LIVE magazine September - December 2014

SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

BROUGHT TO YOU BY AUCKLAND LIVE

FEATURE

IN THIS ISSUE

AUCKLAND COMES ALIVE The Sound of Music heads to The Civic

JAMES MORE THE DECEPTIONIST Meet the illusionist who wowed Simon Cowell

THE RETURN OF SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY See Australia’s top contemporary dancers

CLASSICAL MEETS BREAKDANCE

LIVE AT THE ASB THEATRE, AOTEA CENTRE 4-6 SEPTEMBER TICKETS ON SALE NOW

TICKETMASTER.CO.NZ REDBULL.CO.NZ/FLYINGBACH

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LIVE Picks

LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

WIN Enter our competitions: aucklandlive.co.nz/comps

We’re pleased to report that there’s more to see and do in Auckland than ever! Our numbers for the past financial year show that we saw close to a million visitors to 1400 performances at our venues, with many out-of-towners coming just for shows like WICKED and stadium gigs like Bruce Springsteen, as well as locals of all ages joining us for live performances across the entertainment spectrum.

Q&A Read our Q&As:

aucklandlive.co.nz/stories

WATCH Watch our videos and picks:

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RED BULL FLYING BACH 4 – 6 September ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre WATCH

This spring and summer audiences can experience the excitement of international stage shows including The Sound of Music and The Illusionists 2.0 coming to The Civic and major outdoor concert events including SoulFest and The Rolling Stones coming to Auckland’s stadiums.

DIRECTOR'S PICK

Check out our calendar of everything that’s on sale on pages 8 and 9, and keep an eye on aucklandlive.co.nz for the latest announcements.

EDITOR Josie Campbell – media@aucklandlive.co.nz ADVERTISING AND LISTING ENQUIRIES Rahul Patel – live@aucklandlive.co.nz COVER ARTWORK Andy Salisbury – andy@tickle.org.nz

AUCKLAND DIWALI FESTIVAL 11 & 12 October | Aotea Square WATCH

NZSO: TUSCAN SUMMER 22 November | Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall Q&A

BELLEVILLE

28 August – 20 September Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre Auckland Live Director Robbie Macrae is looking forward to Silo Theatre’s Belleville at Herald Theatre which is set for an almost four-week run.

Every effort has been taken to ensure details in LIVE are accurate at time of publication but some may be subject to change. Individual companies reserve the right to add, withdraw or substitute artists or vary programmes should the need arise.

Auckland Live takes no responsibility for any incorrect event information in this publication.

“You can count on Silo to bring together great storytelling and an exciting cast and I’ve heard excellent things about this play.

JOE BONAMASSA 12 September | Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall WATCH

GABRIEL IGLESIAS 18 September | The Civic WIN | WATCH

“The creative team is top-notch and I think we’re in for some thrilling theatre.”

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LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

STEPPING INTO MARIA'S SHOES

Family lies at the heart of the treasured musical The Sound of Music and, as Dionne Christian discovers, that’s true for the cast in more ways than one.

IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST EMOTIONAL NIGHTS of Bethany Dickson’s life. The South African musical theatre sensation had just completed her opening night performance as the fun-loving Maria in the musical The Sound of Music at Cape Town’s Artscape theatre – and she desperately wanted to know whether her mum, Julie, liked it.

Twelve years before, the dynamic mother and daughter duo appeared in the same theatre in a community production of The Sound of Music. Julie played Maria and Bethany, then just 13, was Louisa, one of the seven von Trapp children.

Years later, mother and daughter cried together with delight when Bethany landed the role as Maria; when they were reunited after her opening night performance in the London Palladium’s touring version, they were overcome with emotion and sobbed with joy.

“All through rehearsals, my mother’s voice had echoed across the corridors of Artscape,” says Bethany. “It brought back so many memories and was a very special time.”

It was made even more memorable by the fact that Bethany’s first cousin, Rhys Hewitt Williams, also has a lead role. He plays Rolf, a teenage boy who becomes a Nazi convert and joins the SS. Despite family support, it’s still no mean feat to take on one of the most iconic roles in musical theatre and step into dancing shoes previously filled by the likes of Mary Martin, Petula Clarke and, in the 1965 film, Julie Andrews. The film won five Oscars and became the highest-grossing film in history; nearly 50 years on, it remains the most successful movie musical in history.

But the musical already had global audiences thinking about their favourite things, imagining hills being alive with the sound of music, and dreaming about making dresses from curtains. The musical originally premiered on Broadway in 1959 to record-breaking advance ticket sales and went on to win eight Tony awards. The show then opened in London in 1961 and became the longest-running American musical of its generation.

While it has enjoyed many revivals, the current touring show is produced by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, who brought it back to the London stage in

LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

The Sound of Music is steeped in a cherished heritage which is based on a true story and, along with romance, incorporates family and political drama.

MEET MOTHER SUPERIOR Renowned UK soprano and personality Lesley Garrett returns to the role of Mother Abbess for the first time since performing as the wizened nun in Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s inaugural West End season of The Sound of Music in 2006.

2006, in association with Lunchbox Productions who brought Annie to Auckland. The latest incarnation started life in South Africa and comes to New Zealand via Singapore.

When she was cast as Maria, Bethany had already clocked up plenty of experience with lead roles in High School Musical, Carousel, Grease and Sunset Boulevard. But, as she quickly discovered, everyone had an opinion on how she should approach the role of Maria. That meant strict focus on advice from the show’s first director, Jonny Bowles, and, more recently, Anton Luitingh.

“My mother has always been there for me, but she loved and respected me enough to step back and not tell me how to play the role of Maria and to let me find my own way,” says Bethany.

“Everyone thought I was playing Julie Andrews because, of course, they remember her from the film and, to a certain extent, you cannot escape the comparisons that will inevitably be made. I’ve heard people say I look too much like Julie Andrews – I don’t think I do – but the thing is there are some people who want to see it played that way.

“It’s a very fine line between honouring their memories of the film or an earlier stage show and finding my own version of the character.”

