On This Day

Tuesday 4th February, 2020.

Note: Bold and underlined production titles are direct links to the production credits. Simply hold the Ctrl Key down and click your mouse to go to the site. On your phone, simply tap the underlined production name.

Birthdays

No local birthdays to celebrate today (that we know of).

Internationally, today Alice Cooper turns 72, and is still going strong!

American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spans over 50 years. With his distinctive raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props, including guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, reptiles, baby dolls, and dueling swords, Cooper is considered by music journalists and peers alike to be “The Godfather of Shock Rock“.

He has drawn equally from horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a macabre and theatrical brand of rock designed to shock people.

Read more at – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Cooper

If you know of any significant Australian entertainment identities born on this day, please feel free to let me know.

Openings

Today’s selection of opening shows opening on this day

2016 – Effie the Virgin Bride Stage Spectacular, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

A BIG show with big hair, big heart and a big Greek wedding, be a guest at the event of the century as Effie Stephanides prepares to get hitched.

2006 – Doubt, The Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

It is 1964. Sister Aloysius oversees a large Roman Catholic school, with an eye to her pupils’ souls as much as their books. A woman with a reputation for tenacity and flinty resolve, she inhabits a world of black and white, truth and lies. So when she begins to harbour doubts about the parish priest Father Flynn – and his closeness to altar boys – she pursues her quarry with determination and steely-eyed certainty.
The misgivings of colleagues, the protestations of parents and the confidential denial of the priest himself have no effect.

2003 – The Way of the World, The Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

A sexy Restoration comedy, STC’s glittering production features a stunning fairground design, lavish costumes and a superb cast.

2003 – Cosi, QPAC Playhouse, Brisbane.

Set in a mental institution in 1970, Lewis, a young director, takes on the task of producing a play in a burnt-out theatre. Cosi is a hilarious and poignant look at life through the eyes of patients in an isbane asylum while they endeavour to mount a production of ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ as part of an occupational therapy program.

2003 – Jackson Browne, QPAC Lyric Theatre, Brisbane.

Legendary American popular music performer – “Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate, moving songs in popular music.”

1993 – The Sugar Mother, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

A professor of Elizabethan Literature is peacefully invaded by a neighbour and her nubile daughter. Deals light-heartedly with questions of child surrogacy.

1993 – Kiss of the Spiderwoman, La Boite Theatre, Brisbane.

A compelling tale of political intrigue in South America, overtoned with unlikely excesses of camp nostalgia and touching displays of human vulnerability.

1992 – A Song to Sing O, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

The works of Gilbert and Sullivan as seen through the eyes of George Grossmith (1847-1912) – the legendary creator of many of the character parts in the Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire.

1989 – Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

Concerns the Old Bailey criminal trial of Sir David Metcalfe, QC, and the events leading up to the trial. Classic, naturalistic British courtroom drama.

1988 – She Shall Have Music, The Footbridge Theatre, Sydney.

No production description available at this point.

1988 – Nine, QPAC Lyric Theatre, Brisbane.

Based on Federico Fellini’s film 8 and a half

1984 – Mass Appeal, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Even the truth could be made palatable with the lie.

1982 – Black Ball Game, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

A tightly plotted and funny satire on salesmanship, macho-male chauvinism, predjudices and the pressures to conform within the conservative business world.

1982 – Einstein, Seymour Centre, Sydney.

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955. Three actors play Einstein at different ages.

1981 – Mourning Becomes Electra: Part Two, Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne.

Set in New England at the end of the Civil War, the story is an update of the Greek myth of Orestes.

1968 – A Thousand and One Stars, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

In aid of the Anzac Memorial Forest in Israel.

1887 – The Mikado, The Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

Benefit performance for Nellie Stewart. Of the popular Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.

Passings

No local entries today.

Internationally, It was on this day that flamboyant entertainer and show-off pianist Liberace died in 1987.

Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, Liberace enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures, and endorsements. At the height of his fame, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world, with established concert residencies in Las Vegas, and an international touring schedule. Liberace embraced a lifestyle of flamboyant excess both on and off stage, acquiring the nickname “Mr. Showmanship”.

NOTE: Please feel free to contribute entries on our entertainment history. I am particularly interested in birthdays, show and venue openings & closings, death notices, and anything interesting that relates to the shaping of the entertainment industry in Australia. Information can be on anyone: performers, creatives, technicians and stage crew, or any type of professional venue including our much forgotten regional venues.

Monday 3rd February, 2020.

Birthdays

1976 – Isla Fisher – Actress and Author.

Turns 44 today! Happy birthday.

Isla was actually born in Muscat, Oman, to Scottish parents and moved to Australia when she was six, so we’re claiming her as “ours”!

A very impressive television and film career, and although she does have a few West End stage credits to her name, I think it’s high time we got to see her on the stage again! Here in Australia. Married to Sacha Baron-Cohen, it must be a continuous riot at their place.

Read more at – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isla_Fisher

1906 – Ron Shand – Actor and comedian.

Ron would have turned 114 today!

Most famous to the wider population as “hen pecked” Husband Herb, to Pat MacDonald’s Dorrie Evans Character in our first raunchy TV soap opera Number 96.

Ron had a fantastic stage career, performing in many of the J.C. Williamson Musicals such as The Pajama Game and Can Can, along with many straight plays and Shakespearian productions.

Another real legend of Aussie entertainment.

Read more at – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Shand

1980 – Rebel Wilson – Actress, producer and writer.

Happy …… well we aren’t entirely sure, there’s a lot of conjecture about the year,

And even poor old Wikipedia got the month wrong!

I don’t care if she is 100, as she has proclaimed, I think she’s absolutely marvelous and would happily turn up and pay to hear her read from the phone book…..oh, do we still have phone books?

Rebel is an INSPIRATION and well worth the read. I can hardly wait for her own Stage Show.

Read more at – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_Wilson

If you know of any significant Australian entertainment identities born on this day, please feel free to let me know.

Openings

Today’s selection of opening shows opening on this day

2014 – At Last – The Etta James Story, The Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Returning to Sydney following a smash hit national tour. Starring the sensational Vika Bull, this narrative concert tells the story of soul legend Etta James’ troubled life and features some of her most beloved songs including I’d Rather Go Blind, At Last and more.

2013 – Driving Miss Daisy, QPAC Playhouse, Brisbane.

Driving Miss Daisy is the charming, poignant and utterly compelling tale of the unlikely, long-lasting friendship that blossoms between a prickly, elderly Southern matriarch and her kind-hearted chauffeur, Hoke. As the wheels turn and the decades roll by against a backdrop of prejudice, inequality and civil unrest, the pair slowly transcend their differences and ultimately grow to rely on each other far more than either of them ever expected.

Sparklingly funny, irresistibly heart-warming and with an unmissable stellar cast, Driving Miss Daisy was the must-see show in 2013.

2012 – Songs For Nobodies, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Don’t miss this critically acclaimed show, starring Bernadette Robinson, who plays five ordinary women whose lives are transformed by an encounter with five iconic singers; Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Maria Callas.
This wonderful new play  by Australia’s renowned playwright Joanna Murray-Smith, was written especially to showcase the extraordinary talents of Australian singer and actress, Bernadette Robinson

2009 – Judith Lucy’s Not Getting Any Younger, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

She’s fast, she’s sharp, she’s martini dry and she’s very very funny. Judith Lucy has realised that ‘forty’ is in fact the ‘new forty’ and anyone who says different is living a lie!

2007 – I Like to Sing with Justine Clarke, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

No production description available at this time.

2004 – XXX, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

Pretentious and over-rated show about sex, violence and audience participation based loosely on the Marquis de Sade’s ‘Philosophy in the Boudoir’ (1795). Interesting use of technnology, including live(?) log-in to pornographic website in Iraq!

