A Midnight Visit is an immersive theatrical experience that combines dreams and whimsy with performance art. I spent a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours visiting three dozen specially decked out rooms inside an abandoned North Melbourne warehouse, dubbed the House of Usher. In the anteroom (representing a funeral home) an undertaker expresses his condolences for…
Taking on important historical figures in cinema can be fraught. Too much detail, and the film gets bogged down; too little and it’s dismissed as superficial. In recent years, a new vehicle has emerged – the snapshot biopic. Darkest Hour used it with Churchill, as did Hitchcock (2012) with, well, Hitchcock. These films take a…
Since it began five years ago, StageArt has built a richly deserved reputation for bringing top-flight musical theatre to this country. Four time 2010 Tony Award winner (including Best Musical), Memphis The Musical is its latest and one of its best. Music and lyrics are by David Bryan (the keyboard player for Bon Jovi), with lyrics and book…
Anthony Scott Burns’ Come True is a singular vision that pays strong homage to 1980s fantasy horror films. Gorgeous neon-tinted lighting is complimented by a haunting synthesized score that imbues a floating-like atmosphere for its characters, and seduces predominately with a chilling atmosphere. The film follows teenage runaway Sarah (Julia Sarah Stone), who sleeps…
That Deerhunter has been on a roll is a bit self-evident and although there were some who felt their last album, Monomania, was a step backwards Fading Frontier leaves little doubt about the band’s place in the indie hierarchy. The fact that those people who scoffed at Monomania’s gritty exterior simply didn’t get it is…
Carla Simón’s autobiographical feature debut, Summer 1993, is an evocative depiction of family lost and found. In (predictably) the summer of 1993, following the death of her parents, six-year old Frida (Laia Artigas) leaves bustling Barcelona for the Catalan provinces to live with her aunt (Bruna Cusí) and uncle (David Verdaguer). Country life is a…
Having seen The Forgotten Songbook, I am left wondering why Wilbur Weissman isn’t talked about in the same breath as the great composers of Broadway’s Golden Age. I speak of the likes of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Leonard Bernstein, to name but a few. I was captivated by the music I…
Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Woodes is heading back on the road for her debut tour. The alter ego of Elle Graham, Woodes is bringing her organic, emotive electronica to Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in July. The tour is in support of her new single “Run For It”. Last year she released her debut self-titled EP to much praise, featuring in Pigeons…
Take your gallery experience to the next level with Van Gogh Alive, a multi-sensory experience focused on the life and works of Vincent Van Gogh. This global touring exhibit / event opened runs in Brisbane from October 2021 to January 2022 (at the time of publishing), at the emerging new event precinct Northshore Hamilton. The…
Nicole Kidman is noted for tackling a number of challenging roles and here is another; a needy woman on the precipice. Husband and wife, Matthew (Joseph Fiennes) and Catherine Parker (Kidman) have recently moved to the remote Australian desert town of Nathgari with their two teenage children. Their lives are flung into crisis when they…
