Nine may not be a conventional musical, but it still has great power. It’s the story of a self-obsessed film director and writer, Guido Contini. Guido is about to turn 40, and his last three movies have been flops. He’s signed on to make a new picture, but has no idea what he’s going to…
One of the takeaways from Bare the Musical is that the Catholic Church has a lot to answer for. This heart-wrenching musical concerns life’s most intimate struggles with equality and fairness. At its core are a couple of seniors – Peter (Adam Di Martino) and Jason (Finn Alexander) – who attend a Catholic boarding school….
With a highly-demanding, entirely sung bed, Falsettos is hard work. The show was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, for its original Broadway production in 1992 and claimed two (for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score). The story centres around a dysfunctional Jewish family. Marvin married Trina and they had…
Sally Robbins and Steven Bradbury featured in two of the most notorious moments in Australian Olympic history. Robbins is known as “Lay Down Sally” because she gave up and lay back in her boat 250 metres from the finishing line during the women’s eights’ final at the Athens Summer Games in 2004. She was reviled for…
Beauty may only be skin deep, but not according to the ethos of the four fine looking gentlemen who constitute the GLEAM (Good Looking and Aesthetics Movement) team. Their mantra is that you have to look good to feel good and vice versa. The shallow bunch featured in Beautiful Things: A Really Good Looking Musical consists of 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…
Energetic, powerful and haunting – such is Spring Awakening. This is a musical journey from adolescence to adulthood set in Germany in 1891. Teenagers struggle with the adversity of coming of age at a time when sexual education is deliberately ignored and adults appear to hold all the cards. The focus is on Wendla Bergmann (Jessie-Lou…
I was a big fan of The Fully Monty in its heyday, but that was then and this is now. Based on the smash hit 1997 British film, The Full Monty (which was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, but didn’t win any) is a feel good musical comedy. The show premiered in San Diego on…
