Stage Whispers July/August 2022 edition

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 1

In This Issue 10

Divas Spray It With Music ................................................................................. 4 Three stars of Hairspray chat about the musical and the hair product Come Rain Or Come Shine .............................................................................. 10 Carolyn Burns on her new musical adaptation with Tim Finn Teacher Saves Phantom And Wins Bride.......................................................... 14 Though a leading man and his understudy are both ill, the show must go on

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Learning To Adapt .......................................................................................... 20 Emme Hoy on adapting The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall to the stage Hey, Mr Producer! .......................................................................................... 32 Impresario Cameron Mackintosh shares his insights on Mary Poppins Performing Arts Course Guide......................................................................... 33 Courses across Australia - a taste of our comprehensive online guide Junior Theatre Festival Scholarship .................................................................. 52 A chance for two educators to participate in this huge musical theatre event

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Regular Features Book Extract: Turner’s Turn An excerpt from Geraldine Turner’s memoir about Chicago ............................ 18 Behind The Scenes With Debora Krizak: A Touchy Subject Exploring intimacy coordination in film and theatre ......................................... 22 Script Extract: We Are The Mutable An excerpt from Matthew Whittet’s latest play ............................................... 25 Broadway Buzz ............................................................................................... 26 London Calling ............................................................................................... 27 Stage On Page................................................................................................ 28

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Stage Sounds ................................................................................................. 30 Staging & Theatre Tech................................................................................... 49 What’s On ...................................................................................................... 56 Reviews .......................................................................................................... 65

52 72 58 4 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

Musical Spice: A Stage Mother ....................................................................... 76 Get the most out of our magazine’s online interactions on your mobile device with a QR code scanner.

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Editorial Dear theatre-goers and theatre-doers, True confession time.

Basically, I went to university to study Drama and History. Not to become a performer or a director (I’d been a chorus member with two left feet in a handful of amateur shows), but with the eye to becoming a teacher. Despite this, I certainly took every available chance to be involved in productions (was I trying to discover that missing right foot?).

In those days at the UNSW, the School of Drama was just down the hill from the original home of NIDA, in weatherboard buildings once occupied by the Kensington Racecourse, while across Anzac Parade, in the Old Tote Theatre Company’s Parade Theatre (a repurposed Army recreation hall), I soaked up professional theatre productions.

It was heaven after my sports-mad boys high school — 6 years, no school productions. Luckily, I’d had a couple of great senior English teachers (who made sure we saw some plays), a Geography teacher (also a pianist) whose wife was an opera singer, and History teachers who were great raconteurs.

Practical performing arts courses in the early 1970s were rare, so it wasn’t until much later that I was able to study (briefly) at a flagship institution.

Teaching in high schools, I was directing and producing school musicals (was I compensating for the lack of such opportunities in my own school days?), and eventually teaching the newly introduced Drama syllabus.

When I did finally get to study at NIDA, in its modern home (sometimes even in the old Parade Theatre, where I’d enjoyed so much theatre), I was participating in school holiday Open Program directing courses and masterclasses. I became such a Drama course junkie for a while (one Christmas vacation my fix was three courses, three weeks in a row), and each time, I left invigorated. On top of all that, I threw in an MA in Theatre Studies during my mid 30s.

Whether you’re a young person looking for a career in The Arts, a Performing Arts teacher looking to broaden your skill base, or simply a theatre and film enthusiast, I’d encourage everyone to explore our terrific Australian arts training. We’ll feature even more courses in our free online Performing Arts Course Guide, available from mid July at stagewhispers.com.au/training.

Meanwhile, after a decade in which The Arts and Arts Education have been out of favour in the national corridors of power, I’m sure many of us are waiting with bated breath for action from our newly elected leaders. It was a great sign, though, to see our new PM at his local theatre on a non-opening night, fresh from taking office.

The Arts, and my Arts training have enriched my life, and helped me enrich the lives of my students over the years.

Yours in Theatre,

Neil Litchfield Editor

CONNECT

Cover image: Shane Jacobson, Carmel Rodrigues and Rhonda Burchmore in Hairspray. Read Coral Drouyn’s interview with the two leading ladies on page 6, followed by David Spicer’s conversation with our new Edna Turnblad.

Photos: Jeff Busby.

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Rhonda Burchmore as Velma Von Tussle and Carmel Rodrigues as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.

Photos: Jeff Busby.

6 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

Cover Story

With the musical Hairspray set to open next month, Coral Drouyn and David Spicer took the opportunity to speak to the three leading ladies, Velma, Tracy...and Edna.

First up, Rhonda Burchmore (Velma) and Carmel Rodrigues (Tracy) talk stiff hair and bouffants in a no Super-holds barred chat with Coral.

They say if you remember the Sixties, you weren’t really there. Well I was there and I remember it all: Beatniks, Beatles, Beehives, Back-combing — and hairspray.

It was an iconic era (though we didn’t know it then) and no self-respecting teenage girl would be caught dead without a spray can of Superhold Elnett or VO5. It was a staple product of growing up.

John Waters, writer and director of the original film Hairspray (1988), was also a child of the sixties and his film became a cult classic largely because of its “camp” and “kitsch” presentation (a lead character played by a Drag queen? Unheard of! But the role has been played in drag ever since).

Buried just beneath the surface of a story about an overweight “pleasantly plump” girl trying to fit in and gain acceptance on an American Bandstand style TV show, was a story of all the “misfits” in the world who just want to be acknowledged and belong.

It’s a classic “Triumph over Adversity” story with an inspiring message, and when composer Marc Shaiman (born on the cusp of the sixties) saw the film, brought to him by producer Margo Lion, he knew that it had to be a musical — one with an almost

cartoonish look but a serious underbelly, and Hairspray the Musical was born.

It’s twenty years since the musical opened in Seattle, winning eight Tony awards from its 13 nominations, and since then it has had more than thirty professional productions, countless amateur ones and is frequently listed as one of the “Top Ten Musicals of ALL Time.”

But, take away the accolades and you have a joyous homage to the greatest era of pop music ever, and a story of family and love and following your dreams.

And now the long-awaited revival is in rehearsals and set to open in August at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre.

Rhonda Burchmore (the villainous Velma Von Tussle), one of our biggest names in theatre, cabaret and recording, is certainly no stranger when it comes to Musical Theatre, though this time she swaps leading lady for a “deliciously wicked and bitchy” role and welcomes newcomer Carmel Rodrigues — in her first ever professional role from her first ever professional audition (the stuff of show-biz dreams) — as Tracy.

Although one is at the pinnacle, and the other on the first rung of the ladder, they share a mutual history with hairspray — not the show — the product.

“My mother used to model herself on Joan Collins,” Rhonda tells me, “so her hair was always in place and (Continued on page 8)

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Cover Story

Carmel Rodrigues.

Rhonda Burchmore.

Hairspray Playing at Regent Theatre, Melbourne from August 7. hairspraymusical.com.au (Continued from page 7)

heavily lacquered to the point where her face could move, but her hair stayed in the one spot.”

I had to laugh, but Rhonda isn’t joking.

“Don’t laugh. I swear the first scent I remember from childhood is the smell of hairspray,” she explains. “By the time I was four and appearing in dance competitions, my mother would spray me all over to make sure my over exaggerated Max Factor makeup didn’t move either.

It’s a wonder I didn’t go blind!”

It was a similar story for Carmel.

“I so remember what that was like. I started as a dancer in a girl’s ballet troupe. And whenever we went to perform anywhere the amount of hairspray was enough to make everyone cough. Thank goodness I will be wearing wigs in the show,” Carmel tells me.

While there are nearly two generations between them, there are similarities between the two performers; that of their journeys. Both made (or will make) their professional debuts while in their twenties (Rhonda in They’re Playing Our Song — as one of the three 8 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

chanteuses). Both have faced the difficulty of not having “The Look” or fitting in. That’s why this show resonates with both.

“It was not easy for me with school productions,” Rhonda tells me. “I was way too tall to be the princess or leading lady (1.82 metres), so usually I had to play men’s roles, but that was hard to do as well, because I was all legs (still am) and I don’t exactly look like a bloke — or so I’m told. It’s strange because the legs, that held me back from parts when I was a kid, became a trademark (and the name of her autobiography). A few nasty people have suggested that they are the only reason I’m successful — but though you can get there with looks, you have to have more than that to stay there.”

Carmel agrees. “I wasn’t your Disney Princess either,” she recalls. “So when I heard that St Joey’s was doing Hairspray, I knew I just HAD to get the role of Tracy, and I did. And that was fate — it was my very first audition and I was hooked.”

Carmel, with her exotic bloodline of Portuguese, Indian and European heritage, was always obsessed with music.

“My Mum and Dad had a band and they used to gig every week,” she tells me. “So, I was always interested in all kinds of music. I love Spanish music and I studied Russian dancing for a while. But 60s pop? WOW! It is just the most sensational era of music.”

One major difference between the two is relationship status. By the time Rhonda embraced stardom in Sugar Babies she was already married to her great love, Nicolai, and they are still in love after 38 years, whilst Carmel is waiting for Mr Right.”

“My parents told me of how my grandfather used to stand under my grandmother’s window and serenade her until she opened the window and talked to him.

How romantic!” she explains to me. “I guess I am waiting for that sort of romance.”

While Rhonda won’t give romance tips to Carmel, she does have some words of advice for the newcomer.

“Watch...and listen,” Rhonda says. “When I had the chance to work with Eddie Bracken and then later Mickey Rooney, I just drank in everything they did on stage and learned so much about timing and connecting with an audience.”

And she’s been doing it ever since, for almost forty years. Of course it’s harder for Carmel because she will be centre stage and driving the show, so there’s not much spare time for observing. But Rhonda has one more piece of showbiz advice.

“Be careful whose toes you tread on when you’re on the way up. They may be attached to the feet and legs that lead to the bum you may have to kiss on the way down,” Rhonda says.

So far Rhonda hasn’t had to worry about the way down, but it’s great advice.

I’ll add my own...don’t forget Hairspray - The Musical, of course. stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 9

Cover Story

He’s hairy enough to fashion a beehive, but not from the curls on his head.

Shane Jacobson tells David Spicer why he can’t wait to welcome the 1960s.

David Spicer: What excites you about the show?

Shane Jacobson: It has great music from start to finish. My kids are excited about me doing it. Right at the start my daughter overheard me talking about Hairspray. She said you must do it. I have never had my kids excited about a role.

DS: Has there been a show where your children have said please don’t do that role — we will be embarrassed?

SJ: Three words. The Full Monty.

Quite easy to answer. Not even a joke.

DS: I take it you are of the hairy persuasion.

SJ: I look like rug. Shave me and you could cover Tassie in hair. My daughter said, do you really think people are going to want to see it? I said yes, to raise money for cancer. She said I think you will kill people in the process.

DS: You are not known for your beauty. Are you going to keep your beard on?

SJ: No, the beard has to go. All the things I am hiding are going to be revealed. Beauty and I are not good friends. I saw Fashion on a bus once and she walked straight past me without casting eyes.

DS: Is it a big sing?

SJ: It is. When I did Guys and Dolls, playing Nicely Nicely, there was “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat”, and I guarantee I couldn’t sing that at 7 o’clock, but by the time it came for me to sing it, I was warmed up. This role allows me to lean on falsetto which makes it easier?

DS: What is your approach to appearing on stage in a dress?

SJ: Well, I am going to do what John Travolta did in the movie; I am not going to play it for comedy, although there are lines which are amusing. I will approach it as a parent.

The reason Tracey has such confidence to take on the world is because she has the support a of loving mother

Shane Jacobson as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray.

Photos: Jeff Busby.

Online extras!

Shane Jacobson truly embodies Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. Scan or visit youtu.be/P0KaFkIJBS0 10 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

and father — my job is to play the character. When I played Kenny people thought I was a plumber and had a lisp. I want people to say, I went and saw Hairspray where Shane Jacobson played Edna Turnblad, and she was such a lovely mother. I know footy players dress up as women for laughs but in this case, I think this has to be played not for gags but for heart.

DS: Why then does she need to be played by a man?

SJ: That is the way it was written.

Theatre has done gender blind casting so well for so long. Interestingly, Magda played Big Jule in Guys and Dolls and no one looked at that.

Why can’t a man wear a dress? The whole truth for me about Hairspray is about inclusion, whether it is a plus size girl, or about stopping segregation. A man on stage in a dress is all part of it.

DS: Is it a musical that doesn’t date?

SJ: Segregation, body inclusion — the world has a lot to learn from it. My daughter at the age of 12 could not believe there was a thing called segregation; she thought it was the weirdest thing.

People can learn something from their rear vision mirror, then what they do outside their front windscreen becomes a better path. It is not often a musical can do that.

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stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 11

How do you turn a short story into a musical comedy? Writer Carolyn Burns describes how she worked with song writer Tim Finn, and director husband Simon Phillips, to turn a Kazuo Ishiguro comedy satire into a new boutique musical for the Melbourne Theatre Company. David Spicer reports.

Online extras!

Join the cast of Come Rain Or Come Shine during rehearsals. Scan or visit youtu.be/Ef8qM2YeJBA A mid-life crisis is great fodder for drama and comedy. Typically, it is signified by quitting a job, spending big on a shiny car, getting a tattoo, or perhaps having an affair. For writer Carolyn Burns, it was a realisation that she had been living like a gypsy and wanted to change her career.

“Our daughter told us, it’s not fair that the boys have been to eleven schools, and I’ve only been to nine. I thought we are a circus family,” she told me.

To change direction, she moved from a life centred around facts, to fiction.

“My mid-life crisis was giving up journalism and going to film school.”

A lecturer opened the door for her to adapting drama from the page to the stage.

In this case the page is a 45-page short story, Come Rain or Come Shine, by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, which has 12 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

a fresh take on the theme of a mid-life crisis.

The characters in a love triangle are a married couple, Charlie and Emily, along with their old university chum Ray. The three were friends at university and decades later, at the age of 47, a reunion is taking place with a twisted agenda. Ray is given a special task: to show how hopeless he is, to make Charles look good by comparison.

“The extremes Charles and Ray go to are hilarious.”

Emily: You’ve always been so blasé.

I just can’t believe you never wanted to reach for the stars...

“Emily always wanted to have children but never did. This made her very ambitious and happy running a big company. It is very difficult for her.

Charlie is doing well, but not as well as the people she admires.

“Ray is completely unambitious. He still lives in a flat in Spain teaching English. He intended to do it for two years but never left.”

The couple always leave a spare Emily: Perfect when you have no room for when he is in town. ambition. A life of endless repetition.

The comedy appealed to song You’re only there on one condition. writer Tim Finn, who, following on You don’t have to make any grown-up from his success on the musical Ladies decisions Ray! You’re throwing your in Black, was on the lookout for a new life away! subject to compose for.

Charlie: She’s right Ray. The same team of Finn, director Ray: Honestly, I’m okay.

Simon Phillips and writer Carolyn Burns (all New Zealand born) used the

MTC’s Come Rain Or Come Shine.

Photo: Jeff Busby.

with references to The Great American Songbook.

Emily and Ray share a common love for early Irving Berlin ragtime music which cements their friendship.

They argue over who sings the better version of the title song, Ray Charles or Sarah Vaughan.

about what happened.”

She describes it as not a traditional musical, as it uses what she describes as “song speak” in parts.

Although there is a lot of “great dialogue” in the book, Carolyn says a straight cut and paste does not work.

She has a ritual when starting to adapt a book for the stage.

I’m gonna love you “You read the book completely on Like nobody’s loved you your own with a pencil and mark every moment you smile, every moment you Come rain or come shine. laugh, every moment you can’t understand and every moment you are But Charles, who marries Emily, sad. can’t stand the music.

Whilst there are hints of The Great “That is first reading, and you long COVID-19 lockdown to whip up American Songbook, it’s not a jukebox cannot be interrupted. Everything the new work. must make sense. That is what I did musical.

“We had two years of kind of no Carolyn describes Tim Finn as a with this work and Ladies in Black.” working. We were looking for a story “workaholic song writer” who has Carolyn says the challenge is with a very small cast.” composed memorable songs, knowing how to expand a character It never rains but it pours, goes the although she admits that is her to three dimensions on a stage. saying. Burns and Phillips have had a “In film you get close ups of their impression having heard them eight busy 2022. Their adaptation of North times. feelings. On stage it is important to

by Northwest was restaged in Sydney, Simon Phillips has added writer to expand their feelings. then Phillips directed The Phantom of his directorial credit, writing lyrics for “On stage you do it through song, the Opera on Sydney Harbour. the musical. or a movement, or a sentence that is What enticed Tim Finn to Come “Ever since I have known Simon, not in the book — as long as you are he has written poetry.”

Rain or Come Shine was the music keeping true to the character.” theme of the story. Writer Kazuo The team has also attempted to Will Come Rain or Come Shine be Ishiguro (best known for Remains of avoid the trap of songs slowing down a hit like Ladies in Black? the Day) wrote five short stores where the action.

“You never know with a new work.

“A lot of songs in musicals don’t music has something to do with each It might work or need to be worked narrative. The short story is sprinkled move the plot along; they just sing on again.

“It is really a tough gig and tough on the actors who have all that song Come Rain Or Come Shine speak. We won’t know until we have MTC’s production is playing until July 23 at Southbank got an audience, to see if we have got Theatre, The Sumner. it right.”

mtc.com.au

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 13

Science teacher and amateur theatre ‘champion’ Lachlan O’Brien saved a performance of The Phantom of the Opera on Sydney Harbour by taking on a lead role during a medical emergency, then won the right to pop the big question on stage. David Spicer reports.

Handa Opera On Sydney Harbour: The Phantom of the Opera (2022).

Photo: Hamilton Lund.

14 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

When Lachlan O’Brien shone in the role of Raoul in Strathfield Musical Society’s production of The Phantom of the Opera, he may well have daydreamed of taking his talent to a grander stage, as many an amateur thespian has.

Stage Whispers last spoke to the Science and Physics teacher in 2018, for an article titled ‘Amateur Theatre Champions’.

At the time, the then 32-year-old, with no formal singing or acting training, was rehearsing the role of Lumiere for Beauty and the Beast, was a week away from playing the Wizard in Wicked and had just starred as Billy Flynn in Chicago.

The problem he has faced since then, to fulfil his dream of breaking into professional theatre, was that he was not taken seriously by casting directors.

“Because my CV was chock full of amateur theatre, I had trouble getting auditions,” he said.

COVID-19 opened new opportunities for him.

“With video auditions, it goes through to the director and bypasses the middlemen. That broke the cycle.”

Lachlan’s social media account exploded with congratulations when he announced that he had joined the company of The Phantom of the Opera at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Arts Centre in 2021.

“The biggest compliment came from the director from Broadway, who said I had versatility in spades, as I had worn so many hats with the 20 (or more) roles I had done in amateur theatre.”

News that the season was cancelled due to COVID-19 was crushing, but soon forgotten when he

Lachlan O’Brien as Billy Flynn and now fiancée Kate Xouris as Velma Kate in Engadine Musical Society’s Chicago (2017).

scored the roles of the Auctioneer and Monsieur Reyer (crazy conductor) in the outdoor season of Phantom on Sydney Harbour, and the indoor season was rescheduled to 2022.

Lachlan, who often stretched his amateur theatre cast mates to perform at a higher standard, was now in thespian heaven.

“I always took it really seriously. I had perfectionist tendencies, whereas most people in a show approached it as a hobby.”

At the first rehearsals for Phantom his jaw dropped at the “mung beans” being spent on the set and “being around all these people at the top of their game. For instance, there were 15 ballerinas, and they were all the best ballerinas.”

Thereafter the season went ‘swimmingly. Torrential rain caused havoc with the bump-in, and Lachlan’s human hair wig would often turn into what he described as a wet rat. But he did get to shake hands with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber on opening night.

COVID-19 and old-fashioned colds then tore through the cast, and it prompted Lachlan to take some initiative.

“The problem was that each lead had only one understudy. I noticed that two understudies were flat mates.”

Sheepishly he approached the assistant director, Sean Rennie.

“I said to him that I know it is not my place but I think potentially we might have a problem. If it is any help, I said, I played Raoul in amateur theatre. I know the roles of André and Fermin and if you get desperate (and with courage he added) I know the role of Phantom fairly well.

“Sean said, ‘good to know.’

“I thought, ‘Oh God Lachlan what are you doing.’ I was kicking myself as I would have to relearn the parts.

“One day I went through the role of Raoul in the shower.”

A few weeks later fate took a fickle turn. Leading man Callum Francis came down with COVID-19, then his understudy caught a nasty cold.

“At 4pm, as I was driving in through the airport tunnel, the company administrator called me.

Can you go on as Raoul? We don’t have anyone to play it.”

What Lachlan describes as survival mode kicked in. He likened it to someone lifting a car off a trapped child, aided by adrenalin.

“I had three hours and thought, if I am going to do it there was no room for emotion. I have never been so focussed in my life. Backstage I was madly looking at the script. I felt like

my eyes were laser beams absorbing the score.”

“I definitely knew the opening bit.

Where I got into trouble was ‘All I Ask Of You’, where you can forget which verse you are in. I did slip up and covered it clumsily.”

However, he was pleased to nail the Phantom’s lair trio, which he attributes to learning the part so thoroughly eight years previously.

“It was a frantic time backstage.