She was last in New Zealand playing Sandy in the rock ‘n’ roll musical, Grease. While Maria and Sandy may both be determined young women, the two shows couldn’t be more different. The Sound of Music is steeped in a cherished heritage which is based on a true story and, along with romance, incorporates family and political drama. Bethany describes it as more dramatic than Grease with a stronger spiritual element and ‘real world’ issues which intrude into the family and love stories.

While she’s been portraying Maria since the beginning of the year, Bethany will work alongside a number of new cast members in New Zealand including acclaimed English opera singer Lesley Garrett in

the role of Mother Abbess and New York-based actor Mark Rayment as widowed Captain von Trapp.

There’s also the addition of a lively bunch of children – 18 working in three six-strong teams – to shake things up.

She says it keeps the show fresh and the more seasoned performers on their toes. Mark joins the show having already clocked up an impressive list of performances in musicals around the world.

The romance between Maria and Captain von Trapp isn’t the only one in The Sound of Music. Liesel von Trapp, the eldest child, and Rolf, the young Nazi soldier, are also in love but powerful outside events put paid to that.

Carmen Pretorious, who plays Liesel, says it helps that she and Rhys Hewitt Williams are great friends because their storyline involves some of the musical’s most heartbreaking moments.

“But the psychology of what’s going on interests me because I am intrigued by what motivates people to do what they do,” says Carmen. “I think the thing I like most about The Sound of Music is it’s a story that recognises you can be on one path but the universe has something different in store for you and you need to go with that to find your true destiny.”

Win tickets to The Sound of Music!

LIVE has three double passes to give away to opening night at The Civic! To go in the draw, visit aucklandlive.co.nz/comps.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

From 3 October

LIVE AT THE CIVIC

A firm but loving mother figure, Mother Abbess guides Maria through her foibles and mishaps, encouraging her to spread her wings and leave the convent to look after the von Trapp children.

“She’s very loving, but she’s tough – and she’s powerful. She holds her convent so preciously, in the palm of her hand, and won’t let anything harm it,” Lesley says of the character, who she also describes as “an old friend”.

“She’s a wonderful character to play, and she’s helped me – she’s done me a lot of good. She’s helped me to be strong. She’s helped me in all kinds of situations. I had a wonderful time [playing her]”.

Lesley’s operatic career has included lead roles with the Royal Opera at Covent Garden in London, the English National Opera at the London Coliseum, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Welsh National Opera and Opera North. A hugely versatile performer, her career has also traversed a popular route: she’s hosted her own television and radio shows and released 14 solo albums, including her most recent, A North Country Lass.

A much-loved personality in the UK, Lesley has a large and loyal following, including one fan club member who’s travelling to New Zealand just to see her perform.

“He’s having a holiday so he can come and see my show, which I think is so sweet of him. We have great fans, we do.”

Though she’s been invited to tour with The Sound of Music since it finished on the West End, the New Zealand season will be the first time Lesley has chosen to travel abroad with it, and in fact the first production in fact that she’s taken on outside of the UK in quite some time.

“Now that both of my children have gone to university, I can start travelling again. New Zealand’s the first place I’ll be coming to – I’m very excited.

When they said [the show] was coming to New Zealand I couldn’t resist.”

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LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

EVEN MORE MAGICAL JAMES MORE HAS JUST COME OFF STAGE IN Mexico. It’s been a good night; he and the other six magicians in The Illusionists 2.0 were treated to a standing ovation. He’s quietly chuffed: “Originally we were only supposed to do four days, but now we’ve got a two-week run. We’ve got people waiting at the hotels; it’s all a bit crazy.”

It’s going well, then, this sequel to The Illusionists and that might be because it’s Magic 2.0. “This show uses things like 3D technology; audiences are putting on 3D glasses; we’ve got big screens on stage now with people jumping in and out of them. So it’s a lot more updated and there’s a lot of younger guys in our show.”

You get the sense that this suits James perfectly. He’s billed as The Deceptionist of the show. The advertising for the show advises the reader to “prepare to fall” for his dark arts. He’s the dark ‘smouldering’ one with a specialty in death-defying stunts.

He’s also been on a long journey to update the traditional magic act. It started when he was eight and with a talent show at his school. He made his own trick out of a shoebox, some tape and some cards. “It wasn’t very good, but it fooled all the adults and I won five pounds. So to an eight-year-old kid, that’s a powerful thing – being able to get one over on the adults.”

As the saying goes, he was right into it: “I loved it.

I used to come home from school and the first thing I did was to pick up a deck of cards.” All through secondary school he practised, but, unable to find any local magic schools, the teenaged James did the next best thing and signed up to a performing arts school. “I had to get a sense of being on stage, how to manage an audience and work a crowd. So I did that for four years with a bit of contemporary dance on the side.” James’ act was coming together. A long stint honing his skills on cruise ships developed his act to a high standard. “It’s very easy for the public to perceive an illusion as a self-working box or the assistants doing all the work; there’s so much more to it. There’s lighting involved, there’s choreography involved, there’s staging involved. It’s not just about fooling the audience.”

The next step for James was a ballsy one. He auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent. It was a brave move considering Simon Cowell’s notorious dislike of magic. The gamble paid off. James wowed the audience by seemingly impaling himself on stage and

New Zealand ended a long drought of magic shows when The Illusionists materialised at The Civic last year. The show has been internationally popular prompting a sequel – The Illusionists 2.0. José Barbosa profiles one of the magicians performing in the new extravaganza and asks: what does it take to become a magician?

then in a later episode transporting himself into the audience. Simon was impressed, saying James was probably the best magician they’d ever had on the show. Inevitably the YouTube clip went viral, racking up millions of views. An arena show with previous Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity followed culminating in a spot on The Illusionists 2.0.

“This show uses things like 3D technology, audiences are putting on 3D glasses; we’ve got big screens on stage now with people jumping in and out of them.’’

The Britain’s Got Talent gamble was also a chance to prove something: “It was an opportunity to show the British people that live magic could work on television and we hadn’t seen that for a long time.

Magic’s best seen live, I think.” He could well be right; James describes the new Illusionists show as a concert magic show. “It’s not your typical magic show. If you like magic you’ll obviously like the show.

If you don’t like magic there are parts of it, the music and visual elements, that you will like.”

