Undoubtedly one of the finest contemporary musicals and one I never tire of seeing because of its brilliant songs, narrative arc and passionate portrayals, Jersey Boys is back to delight anew. I first saw it at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne in 2009 and then again in 2013. Clint Eastwood directed an on-screen version. Now,…
Talented photographer Diane Arbus (Diane Glenn) meets sex symbol Mae West (Melita Jurisic – complete with sultry voice) in the MTC’s new play Arbus & West. In 1964, Arbus arrived at West’s pristine LA apartment to take snaps of the famous star, then 71. The play explores a fictional account of that real encounter between…
Next to Normal begins with a familiar modern family scene; suburban mother Diana Goodman (Carly Skelton) waits up late for her son Gabe (Christopher Batkin) and attempts to comfort her academically-anxious daughter, Natalie (Hannah Kassulke). Soon husband Dan (Adam Bartlett) rises to help prepare the family for “Just Another Day”. Yet their lives are anything…
My Night with Reg by Kevin Elyot is a prize-winning play that has often, still is, revived around the world. It is made up of three scenes in the apartment of Guy (John-Paul Santucci), a single gay man, and a group of friends who intermittently, but loyally meet up. Time wise it covers several years….
Harry Potter on stage rocks. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child re-writes the rule book when it comes to what’s possible in a play and is set for a long run in Melbourne. Two years is guaranteed. Beyond that, we shall see. This is the eighth story in Harry Potter the series and the first official…
‘Single Asian Female’… it’s a clever play-on-movie-title precis for dating profile purposes. Zoe (Michelle Law) however, is so much more than just this descriptor… classical musician, sister and daughter. Like many, her fractured family oscillates between being a constant of disorder and an annoying inconvenience… and this is even without her knowledge of her mother’s…
If you’re a Simpsons fan, you’ll find immense enjoyment in Mr Burns, a novel adaptation of the iconic cartoon legacy. Split into three acts, the production gives you almost two hours of snippets from the series, skits and even a superb a cappella song bracket. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world. Clearly the world is…
Queensland Theatre’s Death of a Salesman was a mighty production of a mighty play with a virtuoso performance from Peter Kowitz as Willy Loman, the salesman in question. He was on stage for almost the whole two hours plus of the production and held the audience enthralled by his performance as he slid from time-zone…
Barbara and the Camp Dogs pulls no punches. This is independent theatre with attitude. The two key figures in this play with music are Indigenous first cousins, Barbara and Renee. They’ve been brought up as sisters. Barbara’s mother left her and her brother Joseph when Barbara was just seven years old. Their father later came…
In the late 1960s, an elderly woman took up residence in a London street where many famous names lived. Nothing unusual about that, you might be thinking. But she lived in a decrepit, hand-painted yellow van crammed with old shopping bags and bits of carpet. She was a well-known “character” around Camden Town, sometimes mocked…