As I furiously went through the score, Sean was talking to me calmly about what happens next.

“I received some bad advice from cast mates. They said take it one scene at a time. Don’t think of Act 2.

No, no, no, we totally should have.”

A wave of panic descended when he realised he only had ten minutes of interval to prepare.

(Continued on page 16) stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 15

Georgina Hopson as Christine Daaé, Lachlan O’Brien as Raoul de Chagny and Joshua Robson as The Phantom in Handa Opera On Sydney Harbour: The Phantom of the Opera (2022).

Opera Australia and the Really Useful Group, in association with Cameron Mackintosh, present the new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera at the Sydney Opera House from August 19, and at the State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne from October 30. opera.org.au The proposal.

16 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

(Continued from page 15)

Lachlan says his fellow cast members, especially Georgina Hopson as Christine, got him through.

“I didn’t realise until I got on stage during Masquerade that I didn’t know any of the choreography. ‘Yes Darling,’ Georgina said, ‘I am going to walk you around stage.’ They had our microphones off. She would go, okay let’s walk over here and look happy.”

“I sang my normal ensemble part then I realised that was not for Raoul.

The only one awkward part was when I almost ran into a ballerina. It was live blocking!

“As soon as the show ended, Georgina looked at me said, ‘you did it’, and burst into tears.

“Only once my body and brain knew the deadline had passed, then the emotions came through.”

Flush with success, Lachlan could turn his attention to another equally exciting and risky theatrical challenge.

That was to get permission to propose to his girlfriend on stage.

Luckily, he got a call through to the dental surgery of his intended, Dr Kate Xouris, and she cancelled an afternoon of appointments to see his triumph as Raoul.

The two had met and became ‘mates’ during the rehearsals of Engadine Musical Society’s production

of Chicago, where he was Billy and she was Velma.

“My love life had always been a train wreck because I went after the wrong girls. We spoke about our similar frustrations, and it dawned on us that we could solve our problems by getting together.

“I had been wanting to propose for a while, but I thought if I did propose it would have to be something big and theatrical.”

He discussed the idea of getting down on one knee on stage with fellow cast members and one said, “Oh darling, I doubt they would be interested.” He later learned that Opera Australia has had many such requests in the past and the answer had always been no.

“I got along with director Simon Phillips, and I asked him. He said maybe, ask me again once we get through tech week.”

Rain played havoc with tech week, so he never had the chance to confirm permission.

Buoyed by his triumph in saving a performance, he pressed the issue again with management. The answer finally was yes.

The next challenge was crafting a ring. Lachlan, a graduate in Geology from Sydney University, was determined to find his own gemstone. Fresh out of university he was hopeful of a stint as a geologist in Antarctica or the mining industry — but the end of the boom steered him to teaching.

This professional fossicker was not going to buy a sparkler in a shop. On the one day he had off from rehearsals, he told a little white lie to his girlfriend about “four-wheel driving with a mate” and instead took off to Oberon in western NSW searching for a jewel.

“I put a sieve in a little creek bed looking for anything that is shiny. I found a nice spinel which is a gemstone like a sapphire.”

The custom-made ring was ready only two days before his scheduled proposal.

Lachlan’s final challenge was how to get his beloved onto the stage,

“Kate only realised what was going on when she saw I was not wearing my wig.

“I was told, ‘you are on a time limit, no monologue or singing during the proposal’. Allowing me to do it was an enormous favour.”

Kate said yes!

After the celebrations has come the hangover. Lachlan is now an actor with an in-between job, not as a waiter but as a relief high school Science teacher, working 9 to 5 Lachlan O’Brien as Monsieur Reyer with Maree Johnson as Madame Giry in instead of at night. The shock to his Handa Opera On Sydney Harbour: body clock was immense.

The Phantom of the Opera (2022).

“I have gone from an environment of extroverted sickly sweet, camp people to a world of sullen negative without her realising what was miserable teenagers, working happening until the last moment. alongside overworked and stressed “My opportunity came when she teachers.” booked tickets for final night, cheap The thought occurred to me that ones in the front row.” maybe he should move from Science His ruse was to tell Kate that he teaching to the Drama department. heard a rumour that Lord Lloyd His teaching comeback will pause Webber was coming back for the final when he has to learn four to six roles night. He told her Lloyd Webber as a swing performer for the Sydney wanted cast to be joined by friends and Melbourne seasons of The and family on stage.

“She thought he was coming back Phantom of the Opera.

Being a teacher, at least planning to announce a new show, but a wedding was straight-forward, as thought it weird that family and friends were allowed on stage. When you know when your holidays are.

“We are thinking of next year, but she started to smell a rat, I changed now I am not sure where I will be if the subject.

Phantom extends or tours,” “I didn’t want her to freak out, Given his talent at organising knowing she was going to be the only events under pressure, at short notice, one on stage. I told the producer where she was sitting, so he escorted I don’t doubt the wedding will eventually go off without a hitch. her on stage.

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 17

Turner’s Turn Geraldine Turner has released a disarmingly honest memoir about her upbringing and life in show business. In this extract, she takes us behind the scenes of the legendary Australian premiere production of Chicago in 1981.

Chicago...our production is still talked about as a benchmark. We were lauded. We sold standing room every night. We were a very happy company. We recorded a cast album, which I am very proud of. It sold well at the time. It is now a collector’s item.

Apart from the innovative set and costumes and Richard’s fantastic direction, Ross Coleman’s choreography was utterly brilliant.

Ross was a genius, in that Fosse way.

He could be a monster. I recall walking out of a rehearsal, when Ross was setting ‘Cell Block Tango’ as he was treating a couple of the women in the cast in an abominable way. I refused to return to the room until he apologised to them. But how I loved him. Ross choreographed many, many of my shows and he knew how to make me look good. We were close friends. When his mother died, he asked me to sing at the funeral, but I said that, as I had known Dulcie very well, it would be too upsetting for me.

He asked Rhonda Burchmore, who flew up from Melbourne for the funeral. As she began to sing a jazz version of ‘Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries’, in the middle of the service, Ross suddenly stood up and started to dance around the coffin in an improvised routine. It was strange. It was extraordinary. It was funny. It was sad. It was confronting. Many of his dancers, those he had continued to cast over the years, were there and found the whole ‘interpretive dance around the coffin’ very moving. I did ask Rhonda afterwards if she knew this was going to happen. From the look on her face, I knew she didn’t.

We lost Ross suddenly in 2009.

The first person I called was Nancye

[Hayes]. We had all been through so much together. I was touring with Steel Magnolias at the time. I was grateful that Jacki Weaver and I could be at Ross’s burial, while on our way to another venue for the play in regional Victoria. Ross was a friend, a searing talent, infuriating and altogether wonderful. I feel like he was my official choreographer as I worked with him so much over the years. He was such a presence in my life. I still think I’ll run into Ross sometimes.

The season of Chicago at the Drama Theatre extended, then moved to the Theatre Royal in Sydney, followed by more seasons there — all sold out. We played five shows each weekend: back-to-back shows on Fridays, a regular matinee and evening show on Saturdays and a Sunday afternoon show. I have never felt so tired. Walking up that long flight of stairs to stage door each Sunday, with every joint and muscle hurting was extremely challenging.

I recall, during the first Sydney season at the Theatre Royal, really taking a liking to one of the trumpet players who came in every now and again to play.

He used to smile at me, or so I thought. He was a potential ‘Mark’ [Geraldine’s first husband]! Or so I thought.

I talked to my dresser about it, as you do, and she suggested I ask him to go to supper. Why wouldn’t he want to go out with one of the leading ladies? I was too scared, so next time he was in, I asked her to do it for me. She chatted to him, God love her, and eventually said to him that Geraldine Turner would like him to join her for supper. He said, ‘Which one is she?’

Last time I ever did anything like that. Beyond Bevan!!!

So, things went smoothly with the show as the whole cast bathed in our success. Then we arrived in Melbourne for the season at the Comedy Theatre. My heart sank when I saw the billboard outside the theatre and the program. My billing was incorrect. Nancye and I were contracted for our names to be on the same line, side by side, with her name first, as it should be, with Terry Donovan, a wonderful Billy Flynn on the second line in the centre. Instead, there it was: Nancye on the first line, mine underneath on the second line and Terry underneath on the third line. It appeared in the same way in the program, which of course they refused to reprint. I was furious. This was my first big, commercial leading role and this was important to me.

The management sent me a huge bunch of flowers, which I binned.

Then, [director] Richard Wherrett came in to my dressing room to reason with me as I was threatening to walk out. As if I ever would.

I remember getting so angry that I screamed at him to get out of my dressing room, as I threw a shoe at him, just missing his head. This incident is documented in his book and at my fortieth birthday at (theatrical agent) Bill Shanahan’s house some years later, Richard made a speech and talked of the shoethrowing incident in a very amusing and loving way.

Eventually, Bill came to the rescue, egged on by Richard, and spoke to me on the phone, told me how sorry everyone was for the error, but that nothing could be done. I just had to agree to suck it up, as you seem to do

Published by New Holland Publishers. Purchase your copy for $29.99 from booknook.com.au/product/turners-turn-a-disarmingly-honestmemoir 18 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

so much during a career, and so we pushed on.

During the last Sydney season, we realised we had been playing eight shows a week for two years. Neither Nancye nor I had missed a performance. There weren’t too many weeks left of the season. I had been flying back and forth from Melbourne recording a television panel show called Beauty and the Beast on a regular basis and I was running on empty, exhausted, doing both jobs and trying to keep everything going and my energy up.

This particular night, at interval, Max Lambert, who was playing keyboard, was in my dressing room chatting away, when I suddenly announced I couldn’t hear him. He said, ‘Don’t be stupid. Of course you can hear me.’ I did hear him say that, but it all felt a little disconcerting. I thought I was going mad.

I went on for Act Two. I was fine, but nervous and rather twitchy. We got to the scene before ‘When Velma Takes the Stand’, a scene with Billy Flynn. Terry Donovan started talking and I couldn’t hear him. I kept watching his mouth and when it stopped I said my next line. Buzzing started in my head. I was completely panicked and parched. I think I shouted my lines, as I couldn’t hear myself either. I was having a full panic attack on stage in front of a full house.

Turner’s Turn (2015).

Photo: Kurt Sneddon.

My number started. I managed the song, but as the dance routine started with my boys, everything appeared to go into slow motion in my mind and my feet and legs felt like they were going through the stage floor with each dance step, as if it were an ocean and not a hard surface.

Everything was swaying as well. It’s a wonder I didn’t pass out.

Of course, we got through it somehow...Doctor Footlights!

Book Extract

I exited and passed out in the wings. The boys carried me to my dressing room. I woke up, kept on saying, through floods of tears, that I could finish the show. Our company manager made the decision that I could go on as I kept assuring him that I could. So I got through it. Our company manager gave me four Valium and sent me home in a cab. I took them all and was awake all night. That’s how wound up I was.

This is the same company manager who, every now and then, would go to each dressing room and warn everyone that his younger sister might appear in the wings. This happened on a semi-regular basis. If you happened to glance into the wings on those nights, while on stage, you would glimpse our company manager, Johnny Whitham, in full drag, in an outrageous wig, a beaded dress, full makeup, false eyelashes and stiletto heels strutting about in the wings, or simply standing there watching the action on stage. That kind of outrageous fun has well gone from the theatre nowadays, sadly. stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 19

Learning To Adapt NIDA Writing for Performance graduate Emme Hoy is having a dream debut with the Sydney Theatre Company — staging a large cast adaptation of a classic, in the style of Bridgerton and The Gilded Age. Emme Hoy’s adaptation of Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is described by the Sydney Theatre Company as “whip smart, drawing inspiration from the lush beauty of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.”

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall follows the story of Helen Graham and her mysterious arrival in the town of Lindenhope. She has a young son in tow but no husband in sight — a concept which so shocked English society in 1848 that Brontë’s sister (Jane Eyre author Charlotte Brontë) sought to prevent the book’s republication.

“I studied the Brontë sisters in my undergraduate degree and this was so different from the other sisters’ work,” says Emme. “The novel was a massive hit at the time but was withdrawn from publication, because it was so dark and sad and vulgar. It was called the first realist novel.”

The trend in recent years has been for the mainstage companies to reduce the sizes of their casts, but Emme wanted to “aim for the stars, have a huge cast and huge ambition.”

“In adapting her work, I wanted to stay true to Brontë’s boldness and playfulness — as well as her rebellious, political take on the tropes of her

sisters’ genre...so I decided to use a flashback structure with direct address to the audience to reference the epistolary form of the novel, and the intimacy she creates between the reader and the characters.”

Making the commission possible was a grant through the STC and NIDA Pathways Commission supported by the Longes Family.

“Without the commission I would not have had the time and space to sit down and write a big work of scope that this is. It gave me the time to develop the play, be really brave, choose something that really was a risk for an emerging writer, and to write a really big adaption with so many characters.”

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is packed with NIDA alumni. In addition to Emme’s playwriting, the lead role is played by Tuuli Narkle (Acting, 2018), with Remy Hii (Acting, 2011), Tara Morice (Acting, 1987), Anthony Taufa (Acting, 2009) and Nikita Waldron (Acting, 2017) also in the cast. STC’s Resident Director, Jessica Arthur (MFA Directing, 2015) is helming this production, Elizabeth Gadsby (Design, 2013) is the set designer, costume designer is Renée Mulder (Design, 2008) and the show’s composer and

sound designer is Clemence Williams (MFA Directing, 2016).

Jess Arthur said the production would appeal to literature and theatre lovers alike, and continue society’s love affair with period dramas following the success of shows like Bridgerton and The Gilded Age. “Not only do we crave escapism as a society, there’s also something really fun about breaking down the rules of performativity, especially when it comes to identity,” Arthur said.

“In this play, we are presented with a set of rules and manners about how to behave, and then we break them apart — just like Anne presented the expectations of the time and then very openly tore them to shreds in her work.

Hoy’s adaptation of the story perfectly encapsulates this; it’s a great combination of that push and pull — the classic and contemporary.”

The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall

By Anne Brontë.

Adapted by Emme Hoy. Directed by Jessica Arthur.

Playing at the Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney until July 16. sydneytheatre.com.au

The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall.

Photos: Prudence Upton.

20 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

Applications to study Writing at NIDA in 2023 are open until October 30. Visit apply.nida.edu.au for more info.

Online extras!

Emme Hoy introduces her adaptation of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Scan or visit youtu.be/1DgIaLAldiY

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 21

A Touchy Subject

One thing I’ve always loved about The #MeToo movement has shone a spotlight on some of the power my profession is our openness. imbalances and fraught territory that, until recent times, had coexisted Performing eight shows a week, we between actors and creatives for decades in Australia. Debora Krizak refer to our colleagues as “our tribe”. explores the new world of intimacy coordination.

Most people remember their first kiss. I have two memories. One was a high school crush at 16 and the other is buried beneath a murky surface. You see, my first kiss happened on stage. I was 13 and my scene partner was almost triple my age.

I still recall the nerves and feelings of nausea. But I was Cinderella, and he was Prince Charming, and that’s what you did in fairy tales. It was on that stage that I experienced what I later confessed to my mother as my first “French kiss”. It wasn’t mutual. I’ll leave it there.

Fast forward to 2022 and we are no longer permitted to fumble our way 22 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

around in the dark. Intimacy coordinators are employed in theatre and on film and TV sets, with consent and boundaries openly discussed amongst cast, crew, and creatives.

Looking back over the last five years in our industry, a lot has changed as seen by recent high profile court cases surrounding actors and alleged sexual misconduct charges.

Having worked for years in musical theatre, I recognise that the culture needed improving. I’m also acutely aware of the “touchy, feely” nature of our industry and how it struggles to fit into the standard code of ethics.

We mourn each other when the show closes and some of the “showmances” lead to either lifelong partnerships or are abandoned at stage door as quickly as they began.

Theatre folk used to greet each other with a warm, lingering hug or a peck on the lips or cheek — but not any more. Intimate scenes were often navigated on the spot and the degree of detail surrounding them was often determined by which side an actor’s mic was positioned so it didn’t interfere with the sound quality when locking lips.

There were discussions about stay fast lipstick and an assumption that one would be courteous enough to

Chloe Dallimore on the set of Netflix’s Heartbreak High.

avoid strong garlic between shows and keep a supply of breath mints on hand.

Anything other than these factors were done on the fly.

I’ve had my fair share of romantic scene partners and stage kisses. I’ve played a femme fatale and have had various intimate scenes with actors — one of whom also happened to be my best mate’s husband. Awkward.

Then there’s the moral dilemma of being cast in roles where my character’s object of affection is a man half my age. We don’t often see the older woman/younger man scenario play out in theatre and I shudder at the thought of all the innuendo and inappropriate banter that were infused into all these roles.

Enter Chloe Dallimore: intimacy coordinator, business owner and a star in her own right. Former president of

Actor’s Equity, she’s been described as “a fearless leader and a champion of performers”.

During her time at MEAA, Chloe helped develop the Sexual Harassment and Bullying Code which then led to her starting her own intimacy coordination business, appropriately titled ‘Head Over Heals’.

“The Sexual Harassment and Bullying Code was developed when we asked actors to participate in a survey around their experiences with harassment and bullying in the workplace. This enabled us to qualify and quantify what was occurring in our industry. There was a very clear issue.

After Weinstein, people had the confidence that they could speak up and be heard. But this wasn’t just about women. We had every gender and sexual orientation take part in the

Behind The Scenes With Debora Krizak

survey and this started the conversation about what we could actively do to bring about positive change in the industry” Having worked professionally on stage in musical theatre and as a trained dancer since she can remember, Chloe’s own experience in the industry helped shape her role as an intimacy coordinator.

“As a dancer, I was very conscious that we bypassed conversations around how we were touching one another and where we were touching one another. It was something I became aware of from a very young age. I have always been very tall which would make me appear somewhat older for my age and it was often assumed that I was OK with language and conversations that I really shouldn’t (Continued on page 24) stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 23

Behind The Scenes With Debora Krizak

Chloe Dallimore with the director and cast of Channel Seven’s Between Two Worlds.

(Continued from page 23)

have been exposed to. I think as I became a professional, I realised that dancers and actors are so used to saying yes and doing what we’re told that we are never really encouraged to have a voice around what our character choices are when referring to touch and how these choices infiltrate into what the actor or dancer, as a human, is comfortable with”.

Chloe first noticed the benefits of clear communication regarding touch when she began her own business as a Pilates instructor at Xtend Barre.

“I became very aware of what touch does and how the intention of touch can change how someone responds to you when I’m tactile correcting a client. If you tell them why you are doing something or what you are going to do, they are instantly open to what you’re suggesting, both mentally and physically. I’ve seen this power of language in relation to touch for many years. Being able to formalise it and create a platform to professionalise how we interact in the intimate landscape has been a nobrainer for me”.

Having done her initial training with Ita O’Brien from the UK’s ‘Intimacy on Set’, Chloe’s love of talking with people and finding out what makes them feel good when they move and connect with each other has led to an unexpected career path that she says is 24 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

Debora Krizak can next be seen on stage with Darren Mapes in The Carpenters from Kempsey.

The Paddo RSL in Sydney will host their unconventional Christmas comedy extravaganza on July 29. carpentersfromkempsey.com one of the most fulfilling and rewarding jobs of her life.

She has worked on George Miller’s 3000 Years of Longing, in children’s TV for the ABC, on Wakefield, on stage for Belvoir, Opera Australia and GFO and is currently working on the feature film Blacksnow.

Her role as an intimacy coordinator on these productions has involved consulting with actors and creatives, initiating consent sessions with actors, and sculpting or choreographing simulated sex scenes. Chloe liaises with legal teams to create nudity riders, talks with child actors and their guardians about the best way to approach intimate content, as well as working with psychologists,

sexologists, disability experts and even costume departments — to make sure that the physicality within each scene can be achieved effectively.

“I feel all the experience I have had in the industry feeds into my role.

There was an assumption when it comes to intimate content that we should all know how to do it with a complete stranger. That’s where we come in. Every awkward conversation that might need to be had, is had, and I can be there to advocate for everyone.”

It all seems like a lot to consider and negotiate, especially when none of these discussions were implemented in the past.

“I always ask people to come to work with a curiosity as opposed to a knowing, because then we can continue that learning and growth.

Four years ago I would need to explain my role as an intimacy coordinator at length. Now I’m offered work on recommendation and am involved in conversations much earlier in the creative process. My work is about facilitating the writer and director’s vision to create a space for everyone to feel comfortable. Where we were once considered the ‘exception’ to the rule in terms of crew members on set, we are now considered the norm”.

Being an intimacy coordinator has certainly informed and changed Chloe — as a person, performer, and business owner.

“Consent is a human issue and intimacy coordinators in the workplace help us all to become better humans overall. Having these conversations inspires us to become consciously kinder, more patient and more understanding of one another. The entertainment industry is a business and a workplace, and we should all be able to go to and from work, always feeling physically and mentally safe”.

Chloe is currently working on the new season of The Bachelor. It’s the first reality show in Australia to engage an intimacy coordinator to work with the crew, contestants and the bachelors themselves!