It’s been 15 minutes so we decide to finish up there. James is about to go back on stage for The Illusionists 2.0 evening show. He’s so composed and calm, you’d not pick he’s about to wow an audience of thousands halfway around the world.

A lot can come from a shoe-box and a piece of tape.

THE ILLUSIONISTS 2.0

2 – 13 September

LIVE AT THE CIVIC

LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

ROLL CALL OF SOUL

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Soulfest, Australasia’s first-ever neo-soul, jazz and hip hop festival is set to take over Western Springs Stadium on Sunday 26 October writes Sarah Illingworth.

A ONE-OF-A-KIND SHOWCASE OF SOME OF the world’s finest talent, the all-ages event marks Maxwell and D’Angelo’s first visits to New Zealand.

Godfathers of contemporary soul and R&B, they are joined by Common, Mos Def, Anthony Hamilton, Angie Stone and Musiq Soulchild.

The Auckland leg will also feature some of our best local artists, including Aaradhna, Bella Kalolo, TDK and a DJ set by Che Fu, rounding out the line-up.

It’s an amazing roll-call of acts, the likes of which rarely feature together on one bill. Promoter John Denison says he specifically set out to curate a focused line-up.

“I have a firm belief that when you’re putting together something, you should be committed to that genre, and put as many of those artists on a bill, so you can draw the maximum audience [of that genre] out.”

Soulfest tickets have been selling like hotcakes since they were released at the start of June, proving John’s so-called niche approach ‘has legs’.

He was helped along, though, by a little ‘star magic’.

On meeting Jill Scott at one of her first-ever Australia shows in 2013, John asked if she thought getting Maxwell and D’Angelo on the same bill was possible.

“We asked what kind of line-up she thought would work out here. That’s how it really came about, Jill and I talking backstage,” he recounts. “I asked what it would take to get Maxwell and D’Angelo on one bill, and she said, ‘I suppose – I speak to them all the time – I could help out.’

“She did speak to Maxwell on our behalf, and that was the catalyst, getting Maxwell to say yes. Because everything else fell into place.”

“It just turned out to be a fantastic mix,” he continues, “to the point that when we announced the line-up, I think people all over the US, and pockets of Europe and Asia, were just wetting themselves over it.”

When asked his reaction to the line-up, Che Fu, New Zealand’s own Don of hip hop, said: “I was pretty ecstatic and visibly relieved at the notion that I would finally be able to see D’Angelo live, and in my own country no less. He has a huge following here in New Zealand, and it was almost

“We actually believe that Auckland will be the biggest show of the tour... ’’ like – is he ever going to perform here? I’d almost resigned myself to thinking I would only see him overseas, so I’m hella stoked right now.”

Reflecting on New Zealanders’ love for soul music, Che responded: “Bands like the Māori Volcanics in the ’60s, Sir Howard Morrison, Prince Tui Teka, the Five Stars, Ardijah, and those alike from Aotearoa and the Pacific have all contributed to the New Zealand psyche when it comes to soul and R&B. This type of history has helped form the foundation for which whole industries in this country have been created. We also continue the tradition of writing and performing in this style of music, to where it is – alongside hip hop and reggae – almost synonymous with contemporary Māori/Pacific/Aotearoa music.”

Featuring all acts back-to-back on one mainstage, Soulfest will occupy a specially configured area in the bottom Speedway area of Western Springs Stadium.

The event will also feature ‘Eat Street’, a strip of street vendors curated by Britomart eatery Orleans.

Serving up everything from Louisiana po’ boys to tacos and fried chicken, the food alley will be an opportunity to sample some of the best soul and streetfood Auckland has to offer.

Limited-capacity VIP tickets are also available, offering access to an exclusive front-of-stage area, which will house a VIP bar, food outlets and toilets.

John says he’s been amazed at ticket sales so far, and the all-round response of New Zealanders to the event.

“We actually believe that Auckland will be the biggest show of the tour – more so than Sydney and Melbourne. I personally believe the spiritual home of this event is Auckland, is New Zealand. New Zealand gets it, and that’s it.”

SOULFEST

26 October

LIVE AT WESTERN SPRINGS STADIUM

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LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

LIVE CALENDAR THEATRE SILO THEATRE: BELLEVILLE This is no standard-issue thriller. It’s taut, genre-busting storytelling which grabs you from its first breath. Starring Sophie Henderson and Matt Whelan.

28 August – 20 September | $30 – $55* Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre THE ILLUSIONISTS 2.0 The future of magic has arrived in a brand new magic extravaganza using cutting-edge visual effects including giant 3D interactive projections. Edgy, exciting and most of all fun, it is the perfect live entertainment event.

2 – 13 September, various times | $69.90 – $114.90* The Civic OKLAHOMA! Since its premiere on Broadway in 1943, Oklahoma! has been a box-office smash and is now considered the birth of the modern musical.

3 September, 4pm & 8pm | $65 – $99.90* Bruce Mason Centre THE SOUND OF MUSIC Starring international opera star Lesley Garrett and featuring songs like Sixteen Going on Seventeen, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, My Favorite Things, Do-Re-Mi and Edelweiss. Don’t miss it!

From 3 October, various times | From $69* The Civic THE PAPER CINEMA’S ODYSSEY Raging storms prevail over one man’s quest to get home. Homer’s classic becomes a live silent film, vividly told with illustration, puppetry and a captivating score.

29 October – 1 November, 7pm | $25 – $48* Lower NZI, Level 1, Aotea Centre AT THE WAKE BY VICTOR RODGER Family secrets emerge when ageing diva Joan gets fired up at her daughter’s funeral, fuelled with expensive whisky and age-old grievances.

25 November – 6 December, various times | $33 – $39* Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre

MUSIC SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings return for one Auckland show only. Make sure you grab tickets for one of the most vibrant and exciting shows of the year.

4 September, 7pm | $70* Bruce Mason Centre NZ POPS ORCHESTRA: SPRING POPS Following their stunning success, New Zealand’s only dedicated Pops Orchestra returns with Rita Paczian, soloists and Youth Choir to perform music from The Beatles to Strauss.

7 September, 5pm | $16 – $65* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall JOE BONAMASSA Blues Rock Titan Joe Bonamassa’s first-ever New Zealand show. Acoustic and electric performances.

