Jonathan Larson wrote the smash hit Broadway musical Rent. How he got there involved pain and persistence. That’s the subject of tick, tick … Boom! Living in New York, Jon (Hugh Sheridan) dreams of being a Broadway musical writer. His creativity is recognised by his close and loyal friends, but he is on the cusp of 30…
Two guys waxing eloquently about their shared experiences. That is the essence of The Twins, a play about friendship, redemption, loss and regret. It is set in a tin shed studio in Kangaroo Valley, NSW, over a single day towards the end of 2019. The pair chatting – comedian and actor Greg Fleet and documentary filmmaker and philanthropist…
Scottish author Graeme Macrae Burnet loves playing meta-textual games. And that’s patently evident in his trilogy of crime novels featuring French police detective Geroges Gorski, of which A Case of Matricide is the third and last. The books are purportedly written over forty years ago by a little known French author Raymond Brunet and merely…
Tulip Fever is a melodramatic bodice-ripper set in Amsterdam in 1634. Tulips were highly prized and a source of great wealth. Playing out against this backdrop of an economic bubble is a more formulaic story of romance, deception and betrayal. Sophia (Alicia Vikander) has been raised in an orphanage. The pipe-smoking abbess (Judi Dench) seems to have…
Two by Two Overboard follows mischievous animal best friends Finny and Leah as they navigate living on Noah’s Ark, with their misadventures implicating every other species during the flood. This family-friendly sequel to the 2015 predecessor Ooops! Noah is Gone…, is a left-field approach to the biblical tale as it illustrates how the animal kingdom…
Spectacular. Creative (in short, it is visionary). Compelling. Nijinksy showcases the very best of The Australian Ballet. As the title suggests, it charts the rise and fall of acclaimed Russian dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky (12th March, 1889 – 8th April, 1950). Considered to be the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century, he…
On their 6th album in a little over a decade, Kaiser Chiefs, the British indie rockers have turned in from their more political, guitar-driven garage rock in a decidedly poppy direction. Once you learn that leader Ricky Wilson was a celebrity judge on the British version of The Voice, the singer contest/reality show, and it’s…
What if the cartoon world turned into real life? Well, that’s what happens in Carlos Saldanha’s family-friendly fantasy Harold and the Purple Crayon. Harold (Zachary Levi) is the manifestation of the vivid imagination of writer Crockett Johnson. He’s a character in a book, who along with his buddies, Moose (Lil Rel Howery) and Porcupine (Tanya…
Superlatives don’t do justice to the seemingly ageless national treasure of musical theatre in Caroline O’Connor, who gives one of the performances of her life in this hilarious, fun-filled new Australian production. Anything Goes is a big, bold and sassy musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It debuted on Broadway in 1934, so…
Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. That may well be the signature tune for 19-year-old unemployed, reckless, gay Australian Ari (Danny Ball), except that his “poison” is grunge and hip-hop. Ari is drawn to Melbourne’s gay clubs, unprotected sex, hard drugs (it is dead set easy to get hold of stuff) and thumping music. He distances and denounces…