Chloe spear-headed the creation of the Australia Performing Arts industry’s first intimacy guidelines, which are now the foundation of best practice in Arts workplaces. They are an important resource for producers and performers covering everything from the very first audition brief, to audition practises, to contracting, to filming on the day. meaa.org/campaigns/intimacy-guidelines

We Are The Mutable

Script Extract

Matthew Whittet’s new play is about four teenagers braving the gruelling high school life of group projects, infuriating peers, families who won’t listen and their own self-doubt, until one night an unexplained phenomenon strikes the town. They wake up changed and mutated.

“We Are The Mutable is a play about what happens when a group of teenagers are faced with the unknown. The impossible. When great change is suddenly thrust upon them and they have to face it, whether they want to or not.

It’s about being honest about your fears and coming out the other side. Stronger and wiser. It’s about resilience. And that sometimes teenagers are much smarter and more adaptable than we ever give them credit for,” says Matthew Whittet.

A PROLOGUE OF SORTS JESSE CHARLIE JESSE CHARLIE JESSE CHARLIE FRANKIE CHARLIE FRANKIE CHARLIE QUINN JESSE FRANKIE JESSE CHARLIE JESSE QUINN JESSE FRANKIE JESSE CHARLIE FRANKIE JESSE CHARLIE JESSE CHARLIE QUINN CHARLIE JESSE CHARLIE

Four teenagers — or many. They turn to each other and the audience.

So I guess it’s our turn now.

You go for it Jesse. You knock it out of the park.

Alright.

Because we’re all bonded by a shared experience in this room, even though everyone here today has a very different point of view on what actually happened that day.

Ok...

Depending on their own life experience, because no one single perspective can capture the mystery of an event like the one we all went through. But understanding another person’s perspective? Now that’s truly invaluable.

Charlie?

And so I for one am glad we’re all getting the chance to share this on a state-wide level in order to fully process the teenage phenomenon that was the third Tuesday of...

Charlie?

You all want me to zip it now? Not a problem. ...oh my god. Shut up.

Pause.

So... that day...

That day...

How do we ever begin to explain that day?

Beat.

Should we tell them about our town first?

Yeah, so... I don’t know about you guys, but our town’s kinda small.

Small enough that you know most people... ...but big enough that you don’t know everything about them.

It’s average. It’s just pretty average.

Like if you did a quick poll of our class and asked people what their parents do, they’d say...

“My dad works in a chicken shop.”

“My dad works at a sugar mill.”

“My mum’s a Conveyancer.”

What’s a Conveyancer?

It’s like a belt, that moves things from place to another.

You’re mum’s a belt?

Come on people, quick poll’s a good poll.

What’s your dad then, jeans?

My actual dad?

Yeah.

Published by Playlab. Purchase your copy for $25.95 from booknook.com.au/product/we-are-the-mutable stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 25

Broadway Buzz

A Strange Loop.

Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

Online extras!

Watch highlights from the Pulitzer and Tony-winning musical A Strange Loop. youtu.be/1c-4J5RIy3g

By Peter Pinne Broadway has celebrated the arrival of a wealth of plays about young gay black men, honouring two of them with its most prestigious awards — Fat Ham (2022 Pulitzer Prize) and A Strange Loop (2022 Tony Award for Best Musical, following its 2020 Pulitzer Prize). What the End Will Be, A Case for the Existence of God, and the revival of Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out, make it an unprecedented total of five plays or musicals.

Fat Ham dismantles Shakespeare to liberate a gay, black Hamlet; What the End Will Be, an intergenerational comedy, is a poignant reflection of sexuality, mortality and black masculinity; in A Case for the Existence of God, a straight and a gay man bond as fathers of young daughters, and in Greenberg’s Take Me Out, a starry cast negotiate the fallout when a black baseball champion comes out as gay.

But the strangest one of all is A Strange Loop, a musical with book, music and lyrics by Michael R. Jackson, which had its premiere off-Broadway in 2019. It’s about Usher, a black, queer writer writing a musical about a black, queer writer...writing a musical about a black, queer writer...etc. Its success is indeed ‘strange’. Playing to nearly full houses, the audiences are mostly middle-aged and white, and scream from start to finish. Producer Richard Norton said, ‘It’s a bizarre 26 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

experience to see this crowd embrace a show that is so sexually explicit about gay sex; NEVER in this lifetime would I imagine I’d witness this in a mainstream Broadway house.’

Apple TV Plus has announced that its musical comedy series Schmigadoon! will return for a second season with a few additional Broadway veterans. Tituss Burgess (Guys and Dolls/The Little Mermaid), known for his role as Titus Andromedon on the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, joins the cast along with Patrick Page, who is currently starring as Hades in Hadestown.

A parody of ‘Golden Age’ musicals, Schimgadoon! stars Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key as Melissa and Josh, a couple on a backpacking trip designed to reinvigorate their relationship, who discover a magical town living in a 1940s musical. As they explore the town, they learn that they can’t leave until they find ‘true love’.

After they do find true love, season two lands Josh and Melissa in Schmicago, the world of ‘60s and ‘70s musicals. Ariana DeBose returns as school teacher Emma Tate, Dove Cameron as waitress Betsy McDonough, Alan Cumming as Mayor Aloysius Menlove, Jane Krakowski as Countess Gabriele Von Blerkorn, Ann Harada as the mayor’s wife Florence Menlove, Martin Short as Leprechaun, and Aaron Tveit as carnival barker Danny Bailey. Cinco Paul is back to

write original songs, as he did for the first series.

Ghostlight Records are releasing the original cast recording of Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick’s Mrs Doubfire, which ended its Broadway performances on May 29. Also off to the recording studio is the cast of MJ, the Michael Jackson musical, which will be available for streaming and purchase 15 July. The 20 tracks include ‘Beat It’, ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Smooth Criminal’ and ‘Thriller’, capturing the performances of the original Broadway cast led by Myles Frost and Tavon Olds -Sample in the role of Michael Jackson.

But although the Hugh Jackman version of The Music Man is doing good business, it’s unlikely it will end up on disc as, according to reports, Jackman’s voice is too ‘ragged’.

Lempicka, the musical by Matt Gould, with lyrics by Carson Kreitzer, and a book by both, opened its West Coast premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in June. It’s slated to premiere on Broadway during the 2022-23 season. It’s based on the life of bisexual Polish painter who fled the Russian Revolution to make a new life in Paris with her husband. Facing the rise of fascism, she takes to painting to survive, and meets a prostitute on the fringes of Parisian society, where she’s torn between the life she loves with her husband, and the life offered by her new muse. She later moved to the U.S. Her fans include Madonna, Jack Nicholson and Barbra Streisand, who all own her paintings. A single, ‘Woman Is’, sung by Eden Espinosa in the title role, is currently available on YouTube (youtu.be/LshNaAgMn2M).

Encores! has just announced its 2023 season. It opens with Adam Guettel’s The Light In the Piazza, to star Ruthie Ann Miles (Here Lies Love/ The Americans) as Margaret Johnson (February 1 - 5), Jerry Herman’s Dear World, with Donna Murphy (Hello, Dolly!/The Gilded Age) as the Countess Aurelia, with choreography by Josh Rhodes (March 15 - 19), and Lionel Bart’s Oliver!, to be directed by Encores! Artistic Director Lear deBessonet (May 3 - 14). It will be the first time Bart’s Dickensian masterpiece will have been seen on Broadway for 40 years.

Online extras!

London Calling

The creative team take us inside how they made The Lehman Trilogy. youtu.be/-8E9ZWYowDU

By Peter Pinne After winning five Tony Awards, The Lehman Trilogy is to return to the West End in January 2023. Stafano Massini’s play charts the formation of the Lehman Brothers bank. Three actors recount the 196 years of banking history and its eventual collapse. The Lehman Trilogy premiered at the National Theatre in 2018, and transferred to the Piccadilly Theatre the following year. It played a limited run on Broadway and won five Tony Awards at the 2022 ceremony: Best Play, Best Director (Sam Mendes), Best Actor (Simon Russell Beale), Best Scenic Design (Es Devlin) and Best Lighting Design (Jon Clark). Costume design for the 2023 production will be by Katrina Lindsay, with sound design by Nick Powell. Casting will be announced later.

The original West End cast of Six are reuniting June 27 - July 1, at the Vaudeville Theatre, to film the musical for posterity. On Friday July 1, Six will be performed in front of a live audience. The Six film will star Jarnéia Richard-Noel (Catherine of Aragon), Millie O’Connell (Anne Boleyn), Natalie Paris (Jane Seymour), Alexia McIntosh (Anna of Cleves), Aimie Atkinson (Katherine Howard), and Maiya Quansah-Breed (Catherine Parr). Liz Clare will direct the movie.

A new recording of the world’s favorite musical, The Phantom of the Opera, was released on June 1. It features the 2022 West End cast with vocals by Killian Donnelly as the Phantom and Lucy St. Louis as Christine Daaé. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, the second longest running West End musical, premiered at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1986. The featured cast includes Rhys Whitfield (Raoul), Saori Oda (Carlotta Giudicelli), Matt Harrop (Monsieur Firman), Adam Linstead (Monsieur Andre), Greg Castiglioni (Ubaldo

Simon Russell Beale in The Lehman Trilogy (2018).

Photo: Mark Douet.

Paingi), Francesca Ellis (Madame Giry) and Ellie Young (Meg Giry).

Jack Holden’s debut play Cruise is to return to the West End and play the Apollo Theatre from 13 August to 4 September. Cruise follows a young man in 1980s London. On the last night of a four-year countdown, Michael heads out for a last night of farewells, but then he survives.

Holden stars in his debut work, which explores a generation whose lives were impacted by HIV and AIDS in 1980s Soho. According to the author, this incarnation of Cruise will be ‘bigger, brighter, louder and prouder.

We can’t wait to get back on stage, make one hell of a noise, and take our audiences back to 1980s Soho.’ The show features original music by John Patrick Elliott, choreography by Sarah Golding, design by Nik Corrall and Stufish Entertainment Architects, with direction by Bronagh Lagan.

Dear Evan Hansen will play its final performance at the Noël Coward Theatre on October 22 this year, one month after the production closes on Broadway. Soft ticket sales caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were the leading cause attributed to the closures of both the Broadway and West End productions. It did not help that the film version received negative reviews. In the West End, the show, with its Benj Pasek and Justin Paul score, won Best New Musical, Best Original Score and New

Orchestrations and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Sam Tutty) at the Olivier Awards. According to London Theatre, the score ‘has integrity and depth that matches the story they [the authors] have to tell.’ The story of a high school senior with social anxiety, who invents an important role for himself in a tragedy that he did not earn, has been criticised in that it romanticises or sanitises mental illness by not naming Evan’s diagnosis. It has also been suggested that the show glorifies suicide, with questions about Connor’s death and whether or not Evan’s suicide attempt was real. Jason Zinoman, in a piece for Slate, argues the musical ‘employs different tactics to prevent us from seeing Evan Hansen as a jerk, but its most audacious is to not allow anyone onstage to see him that way...The choice to give Evan Hansen no comeuppance doesn’t make dramatic sense.’ Nevertheless, Tutty received a five star review in Theatre Weekly. ‘Sam Tutty gives the performance of the decade,’ and at 22 was one of the youngest actors to ever receive an Olivier Award.

Sam Tutty in Dear Evan Hansen.

Photo: Matthew Murphy.

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 27

Stage On Page

By Peter Pinne Composer and Playwright youtu.be/Q2s-7krOViY

Turner’s Turn - A disarmingly honest memoir - Geraldine Turner (New Holland).

‘Everything is beautiful at the ballet’ goes the song from A Chorus Line, a song that could have been written for Geraldine Turner. Growing up in Brisbane in the 50s and 60s in a dysfunctional family fraught with alcohol abuse and violence, Turner’s only refuge was Miss Danaher’s Dance School, where like her contemporaries in A Chorus Line, Sheila, Bebe and Maggie, she found her ‘home’ in ballet school.

Away from the family, four brothers and an overpowering mother, Turner flowered. Her mother Grace was troubled. Prone to having fits, tearing at her clothes and laying down in the aisle of the bus and

28 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

screaming that the bus driver wants to f**k her (a regular occurrence), she was also a good seamstress at one time known as Bebe Scott, the half sister of George Wallace’s dresser. She knew more songs than anyone else, and had a good voice. Grace lived vicariously through her daughter. She made all her clothes and was determined she was going to be a star, centre stage, with her arms up in the air.

Her father was a truck driver, a violent drunk, but good at breaking up tension.

Turner’s first time on stage was at school in Soot and the Fairies, opposite her classmate John Meehan, a soon to be budding star of the Australian Ballet and later the American Ballet Theatre. She subsequently appeared as a Rat in Borovansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, and then joined the Queensland Revue Theatre, appearing in potted versions of The Pajama Game and Bye Bye Birdie.

One of her earlier successes was winning Bernard King’s New Faces when she was seventeen. But her euphoria was short-lived. A boy took her home that night and, on the outskirts of the city, raped her. She’s

Get your copy of Turner’s Turn for $29.99 from Book Nook. bit.ly/3xYdtj8 borne the scars of the experience for the rest of her life.

Brian Nason cast her in a regional tour of Salad Days, before her first main-stage performances for the newly incorporated Queensland Theatre Company (1971), in A Rum Do, Oh! What a Lovely War, The Legend of King O’Malley and Lock Up Your Daughters with Geoffrey Rush.

This led to J.C. Williamson’s and director Freddie Carpenter casting her as ‘Betty from Boston’ in their revival

B Is For Broadway is now available from Book Nook for just $39.99. bit.ly/3zV4CQG of No, No, Nanette, which starred Cyd Charisse, and later Yvonne De Carlo.

The seventies saw her spend a year on The Box as (in her own words) ‘boring’ secretary Linda, appear as Doreen in the ABC’s TV version of Albert Arlen and Nancy Brown’s musical version of The Sentimental Bloke, and as Vere in the movie adaptation of Sumner Locke Elliott’s custody-battle melodrama Careful He Might Hear You. The 70s also saw her first appearance in a Stephen Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music, playing the maid Petra and walking away with the show singing ‘The Miller’s Son’.

She followed with an appearance at the International Music Forum (1977), where she met her idol in the flesh, along with Hal Prince, who both became lifelong friends. She recorded her first album of Sondheim songs, Old Friends...The Songs of Stephen Sondheim, later retitled The Stephen Sondheim Songbook, and became the first performer in the world to record a solo Sondheim album. She later did a Volume Two, and has since become an expert on his oeuvre, appearing as Joanne in Company, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, Desiree in A Little Night Music, the compilation revue

Side By Side By Sondheim, but not Gypsy, where she’s been cast as Momma Rose six times and every one of the productions has fallen over.

Turner’s biggest commercial hits have been Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, and Velma Kelly, opposite Nancye Hayes’ Roxie Hart, in the original Australian production of Chicago for STC. She has also flown the flag of many an Australian musical including Ma Kelly in Reg Livermore’s Ned Kelly, Dorothy Hewett’s Pandora’s Box for the illfated Paris Theatre Company, Mrs. Yabsley in Jonah Jones, Ruby Slocum in Summer Rain, Philomena in Somewhere, and the title character in Rosie.

Turner’s Turn is a warts and all account of the fabulous life of one of our most endearing stage icons. There have been three men in Turner’s life, two of whom she married. She confesses she married her first husband to get away from her mother. His mother came from Perth for the wedding and arrived for dinner at Turner’s parents’ house two nights before the wedding. Her mother made a scene by announcing she was going to kill herself, took a huge carving knife out of the drawer making sure everybody saw her do it, and left the dining room. His mother got hysterical, but Turner, having seen it all before, just continued to eat. Her mother eventually came back, put the knife back, and no one said anything more about it.

Her first boyfriend’s parents suffered the same fate. Terry Bader was appearing in Philadelphia, Here I Come. His parents are up from Sydney to see the show. On opening night Turner is home, dressed to the nines, and her mother starts a row, claiming she will ruin the first night for her. But at the theatre Grace is nowhere to be seen, until after interval as they walk down the stairs to the foyer and there is her mother in her dressing gown, with rollers in her hair, shouting: ‘Do you know what your son is doing to my daughter?” He’s f**king her!’

Her first marriage lasted two years, she was partners with politician and later producer Greg Jones for a

decade, and her relationship with Opera Conductor Brian Castles Onion turned into marriage and has been ongoing since.

Turner’s secondary education was paid for by her eldest brother, who then resented the fact that she went into show-business. An alcoholic, he turned up at their father’s funeral with a boot-load of beer. Her youngest brother, also an alcoholic, was charged with manslaughter and went to gaol. Turner was the only one of the family who visited him.

One of the definitions of a star is someone who walks on to a stage and owns it. Geraldine Turner has done this most of her life. In fact it’s what prevented her from becoming Evita. After her audition for Hal Prince, Prince told her, ‘in the beginning of the show, when Eva enters, I want the audience to wonder will she ever make it. Then, she becomes a star during the piece. You walk onto a stage and I know you’re going to make it.’

David Williamson has written a loving and honest forward, which I can only endorse. Like its subject, the book is fiercely opinionated and fiercely ready to call out an injustice.

That’s why she spent time as the Federal President of the Actors’ Union, the MEAA (Media and Entertainment Alliance), ran for Council in her district, marched in protest against the Iraq War, and has stridently supported an advocacy for a performing arts centre in the Southern Highlands where she now lives. She’s paid her dues and this book recognises it. It comes with a set of B&W photos but sadly no index.

B Is For Broadway - Onstage and Backstage from A to Z by John Robert Allman. Illustrated by Peter Emmerich (Doubleday) This delightful read is a follow-up to the previous A is for AUDRA. It’s a peek behind the curtain from ‘A is for Auditions’ through ‘H is for Hamilton’ to ‘T is for Tony’ and ‘Y is for younger stars to stun with song-and-dancin’ as optimistic as Annie or as anxious Evan Hansen.’ A fun read! stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 29

Stage Sounds

By Peter Pinne Courtney Monsma - In The Light Courtney Monsma is crazy talented and this disc showcases her talent brilliantly. It’s a collection of songs, widely diverse in repertoire, that reflect her journey so far as an artist. Monsma recently starred as Anna, opposite Jemma Rix as Elsa, in the Australian production of Disney’s Frozen. There are two songs from that show, and in the absence of a full cast recording they’re all we have to remind us of the powerhouse performances of the two leads. Monsma sings her reflective second-act solo ‘True Love’, while Rix joins her for the searing sisters’ duet ‘I Can’t Lose You’. She was also a member of the original Australian cast of Six, and sings Katherine Howard’s ‘All You Wanna Do’. From one of the best musical theatre scores of recent times, ‘All You Wanna Do’ has a terrific pop feel, and at almost seven minutes is the longest and best track on the disc. Monsma movingly delivers Jason Robert Brown’s ‘I’m Not Afraid of Anything’ from Songs for a New World and Sara Bareilles’ ‘She Used To be Mine’ from Waitress, while delivering the sass in Sherie Rene Scott’s extreme dedication to fashion ode, ‘My Strongest Suit’, from Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida. But, being a sucker for romantic ballads, I can’t go past Anastasia’s ‘Journey to the Past’ as my personal favourite. It’s wistful, emotional and full of hope and love. Great piano charts by Dominic Woodhead, and great production

by James Kempster and Troy Sussman. 

Online extras!

Courtney Monsma’s debut album In The Light is available on CD from courtneymonsma.com/album Josh Piterman - Loving You Classical cross-over star Josh Piterman has released a new EP produced by UK songwriter and producer Steve Anderson. The standout track is ‘Caruso’, one of the most successful Italian pop songs of all time. There’s a cover version of Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’, ‘Se’ from the movie Cinema Paradiso, written by Ennio Morricone, and The Mask of Zorro’s ‘I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You’, a duet

Online extras!

Listen to Josh Piterman’s Loving You on your favourite music service. ffm.to/joshpitermanlovingyou 30 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

originally sung by Marc Anthony and Tina Arena, but here given a vocal with West End star Aimee Atkinson (Six).

Piterman is in fine voice throughout, thrilling in his upper register, with buckets of warmth. Prior to COVID-19 lockdown, Piterman was starring in London as The Phantom, a role he’ll repeat in the new Australian production at the Sydney Opera House and in Melbourne in October. During lockdown Piterman toured in concert with Teddy Tahu Rhodes, when he sang some of the EP songs live.  Michael Bublé - Higher (Reprise 093624874850 Higher is Michael Bublé’s eleventh studio album and it’s more of the same — some new songs, some old songs, and some big-band swing sung in his trademarked Sinatra-esque style. ‘I’ll Never Not Love You’ is the track that the label is pushing, a Ned Sherrin-type song which has a strong melodic hook, written by Bublé, but the album title song ‘Higher’ is also good, with an insistent cool Latin beat. There’s a nice tender version of Paul McCartney’s ‘My Valentine’, produced by McCartney, a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’ and a (comfortable) duet with Willie Nelson of ‘Crazy’. A disco feel is totally appropriate for Barry White’s 70s ‘You’re the First, the Last, My Everything’, a gospel chorus singing background oohs and aahs livens Sam Cooke’s ‘Bring It On Home To Me’ from the 60s, and the two big-band tracks, Duke Ellington’s ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore’ and ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square’ are sound salutes to Sinatra. The finale, Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Smile’ from the movie Limelight, is an OTT trip complete with lots of strings and a big-backing chorus. Bublé fans will love it, but others should enjoy it too. Also available on vinyl. 

Online extras!

