The highly entertaining two-hour show could be called the soundtrack of the glorious Robyn Archer’s life. She, accompanied by a highly talented three-piece band – who also provide backing vocals – bring us largely a collection of little-known songs and a few poems. There are a few tunes she wrote and others that chart the path of…
Shadow Spirit is an artistic showcase – a microcosm of what is impressive and meaningful about indigenous culture. It is an eye and ear pleasing experience, which uses a variety of forms to bring to life 60,000 years of rich heritage and tradition. I speak of projections, artwork, sculpture, animation, video, music and more. Curated by Kimberley…
As Gordon Gekko, in the 1987 Oliver Stone-directed hit film Wall Street, Michael Douglas said “greed, for lack of a better word, is good”. I venture to suggest that Berlin-based artist Julian Rosefeldt, who has created the impressive multiscreen installation Euphoria, would vehemently disagree. Using the musings of more than 100 economists, business magnates, writers and celebrities,…
I’ll never understand why Australia’s greatest and most talented singer, John Farnham, never really took off in a big way in the US and the UK . He of course filled in as the front man for Little River Band – who did “make it” abroad – after they dumped Glenn Shorrock. This reverential documentary…
Rhonda Burchmore sizzles in Cabaret De Paris. With those golden tonsils of hers, she sings up a storm. It is great to see and hear her in such fine form. She looks like she hasn’t aged at all. How does she do it? She’s cheeky, cheery, sexy and seductive. It is her showcase and she delivers in spades,…
Tony Burge, who assumes the role of lead FBI agent Carl Hanratty chasing boyish con man Frank Abagnale Jr. excels in Cloc’s production of Catch Me If You Can. He is strong vocally and as an actor, with a fine command of comic timing, which is a key ingredient in the musical. With book by Terrence McNally,…
The ‘50s and ‘60s continue to resonate as Shake Rattle ‘N’ Roll gives us a cavalcade of song, movement and colour. The fuse is re-lit and burns for more than two hours, thanks to a poised, polished and preened cast of four singers and 10 dancers. The pretence is the re-creation of famous, gravelly voiced American DJ…
The plaudits are mind blowing, the statistics staggering, the downfall tragic, but her musical legacy lives on. I refer to the incomparable Whitney Houston (August 9th, 1963 – February 11th, 2012), whose record sales exceed 200 million. She was cited by Rolling Stone as being in the top two singers of all time. Tilarni, together with…
Circus Royale is an artistic triumph. I have seen a great deal of circus, but the calibre of acts in this hour and a half show (plus interval) is top shelf. As breathtaking as many performances are, the best of the best are undoubtedly the Colombian-born Lion Brothers – Saret, Sarius and Samir Leon. Not for…
After 16 years, Todd Field makes a long-awaited return to the director’s chair with Tár. Having made two under-appreciated gems of the early 2000s with In the Bedroom (2001) and Little Children (2006), he hurtles back into the cultural conversation with this challenging but dazzling film. Tár is set in the rarefied world of Western…