12 September, 8pm | $99 – $129* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

TAKE ME HOME: THE MUSIC & LIFE OF JOHN DENVER Take Me Home takes you on this musical journey through exclusive film footage and live music. Starring Bevan Gardiner, support on the 2013 Charley Pride tour.

12 & 13 September, 8pm | $69.90* Bruce Mason Centre

JOE SATRIANI Acclaimed around the world as one of the most technically accomplished and respected guitarists in rock music, Joe Satriani’s mammoth world tour brings the guitar professor back for his first headline shows since 2008.

1 November, 8pm | $89.90 – $299.90* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

JOAN ARMATRADING Fans new and old will enjoy a musical voyage spanning Joan Armatrading’s entire career and the many genres she has mastered including Pop, Blues, Folk, Reggae and Jazz.

17 December, 8pm | $79.90 – 99.90* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

AN EVENING WITH YES Iconic and Grammy-winning rock band YES performs two classic albums in their entirety – Fragile and Close To The Edge – plus the band’s greatest hits.

10 November, 7.30pm | $89.50 – $120* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

ANGUS AND JULIA STONE Angus and Julia Stone are set to bring their critically acclaimed live show back to where it all began for a string of headline tour dates this September.

28 September, 8pm | $64.90* The Civic THE DIRE STRAITS EXPERIENCE Dire Straits veteran Chris White and six hand picked world-class musicians come together to perform the legendary songbook of the Dire Straits.

2 October, 8pm | $79 – $125* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre THE IRISH ROVERS The Absolutely Farewell To Rovin’ Tour.

World-renowned and loved Irish Rovers come to Auckland for one night of wit, music and blarney in their farewell tour.

It’s not to be missed!

4 October, 7.30pm | $65 – $75* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

THE ABBA SHOW Showtime Australia presents this fabulous tribute concert with all the ABBA music, costumes and dancing that you love, performed live by an international cast.

15 November, 8pm | $30 – $59* Bruce Mason Centre THE ROLLING STONES An exhilarating and critically acclaimed celebration of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood bringing their iconic music and groundbreaking stage shows to audiences around the globe.

22 November, 7.30pm | $213.85 – $395.55* Mt Smart Stadium THE SEEKERS The legendary original line-up of The Seekers celebrate their 50th anniversary with all their chart-topping hits and much, much more.

25 November, 7.30pm | $89.90 – $119.90* The Civic

ALOE BLACC With sold-out shows and rave reviews in 2011, Aloe Blacc’s return visit will see him perform a show at Auckland Town Hall.

21 October, 7pm | $70* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

NICK CAVE Nick Cave will visit New Zealand in December to perform a series of rare solo concerts.

6 & 7 December, 8pm | $102.70* The Civic

HOT CHOCOLATE Hot Chocolate, one of the most successful bands of the ‘70s, are returning to New Zealand in October, proudly presented by Abstract Entertainment.

21 October, 8pm | $65.50 – $75.50* Bruce Mason Centre

VIVA VOCE: VV ROCKS! Applying their unique formula to a series of chart-toppers, Auckland choir Viva Voce presents favourites from the fields of jazz, swing, country, rock and pop.

7 December, 5pm | $10 – $45* Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall

TOPP TWINS: THE GRAND OLE TOPP’RY Lynda and Jools Topp pay homage to country music greats and celebrate original Kiwi country music alongside Tami Neilson, Cameron Luxton and The Johnnys.

24 – 26 October | various times | $75* Bruce Mason Centre

THE BEST OF JETHRO TULL WITH IAN ANDERSON The exciting and innovative Ian Anderson, creator of the seminal progressive rock band Jethro Tull, brings his theatrical production to Auckland for two nights.

20 & 21 December, 8pm | $119 – $175* The Civic

SOULFEST D’Angelo, Maxwell, Common and Mos Def will be performing at Soulfest, New Zealand’s firstever neo-soul, funk, jazz and hip-hop festival.

26 October | 1pm | $129 – $179* Western Springs Stadium OUR:HOUSE FESTIVAL 2014 Featuring international artists Skrillix, Steve Aoki, What So Not and MK, as well as a lineup of local legends across three stages.

28 October, 6pm | $79.90-95* Mt Smart Stadium

CLASSICAL CMNZ: RHYTHM AND RESONANCE Leading New Zealand pianists Michael Endres and Diedre Irons join Stroma percussionists Lenny Sakofsky and Thomas Guldborg, performing rarely-heard masterworks by Bartók, Mozart and Ravel.

1 September, 8pm | $35 – $65* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

APO: GLENNIE AT OLYMPUS Percussion superstar Dame Evelyn Glennie returns to Auckland for an exciting performance of John Psathas’ double concerto for percussion, piano and orchestra. Part of The New Zealand Herald Premier Series.

4 September, 8pm | $46 – $125* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall MORNING MELODIES 2014 CONCERT SERIES Enjoy the music of the talented brass bands from our Armed Forces. Every month, for the whole of 2014, join us for a morning of fantastic music, featuring brass and military favourites from years gone by.

15 September, 13 October, 17 November, 8 December, 11am | $5.00* Bruce Mason Centre CMNZ: EGGNER TRIO WITH AMIHAI GROSZ Georg, Florian and Christoph Eggner return, bringing with them Berlin Philharmonic principal viola Amihai Grosz as a special guest to perform favourite piano trios and quartets.

16 September, 8pm | $35 – $70* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall NZ OPERA: DON GIOVANNI Seducer, deceiver, lover and killer; opera’s greatest anti-hero will stop at nothing in his pursuit of pleasure. Mozart’s liveliest, most extreme and most romantic music will resonate in all its glory.

18 – 28 September, various times | $49.50 – $189.50* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre APO: CZECHMATE A performance of orchestral favourites from Europe, featuring cellist Torleif Thedéen and conductor Christopher Seaman. Part of the Bayleys Great Classics Series.

2 October, 7.30pm | $46 – $125* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall APO: CONCERT FOR HORNS The APO horn section as you’ve never heard them before, in a performance of Schumann’s Konzertstück for 4 Horns.

Part of The New Zealand Herald Premier Series.

