Singer/songwriter Natalie Mering performs under the moniker Weyes Blood, a name derived from her original stage name Wise Blood, taken from Flannery O’Connor’s debut novel. While her earliest works have been more experimental in nature, Mering has settled into a songwriting that recalls 70’s pop artists like Harry Nilsson and The Carpenters, her voice often…
Straight from the West End, the new, reimagined production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat is a delightful, fun, engaging and dynamic family musical. Wonderfully directed by Laurence Connor, it is based on the biblical character Joseph. Seen as his father Jacob’s favourite son, he is gifted a beautiful technicolor coat by his dad. That enrages his…
“Did that just happen?” a mischievous Michael Banks (Fraser Goodreid) wonders to sister Jane (Dorothea Seierup) after their first outing to the park with Mary Poppins sees park statutes come to life. There are lots of similar moments in Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Mary Poppins. Cheeky young Michael has some of the…
Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterful work The Phantom of the Opera sizzles. Everything about the production works a treat. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music, a cavalcade of riches, still stirs the soul 36 years after the musical debuted in London. In this case, plaudits to Orchestra Victoria for bringing it to life, with Anthony…
A 20-year drought has led to blatant exploitation of the underprivileged. That is the basis of the satirical musical comedy Urinetown. The narrator who sets the scene is also the town’s crooked cop Officer Lockstock (Dom Hennequin), as he is joined by street urchin Little Sally (Chloe Halley). The terrible water shortage has meant that it costs to…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 7 October 2022. TSHA has dropped her long-awaited debut album Capricorn Sun. Recorded over the past two years, the record delivers on the promise of her previous EPs and singles with 12 tracks that perfectly encapsulate the emotive blend…
CLOC’s production of the hit musical Chicago sizzles. It is cheeky and cheery and holds its own nearly half a century after it was first produced and more than a quarter century on from its revival. The music by John Kander with lyrics from Fred Ebb and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse continue to resonate. Musically, it…
David Bowie was unquestionably a creative genius for whom “safe” and “middle of the road” didn’t cut it. He was innovative. He pushed himself. He liked to live life on the edge and admired others who did. According to the family-endorsed documentary Moonage Daydream, he was heavily influenced by his older half-brother Terry Jones who…
A widow with a 16-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son who prides herself on her scrupulous control and attention to detail is due to get married the next day. Her daughter is hardly enamoured by the idea and butts heads with her. Then everything changes when magically they switch bodies and have to step into each other’s…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 2 September 2022. Melbourne-based psych outfit The Baudelaires have released their sophomore album TiLT. Recorded in Venice, Italy and in their hometown of Melbourne, TiLT is released through Cheersquad in Australia/New Zealand, Kozmik Artifactz in Europe and Little Cloud…