Pick up Higher on CD, vinyl or your preferred music streaming platform. michaelbuble.com Carnival (Bob Merrill) (Stage Door STAGE 2-9093) Stage Door’s latest release couples the original Broadway Cast Recording of Carnival, with two instrumental albums of the score. The show, based on the MGM movie Lili, which starred Leslie Caron, was a huge Broadway hit with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill (New Girl In Town/Take Me Along), a book by Michael Stewart (Bye Bye Birdie), and direction and choreography by Gower Champion (Bye Bye Birdie). Anna Maria Alberghetti played the waif Lili, with Jerry Orbach, fresh from his success in The Fantasticks, as the lame puppeteer. Merrill’s score, his finest, abounds with good tunes — Alberghetti’s ‘Mira’, ‘Love Makes the World Go Round’ and ‘Beautiful Candy’, Orbach’s ‘Her Face’ and ‘She’s My Love’, and the chorus with ‘Grand Imperial Cirque de

Online extras!

Watch the powerful music video for Josh Piterman’s cover of ‘Caruso’. youtu.be/QrttlWtqNDw

Paris’. Kaye Ballard, as “The Incomparable Rosalie”, belts everything to the rafters, whilst James Mitchell as “Marco the Magnificent” dazzles in ‘A Sword and a Rose and a Cape’. The instrumental albums of the score feature Cyril Ornadel conducting the Starlight Symphony Orchestra, and Carnival in Percussion by the Paul Smith Ensemble, which features a song ‘Magic, Magic’, that was left off the Original Broadway Cast album. Of historical interest, in Carnival, Alberghetti became the first performer to wear a body mic on Broadway. 

played 2,078 performances in the West End, it took Julie Andrews to Broadway, and Barbra Streisand played the maid Hortense for two weeks at the Cecilwood Theater in Fishkill, New York, in 1960. Wilson’s score is a delight, sending up as it does, musicals from the twenties, especially No No Nanette. The song titles themselves are indicative of the joy to be found in this remarkable spoof: ‘Won’t You Charleston With Me’, ‘I Could Be Happy With You’, ‘It’s Never Too Late To Fall In Love’ and the title track. The 1954 disc doesn’t include ‘Safety in Numbers’ or ‘The You-Don’t-Want-To-Play-With-Me-Blues’, but the 1984 one does. Although it’s not sung as well, I prefer the original 1954 recording, with its solo piano and drums accompaniment, and its great cast — Anne Rogers, Anthony Hayes and Maria Charles. There’s a Online extras! freshness to the material that the cast capture with lovely Get the two disc deluxe edition of insouciance. The 1984 disc has Jane Wellman as Polly, Carnival from Stage Door Records.

Simon Greene as Tony, Anna Quayle as Madame bit.ly/3b4IZCV Dubonnet and Rosemary Ashe as Hortense. Ashe later played Carlotta in the original West End production of The Phantom of the Opera. West End star The Boy Friend (Sandy Wilson) (Jay Records CD JAY2 1461) Millicent Martin also accompanied Jay Records have turned their DigiMAX attention to Julie Andrews to Broadway as Sandy Wilson’s delightfully affectionate The Boy Friend, by Nancy. Still going strong today, she coupling the Original 1954 London Cast Recording with can be currently seen on TV the Original 1984 London Cast recording. It’s a great idea. guesting as Joan Margaret in Grace The 1954 cast has a piano and drums accompaniment, and Frankie with Jane Fonda and Lily whilst the 1984 album has a 12-piece orchestra and is the Tomlin.  only version of the score available in stereo. The Boy Friend holds a special place in musical theatre history. It

Online extras!

Rating  Only for the enthusiast  Borderline  Worth buying  Must have  Kill for it

Jay Records has the twin 1954 and 1987 cast recordings of The Boy Friend. bit.ly/3Oi9OSM stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 31

Hey, Mr Producer!

In Australia for the opening of his musical Mary Poppins, impresario Cameron Mackintosh shared some insights with The Stage Show on the ABC about the current production, and his connection to work’s author, Australian actress and writer Pamela Travers.

Mary Poppins.

Photo: Daniel Boud.

“I was genuinely able to tell the cast that I was very proud of the cast 11 years ago (when it premiered in Australia) and I did not think of them at all. It was like a brand-new show — sitting beautifully in the Lyric Theatre.

“The version we are doing in Australia is what I reinvented and brought back before the pandemic. [The new material] includes choreography and the physical production.

“I dived straight in to the rehearsal floor and worked with the actors to bring everything together.

“I fell in love with Mary Poppins through the Disney film in 1964. The film made me go and read [Pamela Travers] books. I was enthralled by the brilliance of the language.

“I first tried to get rights in late ‘70s (but was knocked back). I created the stage show of Mary Poppins from scratch, writing the first treatment of the musical before we did a deal with Disney.

“I met Pamela Travers in 1993, when she was 93 years old, and she entrusted me with the rights to make her book into a musical.

“The original movie was based on her first book. She always purported to say she did not like film — but went back to see it several times.

“My treatment was meshed together from her other [Mary Poppins] books. I wrote it by the opera house where she had worked as an actress.

“When I showed my treatment to the head of Disney Theatrical, it was uncannily similar to a version Pamela had put together for a sequel. She had chosen the same 32 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

Online extras!

Listen to the interview with Cameron Mackintosh on ABC Radio National. ab.co/39Sseux stories that I had selected. Such as the whole story of how George was brought up by a strict nanny who was a monster, and this is the heart of the story. The story is very much about importance of family and Mary Poppins bringing a family together. So, we made it a real adult musical as well as something kids love to come to.

“I am very much an interfering producer. I do not come up with the idea. Once inspiration is lit, I fan the flame. I first heard Les Misérables as a concept album in French. I had remembered great movies and the music just conjured up story. I then worked on it with the writers to build it from the ground up. I work with authors first then the production team.

“Going back to Mary Poppins (when Disney agreed) I went back to George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, two young song writers who had written a song, “Practically Perfect”, sent to me as a demo and I knew I had the voice I needed, to add to the songs composed by the Sherman Brothers.

“The song was practically perfect and is exactly the same as it was on that original demo tape.”

Mary Poppins Playing at the Lyric Theatre, Sydney. marypoppinsmusical.com.au

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 33

Showcase

Award-Winning Composer In Sean Tinnion’s heart, just about everything has a musical soundtrack.

If the WAAPA graduate was a Disney character, he’d be the guy with musical notes constantly dancing around his body, writes Ara Jansen.

Online extras!

Listen to Sean Tinnion’s 2020 album Avori on Spotify. Scan or visit spoti.fi/3QN5Gfg

Sean Tinnion.

34 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

For information on how to enrol in WAAPA courses visit waapa.ecu.edu.au/courses-and-admissions/how-to-get-into-waapa

Sean started playing piano at age four. By eight or nine his mother’s love of movie soundtracks had also infiltrated his heart. He watched films to dissect how the music worked in scenes.

“I think I would have found playing the piano one way or another,” says Sean, who moved to Perth from the UK in 2004. “It’s something I was meant to do.”

His first big discovery was James Horner, the late American composer and conductor known for his film scores, which often mixed choral and electronic elements and featured Celtic motifs. His most notable works include Titanic, Avatar, Field of Dreams, A Beautiful Mind and Braveheart.

When Sean and his family moved to Perth, it was September. Rather than starting school that year he hung out at home, and turned to his keyboard to start composing music.

As his skills on the piano grew, Sean’s interests widened to include other soundtrack composers such as

Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore, James Howard, Ennio Morricone and Thomas Newman. He also kept an ear on pop music and is no stranger to Coldplay or Dua Lipa.

Since graduating from WAAPA in 2015 with a Bachelor of Music Major in Composition and Music Technology, Sean has worked on movies, documentaries, online games, and advertisements.

Recent projects include the awardwinning documentary The Last Horns of Africa, From Sky to Sea, the documentary about WA’s Jaimen Hudson, who begins his quest to become the world’s first underwater cinematographer with quadriplegia, and the Xbox survival game The Last Stand: Aftermath.

From more than 50 projects under his belt, he’s won 18 score and soundtrack awards from film festivals around the world.

“I’m very emotional with my music. I wish I knew where it comes from, but it just happens. I go with the flow and as I’m watching

something, the music starts to form in my mind.

“When I get writer’s block, I usually walk away to give my ears a rest. Often, I’ll try and do something unrelated to music, which helps clear my head and then an idea will arrive.”

Sean keeps fit and clears his head at the gym. He enjoys the beach and nature, which inspire his projects.

When he watches a movie or TV, his mind is always on how the piece fits with the action he’s seeing.

“I never watch a movie without intently listening to the soundtrack and wondering whether I would have done it the same way or differently.”

Sean also creates his own music.

He released two albums — Avori and An Everlasting Serenity — in 2020, with a third album due for release this year. He’s almost finished a Celtic album, which pays homage to his heritage and his love for the style.

“My own music is still very cinematic. It’s almost like it’s looking for a movie to be in.”

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 35

Showcase

Jason Coleman’s Ministry of Dance Jazz Miller, a past JCMOD scholarship student, talks about her experience with the Diploma of Musical Theatre and her new role in the German production of Hamilton.

What made you choose JCMOD to obtain your Diploma of Musical Theatre?

Jazz Miller: I came into professional training later than most. I was 20 before starting. I knew my strength was in singing. I had already completed a course in Music Performance but had always had a niggling need to foster my love of theatre. I knew that in order to work my way up I would need to begin in a professional ensemble, which meant being a fierce dancer. So, I enrolled in full time dance to drill myself, which pushed me further than I could have imagined. Then, in my second year, the musical theatre course was introduced, which was the perfect timing for me to tie everything I had learnt together and begin to become a well-rounded triple threat performer.

How was your experience whilst studying full time?

JM: I struggled in first year. I knew it was what I needed to be doing — to push my body and foster a solid technical foundation — but I did feel like I was leagues behind some of my peers. I was training with students from the Australian Ballet School, having never even taken a ballet class! But I tried to push myself and get the most out of that dance training. Moving into the musical theatre course, though, was the easiest decision I ever made. I had never felt more at home and was challenged by my peers in completely new ways, which pushed me to be better and work harder. I’m so grateful for everything I learnt from both courses.

What has been the highlight of your career since graduating?

JM: I could pick highlights from every job and huge lessons learnt along the way. In terms of career progression, my very first show, being the quintessential dancer’s musical Cats, 36 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

was a massive accomplishment for me.

I couldn’t have been prouder to crawl around that stage and whack my legs up as high as they would go. Cats is such a special show to be part of and an experience I’ll never forget.

What will be your next project?

JM: Next I’m heading over to Hamburg, Germany to be part of the original cast of Hamilton (*pinch me*).

The show is entirely in German, the very

Jazz Miller.

Below: Jazz Miller (kneeling, left) as Electra in Cats (2017).

first translation in any language; a process which has taken three whole years of work. It’s going to be a huge challenge — in entirely different ways than anything before — mainly that I’ll have to practically learn German. But it is certainly the biggest show happening anywhere in the world, so I am gobsmacked they chose me to tell the story!

I’m also working on writing, recording and producing some original music. Stay tuned for that.

What would be your advice for someone wanting to pursue a career in theatre?

JM: Know that this life is a big old rollercoaster. You will experience the highest of highs and some pretty deep lows when things don’t go your way — and trust me, they often won’t. So you need to trust deeply in yourself and your ability and keep at the work, even when it feels like the work isn’t returning the favour. Stay grounded and work on yourself first — become the best version of you, that no casting director can say no to!

Discover the courses available at theministryofdance.com.au

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 37

Showcase

Grads Boost Regional Theatre Graduates from Charles Sturt University have built their own regional theatre company — right in the heart of Wagga Wagga in the NSW Riverina. The Freeroam Theatre had its inaugural production in June.

A global pandemic couldn’t keep Charles Sturt performing arts alumni Sally Jackson, Jhi Rayner and Natasha Shimpf from reviving professional theatre in their community. And so Freeroam Theatre was born.

The inaugural production was the Australian play Speaking in Tongues, which took place in the Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre.

Sally credits the supportive staff and students at Charles Sturt as a catalyst for Freeroam.

“The education and support we received at Charles Sturt, especially through our lecturers, was instrumental in us starting — and we continue to be close with our lecturers,” Sally said.

A feature of the Bachelor of Creative Industries Arts at Charles Sturt University is that it focusses on collaboration.

“We’ve collaborated with animators, as well as production, design and TV production students — it gives you professional experience and networking

opportunities,” says Sally.

In mid-2020, members of the local theatre community and industry leaders held a meeting to discuss the revitalisation of professional theatre in Wagga Wagga.

Sally recalls the conversation that led to Freeroam’s formation.

“When the question was posed of who should start it, eyes turned to the young people in the room and it just kind of snowballed from there!”

From there, the wheels were set in motion, and it was official: Freeroam Theatre would bring professional theatre to regional areas, giving locals a platform for creative expression without having to relocate.

“We’re trying to build a professional platform for regional creatives, where they can live regionally and still produce professional work. These were the opportunities we didn’t necessarily have, so we’ll be the ones to provide those opportunities to others.”

Turn your passion into a profession with the Bachelor of Arts (with specialisations) from Charles Sturt University.

Learn more about the performing arts specialisation at study.csu.edu.au/arts The Freeroam Theatre performers take to the stage in Actors Without Worlds.

Online extras!

Discover CSU’s revitalised Bachelor of Arts. Scan the QR code or visit youtu.be/ng6pHo980xI 38 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

The networks Sally formed at Charles Sturt have gone beyond professional connections.

“It’s such as close group. After I graduated, I came back to watch all the shows and meet the new students coming through. It’s a very close-knit cohort.”

Jhi agrees. “It was all about comradeship. One big family...there are no big dogs.”

A 2021 study of employment rates for graduates (across all disciplines) saw Charles Sturt University score the highest rating for its students getting jobs (90.8%) among all of Australia’s universities.

Building strong industry connections is a feature of the Creative Industries course.

“The hands-on learning was the best thing — that contextual learning. We’d work on shows and were expected to behave as if in professional productions.

That’s invaluable experience,” Sally says.

“We were lucky that our lecturers would bring in industry professionals they knew. They were quite happy to set up those connections for us.”

Natasha Shimpf enjoyed the access to hi-tech equipment which she said complemented her theatre training.

“We had access to state-of-the-art professional level materials. It was awesome to get experience in an industry setting,” says Natasha.

Today, Freeroam Theatre faces a bright future. Supported by a board of directors, the group has set a five-year plan that aims to produce three shows each year. They’re also looking to offer internships to Charles Sturt creative arts students.

And Sally’s best advice for making the most out of your university experience.

“There’s nothing more valuable than working with other people. So, get involved and immerse yourself in all that you do — you’ll learn so much.” *QILT graduate outcomes survey 2021.

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 39

Conor Leach, Tsungirai Wachenuka and Sarah Fitzgerald in MTC’s Slap. Bang. Kiss (2022).

Photo: Tiffany Garvie.

Showcase

Stepping Into Character Slap. Bang. Kiss. actor Sarah Fitzgerald shares tips for young actors on how to build and transform a character on stage in this Melbourne Theatre Company interview.

From its season at Southbank Theatre in April to regional performances across Victoria in May, MTC’s 2022 Education production Slap. Bang. Kiss. has made a splash with audiences. Dan Giovannoni’s new play speaks directly to issues concerning young people and celebrates their determination to bring about change and hope. As one student from Mildura said after watching the show, “As a kid from a conservative rural town, the relatability was uncanny and really moving...it was really inspiring and enlightening.”

The play tracks three young people whose stories kickstart a series of events that transform them into global symbols of revolution. One of those characters is Sofia (played by Sarah Fitzgerald), a high school student whose afternoon class is interrupted by an active shooter.

Fitzgerald also transforms into supporting characters during the production. She speaks about the play and how she tackled playing multiple characters.

40 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

MTC: In your own words, what is Slap. Bang. Kiss. about?

Sarah Fitzgerald: How nothing short of what others might call ‘idealism’ is what creates hope, and all the little wins on the way are what keep that hope alive. Hope for what we are worthy of, to live the truth that we are all indispensable. And that hope is what creates movements, creates change.

MTC: What drives your character Sofia and how do you embody her?

SF: Sofia is a highly intelligent, quiet young person. What drives her to take centre stage in this movement is her realisation that what happened to her and her friends is something everyone had been anticipating. It’s a story she’s heard before and will continue to hear unless there’s a disruption to the narrative. She’s infuriated by the idea that teenagers are seen as unavoidable casualties in her society.

For the first three scenes, Sofia is very internal in that she observes everything and absorbs it. So for those scenes my movement is indirect

and a bit more casual, playing against the seriousness of her circumstances.

As she becomes more active in her world, my movement becomes more direct — but the gesture is still a little closed off. We’re seeing her move from quiet person to the icon of a movement.

MTC: How do you transform into other characters, or to other places?

SF: To transform into other characters, I consider how they see the world or the things they are talking about. For example, my character sees Immi as a source of pride and endearment, so when I talk about her I endow my body with those feelings, whereas Delilah views the world as full of potential and she’s on a mission to fulfil that so she’s very direct — her pace is fast. To transform places, I try to think about whether it is a small space or a big space and whether or not there are other people. For example, in the closet for Carl and Sofia, the space is small so we try to be small with our bodies; whereas in the parking lot, in another scene, I see lots of people

and noise, so there are opportunities to see things around the space that are far away and be as physical as I want.

MTC: How do design elements like costumes, props and the set impact your performance? What helps and how?

SF: The blocks are great for making those quick turns the character has to make emotionally — from the internal to the external world. Turning the corner of the block or stepping onto the block helps me ‘step’ into that moment and gives the audience a changed picture. It makes the shift feel more natural instead of it feeling like the audience is watching an actor working.

Learn more about the acting and production techniques used in Slap. Bang. Kiss. in MTC’s free Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Series workshops at mtc.com.au/VCES

Sarah Fitzgerald in MTC’s Slap. Bang. Kiss (2022).

Photo: Tiffany Garvie.

Online extras!

Discover MTC’s Slap. Bang. Kiss. education pack. Scan or visit bit.ly/3O6FtXg stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 41

42 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

Showcase

CQU Experience Puts Chloe In The Spotlight Mackay vocalist Chloe Pitt always knew she wanted to make music, but studying with CQUniversity has helped the passionate performer hit the right notes to grow her career.

Chloe Pitt has been singing with her Torres Strait Islander family since she was seven years old, but it was only at the end of high school that she considered a career in music.

“I was living with my mum in Dysart (in regional Qld) and thinking I’d have to move to the city if I wanted to study music, then I realised I could do a Bachelor of Music with CQUniversity in Mackay,” she said.

“That made getting professional training and experience feel more possible.”

Moving to Mackay to study in 2018, Chloe has fit her education around employment, performing, and spending time with family.

“CQU was really supportive, and I was able to defer a couple of times to go back to Dysart to live and work, and then come back and keep going when I could,” she explained.

She said the Bachelor of Music has helped her gain invaluable experience collaborating with other musicians and performers.

“The best thing I’ve learned at uni is how to communicate with different types of musicians, especially when we’re all on stage and there’s no chance to talk; it’s so important to know what a nod or a hand signal means!” she said.

“Plus, the course gives you so many opportunities to perform.

The people are amazing and the staff are very supportive. I’ve had access to equipment that I could have only dreamed about.”

CQUniversity Head of Music Peter McKenzie said the Bachelor of Music proudly nurtured emerging talent.

“Within the first year all students are assigned a tutor in their area of focus, so vocalists, instrumentalists,

Chloe Pitt.

To learn more about CQUniversity’s Creative Performing and Visual Arts courses, visit cqu.edu.au/courses/creative-performing-visual-arts singer songwriters, composers, all have tutors to work with each week on technical aspects of their discipline,” he said.

“We are fortunate to have some of the finest musicians and educators in the country, and with the use of innovative technology, all of our students have an incredible experience with these teachers, even if they live in Geraldton in Western Australia, and the teacher is in Melbourne.

“Our students are connected with industry, through all these experts.”

Peter said.

Last year, Chloe took centre stage with other CQU musicians for Mackay’s annual Jazz in the Park.

Recently, she’s teamed up with her uncle to form Lilting, with the duo set to headline local NAIDOC Week celebrations in July 2022. She’s sharing her progress on Instagram, so follow @chloegracepittmusic for

updates and to keep up with her new music. “’Lilting’ is characterised by a rhythmical swing or cadence, and that’s really fitting for our music,” she explained.

“I sing and my uncle plays guitar with a loop pedal and makes the beat and bass with his guitar. It all comes together in beautiful harmony.

“In Torres Strait Islander culture, music is a big family thing, it’s a big cultural thing, so I’m proud to be building my life around it,” she said.

CQUniversity offers a range of options in Creative, Performing and Visual Arts, preparing students with skills to be industry-ready entertainment professionals. Students across the disciplines get opportunities to perform together for a range of big events at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music, and via digital platforms. stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 43

44 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

From Broadway To The University Of Adelaide

Showcase

2022 has been a triumph for Elder Conservatorium Music Theatre with highlights including audience ovations for the Australian Premiere of the new Joey Contreras musical In Pieces, and training from an acclaimed Broadway star.

Held at the iconic Adelaide Festival Centre, In Pieces reflects on the romantic journeys of a group of individuals, as they look back on the chosen paths and partners along the way.