9 October, 8pm | $46 – $125* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall AYO: DESTINY As winner of the 2013 AYO Soloist Competition, Jim Wu performs his winning interpretation of Bruch’s Violin Concerto in a concert of timeless classical works.

12 October, 4pm | FREE Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall APO: A FATEFUL SYMPHONY Ning Feng makes a welcome return to Auckland to perform Britten’s arresting Violin Concerto with Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. Part of The New Zealand Herald Premier Series.

16 October, 8pm | $46 – $125* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall NZSO: BOLD WORLDS The world’s greatest living trumpet soloists Håkan Hardenberger, performs the showcase Trumpet Concerto written just for him.

Also featuring Mussorgsky’s popular Pictures at an Exhibition.

18 October, 7.30pm | $30 – 126* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

BOOKING TICKETS

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Online: www.ticketmaster.co.nz | Phone: 0800 111 999 or 09 970 9700 In person: Ticketmaster outlets including Aotea Centre and Bruce Mason Centre

Go to aucklandlive.co.nz for information on venues, parking and where to go for pre-show refreshments or call us during business hours on 09 309 2677.

*Service/booking fees will be applied when purchasing tickets.

TALK TO US

LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

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September – December 2014 CMNZ: BORODIN QUARTET From Russia comes one of the greatest chamber music ensembles of our age, performing composers for which they are renowned: Myaskovsky, Shostakovich and Beethoven.

22 October, 8pm | $55 – $90* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall ASO: RHAPSODIES AND REVOLUTIONS Featuring orchestral favourites including Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninov and music from Les Misérables.

Tina Kim – Piano. Peter Thomas – Conductor.

26 October, 2.30pm | Koha Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall 2 November, 2.30pm | Koha Bruce Mason Centre APO: REMEMBERING WWI – SOLDIERS’ TALES A concert that presents three pieces permeated equally with the joy of life and the experience of battle, featuring Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale Suite and Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand.

Presented by Newstalk ZB. 30 October, 8pm | $46 – $125* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall LESLEY GARRETT IN RECITAL Britain’s most popular soprano, Lesley Garrett, performs for one night only, a concert of songs from operas, musicals and popular music.

30 October | $89 – $139* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre APO: ROMANTIC BRUCKNER APO Music Director Eckehard Stier conducts a programme featuring Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4. Part of The New Zealand Herald Premier Series.

6 November, 8pm | $46 – $125* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall NZSO: OPULENCE The luxuriant Der Rosenkavalier Suite by Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2, played by piano star Eldar Nebolsin and Ravel’s fairy-tale Mother Goose Suite.

7 November, 7pm | $30 – $126* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall APO: UNWRAP TCHAIKOVSKY NUTCRACKER SUITE Listen, laugh, enjoy and learn. Graham Abbott and the APO explore why Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker has captivated generations of adults and children alike.

13 November, 6.30pm | $15 – $25* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall AUCKLAND CHORAL: WAVES UPON WAVES A tremendous feast of colour, rhythm and drive: Flatischler’s Suite for choir, percussion and orchestra, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony.

Conductor Uwe Grodd, Soprano Ursula Langmayr, Baritone David Griffiths, APO. 15 November, 7.30pm | $20 – $89* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

APO: SETTLING THE SCORE LIVE The APO and Radio New Zealand Concert in a live countdown of the nation’s favourite orchestral works.

28 November, 8pm | $25 – $45* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall 2014 NEW ZEALAND YOUNG CHINESE PIANO AND VIOLIN TALENT CONCERT To discover young Chinese musical talent in New Zealand and provide a platform for successful young piano and violin players to demonstrate their extraordinary success in the musical field.

29 November, 2pm | $20* Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall ASO: CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION The ASO presents a concert of singalong Christmas favourites, conducted by Peter Thomas, with special guest choirs from Auckland churches. aucklandsymphony.co.nz 5 December, 7.30pm | Koha Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall AUCKLAND CHORAL: HANDEL’S MESSIAH Celebrate Christmas with the world’s most popular oratorio, including Hallelujah Chorus.

Soloists: Madeleine Pierard, Carmel Carroll, Henry Choo, David Greco. Conductor Uwe Grodd. Pipers Sinfonia.

15 & 16 December, 7.30pm | $34 – $89* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

DANCE

RNZB: THE VODAFONE SEASON OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL A dazzling retelling of Dickens’ classic yuletide tale, direct from Northern Ballet (UK) and including familiar Christmas carols – perfect for family celebrations and festive treats.

3 – 7 December, various times | $25 – $145* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre 13 & 14 December, 7.30pm | $35 – $85* Bruce Mason Centre NEVERLAND STUDIOS 2014 SHOW Neverland Studios presents another original show, showcasing their jazz, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, tap and musical theatre students from 2014.

5 – 7 December, various times | On sale 26 September Bruce Mason Centre

COMEDY GABRIEL IGLESIAS: UNITY THROUGH LAUGHTER Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias has been described as an unbelievably witty and electrifying performer who has the ability to consistently deliver a uniquely hilarious comedy experience.

18 September, 8pm | $69.90 – $90* The Civic TREVOR NOAH: LOST IN TRANSLATION His last tour sold out. Don’t miss Trevor Noah, a fascinating comedian from South Africa who has achieved international acclaim.

24 October, 8pm | $69.90* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

RED BULL FLYING BACH Shattering boundaries between classical and urban art forms, this show fuses the elegant masterpieces of Johann Sebastian Bach with the explosive dance style of breakdance.

4 – 6 September, 7.30pm | $69.90 – $89.90* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

ANDREW ‘DICE’ CLAY: THE DICEMAN COMETH DOWN UNDER Controversial and outrageous – American comic icon Andrew Dice Clay heads to New Zealand for one show only. The star of The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.

28 October, 8pm | $79 – $89* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

APO: TE MANU AHI A modern Māori fairy tale that fuses the power of live orchestra with the spectacle of dance. Featuring a cast of more than 150 school students from across Auckland dancing to Stravinsky’s score for the ballet The Firebird.

22 October, 1pm | $10 – $20 ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

BILL BAILEY: LIMBOLAND British comedian, actor and musician Bill Bailey returns to New Zealand in November for the world premiere of his new show Limboland.

