Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - Page 99
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Radio: Freo coach blasts 3AW reporter ........... Page 100 The Scottish Play: Macbeth at Doncaster, Carlton . Page 101 The Spoiler: Advance plotlines for TV soapies .......... Page 101 Jim and Aaron: Top 10, best movies and DVDs ............ Page 102 Cheryl Threadgold: Local theatre shows, auditions ........... Page 103 PLUS THE LOVATT”S MEGA CROSSWORD
PLEASANT SUNDAY WITH NELLIE Lost In Ringwood
Lord of the Strings
● Matthew Fagan stars in Lord Of The Strings on October 12 in Lorne. ■ Ten-string guitarist and Maton endorsed ukulele player Matthew Fagan will star in Lord Of The Strings, a guitar and ukulele concert, on Saturday, October 12 at 8.15pm at the Odos Arts and Sculpture Park, 35 Allenvale Rd, Lorne. Come and enjoy a vibrant musical journey with Matthew, recently returned from touring and recording in America and renowned for his virtuosity and versatility on guitar. Matthew always surprises audiences with his original arrangements and modern interpretation, with a repertoire which spans many eras and cultures. His spin on genres cross from Spanish Classical and Flamenco, Celtic, Latin American, World Music to Blues, Bluegrass, Rock and Contemporary music. Tickets: $25 on door. Meal available at 6.30pm at extra cost. Bookings: 5289 1989 ados@iprimus.com.au www.matthew-fagan.com - Cheryl Threadgold
Election Syndrome ■ Ella Filar has amassed a young and energetic cast to perform her Kabaret News Flashers Expose: Election Syndrome. The La Mama production is a fast-paced, non-stop song and satire festa. The cast didn’t miss a beat in a technically difficult and artful series of multiple on-stage scene changes. It was a cleverly assembled ensemble of political stories that generally worked well. Seren Oroszvary and Maurice Mammoliti stood out, but I would have particularly liked to have heard Mammoliti sing more. Political satire can often lose its currency, especially so close to an election, however Filar’s bizarre and unexpected twist at the end ensures its edginess is not lost. Nevertheless, for me it seemed like more of the same old political ho-hum that sadly, but truthfully, reflects the current state of election-related political drool. Performance Season: Until September 15, Wed-Sun at 10pm Venue: La Mama Theatre, 205 Faraday St, Carlton. Duration: Approximately 60 minutes Tickets: $25/$15. Bookings: www.lamama.com.au or 9347 6142. - Review by Beth Klein
● Stephanie Gibson ■ One of Australia's most famous sopranos will be honored by one of Melbourne's brightest emerging opera stars on Saturday (Sept. 14). Dame Nellie Melba left this earth more than 70 years ago, but her name and reputation still evokes hushed silence and great adoration - she really was Australia's first female superstar. So coloratura soprano Stephanie Gibson will be playing tribute n a concert called Songs Of Melba at 2.30 pm on Saturday at Diamond Creek Uniting Church. cnr Wensley St and Hurstbridge Rd. The concert is part of the Diamond Creek concert series, and features talented Melbourne accompanist Geoffrey Urquhart at the piano, and actor Julie Houghton as narrator, joining with Stephanie to bring the story of Melba to life in word and song. Melba favourites will include Caro Nome, Good Bye, Le temps de Lilas and her signature song, Home Sweet Home. Stephanie Gibson has just returned from England where she sang the role of Helena in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Yorke Trust to great critical acclaim. She is the 2013 runner up in the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria, and has just been selected as one of only six finalists in one of Australia's most prestigious operatic competitions, the Herald Sun Aria which will take place on October 1 in Hamer Hall. Stephanie is also a past holder of the Melba Memorial and Melba Reserve scholarships, so it makes sense that she feels a close affinity with the Great Dame and wants to bring her story to life. Proceeds from the concert will help Stephanie to return to England to pursue her operatic career - another parallel with the real life of Melba. Tickets are $20 and $15 concession at the door on the day, and the concert is followed by afternoon tea.
● Barry Dickins ■ Lost In Ringwood, one of two plays by Barry Dickins that opened last week, is a visual and literary work of art. Walking into La Mama's intimate Courthouse Theatre one is transported into an austere world drained of colour, bereft of warmth, almost bare, clinical in every sense. As the play evolves, it is a perfect setting for the hostile battle of wits and woes between this peculiar and grotesque mother and daughter. Rose Viper, a former Melbourne suburban actor and self-proclaimed muse to the great poets, and her daughter Cynthia (Sin), are both tortured by a past and state of purgatory they blame each other for. Sin, a frustrated poet, has never experienced love and is desperate to know who her father is. Jealousy, spinsterhood, identity and a life destroyed are presented with hilarious and disturbing bluntness. Rose claims her life ended the day she gave birth and delights in torturing Sin with fanciful and contradictory stories of her father, sharing intimate and inappropriate details of her many romantic conquests. The conjuring of American actor Guy Williams in a video display is hysterical, and the ‘'space race'’ reference will not be lost on fans of the 60s sci-fi TV show Lost In Space (Williams played Dr Robinson). Dickins’s references to high culture and art may be too obscure for many, but his ability to change the mood in a single sentence, and connect to the everyday with references to the unremarkable suburbs known as Ringworm and Bentdick, display his gift for the vernacular. Carolyn Bock's Rose is so convincingly grotesque and mean, I hope to never meet her. Her unspoken gestures and reactions are full of spite and hate, yet deliciously comic. Helen Hopkins’s performance is equally strong and she balances the delicacies of her character so that you never need feel sorry for her. Director Greg Carroll’s attention to detail is mesmerising. Peter Corrigan’s ‘playa’ , or set, is a visual masterpiece enhanced by unforgettable costumes and subtle lighting changes. The spontaneous outbursts of song add to the sense of the ‘theatre of the absurd’. It’s carnivale meets Mommie Dearest and Baby Jane, and it’s theatre that should not be missed. Performance Season: Until September 22 Venue: La Mama Court House, 349 Drummond St, Carlton Tickets: $25/$15 Bookings: www.lamama.com.au - Review by Beth Klein
OSMaD stages ‘Music Man’ ■ Old Scotch Music and Drama Club is staging The Music Man next month. The Music Man was written by Meredith Wilson and Franklin Lacy and has entertained generations of theatregoers. It will officially open at the Geoffrey McComas Theatre on October 11. A preview night will be held on Thursday, October 10, commencing at 7.45pm.
● Geoffrey McComas
OSMaD staged Jesus Christ Superstar in 2009, My Fair Lady in 2010, Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2011, and Normie – The Musical last year. There will be another 10 official performances from October 11 to October 19 at the full ticket price. Details relating to these performances can be found at www.oscanet.com.au or www.osmad.com.au - Peter Mac