These pieces come together to create a universal remembrance of what it’s like to be young and learning in love. Three sold out performances and standing ovations bore testament to the graduating class’ soaring voices, commanding stage presence, and the emotional depth of their interpretation.

Head of Elder Conservatorium Music Theatre, George Torbay, is hard at work with students rehearsing for Les Misérables. George has a knack for drawing out the potential in his talented students, describing this next production for lucky audiences.

“You are in for a treat. This is a vocal showcase of truly exquisite voices and an ensemble sound that is stunning — coupled with the largest orchestra we have had for an ECMT production — it’s going to be huge!”

Beyond Les Misérables, students are looking forward to masterclasses from artist in residence Nikki Snelson. An acclaimed Broadway star and original cast member, Nikki will direct and choreograph upcoming performances of Legally Blonde from 29 September to 2 October.

Nikki Snelson has a distinguished history as a director, choreographer and actress working on Broadway and

Nikki Snelson.

beyond. Nikki created the role of Brooke Windham in the original Broadway and MTV cast of Legally Blonde.

On the small screen, she was seen on Desperate Housewives and All My Children. Nikki plays Janelle Kincaid in the upcoming series Ms Guidance.

Nikki is also the CEO of Musical Theatre Mayhem, a triple threat workshop series featuring major Broadway stars.

Students are invited to join a vibrant community of like -minded innovative and driven performers where they can combine their passion for dance, drama and voice to become a flexible and professional performer.

The prestigious Elder Conservatorium of Music has a reputation for innovation and excellence that is backed by its long history as the oldest tertiary music school in Australia.

Applications for the Bachelor of Music Theatre at the Elder Conservatorium of Music are now open. Apply through SATAC at satac.edu.au and register online for an audition at able.adelaide.edu.au/music/study/auditions Audition Rounds for 2023 Adelaide September 30 & October 1 Sydney October 8 Perth October 15 Melbourne October 22 Brisbane October 29 Learn more at bit.ly/ElderConservatoriumMusicTheatre stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 45

46 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

Showcase

Actors Centre Australia

Actors and Directors are being offered six-month intensive training or online courses available nationwide.

Foundation Program This course, which runs for six months during the evenings on weeknights Monday to Thursday and all day on Saturday, is designed to kick-start an actor’s journey and study of the performing arts. Subjects include acting, voice, body, improvisation, language power, stage combat, comedy and Shakespeare, culminating in a public performance.

“The Foundation Program is an exciting hot bed of emerging talent.

Our current students are gearing up for their final performance which is

set to showcase an incredible group.

Their journey with us has been a joy to watch!” said Associate Director and Course Director Johann Walraven.

A focus of the course is helping actors get ‘match-ready’ for end of year drama school auditions.

The Sydney based Foundation Program has two intakes each year, in January and July.

Next Intake: July 25.

Duration: 20 weeks.

Cook — plots the journey every director working with actors needs to know.

“We are excited to share the passion and experience of these outstanding directors and creative leaders in sharing their insights and learnings. The Craft of Directing Actors for Stage and Screen online program is back by popular demand and offers a comprehensive learning opportunity on acting through the lens of this diverse and exciting The Craft Of Directing Actors For talented group of directors in film and Stage And Screen theatre,” said Chief Operating Officer After a successful run in 2021, Anthony Kierann.

ACA has announced the return of its The course runs from July 20 popular online program The Craft of September 7, with each class Directing Actors for Stage scheduled at 7.30-9.30pm AEST and Screen. weekly on Wednesday evenings live This course, led by Dean via Zoom.

Carey (ACA Founder and Course outline, links and resources Director) along with four for classes will be forwarded upon key industry leaders — confirmation of enrolment and sent Scott Hicks, Gale Edwards, two weeks prior to class Jennifer West and Adam commencement.

Visit actorscentreaustralia.com.au/programs to learn more about the course and each week’s topics. stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 47

48 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

Lighting Up Stages For 50 Years

Staging & Theatre Tech

From a small company established in Wellington, Theatrelight NZ has moved with the times to supply LED lights to the world.

Phillip Dexter turns the spotlight onto Theatrelight NZ. In 1972, Rex Gilfillan established Theatrelight NZ with his first commission to supply stage lighting control, dimmers and sound mixers to the (then under construction) Hannah Playhouse, also to be known as ‘Downstage’ in Wellington. Opening night in 1973 was a huge success, with considerable interest shown in these innovative, high quality locally made products.

In 1977, as demand outstripped the company’s Wellington factory capacity, Theatrelight moved to larger premises in Auckland.

Theatrelight has gone on to provide dimmers and control boards to most of New Zealand’s iconic performance venues — from concert halls, theatres and Television New Zealand and TV3 studios, through to amateur theatres, school halls and drama rooms.

In the 1980s Theatrelight began its first exports to Australia and quickly opened up markets throughout South East Asia and beyond.

Today, Theatrelight equipment is sold around the world, and although this success has required ongoing expansion in manufacturing internationally, no compromise has been made to the quality and value of the products.

Theatrelight wireless and wired DMX 512 and Ethernet distribution nodes and splitters have also become firm favorites with the film industry. Most major international and local films employ TL DMX distribution within New Zealand’s outstanding film industry.

In 2015 Theatrelight designers turned their expertise to the evolving revolution of stage lighting through the application of LED light technology. The current range of single and multi-colour stage Fresnel and Profile spotlights are cleverly designed with high end optic control, while being affordable to all — from drama rooms to large scale theatres. These luminaires have also become favorites in TV studios, from TV3’s The Project to the recent season of Lego Masters.

These lanterns are designed for ‘lighting not landfill’, so have replaceable LED light engines for when the expected

20,000 hours are exceeded. Like all Theatrelight products, the lights are designed to be serviceable with spare parts locally available if ever needed.

Due to their competitive pricing and high output, these lanterns have proved very popular in theatres and schools. To arrange a demo, talk to your local Theatrelight agent in New Zealand or Show Technology in Australia.

In the field of dimmers, Theatrelight’s new RackPackSwitch 12 channel dimmer pack helps theatres make the transition from tungsten stage lighting to LED over time.

Each dimming channel has an associate switch to lock out the dimmer and provide mains power. Because the switching of the dimmer channel from dim to mains power is carried out at the rack rather than at the lighting board, there is no chance of accidentally setting a mains power channel to dim and damaging expensive equipment via the control board.

Recent major installs included 40 units in the Theatre Royal, Christchurch and 20 units to the Life Church Auckland. RackPack-Switch has proved one our most popular dimmers ever made, with sales outstripping all other models currently available.

There will be very few technical users who have not encountered Theatrelight dimmers, control boards or lights and we thank you for your support over the past 50 years. Here’s to the next 50!

Phillip Dexter is a lighting designer, and a member of the sales team at Theatrelight NZ.

For all sales and service enquiries please contact theatrelight.co.nz stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 49

Staging & Theatre Tech

There is no doubting the importance of “visual” content in our daily lives, be it in the form of social media presence, releases of streaming and cinema content, hard copy or online product presentations, product sales and business promotions.

Our link to the “visual and media” world via the progress of technology has resulted in a broad spectrum of options as to how we deliver information to the public.

Career opportunities in the field of Media have increased so much so that training and mentoring in the discipline has become more dynamic, be it in theatre production, still photography, sales and marketing, or production of promotional content.

Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is now used as a primary tool for media content production that combines the individual disciplines of Technology and Art. So how do we prepare the next generation of photographers, video

and movie producers, marketing gurus, and content creators, so that they are empowered to express their creativity?

One answer may be that future directors, photographic artists, marketing executives etc. become confident to tap into the “tools of the trade” to further nurture their creativity.

There has been a noted increase in number of installations being used to deliver course content in CGI, video, theatre and marketing etc. that is now being provided by training and educational institutions such as universities, colleges, secondary and primary schools.

CycPro has for a number of years delivered what is termed in the industry as “Infinity Walls, White Walls, and Green Walls”, for photographic and video production, theatre production and marketing entities throughout Australia.

Visit cycloramaprojects.com.au or contact Michael Chernih on 0425 883 642 to arrange an obligation free discussion about your particular needs and objectives.

Green room installation.

Photo courtesy: Wyndham Tech School.

50 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

CycPro’s design and construct service enables access to flexible, affordable and packaged “ready to use” installations. With the application of CycPro’s patented modular and prefabricated system of coved floor/wall and wall/wall treatment, CycPro is able to deliver installations of seamless transition within the often tight time frames that scholastic term breaks provide.

In addition to the larger “fixed format” cyclorama installations, CycPro also has an affordable range of “table top”, mobile or demountable infinity wall solutions to cater for backdrops used in the training process for still photography for the production of commercials and marketing purposes.

CycPro prides itself in committing to the Media and Visual Arts educational and training domain’s needs for today and into the future, and would welcome any obligation free enquiries regarding the potential of installing a Cyclorama Infinity wall in your school, training rooms or existing facility.

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 51

Junior Theatre Festival Scholarship Stage Whispers is teaming up with the Junior Theatre Festival Australia to offer two teachers a free trip to the gala event at the Civic Theatre Newcastle this October.

This year’s star-studded Junior Theatre Festival Australia, which invites students and teachers from schools and educational musical theatre groups representing NSW, Qld, Vic, S.A., W.A. and New Zealand to participate, will now be welcoming teachers, directors and educators from across the country.

Two lucky Australian teachers will be awarded this new professional development experience and enjoy an all -expenses paid opportunity to attend the two-day event at the Civic Theatre, Newcastle on October 28 and 29.

Produced in partnership with iTheatrics, a leading educational theatre company that creates innovative experiences and products for the public and private sector, the Junior Theatre Festival Australia is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest festival celebrating young people and the transformative power of musical theatre.

“The 2022 Junior Theatre Festival Australia is our seventh festival and our fifth event in-person. From the beginning we have worked with New York based 52 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

iTheatrics to make sure this event shines a spotlight on the importance of young people having access to quality musical theatre programs,” said co-producer Daniel Stoddart.

Teachers and educators learn and grow by getting a behind-the-scenes look at how professional Broadway directors and educators inspire their musical theatre students. Through the many experiences, activities and workshops, JTF Australia offers educators the knowledge, skills, strategies and tools that can be transferred and applied back in their own schools to grow their own programs.

“Our JTF family continues to grow and inspire us. At the festival and back in their communities, these teachers and students encourage each other to find more and more creative ways to get their musicals on stage and to build stronger programs,” says the Managing Director of Musical Theatre International Australasia, Stuart Hendricks.

Online extras!

Check out a highlights package from the Junior Theatre Festival Australia. youtu.be/Mt2utmjrvuA

To register your school or academy for one of only two remaining places at the festival visit: oztheatrics.com/jtfaustralia Scholarship applications close on August 24.

Email applications to jazzhands@oztheatrics.com “The Junior Theatre Festival’s core objective has always How To Apply been to celebrate and support young people and their Directors, teachers and educators from Australian teachers, who make the world a better place one musical public, private and independent schools (primary or at a time,” says iTheatrics and Junior Theatre Group CEO secondary) as well as directors and educators within Timothy Allen McDonald. drama academies are eligible and encouraged to apply.

Candidates are required to include in their one-page What’s Included In The application.

Stage Whispers Teacher Support Scholarship  Name of school/academy at which you are employed,  Return flights from each winner’s city of origin. including enrolment numbers and your role.  3 nights accommodation and breakfast at the official  Current creative arts programs, or programs that you JTF Australia event hotel. are developing.  JTF Australia registration fee and access to all events.  Personal interest and experience in teaching drama, music or dance.  A 12 month Stage Whispers magazine subscription.  What you would hope to gain from your experience at the Junior Theatre Festival.

This year’s title sponsors are Music Theatre International Australasia (MTIA), City of Newcastle and Travel Gang. stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 53

Money And Friends In Noosa A community theatre on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is blessed with loads of sunshine and the patronage of Australia’s most successful playwright. Maria Karambelas reports.

David Williamson famously travelled north from Sydney and Melbourne to the Queensland resort town of Noosa for better weather and fewer distractions.

Not only is David the patron of the Noosa Arts Theatre — which owns the 100 seat theatre which stages plays, musicals and a One Act Play Festival — his NIDA trained sons get involved in productions.

Rory and Felix Williamson are again joining forces with Noosa Arts Theatre to bring one of their father’s best loved plays to the stage in July.

Money and Friends, which runs at Noosa Arts from July 21 to August 13, is set in a fictional coastal town called “Crystal Inlet”, where a group

of friends confront how much their friendships are truly worth.

As one of the main characters states, “If friendship had any reality, money would be the test.”

This entertaining and insightful clash between commercialism and ideals makes Money and Friends as relevant today as in the 1990s.

NIDA-trained Rory and Felix Williamson will be sharing their skills with the local cast and crew as director and actor respectively.

This year, Felix will also be running workshops for directors and actors.

Although short circuited by COVID -19 last year, David’s play Up for Grabs, which was also directed by Rory and featured Felix, wowed audiences during its run.

Felix, David and Rory Williamson.

Online extras!

David Williamson, with his sons Rory and Felix, talk about staging the play. fb.watch/dKfZ_3TVVs 54 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

David Williamson’s 50 year career as a playwright coincided in 2020 with the 50th Anniversary of Noosa Arts Theatre, which opened in 1970.

Noosa Arts Theatre President Frank Wilkie said Noosa Arts was very fortunate to have David as patron.

“David has always supported us. A Williamson play has always been a firm favourite of our audiences and will certainly encourage people back to the theatre despite the uncertain times we are facing.”

Money And Friends Opens at the Noosa Arts Theatre July 21 and runs until August 13 . noosaartstheatre.org.au

Dogfight In South Australia The St Jude’s Players — a community theatre company in Adelaide with a tradition of mainstream drama, comedy and musicals — is going in a new direction.

The seaside community theatre company has been operating out of the Grundy Hall in the suburb of Brighton since 1949, when a group of parishioners staged a nativity play.

Older audiences have enjoyed British and Australian comedies, and the occasional Broadway hit musical in the seaside suburb over the decades. Now 2022 has been declared the Players’ ‘Year of Youth’.

From August 4 to 13, the company will stage the SA Premiere of the musical Dogfight, with a young cast. It is based on the 1991 film starring the late River Phoenix, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen and The Greatest Showman).

Set in November 1963, Dogfight tells the story of three young marines, on the town for their last boys’ night out of partying before deployment to Vietnam. On that final night before initiation into the savagery of war, Corporal Eddie Birdlace meets Rose, an awkward and idealistic waitress.

He uses her to win a cruel bet with his fellow recruits, but Rose rewrites the rules of the game and teaches him the power of love and compassion.

“This musical is a huge departure for St Jude’s Players from its usual shows and so my production team and myself are extremely grateful for their faith in us and the cast,” said Director Brian Godfrey. “Dogfight fits in beautifully with St Jude’s ‘Year of the Youth’ theme, as the cast range from 18 years of age through to very early 30s.”

Ruby Pinkerton said of her casting in the role of Rose, the waitress, “I am so grateful for the opportunity to play Rose. I discovered this show in 2015 and Rose has been my number one dream role since. In addition to the stunning score, I love this show for its powerful message about how we treat others, and the genuine example

of human connection between Eddie and Rose.”

“The cast are incredible,” said Brian Godfrey. “It’s hard to believe that the entire cast were not even twinkles in their parents’ eyes when the Vietnam War was occurring. The ‘boys’ (as I call them) have studied up and researched that period of history

— even to the extent of having a Vietnam vet speak to them. Our leading man is going all out and having his hair cut into the US Marines ‘jarhead’ style.”

Some highly authentic touches will be included within the production values of the show, including in the uniforms for US Marines.

Dogfight Book via stjudesplayers.asn.au, call 0436 262 628, or email bookings@stjudesplayers.asn.au (Rated M for mature audiences).

Gus Robson and Ruby Pinkerton in rehearsals for St Jude’s Players’ Dogfight.

stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 55

On Stage A.C.T. The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Queanbeyan Players Inc. Until Jul 3. The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. theq.net.au The Year of Magical Thinking

by Joan Didion. Jul 7 - 9. The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. theq.net.au

A.C.T. & New South Wales

COVID-19 Update COVID-19 still has the potential to affect performances. Readers are advised to monitor the prevailing restrictions and public health advice in their jurisdiction.

Check with the relevant theatre group, venue or ticket outlet for specific performance impacts, cancellation or rescheduling information.

Romeo and Juliet by William New South Wales Shakespeare. Canberra Rep. Jul Mary Poppins. Based on the 28 - Aug 13. book by P.L. Travers and the canberrarep.org.au Walt Disney Film. Music and Urinetown. Music and Lyrics by Demented by Ruth Pieloor. Aug Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B Sherman. Book Mark Hollman. Book and Lyrics 11 - 20. The Q, Queanbeyan

by Julian Fellows. New Songs Performing Arts Centre.

by Greg Kotis. Heart Strings

by George Stiles and Anthony theq.net.au Theatre Co. Jul 14 - 22. The Drewe. Michael Cassel Group.

Courtyard Studio, Canberra Girl From the North Country by Ongoing. Lyric Theatre Sydney.

Theatre Centre.

Conor McPherson, with music marypoppinsmusical.com.au canberratheatrecentre.com.au and lyrics by Bob Dylan. Aug Moulin Rouge. Book by John This Changes Everything by Joel 25 - Sep 3. Canberra Theatre.

Horwood. Echo Theatre. Jul 22 canberratheatrecentre.com.au Logan. Presented by Carmen Pavlovic, Gerry & Val Ryan and - 30. The Q, Queanbeyan Global Creatures. Ongoing.

Performing Arts Centre. theq.net.au Friends! The Musical Parody. Jul 13 - 16. The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre. canberratheatrecentre.com.au

56 Stage Whispers

Capitol Theatre, Sydney. moulinrougemusical.com/australia Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes by Hannah Moscovitch. Until Jul 10.

Belvoir Street, Upstairs Theatre. belvoir.com.au A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Joanna MurraySmith. Ensemble Theatre. Until Jul 16. ensemble.com.au Bonnie & Clyde. Book by Ivan Menchall, lyrics by Don Black and music.by Frank Wildhorn.

Joshua Robson Productions.

Just $50 a month to reach thousands of theatre goers. Contact Stage Whispers for details.

On Stage Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Once is a tender love story about a struggling Irish musician on the verge of giving up, and a Czech piano player who reminds him how to dream. Playing until July 31. darlinghursttheatre.com/once

New South Wales

Online extras!

Audiences are raving about the return season of Once. Scan or visit vimeo.com/713567420

Photo: Robert Catto.

Until Jul 17. Hayes Theatre Co. hayestheatre.com.au The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë, adapted by Emme Hoy. Sydney Theatre Company. Until Jul 16. Roslyn Packer Theatre. sydneytheatre.com.au Les Misérables. By ClaudeMichel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel and Herbert Kretzmer. Additional Material by James Fenton.

Armidale Drama and Musical Society. Until Jul 16. Michael Hoskins Theatre, The Armidale School. adms.org.au Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Based on the novel by Roald Dahl. Book by David Greig. Music by Marc Shaiman.

Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman. Noteable Theatre Company. Until Jul 9. The Concourse Theatre, Chatswood. noteabletheatrecompany.com

Golden Blood by Merlynn Tong

by Melissa Bubnic. Griffin Theatre Company. Until Jul 23.

SBW Stables Theatre. griffintheatre.com.au

- 17. Playhouse, Sydney Opera House. sydneyoperahouse.com

Aladdin Jr. Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice & Chad Top Coat by Michelle Law. Beguelin. Based on the Disney Sydney Theatre Company. Until Film. Gosford Musical Society.

Aug 6. Wharf 1 Theatre.

Jul 5 - 9. Laycock Street sydneytheatre.com.au Community Theatre, Wyoming. gosfordmusicalsociety.com In The Next Room (The Vibrator Play) by Sarah Ruhl. Until Jul Control by Keziah Warner. Jul 5 17. Maitland Repertory - 30. New Theatre, Newtown.

Theatre. mrt.org.au newtheatre.org.au Moon Rabbit Rising. Inspired by the legend of 后羿 (Hou Yi) and 嫦娥 (Chang’e). Little Eggs Collective. Until Jul 10. Belvoir Street, Downstairs Theatre. belvoir.com.au Creation Creation. Windmill Theatre Company. Jul 1 - 4.

Playhouse, Sydney Opera House. sydneyoperahouse.com The Twits. A stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic story Shake and Stir Theatre Co. Jul 2

Advertise your show on the front page of stagewhispers.com.au

The Spongebob Musical. The Young Peoples’ Theatre, Hamilton (Newcastle). Jul 5 Aug 6. (02) 4961 4895.

Next Level. Cumberland Gang Show (Scouts and Guides). Jul 6 - 10. Riverside Theatre, Parramatta. gangshow.asn.au Disney The Little Mermaid Jr. Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics

by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater. Book by Doug Wright.

Holroyd Musical and Dramatic

Society. Jul 7 - 17. Redgum Centre, Wentworthville. hmds.org.au Burn Witch Burn. Adapted by Tasnim Hossain and Claudia Osborne. Red Line Productions and Fervour. Jul 7 - 13. Old Fitz Theatre. redlineproductions.com.au Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown. EUCMS. Jul 8 - 17. Eastwood Uniting Church. eucms.org.au Creativity by Carl Caulfield.