5 & 6 November, 8pm | $79 – $90* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

RUSSIAN NATIONAL DANCE: KOSTROMA Kostroma takes the audience on a bewitching journey from the Arctic north to the southern Steppes, the peaks of the Caucasus to the depths of Siberia.

7 November, 7.30pm, ASB Theatre 9 November, 7.30pm, Bruce Mason Centre $70 – $95*

CHELSEA HANDLER: UGANDA BE KIDDING ME LIVE TOUR Superstar US comedian, author and talk show host Chelsea Handler is heading to New Zealand in November for a stand-up comedy tour of her new live show, Uganda Be Kidding Me. 29 November, 8pm | $79.90* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

TALKS

APO: SCHIRMER AND SHOSTAKOVICH Pianist Ragna Schirmer returns to perform two radically different but equally virtuosic piano concerti in the final concert of The New Zealand Herald Premier Series.

20 November, 8pm | $46 – $125 Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY: 2 ONE ANOTHER Featuring some of the best dancers in Australia, 2 One Another is an exuberant celebration of the power of movement from a choreographer and a company at the height of their powers.

13 – 15 November, various times | $34.90 – $79.90* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

EXTREME ADVENTURE ON THE EDGE: VERTICAL FEATS AND THE MAN WHO CAN FLY National Geographic Live returns this October, showcasing our world through the eyes of Bryan Smith, one of its best explorers.

An unmissable event for adventurers.

1 October, 7.30pm | $39 – $49* ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

NZSO: TUSCAN SUMMER See Italy with the NZSO. Rossini’s comic classic, the Barber of Seville Overture.

Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 Italian.

Stefan Jackiw performs Mendelssohn’s zestful Violin Concerto.

22 November, 7.30pm | $30 – $126* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

SPELLBOUND IN DAPPLE WOOD This dance spectacular follows Chloe Wood-Spiggle and her best friend Sophia Sprite in their attempt to break a spell set by Gribble Goblin.

29 & 30 November, various times | $26.90 – $29.90* Bruce Mason Centre

AN EVENING WITH SHIRLEY MACLAINE Don’t miss this audience with one of the most dynamic and enduring of Hollywood legends, arch raconteur and provocative visionary, for one night only on the 60th anniversary of her debut feature role.

13 December, 8pm | $99 – $149* The Civic

FAMILY PICK & MIX: AUCKLAND PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA The APO’s Aucktet attempts daring feats of musical entertainment, performing music that was thought not possible to be performed by a lone trombone, let alone eight!

6 September, 10.30am | FREE Lower NZI, Aotea Centre EVERYTHING IS KA PAI Kids for Kids presents a brand new show Everything is Ka Pai, fronted by Jackie Clarke and Nathan King and showcasing our own talented Kiwi kids as its stars!

8 – 11 September, 7.30pm | $18 – $22.50* Bruce Mason Centre THE LISTIES 6D (IT’S TWICE AS GOOD AS 3D) A comedy show for kidults (kids and their adults) rated S for Stupid. Expect haunted backpacks, ninja nans, toilet paper guns and an actual movie made at every performance.

30 September – 3 October, 11am 4 October, 11am & 2pm | $12 – $15* Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre SLEEPING BEAUTY Help Princess Briar Rose from falling into a deep sleep, ride a time machine, defeat a ferocious dragon and stop havoc. You will be enchanted!

9 – 11 October, 10am & 1pm | $15* Bruce Mason Centre APO: APO 4 KIDS CHRISTMAS A festive hour of musical fun for preschoolers and their families, with a full-orchestra performance of favourite Christmas songs plus some new ones to learn.

29 November, 10am & 11.30am – $15* Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

MORE RISING VOICES YOUTH POETRY GRAND SLAM Niu Navigations Limited presents the 4th Rising Voices Youth Poetry Grand Slam.

Witness 13 of Aotearoa’s finest emerging spoken-word artists battle it out with words.

6 September, 7pm | $20 – $24* Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall DIGITAL ART LIVE: DJ3D14 BY DAN JAMES A robot watches participants in real-time and inserts their images into a 3D mix of real and fictional video scenes.

12 September – 4 November | FREE Owens Foyer, Aotea Centre AUCKLAND DIWALI FESTIVAL Celebrate Indian culture in its many exciting forms. Enjoy live performances, street theatre, vegetarian Indian food and sweets, workshops and a dazzling fireworks finale.

11 & 12 October, Midday – 9pm | FREE Aotea Square DIGITAL ART LIVE: EMERGING PIXELS #4 A selection of interactive art works created by emerging New Zealand talents.

November – December 2014 | FREE Owens Foyer, Aotea Centre THE GREAT GATSBY CHRISTMAS REVUE The Great Gatsby Christmas Party Revue will feature – comedy, singing and dancing, reminiscent of the 1920s when everyone was makin’ whoopee, dancing the Charleston or doing the Boogie Woogie!

11 December, 8pm | $79.90* Bruce Mason Centre

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LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

URGENT AND ELECTRIC

The dancers stream across the stage, their movements sometimes hard, sometimes soft, engaged in a battle that seems to encompass every emotion – from elation to rage. The soundtrack and lighting are urgent and electric, perfectly complemented by shards of poetry that sum up what it means to be human.

By Diana Balham.

A DECADE AFTER THEY LAST VISITED Auckland, the award-winning Sydney Dance Company is returning with a show that debuted in 2012 – 2 One Another – and choreographer Rafael Bonachela is looking forward to bringing it to a New Zealand audience. “We performed in the Christchurch Festival in 2009 – it was the first work I made for Sydney Dance Company, titled 3600. It would be amazing to tour here more regularly,” he says, “but we have a very full touring schedule and it is sometimes a challenge to make all the dates line up.”

Rafael, who is also the company’s artistic director, describes the new work as “a microcosm of broader human interactions”. A compelling blend of dance,

language, light and sound, it fuses Rafael’s highenergy choreography with words by poet Samuel Webster and Nick Wales’ pulsating soundtrack with an eye-popping lighting backdrop by Benjamin Cisterne. This makes for a very busy hour on stage, but what makes it stand out from other contemporary dance works?

