review
The atmosphere was charged for a reunion that was meant to be. The four original Australian-based Jersey Boys, handpicked at the time from 800 hopefuls, have taken to the stage again to recreate the magic from 17 years ago. Jersey Boys kicked off at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre in July 2009. I speak of Irish-born Bobby…
Mojo (Almost Pisces Productions), at Chapel Off Chapel – theatre review
English playwright Jez Butterworth’s first professional play was the corker Mojo. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1995, when he was 26 years of age. It won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. Now, Almost Pisces Productions, a female founded theatre company, has reimagined it with an all-girl cast…
One Night Only (M) – 102 minutes – movie review
It starts with a statement of fact, unbelievable though it may appear. Three years ago, the US government enacted a mandate banning premarital sex, except for one night a year and then only with protection. All is fair in love and war if you are married, but not if you are single. So, you can…