Stray Dogs Theatre. Jul 8 - 16.

Civic Playhouse, Newcastle.

World premiere. civictheatrenewcastle.com.au Jagged Little Pill. Music and lyrics by Alanis Morissette and others. Book by Diablo Cody, Trafalgar Theatre Productions and GWB Entertainment. Jul 9 - Aug 21. Theatre Royal, Sydney. jaggedmusical.com

Stage Whispers 57

On Stage

New South Wales

The creative team behind The Picture Of Dorian Gray return with another vivid adaptation of a Gothic classic. Matthew Backer and Ewen Leslie will take to the stage in Sydney Theatre Company’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, playing at the Roslyn Packer Theatre from August 3. sydneytheatre.com.au Tempo. Flying Fruit Fly Circus.

Jul 10 - 16. Studio, Sydney Opera House. sydneyoperahouse.com

Menopause the Musical. SK Entertainment and GFour Productions. Glasshouse, Port Macquarie, Jul 15 & 16; Civic Theatre, Newcastle, Jul 20 & I Hope It’s Not Raining In 21; Cessnock Performing Arts London by Nicholas Centre, Jul 22 & 23; Dubbo Thoroughgood. Bearfoot Regional Theatre, Jul 27; Evan Theatre. Jul 13 - 17. Catapult Theatre, Penrith Panthers, Jul Dance Studio, Newcastle West.

29 & 30; Performing Arts Jul 31. The Launch Pad, Centre, Wyong, Aug 4 & 5; Tuggerah.

Camden Civic Centre, Aug 12 & bearfoottheatre.org.au 13; Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Aug 16 - 18; Riverside The Things I Could Never Tell Theatre, Parramatta, Aug 19 & Steven. A musical by Jye 20; Laycock Street Theatre, Bryant. Chookas Entertainment. Jul 14 - 16. The North Gosford, Aug 28. menopausethemusical.com.au Creative Arts Space, 145 Beaumont St, Hamilton The Owl and the Pussycat by (Newcastle).

Lisa Cheney and Kathryn chookasentertainment.com Marquet. Little Matches Productions and Critical Stages Company. Music & Lyrics by Touring. Jul 15 & 16. Riverside Stephen Sondheim. Book by Theatres, Parramatta.

George Furth. Bankstown Theatre Company. Jul 15 - 24. riversideparramatta.com.au Bankstown Arts Centre.

The Dumb Waiter by Harold bankstowntheatrecompany.com Pinter and Upstairs by Ian McColm. Wollongong 58 Stage Whispers

Photo: Rene Vaile.

Workshop Theatre. Jul 15 - 30. Touring. Jul 28 & 29. Riverside wollongongworkshoptheatre.com.au Theatres, Parramatta. riversideparramatta.com.au Blue. Queenie Van De Zandt in Blue: The Songs of Joni Out of the Blue. One Act Plays.

Mitchell. From Jul 19. Hayes Blackheath Theatre Company.

Jul 28 - 31. Community Hall, Theatre Co. hayestheatre.com.au Blackheath. blackheaththeatrecompany.com Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Sport for Jove. Jul Jekyll and Hyde. Book and lyrics 21 - 29. Seymour Centre.

by Leslie Bricusse. Music by seymourcentre.com Frank Wildhorn. From Jul 29.

Hayes Theatre Co. The One by Vanessa Bates. hayestheatre.com.au Ensemble Theatre. Jul 22 - Aug 27. ensemble.com.au Albion by Mike Bartlett. Secret House / New Ghosts Theatre 30 Something by Catherine Co. Jul 27 - Aug 13. Seymour Alcorn and Phil Scott. July 9, Centre. seymourcentre.com Glen Street Theatre, glenstreet.com.au & Jul 22 & School of Rock. New Music: 23, Riverside Theatres, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics: Glenn Slater. Book: Julian Parramatta, Fellowes. Gosford Musical riversideparramatta.com.au Society. Jul 29 - Aug 13.

Oliver! By Lionel Bart. Carillon Laycock Street Theatre, Theatrical Society, Bathurst. Jul Wyoming.

22 - Aug 7. ctsbathurst.com.au gosfordmusicalsociety.com Them by Samah Sabawi. Lara Week and Critical Stages

Just $50 a month to reach thousands of theatre goers. Contact Stage Whispers for details.

On Stage All My Sons by Arthur Miller.

Theatre Company. Aug 12 - 27.

Castle Hill Players. Jul 29 - Aug newcastletheatrecompany.com.au 20. Pavilion Theatre, Castle Hill.

Chemical Imbalance by Lauren paviliontheatre.org.au Wilson. Port Macquarie Players.

Proof by David Auburn. The Aug 12 - 28. Players Theatre, Theatre on Chester. Jul 29 Port Macquarie.

Aug 20. Cnr Chester & Oxford playerstheatre.org.au Streets, Epping.

Crossing Delancey by Susan theatreonchester.com.au Sandler. The Guild Theatre, Rockdale. Aug 12 - Sep 10.

The Book of Everything.

Adapted by Richard Tulloch guildtheatre.com.au from the novel by Guys Huijer.

Whitefella Yella Tree by Dylan Arts Theatre Cronulla. Jul 29 Van Den Berg. Griffin Theatre Sep 3.

Company. Aug 12 - Sep 10. artstheatrecronulla.com.au SBW Stables Theatre.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and griffintheatre.com.au Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Disney’s The Aristocats Kids.

Stevenson, adapted by Kip The Young Peoples’ Theatre, Williams. Sydney Theatre Hamilton. Aug 13 - 27. (02) Company. Aug 3 - Sep 3.

4961 4895. ypt.org.au Roslyn Packer Theatre. sydneytheatre.com.au Clue. Adapted from the Paramount Pictures film written To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper

by Jonathan Lynn & the board Lee. Richmond Players. Aug 5 game from Hasbro, Inc. 12. Richmond School of Arts, Written by Sandy Rustin. richmondplayers.com.au Wyong Drama Group. Aug 18 27. Red Tree Theatre, Tuggerah.

Travelling North by David Williamson. Woy Woy Little 1300 665 600.

Theatre. Aug 5 - 21. The wyongdramagroup.com.au Peninsula Theatre, Woy Woy. Clue. Adapted from the woywoylt.com Paramount Pictures film written The Sapphires by Tony Briggs.

by Jonathan Lynn & the board game from Hasbro, Inc. Christine Harris and HIT Productions. Aug 6 - 12. Glen Written by Sandy Rustin.

Street Theatre.

Tamworth Dramatic Society.

Aug 19 - 27. Capitol Theatre, glenstreet.com.au Centrepoint, Tamworth.

Chimerica by Lucy Kirkwood. tds.org.au Aug 9 - Sep 10. New Theatre, Tell Me I’m Here by Veronica Newtown. newtheatre.org.au Nadine Gleeson, based on the How To Defend Yourself by book by Anne Deveson. Aug Liliana Padilla. Outhouse 20 - Sep 25. Belvoir Street, Theatre & Red Line Upstairs Theatre.

Productions. Aug 11 - Sep 3. belvoir.com.au Old Fitz Theatre. redlineproductions.com.au Who’s Afraid. Story created by Sarah Walker and Danielle Shrek The Musical. Music by Cormack. Written by Sarah Jeanine Tesori, with book and Walker. Four On One lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire.

Productions. Aug 24 - Sep 11.

Metropolitan Players Inc. Aug Belvoir Street, Downstairs 12 - 20. Civic Theatre, Theatre. belvoir.com.au Newcastle.

The Door Into Winter by metropolitanplayers.com.au Brendan Bates. Wollongong Tons of Money by Will Evans Workshop Theatre. Aug 26 and Arthur Valentine, adapted Sep 10.

by Alan Ayckbourn. Newcastle wollongongworkshoptheatre.com.au Advertise your show on the front page of stagewhispers.com.au

New South Wales & Queensland A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Sydney Theatre Company. Aug 27 - Oct 15.

Wharf 1 Theatre. sydneytheatre.com.au Queensland

lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire.

Based on the Dream Works animation motion picture and book by William Steig. Brisbane Arts Theatre. Jul 9 - Sep 3. (07) 3369 2344. artstheatre.com.au

Our Blood Runs in the Streets Jane Eyre. By Charlotte Brontë.

by Shane Anthony and shake & stir theatre co. Until Jul Ensemble. Metro Arts and 9. Cremorne Theatre, QPAC. Chopt Logic. Jul 13 - 16. New 136 246. qpac.com.au Benner Theatre. metroarts.com.au Robyn Archer: An Australian Songbook. Queensland Three 2.0. Choreographed by Theatre. Bille Brown Theatre.

Kate Harman, Cass Mortimer Until Jul 9. (07) 3010 7600.

Eipper and Gabrielle Nankivell. queenslandtheatre.com.au Australasian Dance Collective.

Jul 13 - 16. Brisbane Charitable Intent by David Powerhouse.

Williamson. Gold Coast Little Theatre, Southport. Jul 2 - 23. brisbanepowerhouse.org (07) 5532 3224. gclt.com.au La Traviata by Guiseppe Verdi.

Opera Queensland. Jul 14 - 23.

The Sunshine Club by Wesley Lyric Theatre, QPAC. 136 246.

Enoch and John Rodgers.

Queensland Theatre. Jul 9 - 30. qpac.com.au Playhouse, QPAC. 136 246.

One Act Wonders. Javeenbah qpac.com.au Theatre, Nerang. Jul 15 - 30.

(07) 5596 0300.

Shrek The Musical. Music by javeenbah.org.au Jeanine Tesori, with book and

Stage Whispers 59

On Stage Skyfall by The Little Red Company. Jul 15 - 16. Concert Hall, QPAC. 136 246. qpac.com.au

Queensland & Victoria

Auditorium. spotlighttheatre.com.au

Sunny Tribe District by Robert the Cat, written by Patrick Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Mu’a. Metro Arts. Jul 22 - 30.

Music & Lyrics: Various. Book: New Benner Theatre.

Stephan Elliott & Alan Scott. Jul metroarts.com.au 16 - Aug 7. The Star, Gold Ghost Writer by David Tristram.

Coast. star.com.au/goldcoast Centenary Theatre Group. Jul The Lion, the Witch and the 23 - Aug 13.

Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, centenarytheatre.com.au dramatised by Joseph Sensationally Sondheim! Top Robinette. Brisbane Arts Hat Productions. Jul 28 - 31.

Theatre. Jul 16 - Sep 23. (07) Gold Coast Little Theatre, 3369 2344. artstheatre.com.au Southport. (07) 5532 3224.

An Ideal Husband by Lewis gclt.com.au Treston, after Oscar Wilde. La Death in Hollywood by Susan Boite. Jul 18 - Aug 6.

Harding-Smith. Mousetrap Roundhouse Theatre, Kelvin Theatre, Redcliffe. Jul 29 - Aug Grove. (07) 3007 8600.

14. (07) 3888 3493. laboite.com.au mousetraptheatre.asn.au Jali by Oliver Twist. Jul 20 - 23.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cremorne Theatre, QPAC. 136 Cinderella. Crossroads Live and 246. qpac.com.au Opera Australia. From Aug 5.

Avenue Q. Music & lyrics by Lyric Theatre, QPAC. 136 246.

Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx. Book qpac.com.au

by Jeff Whitty. Coolum Theatre Terrain. Choreographed by Players. Jul 20 - 30.

Frances Rings. Composer David coolumtheatre.com.au Page. Bangarra Dance Theatre.

Money and Friends by David Aug 5 - 13. Playhouse, QPAC. Williamson. Noosa Arts 136 246. qpac.com.au Theatre. Jul 21 - Aug 13.

The SpongeBob Musical. Songs noosaartstheatre.org.au by various writers. Book by Kyle Little Shop of Horrors. Book Jarrow. Phoenix Ensemble, and lyrics by Howard Ashman. Beenleigh. Aug 5 - 17.

Music by Alan Menken. The phoenixensemble.com.au Spotlight Theatrical Company.

Jul 22 - Aug 20. The Halpin

It’s All in the Mind by Jim Fury.

Tugun Theatre Company. Aug 11 - 27. tuguntheatre.org

Puppet Society and Legs on the Wall. Aug 29 - Sep 10.

Playhouse, QPAC. 136 246. qpac.com.au

Moby Dick. Lano and Woodley.

Aug 11 - 20. Brisbane Victoria Powerhouse.

Hamilton. Book, Music and brisbanepowerhouse.org Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The Almighty Sometimes by Inspired by the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.

Kendall Feaver. Queensland Theatre. Aug 13 - Sep 3. Bille Michael Cassel Group.

Brown Theatre.

Ongoing. Her Majesty’s queenslandtheatre.com.au Theatre, Melbourne. hamiltonmusical.com.au Room on the Broom. Adapted from the award-winning J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and picture book by Julia the Cursed Child. By Jack Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Thorne. Based on an original CDP and Tall Stories. Aug 17 - new story by J.K. Rowling.

21. Playhouse, QPAC. 136 246. Reimagined one-part production. Ongoing. Princess qpac.com.au Theatre, Melbourne.

Letters to Lindy by Alana au.harrypottertheplay.com Valentine. Villanova Players.

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Aug 20 - Sep 4. Ron Hurley Cinderella. Crossroads Live Theatre, Seven Hills. villanovaplayers.com Australia and Opera Australia.

Until Jul 24. Regent Theatre, The Unexpected Guest by Melbourne.

Agatha Christie. St Luke’s cinderellamusical.com.au Theatre Society. Aug 26 - Sep The Picture of Dorian Gray by 10. stlukestheatre.asn.au Oscar Wilde, adapted and Fourteen. From the memoir by directed by Kip Williams. journalist Shannon Molloy.

Michael Cassel Group / Sydney shake & stir theatre co. From Theatre Company. Until Jul 31.

Aug 27. Cremorne Theatre, The Playhouse, Arts Centre QPAC. 136 246. qpac.com.au Melbourne. artscentremelbourne.com.au Shorts on Stage. Noosa Arts Theatre. Aug 27 & 28.

SIX The Musical by Toby noosaartstheatre.org.au Marlow and Lucy Moss. Until Aug 7. Comedy Theatre, Holding Achilles by David Morton. Brisbane Festival, Dead Melbourne. sixthemusical.com/australia

Stage Whispers Directory premium listing: $20 Get noticed on the Stage Whispers website with a premium listing at a great price stagewhispers.com.au/directory-central 60 Stage Whispers

stagewhispers.com.au/stageresources

Just $50 a month to reach thousands of theatre goers. Contact Stage Whispers for details.

On Stage

Victoria

Filled with a jukebox score of ‘90s pop hits, David Venn Enterprises’ Cruel Intentions draws you deep into the manipulative world of Manhattan’s most tempting liaisons. Now playing at Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne ahead of seasons in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra. cruelintentions.com.au

Online extras!

Based on the movie, Cruel Intentions is a nostalgia-filled ‘90s throwback. youtu.be/sPlssI2AFNI Come Rain or Come Shine. A musical by Tim Fin, Caroline Burns and Simon Phillips, based on the story by Kazuo Ishiguru. Melbourne Theatre Company. Until Jul 23.

Southbank Theatre, The Sumner. mtc.com.au The Amateurs by Jordan Harrison. Red Stitch. Until Jul 24. redstitch.net Nobody’s Perfect by Simon Williams. Malvern Theatre Company. Until Jul 9. 1300 131 552. malverntheatre.com.au Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell. Williamstown Little Theatre. Until Jul 16. wlt.org.au Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by James Goss & Arvind Ethan David. Based on the novel by Douglas Adams.

Geelong Repertory Theatre Co. Until Jul 16. Woodbin Theatre.

1300 251 200. geelongrep.com

Looking for Alibrandi by Vidya Rajan, based on the book by Melina Marchetta. Malthouse Theatre. Jul 8 - 31. Merlyn Theatre. malthousetheatre.com.au

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, adapted by Matthew CW. Encore Theatre Company. Until Jul 9. encoretheatre.com.au The Beauty Queen of Leenane

by Martin McDonagh.

Beauty and the Beast. Music by Heidelberg Theatre Co. Jul 8 Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard 23. htc.org.au Ashman & Tim Rice. Book by Linda Woolverton. Diamond 9 to 5 The Musical. Music and Valley Singers. Jul 1 - 9.

Lyrics by Dolly Parton. Book by dvsingers.org Patricia Resnick. From July 10.

State Theatre, Arts Centre Tableau Noir by Aiden Melbourne.

McHagh. Melbourne Magic artscentremelbourne.com.au Festival. Jul 4 - 9. The Butterfly Club. thebutterflyclub.com Secrets. Jul 11 - 16. The Butterfly Club.

The Butterfly Nebula by thebutterflyclub.com Spescha Barakat. Jul 5 - 10. La Mama HQ. lamama.com.au The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. Bell Jane Eyre by Christine Davey, Shakespeare. Jul 13 - 23. adapted from Charlotte Brontë.

Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Skin of our Teeth Productions.

Melbourne.

Jul 7 - 17. La Mama artscentremelbourne.com.au Courthouse. lamama.com.au

Advertise your show on the front page of stagewhispers.com.au

Caligula by Albert Camus.

Theatre Works / Burning House. Jul 13 - 23. Theatre Works. theatreworks.org.au A Day at a Time in Rhyme by Jane Clifton. Jul 13 - 24. La Mama HQ. lamama.com.au Paris or Die by Jayne Tuttle and John Bolton. Jul 13 - 24. La Mama HQ. lamama.com.au Shawry by Neil Cole. Jul 13 24. Chapel off Chapel. chapeloffchapel.com.au Tiny Beautiful Things by Dale Wasserman. Based on the book

by Cheryl Strayed, adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos.

Essendon Theatre Co. Jul 14 16. Bradshaw Street Community Hall, West Essendon. essendontheatrecompany.com.au Blue. Queenie Van De Zandt in Blue: The Songs of Joni Mitchell. Jul 15 & 16. Chapel

Stage Whispers 61

On Stage

Victoria Photo: Scott Belzner.

Online extras!

Discover the show’s melancholic songs, poetic storytelling and haunting vocals. youtu.be/DlWLc5fWQMs

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Joni Mitchell’s landmark album Blue, producer Neil Gooding and renowned cabaret chanteuse Queenie Van De Zandt bring the Helpmann Award nominated Blue: The Songs of Joni Mitchell to stages around Australia from July 3. goodingproductions.com off Chapel. chapeloffchapel.com.au One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Dale Wasserman from the novel by Ken Kesey. BATS Theatre Company. Jul 15 - 24.

Cranbourne Community Centre. batstheatre.org.au Vibe Check by Greta Doell. Jul 18 - 23. The Butterfly Club. thebutterflyclub.com Stir Fried Science. Dramatis Scientificae. Jul 18 - 23. The Butterfly Club. thebutterflyclub.com Cheer Up Carl by Louis Dickins.

Jul 19 - 24. La Mama Courthouse. lamama.com.au

Maya Drive by Milton. Jul 26 Aug 7. La Mama HQ. lamama.com.au We Too Us Too Me Too Too Too. Jul 26 - 31. La Mama Courthouse. lamama.com.au Unsolicited Male. Q44 Theatre.

Jul 26 - Aug 7. Chapel off Chapel. chapeloffchapel.com.au Flowers for Algernon by David Rogers based on the novel by David Keyes. Frankston Theatre Group. Jul 29 - Aug 7. Mount Eliza Community Centre. frankstontheatregroup.org.au

A View From the Bridge by Arthur Miller. Warrandyte Theatre Co. Jul 29 - Aug 13.

7 Minutes in Hell by Jaimee Warrandyte Mechanics’ Doyle. Jul 25 - 30. The Butterfly Institute.

Club. thebutterflyclub.com warrandytehallarts.asn.au Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Medea: Out of the Mouths of Jenner by Jasmine Lee-Jones.

Babes by Steven Mitchell Malthouse Theatre. Jul 27 Wright. Theatre Works. Jul 30 Aug 21. Beckett Theatre. malthousetheatre.com.au 62 Stage Whispers

Aug 20. Theatre Works. theatreworks.org.au Under The Paris Sky with Georgia Darcy. Aug 1 - 6. The Butterfly Club. thebutterflyclub.com The Marvellous Life of Carlo Gatti by Cassandra-Elli Yiannacou. Theatre Works / Wildefang Productions. Aug 3 13. Explosives Factory. theatreworks.org.au Louisa’s Dawn by James Howard. Aug 3 - 14. La Mama Courthouse. lamama.com.au Laurinda by Diana Ngyuen and Petra Kalive, based on the novel by Alice Pung.

Melbourne Theatre Company.

Aug 6 - Sep 10. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner. mtc.com.au Hairspray. Based on the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters. Book

by Mark O’Donnell & Thomas

Meehan. Music by Marc Shaiman. Lyrics by Scott Wittmann & Marc Shaiman.

John Frost for Crossroads Live Australia. From Aug 7. Regent Theatre, Melbourne. hairspraymusical.com.au Lori Bell - Making Babies. Aug 8 - 13. The Butterfly Club. thebutterflyclub.com The Ajoona Guest House by Stephen House. Aug 9 - 21. La Mama HQ. lamama.com.au Back From The Bolt - The Return of Harold Holt. Aug 10 - 13. The Butterfly Club. thebutterflyclub.com A Flea in her Ear. Adapted by Andrew Upton. The 1812 Theatre. Aug 11 - Sep 3.