“I think it is a work that resonates with people,” Rafael continues. “I set myself a task to create a work that was spectacular. I wanted to move into another realm, take the audience into a suspended universe that was bright and bold. So when I met with my collaborators that was very much already in my thinking. They embraced it and took the journey with me. I like to think the audience also go on an emotional journey, where they can enter as themselves, as who they are and let their imagination flow.”

It’s hard to say where 2 One Another fits into the somewhat free-form world of contemporary dance and Rafael is happy to distance himself from labels and popular movements anyway, saying he tries to resist trends and thinking about his work in these terms.

“Fortunately contemporary dance is a broad church, so to speak – from the avant garde to the neoclassical and everything in between. I always say there are so many people who don’t realise they are contemporary dance fans and have just not discovered it yet.”

In fact, Rafael was nearly one of these people himself, growing up in a small town outside

Barcelona where he wasn’t exposed to contemporary dance or even ballet until he hit his teens. And perhaps the land that produced flamenco and bullfighting would not support young men in expressing themselves in a gentler manner?

“I suppose it wasn’t encouraged but I just loved it and used to make up dances in the playground at school. At 15, when I was old enough to catch the train by myself, I started dance lessons and that set me on the journey I am still on today. Spanish audiences have definitely embraced contemporary dance and we have been fortunate to tour there – something that made my mother very proud.”

But Rafael’s childhood revealed a fairly blatant clue about his dance leanings. Ask him to tell you three things about himself that might surprise the general public and he answers like this: "Well, I am a big fan of transcendental meditation; there is a photograph of me in the National Portrait Gallery in London; and growing up, my favourite TV show was Fame – but maybe you could have guessed that one."

SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY: 2 ONE ANOTHER 13 – 15 November

LIVE AT ASB THEATRE, AOTEA CENTRE

LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

IMAGE AND MUSIC SHADOW AND LIGHT AND MUSIC. ONE OF the oldest stories; one of the newest storytelling methods. The Paper Cinema's Odyssey is not quite like anything you’ve seen before. Japanese shadow theatre? Puppetry? “People make these comparisons,” says artistic director Nic Rawling, “but they're not very useful.” An “interpretive live performance using hand-drawn paper puppets,” says the press kit, which is not very useful either.

What, I asked Nic, does the audience for a show by The Paper Cinema actually see?

“We do image and music as equal halves of a whole, so it’s not just about what you see.” But here’s what you see: five people sit on a stage. Three of them have instruments – “guitar, drums, violin, piano, a musical saw, various other keyboards, a laptop, a thunder sheet, bubble wrap, a school ruler, a Tibetan singing bowl, bamboo tubes, old crisp packets” – and two of them are puppeteers. The puppets are paper cut-outs, and the puppeteers work with them in front of a digital camera. The results are projected on a screen behind the performers.

“You see all of it happening live – puppets, music, sound effects, lighting effects – like a film with no celluloid, with the actors, directors, editors and orchestra all on stage at once. We bring it all together and blend it – the puppeteers are not video DJs to the music and the musicians are not scoring an existing film. We play like a band, all taking our cues from one another.”

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Who are The Paper Cinema and how do they approach Homer’s Odyssey? We asked David Larsen to find out.

Odyssey is the biggest show in The Paper Cinema’s 10-year history – at 75 minutes, it’s almost twice the length of anything they’ve done before, and it has many, many more puppets.

Keeping everything together on stage is a challenge, and it all has to be reinvented slightly for every new venue. There have been a lot of venues.

Over the last two years, they’ve toured the show around Europe and South America; this is their first visit to New Zealand. Ironic that their longest international tour to date should be with a show about a man who just wants to get safely home.

“The main focus of our version is looking at the family and their relationship – a husband’s efforts to make it home to his wife, and a wife’s efforts to hold out till her husband’s return, while their son grows up. There are still monsters.

We really liked the idea of a story looking at the intimate nature of family, love, care and understanding, but with a ripping good yarn.

We tell our yarn mute, of course – with visuals and music. Rather than Homer's poetry of words, we hope to have the poetry in our tone, line and movement.”

THE PAPER CINEMA’S ODYSSEY

29 October – 1 November

LIVE AT LOWER NZI, LEVEL 1, AOTEA CENTRE

Animation, music, film and theatre merge to create an epic, imaginative voyage.

Time Out (UK)

29 OCT – 1 NOV, 7PM LIVE AT THE LOWER NZI, LEVEL 1, AOTEA CENTRE

TICKETS $25 – $48 TICKETMASTER.CO.NZ OR O9 97O 97OO

*

in association with Battersea Arts Centre *

SERVICE FEES APPLY.

12

LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

Young soprano Amelia Berry returns

JET-SETTING SOPRANO

to her homeland to play Zerlina in New Zealand Opera’s upcoming season of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Between singing in Glasgow and flying back to New York, Amelia wrote about her life as a singer especially for LIVE.

Tell us a little about your background as a singer.

I’ve been singing practically my whole life in some form or another. As a kid I would sing tunes from The Sound of Music while trying (and failing) to fly off my deck, and I performed many a Spice Girls tribute concert for my ever-patient family. They did a great job of pretending to like it! I did the choir thing in high school and then decided that I wanted to study singing at university, so I got my Bachelor of Music in Wellington before moving to New York City to get my Masters (mostly just so I could wear the funny graduation hat again).

How did being an emerging artist with NZ Opera prepare you for what you’re doing now?

As an Emerging Artist with NZ Opera from 2010 to 2011, I was involved in professional productions and was able to really see how an opera was put together from the ground up. It was the perfect thing to do before I moved overseas, because I was exposed to exceptional singers from all over the world and managed to get a lot of stage experience, which really helped to give me a head start at school in New York.

I also got used to wearing all sorts of costumes, so when I was asked to audition in a bikini in the middle of a New York winter I wasn’t fazed at all and ended up getting the lead soprano role. Definitely a story for the grandkids...

You’ve been living and studying overseas – what’s that like day to day?

I’ve been living in Manhattan for three years and am now trying to become a real human being after graduating in May. Every day is different and that’s the nature of the beast, but I love having that excitement and flexibility in my life. It can mean going hungry at times, but then the next day might bring a massive burger – so it all works out!

The rest of this year will be full of auditions, so my day-to-day life will mostly involve getting all fancied up to go and sing for various companies – living the dream!

