Featuring 22 tracks from ABBA, Mamma Mia! The Musical is bright, breezy, energetic and heaps of good-natured fun. Whenever it returns, it always goes down a treat and I never tire of seeing it. The show premiered in Oz on the 9th June 2001 and played for four years to more than 2.2 million people in eight…
From the award-winning team behind the acclaimed documentary Senna comes this moving portrait of singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse (14th September 1983 – 23rd July 2011). A pop star with soul, Winehouse’s rare musical ability made her a star while her chaotic personal life stole headlines. With rare interviews and never-before-seen archival footage, Amy takes us behind…
She’s intelligent, outspoken and attractive. She also happens to be a songstress with a large and loyal following; and an immigrant with a fascinating history. Against the odds, she’s made it to the top, but still she never fails to court controversy. Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. paints a picture of the artist known as M.I.A.; who shook the…
Original homespun (literally) physical comedy, The Beaks: Stickybeak is a clever and creative look at everyday life in suburbia. It is the domain of four excellent exponents that turn the mundane into something special. I speak of Kimberley Twiner, Laura Trenerry, Patrick Dwyer and Jessie Ngaoi. They play a series of quick-change character roles that are repeated…
Imagine a sensitive drag queen – a gay man – falling for a bisexual man who has trouble with commitment and you have the starting point for Torch Song. It is a shortened, two act reimagining of the four hour plus, three act play, Torch Song Trilogy, which won the Tony Award for Best Play in…
Iris and The Men is a comedy with distinctively French proclivities. Written and directed by Caroline Vignal, there is a sadness, yearning and yet joie de vivre about it. The film’s origins were in what Vignal heard from a 51-year-old friend who had embraced life after her husband suddenly left her. Another friend had encouraged…
You only have to watch commercial TV one evening to know that Australians love their dogs. I think it’s also fair to say Australians don’t mind a bit of ribald comedy. So Josh Greenbaum’s new comedy Strays should find a willing audience. Greenbaum recently directed the well-received Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar…
Anyone who has ever had a newborn in the house will immediately relate to Jason Reitman’s Tully. This funny, affecting film delivers a compelling tale of motherhood in the 21st Century. Of course, it also marks the reunion of Reitman with Diablo Cody. It’s now 11 years since their breakout hit Juno, and their only…
Teaming (arguably) the most successful director of all time with a story that plays on both the current obsession with gaming and pop culture nostalgia would seem to be a no-brainer. It has to be good, right? Well, kinda. Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One is a visually stunning spectacle at times, but it’s no E.T….
In true international award-winning Black Honey Company style, One the Bear bursts on the audience. In an apocalyptic aesthetic avalanche, its stars, the story’s titular One (Candy Bowers) and her best friend Ursula (Nancy Denis), emerge from a rubbish skip. One and Ursula are bears attempting to escape a hunter. Such is the reality of…