1812theatre.com.au Anna K by Suzie Miller.

Malthouse Theatre. Aug 12 Sep 4. Merlyn Theatre. malthousetheatre.com.au

Just $50 a month to reach thousands of theatre goers. Contact Stage Whispers for details.

On Stage Suppose by Lisa Johnson.

Frankston Theatre Group. Aug 13 - Sep 10. 0412 763 565.

Birthday Book of Storms by R. Johns. Aug 17 - 21. La Mama Courthouse. lamama.com.au Così by Louis Nowra. Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre. Aug 18 Sep 3. lilydaleatc.com Bakersfield Mist by Stephen Sachs. Brighton Theatre Company. Aug 19 - Sep 3. brightontheatre.com.au Creation Creation. Windmill Theatre Company. Aug 19 20. Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne. artscentremelbourne.com.au A Chorus Line. Conceived by Michael Bennett. Book: James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante.

Music: Marvin Hamlish. Lyrics: Edward Kleban. CPAC Musical Theatre. Aug 20 - Sep 3.

Cranbourne Community Theatre. cpacmusicaltheatre.com Reservoir Dogs. Adapted from Quentin Tarantino’s original script by Emma Lenaine-Smith.

The Mount Players. Aug 21 Sep 4. themountplayers.com Little Brother, Big Sister by Michel Paul Tuomy. Aug 23 28. La Mama Courthouse. lamama.com.au Amleth - No-Lander Mark by Elnaz Sheshgelani. Aug 24 Sep 4. La Mama HQ. lamama.com.au Friends of Mine by Kim McCreanor. Aug 24 - 27. The Butterfly Club. thebutterflyclub.com

Victoria, Tasmania & South Australia

Curveball by David Baker, Clarisse Bonello & Ben Jamieson. Aug 31 - Sep 11. La Mama Courthouse. lamama.com.au Tasmania Festival of Voices. Jul 1 - 10. festivalofvoices.com

This is Eden by Emily Goddard and Susie Dee. Aug 17, Earl Arts Centre, Launceston, theatrenorth.com.au & Aug 19 - 20, Theatre Royal Studio Theatre, Hobart, theatreroyal.com.au

- 24. Bonney Theatre, Barmera. riverlandmusicalsociety.wordpress.com Pan The Man by John Mawson and Rob Smith, Music by Dean Moore. Tea Tree Players. Jul 14 - 16. teatreeplayers.com

The Producers by Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan. Music & Lyrics by Mel Brooks. Marie R.O.F.L. The Listies / Critical Clarke Musical Theatre. Jul 15 Stages Touring. Jul 12 & 13.

23. The Arts Theatre, Adelaide.

Theatre Royal, Hobart.

Moby Dick. Lano & Woodley. A mcmt.net.au theatreroyal.com.au Token Event. Aug 25 - 27.

The Listies ROFL (Rolling on the Theatre Royal, Hobart.

Judith Lucy & Denise Scott Floor Laughing). Families at Still Here. A Token Event. Jul 14 theatreroyal.com.au Adelaide Festival Centre. Jul 19 & 15. Theatre Royal, Hobart.

South Australia & 20. Space Theatre. theatreroyal.com.au adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au Counterpointe. The Australian Erth’s Prehistoric World. Erth Ballet. Jul 8 - 13. Her Majesty’s The Wedding Singer. Music by Visual & Physical Inc. Jul 19 & Theatre, Adelaide.

Matthew Sklar, Lyrics by Chad 20. Theatre Royal, Hobart. adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au Beguelin and book by Chad theatreroyal.com.au Beguelin and Tim Herlihy. The The Phantom of the Opera.

Magpie Warblers. Jul 28 - 30.

One Fest 2022. One Act Play Music by Andrew Lloyd Northern Festival Theatre, Port Festival. Hobart Repertory Webber, Lyrics by Charles Hart Pirie.

Theatre Society. Jul 29 & 30. and Book by Andrew Lloyd northern.countryarts.org.au The Playhouse Theatre, Hobart.

Webber and Richard Stilgoe. playhouse.org.au Riverland Musical Society. Jul 9 Chalkface by Angela Betzien.

State Theatre Company South Ballet Gala. The Australian Ballet. Jul 27, Princess Theatre, Launceston, theatrenorth.com.au & Jul 29 & 30, Theatre Royal, Hobart, theatreroyal.com.au ZOOOM. Patch Theatre. Aug 25 - 26. Theatre Royal Studio Theatre, Hobart. theatreroyal.com.au

Jane Eyre. By Charlotte Brontë, adapted by Nelle Lee and Nick Skubij. shake & stir. Jul 30, Princess Theatre, Launceston, theatrenorth.com.au & Aug 4 6, Theatre Royal, Hobart, theatreroyal.com.au Dale Burridge - At The Crossroads. Aug 5 - 6. Theatre Royal Studio Theatre, Hobart. theatreroyal.com.au

Swansong by Connor MacDermottroe. Aug 11 - 13.

Skylight by David Hare.

Theatre Royal Studio Theatre, Malvern Theatre Company. Aug Hobart. theatreroyal.com.au 26 - Sep 10.

The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow, malverntheatre.com.au adapted from the Alfred Come From Away by Irene Hitchcock film and the John Sankoff and David Hein.

Buchan novel. Hobart Repertory Theatre Society. Aug Rodney Rigby and Junkyard Dog Productions. From Aug 12 - 27. The Playhouse Theatre, 27. Comedy Theatre, Hobart. playhouse.org.au Melbourne. comefromaway.com.au Advertise your show on the front page of stagewhispers.com.au

Stage Whispers 63

On Stage Australia. Aug 5 - 20. Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre. statetheatrecompany.com.au Home. Patch Theatre in collaboration with Restless Dance Theatre. Aug 6 - 20.

Space Theatre. adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au The Pitmen Painters by Lee Hall.

Therry Theatre. Aug 18 - 28.

The Arts Theatre, Adelaide.

Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring. Tea Tree Players.

Aug 24 - Sep 3. teatreeplayers.com La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi.

State Opera South Australia.

Aug 25 - Sep 3. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide. adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au Western Australia Dracula - A Comic Thriller starring Shirley Holmes and Jenny Watson by Ken R. Brown.

Garrick Theatre Club youth production. Until Jul 14.

Garrick Theatre, Guildford. (08) 9255 3336. taztix.com.au French Without Tears by Terrance Rattigan. Graduate Dramatic Society. Jul 1 - 16.

Stirling Theatre, Innaloo. stirlingplayers.com.au Hachikō: The Loyal Dog. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. Jul 2 16. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Fremantle. (08) 9335 5044. sppt.asn.au The Little Hoo-Haa!! The Big Hoo Haa. Jul 4 - 15. Dolphin Theatre, UWA. ticketswa.com.au The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, adapted for the stage

by Richard Tulloch. CDP. Jul 6 10. Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of WA, Northbridge. ptt.wa.gov.au Singing in the Rain Jr by Betty Comden, Adolph Creen, Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown.

Bel Canto Productions. Jul 8 18. Old Mill Theatre, South 64 Stage Whispers

South Australia & Western Australia

Perth.

Luke Kerridge and Tim Watts. belcantoperformingarts.com.au Barking Gecko Theatre Company. Jul 8 - 16. Studio An American in Paris by Craig Underground, State Theatre Lewis and George Gershwin.

Centre of WA, Northbridge.

GWB Entertainment. Jul 9 - 27. ptt.wa.gov.au Crown Theatre, Perth. ticketmaster.com.au The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show by Jonathan Rockefeller, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s based on Eric Carle’s books.

Nest by Dale Wasserman, CDP. Jul 11 - 16. Heath Ledger based on the novel by Ken Theatre, State Theatre Centre Kesey. Darlington Theatre of WA, Northbridge.

Players. Jul 8 - 23. Marloo ptt.wa.gov.au Theatre, Greenmount. trybooking.com/BYFDA The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Schleffer.

Tarzan: The Musical by Phil CDP. Jul 14 - 17. Heath Ledger Collins and David Henry Theatre, State Theatre Centre Hwang. Laughing Horse of WA, Northbridge.

Theatre. Jul 8 - 16. Koorliny ptt.wa.gov.au Arts Centre, Kwinana. koorliny.com.au Murders at the Maj - Yule Be Sorry. Cluedunnit. Jul 14 - 16.

The Lion, the Witch and the Downstairs at the Maj, His Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Majesty’s Theatre, Perth. adapted by Glyn Robbins. Stray ptt.wa.gov.au Cats and Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. Jul 20 - 24.

Tosca by Giacamo Puccini.

Mandurah Performing Arts West Australian Opera and Centre. manpac.com.au Queensland Opera. Jul 14 - 23.

His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth.

House Guest by Francis ptt.wa.gov.au Durbridge. KADS. Jul 13 - 30.

KADS Theatre, Kalamunda.

The Ghost Train by Arnold kadstheatre.com.au Ridley. Murray Music and Drama Club. Jul 29 - Aug 6.

In Sight of the Sea by Lis Pinjarra Civic Centre. (08) 9255 Hoffman and Phil Jeng Kane.

3336. taztix.com.au Harbour Theatre. Jul 15 - 31.

Camelot Theatre, Mosman Mamma Mia! Music and Lyrics Park. (08) 9255 3336.

by Benny Andersson and Björn taztix.com.au Ulvaeus. Book by Catherine Johnson. Iona College. Jul 29 Don’t Get Your Vicars in a Twist 31. The Regal Theatre.

by Lesley Brown and Ann ticketek.com.au Gawthorpe. Rockingham Theatre. Jul 15 - 24. The Castle The Glass Menagerie by Theatre, Rockingham.

Tennessee Williams. Black rtcrockingham.com Swan State Theatre Company.

Aug 2 - 21. His Majesty’s Walk by Bobby Russell. The Theatre, Perth. ptt.wa.gov.au Blue Room. Jul 14 - 30. The Blue Room Theatre, Perth The Comedy of Errors by Cultural Centre. (08) 9227 William Shakespeare. Bell 7005. blueroom.org.au Shakespeare. Aug 3 - 7. Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre The Addams Family by Andrew Centre of WA, Northbridge.

Lippa, Marshall Brickman and ptt.wa.gov.au Rick Elice. Zealous Productions.

Jul 7 - 15. The Regal Theatre, Popstars by Nicholas Christo.

Subiaco. ticketek.com.au AIM - Art in Motion Theatre.

Aug 4 - 13. City of Gosnells Cicada by Shaun Tan, adapted Don Russell, Performing Arts for the stage by Arielle Gray,

Centre, Thornlie. (08) 9498 9414.

Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. Aug 5 - 20. Melville Theatre, Palmyra.

(08) 9255 3336. taztix.com.au Theft by Eric Chappell. Aug 5 20. Old Mill Theatre, South Perth. oldmilltheatre.com.au Murders at the Maj - Murders to a Tee. Cluedunnit. Aug 11 13. Downstairs at the Maj, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth. ptt.wa.gov.au Heathers by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy. Stage Left Theatre Troupe. Aug 12 - 27.

Stage Left, Boulder. stageleft.org.au Humpty Dumpty: The Egg’s Files by Tony Nchols. Bunbury Musical Comedy. Aug 12 - 21.

New Lyric Theatre, Bunbury. trybooking.com/BYXWJ Trust Me, It’s The End of Our World After All by Terence Smith. Beyond the Yard and the Blue Room. Aug 16 - Sep 3. The Blue Room Theatre, Perth Cultural Centre. (08) 9227 7005. blueroom.org.au Babes of Broadway. Arise Productions. Aug 18 - 20.

Musical theatre cabaret. Regal Theatre, Subiaco. ticketek.com.au The Ladykillers by Graham Linehan. Harbour Theatre. Aug 26 - Sep 11. Camelot Theatre, Mosman Park. (08) 9255 3336. taztix.com.au The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Aug 26 - Sep 3. Roxy Lane Theatre, Maylands.

Ladies in Black by Tim Finn and Carolyn Burns. Goldfields Repertory Club. Aug 27 - Sep 10. Australian musical based on the novel by Madeleine St John. Goldfields Repertory Club, Kalgoorlie. goldfieldsrepclub.org.au

Just $50 a month to reach thousands of theatre goers. Contact Stage Whispers for details.

Reviews Become The One

By Adam Fawcett. Director Lyall Brooks. Riverside Theatre Parramatta. May 19 - 21.

TOM is an AFL legend. Fit, muscular, toned, he embodies masculinity. He comes from Brighton, a wealthy background. Noah is a cleaner, sent by the agency for Tom’s approval. He is hesitant, shy, tentative, certainly a bit doubtful about taking this job. They are opposites it seems; so why does it feel so tense?

Under the deft direction of Lyall Brooks, Chris Asimos (Tom) and Mason Gasowski (Noah) face each other in this taut opening scene of Adam Fawcett’s carefully crafted play about whether to “come out”...and when...especially if you’re a footballer.

Fawcett draws his characters clearly and sensitively, their relationship developed in a series of skilfully written scenes. Brooks directs those scenes perceptively, gradually accenting the tension that builds as the relationship strengthens. Designer Tom Backhaus tightens that tension with an incredible soundtrack that captures the mood of each scene and intensifies the effect into the scene that follows. It is a clever device in the hands of an accomplished, creative musician.

Clever, too, are the actors that inhabit the characters that Fawcett created. Both walk gently in the shoes of their character, sensitive to the shifts in the relationship.

Their timing is impeccable, especially in poignant moments where expressive pauses emphasise apprehensions that remain unspoken. Together, they find all the underlying implications in Fawcett’s script.

Carol Wimmer

#NOEXEMPTIONS

By Angela Buckingham. Directed by Susie Dee. La Mama Courthouse. Apr 27 - May 8.

IN a dim bare space suggested by outlines of green neon, a haggard woman, Maria (Helen Hopkins), dressed in rags, scans the street below. Another woman, Ewa (Carolyn Bock), also in rags, her hair an angry cloud, crawls in from the loo, on her hands and knees. Ewa tries to snatch a shoebox size tin; there’s food in there. Maria knocks her unconscious. Intermittently, a buzzer sounds and there are announcements made in three or four languages: everyone is to get out — and there are no exemptions. We realise that this is the future.

Meanwhile, in the street below, there’s a patrol — an uncertain young man, Zach (Endrico Botha), a nice boy once, and a girl, Zola (Eva Seymour), a feral frightening little engine, flickering with the evil of a being devoid of conscience. They bicker over who should have their single semi-automatic weapon. Their mission is to get the apartment block inhabitants out and onto waiting buses.

No destination specified. Throughout, Ian Moorhead’s

Lab Kelpie’s Become The One. Photo: Jodie Hutchinson.

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MTC’s The Heartbreak Choir.

Photo: Jeff Busby.

Online extras!

Join rehearsals of MTC’s The Heartbreak Choir. Scan the QR code or visit youtu.be/KcCCZp0Nsag

sound design is of some inexorable grinding industrial process reminding us that there’s nothing but destruction left.

Maria’s husband Paul (Hugh Sexton) returns. He’s physically and morally debilitated, worried about their son. Has it come to this? And then Zola appears, with the gun.

In her program note, playwright Angela Buckingham says that director Susie Dee ‘has stripped out all distraction, diversion and sentiment from this story...’

And indeed, Dee’s skilled direction makes this stark tale even starker — as do Sophie Woodward’s set design and costumes. Buckingham says her play emphasises the responsibility of the Boomers — and Gen X, and Gen Y — for the kind of world we and they will leave our children. #NOEXEMPTIONS is powerful theatre. The performances are no-frills and uncompromising, the characters utterly defined by their irrevocable predicament.

Michael Brindley

MTC’s The Sound Inside.

Photo: Jeff Busby.

The Heartbreak Choir

By Aidan Fennessy. Melbourne Theatre Company.

Southbank Theatre, The Sumner. Apr 25 - May 28.

IN a small country town, five women gather in the musty old CFA hall. They’ve split away from the local community choir to form their own. Why they did is a central question in the play. Their leader is psychologist Barbara (Maud Davey). Totty (Louise Siversen) is the richest woman in town. Very pregnant Aseni (Ratidzo Mambo) is from Zimbabwe — a qualified doctor who 66 Stage Whispers

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works in the chemist’s. Straight talking Mack (Carita Farrer Spencer), is with her daughter Savannah (Emily Milledge), so shy that she whispers what she wants to say in her mother’s ear.

The women are joined by local policeman Peter (William McInnes) and later by Peter’s gangly son Beau (Julian Weeks). McInnes goes riskily close to the cliché of the butch country cop. But it is a finely judged performance — and Peter’s story is the dark side of this comedy, and it is Peter who will be most centrally healed.

Director Peter Houghton clearly has a great respect, if not love, for Fennessy’s text. Each woman has her own way of speaking and the dialogue sparkles as they clash, bicker, tease, and care about each other. Designer Christina Smith’s costumes are perfectly chosen for each — and her CFA hall is just right: you can almost smell the dust, mould, and floor polish.

Aiden Fennessy was dying when he wrote this play: it was an act of defiance in the face of his own fate and the negativity that surrounds us. The flawed but loveable believable characters find their way through to healing and community.

Michael Brindley

The Sound Inside

By Adam Rapp. Melbourne Theatre Company. Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio. May 20 - Jul 2.

THE Sound Inside is a story of two outsiders, a fiftysomething creative writing professor, Bella (Catherine McClements), and her bumptious, opinionated student Christopher (Shiv Palekar). She’s irritated when he won’t make appointments, won’t use email, loathes Twitter and is a mass of petty — if amusing — prejudices. But she is intrigued when he boasts that one day, he will write a scene as good as the murder scene in Crime and Punishment.

This is a gripping, intimate chamber piece that plays out on an almost bare space — except for a lonely streetlamp. It is a psychological study of people who revere and create fiction in the written word — and about themselves. Bella becomes the more intrigued when Christopher confesses that he is writing a novel...

The risk here is that we have two characters who talk about themselves and about writing. There is the story (Christopher’s novel) within the story — but Adam Rapp makes us believe that Christopher can write — or that Bella believes he can write. And the bulk of the play consists of Bella telling us stuff. She even interrupts scenes in which she and Christopher interact — to summarise parts of the conversation. Catherine McClements’ performance enhances Bella’s amused-at herself, unsentimental revelations. We don’t tire of her telling us stuff: we come to love her.

Shiv Palekar’s Christopher is blunt, socially clumsy, and hulking, verging on threatening. The gradual coming together of these singular characters is emphasised, made visible, via director Sarah Goodes’ imaginative use of spaces on the stage — a hallmark of her work. Here, she uses two revolves, outer and inner, to show two characters circling each other, but she does that so unobtrusively that we concentrate only on the characters.

(Design is by Elizabeth Gadsby, realisation Jo Brisco, lighting by Paul Jackson.)

What is ‘the sound inside’? The play will tell you — but it is something to which we should listen.

Michael Brindley Tarantara! Tarantara!

Songs by Gilbert and Sullivan. Book by Ian Taylor. Gilbert & Sullivan Society of SA Inc. Arts Theatre, Adelaide. Apr 27 - 30.

FOR those who love the toe-tapping work of Gilbert & Sullivan, Tarantara! Tarantara! is the perfect box of mixed chocolates. Performed by the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, the book written by Ian Taylor in 1975 tells the story of Gilbert and Sullivan, their disputes, their triumphs and failures; the bonus is G&S works throughout the story.

Still regularly performed throughout the Englishspeaking world, the 14 G&S operettas constitute the most regularly performed series in history. Written between 1871 and 1896 for ensemble casts, G&S

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introduced innovations in content and form that directly influenced the development of musical theatre.

Richard Trevaskis directs this complex musical and his deep understanding of G&S is evident. The set by Tim De Jong and Vanessa Lee Shirley is accurately Victorian, making the era immediately believable. Trevaskis ensured that the essence of G&S is reflected, paying close attention to all production values including tightly choreographed movement, costumes, diction and accent.

Nicholas Bishop as Gilbert is a seasoned G&S style performer. He uses his voice, body, face, gestures and timing to perfection and his accent, and projection are excellent. As his foil, Paul Briske is a thoughtfully drawn, taciturn, self-important Sullivan. A standout performance was by Andrew Crispe as Richard D’Oyly Carte (and everyone else who he became during the interludes). His stage presence elevates him to a class of his own.

The cast of 10 work particularly well together and performers who show strong potential are Nicholas Munday, Grace Carter and James Nicolson. Megan Doherty as Rose sings beautifully in her work from Pinafore.

For G&S ‘tragics’ like me, who adore the satirical barbs, political incorrectness of the Victorian era and the toe tapping, sing along music, this show is a must.

Jude Hines Newcastle Theatre Company’s The Fine Art Of Deception.

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The Fine Art Of Deception

By Carl Caulfield. Newcastle Theatre Company, at its Lambton theatre. May 7 - 21 (Premiere).

PLAYWRIGHT, actor and director Carl Caulfield, who moved from Britain to Australia in the late 1980s to be with one of his acting students, Felicity Biggins, who became his wife, has frequently returned to his birth country for holidays and to teach acting students.

And his memories of a woman he met a decade ago at a suburban English pub which was near an actor training centre and theatres led him to recently write a play, The Fine Art of Deception, that has as its central character a woman who, like her, was a glamorous former model now in her 60s who has a portrait of herself by the renowned artist Francis Bacon that is worth millions of pounds The woman is still very elegant, smart and confident, and owns a London art gallery. She still occasionally works as a model and is part of the social scene. And she is determined to get what she wants, regardless of what she’ll have to do to get it.