What does it mean to be coming home for a role in Don Giovanni?

It’s really special for me to be able to come home to sing in Don Giovanni. I absolutely love my job as it’s meant that I’ve been able to sing in some amazing places around the world, but coming back to New Zealand is always extra awesome because I get to eat Whittaker’s and Tim Tams and Shapes during rehearsal breaks. It actually makes me feel pretty proud to come back and show my friends and family (and the public) what I have been working towards for so long. It’s always nice to have the people you love sitting in the audience, too.

How would you describe this opera to someone who hasn’t been to an opera before?

Don Giovanni is the kind of story that you could still see on TV or in the movies today. The themes and emotions are still 100% relevant and it’s very gritty, but it has moments of humour to balance it out. We have updated it and our modern production definitely explores the dark side of the story.

The music is also gorgeous and has some very hummable tunes.

DON GIOVANNI

18 – 28 September

LIVE AT ASB THEATRE, AOTEA CENTRE

LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

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DANCING WITH FIRE Te Manu Ahi is a collaboration between the APO, Atamira Dance Company and 150 dancers from schools across Auckland who will dance to Igor Stravinksy’s Firebird Suite, played live by the orchestra. By Bronwyn Bent.

THE FIREBIRD SUITE IS MUSIC PERFECTLY suited to the energy of a platoon of young dancers, full of exciting rhythms and vigorous riffs on folk music. The original ballet is just your typical boymeets-magical-creature-and-chaos-ensues story, but that story has been set aside for one that is more related to contemporary New Zealand.

As Atamira Artistic Director and choreographer Moss Patterson describes it, the original story, while related to traditional Russian fairy tales, was a concoction of the orginal creators, impresario Sergei Diaghilev and choreographer Michel Fokine, “who basically sat in a room in 1910 and made up a story based on the Phoenix and Kashchei the Immortal.” Moss and co-choreographer Gaby Thomas have taken a similar approach this year, and after going back and looking at the original story, they’ve come up with one that Moss says is about “Aotearoa in 2014; we’ve created a Māori version” for the Auckland Dance Project.

Their story sees two young tūrehu (fairy people), Matatu and Hine Ariki, encounter a range of mythical creatures and forces, including the Firebird,

as they attempt to make their escape from the cloud kingdom, and it provides plenty of scope for the young cast to take on plenty of roles.

Creating a work for 150 dancers is never an easy task, let alone when some of the dancers might only have had a few weeks of dance training; however, Moss’ focus with this project is definitely on “taking people from anywhere and getting them to be professional artists.” This sense of professionalism is a big lure according to Catherine Blomfield, the orchestra’s Education Supervisor: “The rehearsal regime is quite strict. Last year, they found it quite hard at the beginning, and then they really rose to the challenge.

When they actually dance to a live orchestra, that’s a very different experience for them; otherwise, they always dance to pre-recorded music, so they really feel a sense of ‘Oh, my goodness’!

The performance is created over a series of rehearsals, with Moss and Gaby sketching out a plan beforehand that is then finessed by the dancers themselves. Moss explains: “I go in with the blueprint, like an architect.

During this process, they are not students, but artists.

They explore the movements that I bring, but then we work with what they bring as well.”

For both Moss and Catherine, there are some other important results from this project. Catherine comments that “This project is quite unique in that it is a collaboration between these schools,

and they’re all inputting into the same artistic outcome.” Moss is clear that, beyond the dancing, this is “an empowerment project: we give people a greater sense of what is possible outside their usual experiences.” Any performance that combines modern fairy stories, 150 young dancers, and a live orchestra playing one of contemporary ballet’s most significant works is bound to expand the usual experiences of performers and audiences alike.

This project, now in its fourth year, is one of a raft of performances that the APO presents outside of its regular concerts at Auckland Town Hall, which include everything from collaborations with hip-hop artists, to children’s concerts through to open days.

The schools participating in this year’s Auckland Dance Project are: Freeman’s Bay and New Lynn primary schools, Northcote Intermediate, James Cook High School and Saint Kentigern College. First year dancers from the Department of Performing and Screen Arts at Unitec are also involved as dance mentors too.

Auckland Live is proud to support the Auckland Dance Project through Programme Development.

TE MANU AHI

22 October

LIVE AT ASB THEATRE, AOTEA CENTRE

AUCKLAND PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA AND RADIO NEW ZEALAND CONCERT PRESENT

apo.co.nz

8pm, Friday 28 November Auckland Town Hall In 2012 in was Holst’s The Planets.

In 2013 Strauss’ Four Last Songs came out on top. And this year..?

Share in the excitement as the APO performs the nation’s favourite orchestral pieces live in the Auckland Town Hall.

Tickets $45 adult, $35 senior, $25 child/student

Book at ticketmaster.co.nz or call 0800 111 999 / 09 970 9700 * Service fees apply

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LIVE | SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

CHRISTMAS HAMPER

We’re racing toward the end of the year and that means the Christmas season is just around the corner.

We’ve teamed up with Royal New Zealand Ballet to create an afternoon to remember for one lucky family.

FESTIVE HIGHLIGHTS

APO 4 KIDS CHRISTMAS 29 November Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall AUCKLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION 5 December Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

Win an outing for four on Saturday 6 December including

lunch (up to $100) at BOX Cafe & Bar followed by free tickets to the afternoon performance of A Christmas Carol and a copy of the beautiful coffee-table book Royal New Zealand Ballet at 60.

Enter at aucklandlive.co.nz/comps

ROYAL NEW ZEALAND BALLET: A CHRISTMAS CAROL

3 – 7 December | ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre 13 & 14 December | Bruce Mason Centre

THE GREAT GATSBY CHRISTMAS REVUE 11 December Bruce Mason Centre HANDEL’S MESSIAH 15 & 16 December Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

2 O N E A N OT H E R Choreographed by Rafael Bonachela

“Sydney Dance Company at the peak of their powers.”

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

13 – 15 November

Evenings, 7.30pm

To book

Live at ASB Theatre,

Saturday matinee, 2.30pm

0800 111 999 or

Aotea Centre

Tickets* $34.90 – $79.90

ticketmaster.co.nz

*SERVICE FEES APPLY

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