Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - Page 41
e urn lbo Me
ver N ser IO Ob T C SE 3
www.MelbourneObserver.com.au
Observer Showbiz Every Week in the Melbourne Observer
Radio Confidential: 3AW website hacked ..... Page 42 Veritas: Overnight program goes national ......... Page 43 The Spoiler: Next week’s ‘soaps’ plotlines ............ Page 43 Jim and Aaron: Best DVD-film selections ................. Page 44 Cheryl Threadgold: Community Theatre - it’s a wrap ...... Page 45 PLUS THE LOVATT”S MEGA CROSSWORD
EISTEDDFOD BY THE BAY Happy Ending
Czechmate!
■ Melbourne Theatre Company presents Happy Ending from September 5 to September 22 at the MTC Theatre, Ray Lawler Studio. Playwright Melissa Reeves flies the flag for middle-aged female desire in this, her MTC debut, which portrays a woman with a desperate and passionate crush on her Chinese masseur. For Louise, the daily ritual of taking her baby for a stroll in the local shopping centre becomes a lot more enticing when she encounters Lu, an excellent and handsome young masseur. Louise is transformed into a woman in lust. Despite warnings from her best friend and the owner of the massage parlour, Louise will stop at nothing until she wins Lu’s heart, or at least his attention. But how far is too far when it comes to an unrequited crush? Directed by Susie Dee, the cast of Happy Ending includes Keith Brockett (Wen/Jun), Nell Feeney (Louise), Roz Hammond (Liliana), Fanny Hanusin (Jie), Jim Russell (Alec/Jeweller) and Gareth Yuen (Lu) . Venue: The MTC Theatre, Lawler Studio Season Dates: September 5 to September 22 Opening Night: Friday September 7at 7.30pm Tickets: $40, Under 30s $25 Bookings: 8688 0800 or mtc.com.au - Cheryl Threadgold
John-Michael suspended ■ 3AW has suspended Sunday Morning panellist JohnMichael Howson four four weeks after he made offensive remarks on-air at the weekend. “I understand that many listeners took offence to these comments and I sincerely regret having uttered them. I did not intend to imply that our guests or anyone shares the views of the Nazi party or seeks to control free speech.
You, Dead Man ■ Melbourne’s Black Lung Theatre and Whaling Firm is embarking on a unique collaboration with East Timorese companies Liurai Fi’er and Galaxy, to present the Victorian premiere season of Doku Rai (You, Dead Man, I Don’t Believe You) from August 29 to September 2 at the Arts House Meat Market, North Melbourne. Conceived during the filming of Balibo, the companies have taken up residence during 2012 in an abandoned colonial hotel on a remote island off Timor-Leste, where each artist has become an author, critic and performer, drawing on shared narratives that cross cultures as well as their own stories and references. Directed by Thomas M Wright, Doku Rai is the first international theatre production to be created in East Timor, upriver and at the end of the road. Doku Rai is born of an improbable union of artists drawn together by their need to eat, sleep and work together with the barest of materials, resulting in an intense and consuming production. Venue: Arts House, Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne Season: Wednesday, August 29 – Sunday, September 2 Time: Wed – Sat 7.30pm; Sun 5pm. Duration: 80 – 100 minutes. Tickets: Full $25 / Conc $20 Bookings: artshouse.com.au or 03 9322 3713 Warning: This performance explores themes of war, suicide, homicide, religious and political critique. There is also frequent course language, cigarette smoke and smoke effects, strobe lighting and very loud music and effects - Cheryl Threadgold
● Kate Amos ■ The 57th Eisteddfod By The Bay (formerly the Mordialloc Eisteddfod) Senior Classical Vocal Section will be presented on Sunday (Aug. 26) from 10.15am-5 pm at the Kingston Arts Centre, Cnr South Rd and Nepean Hwy, Moorabbin. The Lieder and Ripponlea Mitsubishi Aria from Grand Opera section will be presented on Thursday, August 30 at 7.15pm at the same venue. Admission is $15, including supper. Last year’s winner of the Eisteddfod by the Bay Aria Award was Kate Amos, who completed her Bachelor of Music (Performance) at the University of Melbourne in 2011, with a Diploma in Languages (Italian). She is currently completing Honours in Voice under the tutelage of Rosamund Illing. Having won many impressive awards, Kate’s varied performing credits include Victorian Opera’s Pirates of Penzance and The Yeomen of the Guard, Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (Johanna) for Melbourne University and most recently Offenbach’s The Red Apple (Catherine) for Lyric Opera of Melbourne. In 2003 at age 13, Kate first sang publicly in the Eisteddfod By The Bay and has sung in the competition ever since. One year when on crutches after a foot operation, she won first place in the Musical Theatre section singing I Could Have Danced All Night! Kate encourages others to enter the Eisteddfod By The Bay: “It gave me the initial confidence, and desire to continue singing and make that initial step to decide to study professionally.” Recently performing alongside mezzo-soprano Suzanne Johnston in From Bizet To Broadway in Morning Melodies in the State Theatre, later this year Kate will create the role of Amanda in the premiere musical/Lieder play A Garden of Money composed by Noel Fidge. She will also play Yum-Yum in a new production of The Mikado with GSOV at the Alexander Theatre, Monash University in October. For enquiries regarding attending the 2012 Eisteddfod By The Bay’s Senior Classical Vocal Section at the Kingston Arts Centre, please call 9551 2710. - Cheryl Threadgold
Ernie’s special reunion: P43
● Jakub Hrusa conducting ■ One of the world's great classical orchestras is set to delight Melbourne audiences next week at the newly refurbished Hamer Hall. The renowned Czech Philharmonic orchestra will be in full flight at 2pm on Sunday (Aug. 26) and 8pm on Monday (Aug. 27). And in circumstances that could be described as Czechmate, an exciting young conductor, Jakub Hrusa, will be replacing the conductor originally scheduled to take charge, Jiri Belohlavek. However, there is no mystery or coup involved, as it's simply the unfortunate circumstance of Maestro Belohlavek falling victim to ill health and being unable to travel down under. But as in famous showbiz stories, the Maestro's bad luck has led to a wonderful opportunity for a personable 25-year-old conductor. Born in the Czech republic in 1981, Jakub Hrusa was named in 2011 by the international Gramophone magazine as one of 10 young conductors "on the verge of greatness". Jakob has worked with many leading European orchestras, and in 2010 became the youngest conductor since 1949 to lead the opening concert of the Prague Spring Festival with the Prague Philharmonia. Jakub received critical acclaim at his debut as a guest conductor with our own Melbourne Symphony Orchestra last year, having made his Australian debut in 2009 conducting the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. He now works with such famous orchestras as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Washington National Symphony and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, to name just a few across the globe. Melburnians can enjoy the skills of this exciting conductor and the 'Czech Phil' in a program of Smetana, Suk and Beethoven's much loved Symphony No 3 in E flat major, on Sunday afternoon, while Monday night's concert will include Janacek, Martinu and Dvorak's Symphony No 6. Bookings: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au or 1300 182 183. - Julie Houghton
● Jakub Hrusa