The play’s director, Leanne Mueller, noted that “We were presented with fully developed characters. All are believable and different.”

Claire Williams, who played the gallery owner, Suzanne, made her artistic, very friendly, very warm and trusting. Tracey Gordon, who was Suzanne’s best friend and neighbour, Margo Ryan, a woman who is visually impaired and almost totally blind, tenacious and tough, and not a person to cross, certainly showed that they had been through a lot together.

The other actors also brought out the natures of the characters: Mick Byrne, as the sartorially elegant Daniel Field, who is in his mid-40s, a part owner of Suzanne’s gallery who does most of the work, including organising exhibitions; Marty Green (Kris McCord), a charming working class man in his 20s, who mixes with petty crooks; and Carl Caulfield in the brief role of Fulton Finch, a person he unsmilingly described as an “unsavoury character”.

Ken Longworth

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Ghosting The Party

By Melissa Bubnic. Griffin Theatre Company. SBW Stables Theatre. May 20 - Jun 18.

MELISSA Bubnic’s dark new comedy begins with three generations of women folding washing and sharing the best ways to kill yourself.

It seems Granny Grace, at 87, is serious. She wants to die now, much to the horror of her stubbornly optimistic, needy daughter, Dorothy, and Dot’s own daughter, the surly Suzie, just back from overseas for a family funeral.

The hilarity of Bubnic’s timely play is all the more deadly because it comes just days after NSW legalised assisted dying. Belinda Giblin is perfect as the relentlessly caustic Grace, as is Jillian O’Dowd as the cloying Dorothy, desperate for life’s sunshine. No wonder daughter Suzie,

a brilliant Amy Hack, isn’t staying too long.

It’s a short, ultimately tender play packed with issues around euthanasia, and pointedly how all three women — in their choices of life and death — are thwarted by the myth that women love being carers and nurturers.

Bubnic fragments her arc of comedy and pain with the actors stepping out to announce each scene. The play doesn’t always authentically maintain its ambitious balance of wild wit, serious deadly debate and real empathy, especially in the rush to an upbeat ending.

Director Andrea James smoothly moves her stellar cast across Isabel James’ sterile apartment with its flock wallpaper, cheap lounge and tray-tables. By end, this is an important, hilarious and challenging play.

Martin Portus

Griffin Theatre Company’s Ghosting The Party.

Photo: Clare Hawley.

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Unnecessary Farce

By Paul Slade Smith. Centenary Theatre Group.

Community Hall, Chelmer, Qld. May 21 - Jun 11.

PAUL Slade Smith’s Unnecessary Farce has been given a riotous production by Centenary Theatre Group, with the requisite number of door slammings, characters losing their clothes, and silly situations bringing laughs.

The plot unfolds in two adjacent cheap motel rooms; in one an embezzling mayor is supposedly meeting up with his new female accountant, whilst in the other two inept undercover cops are waiting to catch the meeting on videotape. That it all goes wrong is a given. Throw in a Scottish hit man who plays the bagpipes in his kilt, some impenetrable Scottish accents, handguns, and oodles of innocent in flagrante delicto situations — it all adds up to a recipe for success.

Laurie Webb’s hit man was a terrific character; his brogue was marvelously dense, and his faux bagpipes playing brought laughs. Alizah Pomery’s femme fatale accountant Karen looked great in her underwear (which was often) and her diminutive height worked well for the comedy alongside Webb’s burly hitman, and Rob Connaughton’s cop Eric, with whom she’s having a fling.

Connaughton also raised chuckles with his cop partner Billie (Leela Bishop), a recent police graduate, whose translations of Webb’s incomprehensible Scottish rants were a highlight of her performance.

Nick Cockroft’s Agent Frank, the mayor’s security man, kept losing his pants, Gary Kliger’s Mayor Meekly interrupted the shenanigans with wide-eyed wonder, thinking he was watching a porn movie, and Sarah Britton, as the wife Mary, but in reality Il Duce of the whole money scam, had a spot-on brogue and brandished a gun like a pro.

Peter Pinne Dale And Kevin Go To Heaven

By Jared Mainey and Theo Rule. The Objectively Good Theatre Company. Civic Playhouse, Newcastle. May 25 28.

A STORY that has two mates being killed in a car accident, with their deceased spirits coming alive again when they find themselves individually on a spacial planet called The Other Side where they encounter many weird and very different spirits, might not be seen as an appropriate work for the stage.

But Jarad Mainey and Theo Rule, who met as kids in a church that their parents attended, and subsequently grew up in the same school, used their experiences and memories of the people they encountered to put together an amusing comedy that had audiences continually laughing and standing up to applaud at the end of its interval-free 90-minutes running time.

The pair shared the stage with an adept actress, singer and dancer, Megan Kennedy, who had appeared in other productions they put together, with the trio playing 10 very different characters in a mix of theatre, dance and film, among them an Angel and Devil’s Horns.

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And the film images certainly brought out the very different natures of the places the two mates found themselves in, before they eventually got together and had to handle some very unexpected situations that threatened to have them thrown to another very different side.

Ken Longworth

Brutal Utopias

By Stephen Carleton. Playlab Theatre. New Benner Theatre, Metro Arts, Brisbane. May 18 - 28.

WHEN I see a new Australian play, personally this is exactly the sort of story I want to see: an engaging mix of political history, current events, personal relationships, family secrets and a generous dollop of warm and witty humour. Brisbane-based award-winning playwright Caress/Ache Stephen Carleton sets his new work in New York and Yugoslavia, with the cast playing multiple roles in both a

By Suzie Miller. WAAPA 3rd Year Acting students.

Directed by Sandie Eldridge. The Roundhouse Theatre, current and 1971 Cold War setting to explore themes of WAAPA, WA. Jun 9 - 15. climate change, colonialism, capitalism, Brutalist CARESS/ACHE was a touching, beautifully acted piece architecture, and our human need to leave our mark on from WAAPA’s 3rd Year Acting students, superbly the world.

Director Matt Scholten does a dream job with a superb designed, built and crewed by WAAPA Production and Design students. cast: Ashlee Lollback is energetic and engaging; Kate In a series of vignettes, initially seemingly unrelated, Wilson shines and it is a joy to see her on stage; Nikhil we explore different nuances of touch — moving towards Singh is a refreshing stage presence; Michael Mandalios is a realisation of how lives are interconnected and touch outstanding. Due to illness, Anthony Standish’s dual roles each other. were brilliantly handled by Francis McMahon, who took to Nicole Denholm’s set is a fitting backdrop to this play the stage with just three hours’ notice! of many storylines and various degrees of translucency — Transporting the audience is a stunning chrome and glass set design by Bill Haycock. With lighting by Geoff a perfect canvas for Lachlan Kessey’s sensitive, emotive lighting design. Composers Jane Stark and Koen Smailes, Squires, the set magically morphs from a New York with Sound Designer Robbie Corbet, have created a skyscraper to office blocks in Yugoslavia, the suburbs in Coolum and a Guggenheim exhibition! A wonderful beautiful soundtrack that underscores the story, sometimes with almost subliminal music and sound. achievement by the whole creative tech team.

Costume designer Sarah Halton gives us costumes that Beth Keehn are supportive of character, making actors almost unrecognisable as they transform between characters.

Stage Manager Rowan Houlton leads a costumed stage crew who keep this show moving swiftly and effectively through multiple scenes.

Performances were excellent and heartfelt throughout.

Giuseppe D’Allura, compelling as Dr Mark Anders, helps to tie the show together as a whole. He works well alongside on-stage romantic partner Libby, played by Karina Skala, who also plays the emotionally charged Saskia (who suspects her husband is having an affair), leading to a series of highly fraught scenes, played spectacularly with Dominic Masterson as Cameron.

Radhika Mudaliar, working mostly in monologue, tells a tale of a longing for a home you don’t remember — a beautifully drawn performance, while Shontane Farmer expertly plays two very different roles — notably the mother who aches for a last hug from her condemned son, in turn sensitively played by Sean Halley.

Roxanne Gardiner is strong as a young mum working on a phone sex line to provide for her autistic son, nicely played by Adrian K Sit. Adrian also aces the play’s most (ironically) comic moment as a flight attendant, with excellent subtext — comedy that is appreciated but then turned on its head.

This gentle little show had much to say, with performances and production work of outstanding calibre.

Kimberley Shaw WAAPA’s Caress/Ache.

Photo: Stephen Heath.

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Bonnie And Clyde Book by Ivan Menchall. Lyrics by Don Black. Music by Frank Wildhorn. Joshua Robson Productions. Directed and choreographed by Sam Hooper. Hayes Theatre. Jun 21 Jul 17.

BIG is not always beautiful in musical theatre.

Bonnie and Clyde lasted only a month on a grand Broadway stage, but up close and personal in this distilled down production in the tiny Hayes Theatre, the musical hums along beautifully like a freshly tuned vintage car.

Bonnie & Clyde committed robberies across depression era America, murdering anyone who cornered them. They also had an eye for publicity and celebrated their notoriety.

In the musical Bonnie is portrayed as a victim of her devotion to a charismatic man, whilst Clyde’s behaviour is

explained by upbringing, class warfare and abuse in jail.

Making the ‘engine’ of the story run like a dream were leads Blake Appelqvist (Clyde) and Teagan Wouters (Bonnie), who had a sizzling on stage chemistry.

There are lots of nice tunes in the unique fusion of blues, gospel and hillbilly rock, which were sumptuously played by the six-piece band led by Music Director Zara Stanton.

There were also a few unexpected laughs. A favourite of mine was the song “You’re Goin’ Back to Jail”, where a group of women in a salon reflect on how their lives are not so bad when their partners are behind bars.

The design by Simon Greer was comprised of a set surrounded by crates, with the vintage car built by the cast, bringing onto the stage the seats, wheels, body and engine.

Bonnie & Clyde.

Photo: Grant Leslie.

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A highlight was when the headlights came in the Online extras! culmination of the crisp lighting design from James Wallis.

Join the opening night magic of This season, produced by the Phantom of the Opera Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella. himself, Joshua Robson, was twice postponed due to youtu.be/Gpt7WQiESPU COVID-19.

The long gestation period has given the creatives time The visual feast reaches its pinnacle with the incredibly to make the production sparkle.

David Spicer rapid costume changes. Transitions are visually stunning and lightning fast, accentuating the magical atmosphere.

The story line is simple but dynamic and the combination Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

By Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II. New book by of song, dance and dialogue is well balanced to create a Douglas Carter Beane. Opera Australia & John Frost for well-paced narrative. The dancing accentuates the Crossroads Live. Directed by Mark Brokaw. Regent colourful and majestic costuming, yet is fast paced, Theatre, Melbourne. May 26 - July 17, then touring. nimble and exciting.

The style is naturalistic but allows some space for satire CINDERELLA is undoubtedly a winner. The monumental scale of the set and costumes is a feast for and parody without going overboard. The role of Madam the eyes and the music, singing and dancing are delivered particularly lends itself to this aspect and Tina Bursill performs this with relish. Ella (Shubshri Kandiah) is with incredible precision and perfection. This flawless show takes a classic approach to the story and although portrayed as humble and sweet but also caring and there are some updated elements that portray Cinderella decisive. Prince Topher (Ainsley Melham) explores the as more in charge of her own destiny, this musical retains ambivalence and pressures of leadership and gives the all the classical elements of this timeless tale. princely character some shape. Kandiah and Melham, together with the entire cast, exhibit some extraordinary The rags to riches story is recounted in a very vocal talent. traditional context, emphasising its European heritage.

The small village and the grand beautiful castle are all This production chooses to highlight the importance of designed to evoke the typical fairy tale locations. This is all being caring and kind, driving home the message that done tastefully and with an eye to captivating younger your daily actions are choices you make, and they will audience members. The forest scenes are colourful, determine your future. The tone of this messaging turns out to be very timely. dynamic and made extremely pleasant by animal puppetry. Cinderella’s carriage is animated by a dazzling Patricia Di Risio and sparkling array of lights.

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

Photo: Jeff Busby.

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Gods And Little Fishes

By Richard Sydenham and Jamie Oxenbould. New Theatre, Newtown, NSW. May 31 - Jun 25.

IMAGINE the grief of a travelling salesman who wins a fortune in the Opera House Lottery, then sees his eightyear-old son kidnapped for ransom and found murdered in bushland.

This true 1960 case is the inspiration for a tender, strangely funny new play by Richard Sydenham, who directs, and Jamie Oxenbould, who plays a version of the grieving father.

With his suitcases, Frank, all at sea, inexplicably arrives on a pantomime sea deck inhabited by three circus performers. Pepe the kindly clown (Evelyn Snape) never stops farting; Andy (Andy McDonnell) is an easy-going polar bear; and Guy (the hilariously droll Arky Michael) is a moody French strongman.

Their endless routines and thoughts on how to keep their performing skills fresh help Frank breathe easy — and we laugh heaps.

But Frank sees the horror shark on the horizon. On either side of panto ship, his wife (Katie Fitchett) and son (Sarah-Jane Kelly) play out the last days before Jeffrey is abducted by the Shark/Man (Richard Ross).

The boy has left behind three dolls on his bed — it’s the same mad performers on the boat which gave his Dad a pathway from grief.

This is an artful production of a moving, hilarious play, fantastical but compelling. Hannah Tayler and Kate Fitchett are inventive designers of set and costumes, matched by Grant Fraser’s lighting. It’s a joy to see new creatives and a very fine cast take to the stage at the New. Martin Portus

The Marvellous Wonderettes

By Roger Bean. Primadonna Productions. Directed by Carole Dhu. The Fishtrap Theatre, Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, WA. Jun 10 - 12.

THE Marvellous Wonderettes, presented by Primadonna Productions at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, was a joyous celebration of a show, expertly directed by Carole Dhu and performed with expertise.

When Springfield High’s Songleaders are offered the chance to perform at the Super Senior Prom, we follow the performance of this fledgling girl group as they perform hits of the fifties, learning details about each girl along the way. Act II sees the girls reunite for their high school’s 10 Year Reunion, no longer girls, but young women, and we discover what has happened in the years between. Featuring dozens of familiar songs which are performed beautifully by these very accomplished singers, this show is great fun throughout.

Caris Read was a delight as sweet overachiever Missy, secretly harbouring a crush on their singing teacher, and the glue that holds the group together. Siân Wake is gorgeous as dizzy Suzy, a role which makes the most of Siân’s comedic skills and great physicality. Gemma Little is great fun as birthday girl Betty Jean, a beautiful foil for the machinations of supposed best friend Cindy Lou, played with mean girl perfection by Bella Langford. This quartet have a wonderful rapport with beautiful harmony both as singers and actors.

The first time that The Marvellous Wonderettes has been performed in Western Australia, this feel-good show was a great choice for our times and a wonderful antidote to winter blues. An excellent production.

Kimberley Shaw

Cooked Digi Youth Arts & The Good Room. Cremorne Theatre, QPAC. May 25 - 28.

QPAC’s Clancestry - A Celebration of Country started National Reconciliation Week with Cooked, a wickedly witty show by some of our emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers. I really hope we see them on stage again soon: Nic Currie-Inns, Lenesha Duncan, Ethan Enoch, Elijah Manis and Misteria Towler.

Wow! All these young artists have a powerful stage presence and they worked together well as an ensemble.

This talented group presented Cooked, a piece developed with Digi Youth Arts and The Good Room. An hour-long show in three equal parts, the first section used survey responses to explore Australia — everything from food to cultural identity, with emerging themes of ‘remix’ and ‘refresh’. The group show great comic timing, but Part 2 lets them show their skills in dance, music and multimedia. In Part 3, the group remix songs with their own personal lyrics that explain why 26 January is a problem. A fun remix of some cheesy tunes gets everyone clapping and cheering and leaves the group with a standing ovation.

Beth Keehn

Bad Guy: Hayden Tee Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Dunstan Playhouse. Jun 19.

HAYDEN Tee is a performer, recording artist, director and make-up artist, starring on the world stage since 2004 in theatre, cabaret and concert roles, including Lt Cable in South Pacific, Hook in Peter Pan, Javert in Les Misérables and Miss Trunchball in Matilda.

Accompanied by a talented and diverse six piece band, every note, including Tee’s immensely powerful vibrato was crystal clear and balanced. His vocal range appears effortless, and at 164 cm tall, Tee is imposing, holding the audience in his thrall comfortably. He is disturbingly likeable, for a man being a bad guy, until he sings. Tee is not just a singer, he is a performer who uses every part of his face and body to ‘become’ the character and transport the audience.

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Online extras!

Hayden Tee transforms into Javert as he sings ‘Stars’ from Les Misérables. youtu.be/FTZBj8sSXQ8

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As Javert he sang ‘Stars’ from Les Misérables, using this to underline the dilemma of judging what is right and wrong. Such is the power of Tee, the performer, that eyes were brimming, and you could hear a pin drop until the lengthy thunderous applause.

Tee is indeed a man of many colours, many performances and messages. A proud LGBTQI+ man, he shared his personal experiences, deep distress and passion for Social Protection and Human Rights. Importantly, he is a convincing, consummate performer who reminds us of the power of theatre as both a mirror to society, and an agent of change.

If one was not a Hayden Tee fan at the outset, the power of his voice, performance and message ensured that, after 75 minutes in his presence, you certainly left as one.

Jude Hines

PERFORMING ARTS MAGAZINE JULY - AUGUST 2022. VOLUME 31, NUMBER 3 ABN 71 129 358 710 ISSN 1321 5965

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Hayden Tee. Photo: Claudio Raschella.

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Longer versions of many reviews can now be found at stagewhispers.com.au

Stage Whispers 75

Musical Spice

A Stage Mother In the last edition, I wrote about the challenge of getting my ailing mother prepared to watch my performance at the Sydney Opera House as a non-singing actor in the opera La Juive. She could barely stand up and I had to lift her into a wheelchair, assist her in and out of my car, then helpers wheeled her to a front row seat to watch the performance.

For someone with dementia, she was impeccably behaved, except when she grew a little fatigued and asked my mother-in-law when the opera would finish.

The conductor — still waving his arms in front of them — turned and gave the pair an official “shoooosh”.

The curtain call came in the nick of time. I could clearly see her wave at me as I came downstage to bow.

Despite being told not to return any greetings, I gave a subtle twinkle of my fingers. I could clearly see her make the excellent symbol with her thumb and index.

It was such a struggle to get her there, that I had a feeling that this might be the last opera my mother — a lifelong subscriber — would attend.

Sadly, that came to be when she passed away in May. As her condition deteriorated, I told staff at her nursing home, who had given up hope — look she was at the opera only a few weeks before!

Eve Spicer passed away at the age of 84.

In her last few weeks, the combination of delirium and dementia saw her sometimes get fixated on one word. One night it was opera, opera, opera.

When she lost consciousness for the last three days of her life, I played classical music on my phone, placed next to her pillow. When I hear The Merry Widow waltz now, I will think of that time.

76 Stage Whispers July - August 2022

My mother encouraged my theatrical pursuits, but she was not a stage mother in the classical sense.

None of my siblings are into theatre at all.

I was never forced into the performing arts. Likewise, we allowed our daughters to drop out of ballet at a young age — which one ruefully regrets.

When Geraldine became a star, her mother was delighted. “All she ever wanted was to see me as a leading lady in the middle of the stage with my arms up.”

Certainly, my mother delighted in seeing me on stage, whether it be an amateur or school production or (once in 20 years) at the Sydney Opera House.

David and Eve Spicer.

When I first caught the theatre bug and joined the Scout Association’s Gang Show, I had to find someone else to drive me to rehearsals.

How does a real stage mother act?

Geraldine Turner in her book Turner’s Turn wrote that at the age of 5 her mother took her to a pantomime.

“I came home and apparently announced that I wanted to be on the stage,” Geraldine wrote. “I don’t remember this, but my mother told me, over and over, as if to instil that memory. Perhaps I never said it. This was the beginning of my mother trying to live her life through me.”

Her first date with my father was at a performance of The Mikado, so she loved musicals and opera.

I did discover whilst preparing her eulogy that at school she enjoyed singing and drama. She went to Hornsby Girls where they had an activity called a House Play. This sounded like some sort of competition and my mother recalled that during one performance she was humiliated after falling off a chair.

Perhaps that made her a little cautious about pushing her children onto the stage.

David Spicer

2022/2023 catalogue out now.

Order your free copy at: davidspicer.com.au david@davidspicer.com (02) 9371 8458 KEEPING THEATRE GOING

MOST POPULAR

Congratulations to every company and school which managed to keep theatre going in very difficult times, and commiserations to those who had to cancel.

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We Will Rock You Back to the 80’s Popstars Ladies in Black The Boy from Oz Masquerade Aotearoa Song Contest The Great Australian Rock Musical 10. Essgee’s Pirates

The Centre Stage Event Company in Albury had to postpone twice to navigate COVID-19, then had to navigate rules from two different states, to get its production of We Will Rock You to the stage.

A high school in the COVID-19 free bubble of The Northern Territory miraculously got a production of The Great Australian Rock Musical up at the peak of the crisis.

Chookas to companies resuming disrupted seasons and wishing everyone a safe return to the theatre.

Albury.

The Great Australian Rock Musical.

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