1999 – Lyrebird – Tales of Helpmann, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

An impressionistic solo play about one man’s love of theatre and fantasy, told through the life of Sir Robert Helpmann.

‘…a riotous and theatrically sophisticated portrait of an artist far beyond the straightjacket of the strictly biographical approach. A classic of the Australian theatre.’ Campion Decent, Artistic Director of HotHouse Theatre

‘Tyler Coppin’s wryly entertaining one-man frolic with the life, accomplishments and feathery flourishes of Helpmann … rich in detail and legend, is an ideal vehicle for studying prospects for artists in Australia over much of the 20th century.’ Murray Bramwell, The Australian, October 19, 2007

‘Coppin celebrates the self and the fact that art, as much as sport in this spectator nation, is an essential quality of life. A triumph.’ Bryce Hallett, Sydney Morning Herald, February 10, 1999

Winner of the 1999 Edinburgh Fringe First Award

1996 – Gillies Live at the Club Republic, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Gillies is a consummate actor. He doesn’t impersonate so much as suggest: it’s acting rather than caricature that is his craft…and his public figures are mainly political.

1990 – Steaming, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

A warm-hearted and affectionately written comedy, it is set in a decaying East London bath-house with a mixed clientele of women from the district

1971 – King Oedipus, The Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

Re-staging (by Jean Wilhelm) of Sir Tyrone Guthries’ Old Tote production of Sophocles’ play in Sydney in 1970.

1959 – The Man, Ensemble Theatre (1959), North Sydney, NSW.

No production description available at this time.

1954 – Caesar and Cleopatra, The Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

Royal Visit Season 1954 Eighth Annual Arts Festival, production of George Bernard Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra. No production description is available at this point.

Passings

No local entries today.

Internationally, it was on this day that entertainers Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper died, not to mention one of my childhood favourites, the loveable Al Lewis, known to many as Grandpa in The Munsters Television Series.

Sunday 2nd February, 2020.

Birthdays

We have no entries for today.

If you know of any significant Australian entertainment identities born on this day, please feel free to let me know.

Openings

Today’s selection of shows opening on this day

2016 – Liar Suchard: Master Mentalist, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Liar Suchard is a living breathing example of what is possible through the power of the mind. His performance of mind-reading, thought-influencing, prediction and telekinesis have earned him international acclaim as top supernatural entertainer.

2010 – Warriors of Brazil Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

No production description is available at this point….other than Martial Arts based.

2007 – The Lady Aoi, Playhouse Theatre, Perth, WA.

Suspended in a restless sleep, the Lady Aoi lies on the brink of death in hospital. Disturbed by her mysterious illness, her young husbanddiscovers that he is not her only visitor. His jealous ex-lover Yasuko has become a late-night regular at Aoi’s bedside.

2006 – Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

When Lily, an attractive Florida retiree, signs up for six dance lessons in six weeks, it doesn’t look like she’ll last the course. But an unlikely realtionship develops between the prudish widow and her cynical and equally lonely tutor. Michael knows all the dance moves, but perhaps Lily can teach him a thing or two about life.

2000 – A Streetcar Named Desire, The Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Through the vividly depicted Southern belle Blanche Dubois, and her tough, sexually charged brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski, this play is an increadably moving and almost unbearably tragic story.

1991 – The Importance of Being Earnest, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

A trivial comedy for serious people. A proper Englishman is caught leading a double life. Classic comedy.

1988 – The Rocky Horror Show, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

One fateful night, Brad Majors and his fiancée, Janet Weiss — a wholesome, well-behaved, utterly normal young couple in love — innocently set out to visit an old professor. Unfortunately for them, this night out is destined to be one they will never forget. A thunderstorm and a flat-tire force them to seek help at the castle of Dr. Frank ’N’ Furter, an alien, transvestite scientist with a manic genius and insatiable libido. Brad, Janet, and Frank’ N’ Furter’s cohorts are swept up into the scientist’s latest experiment. The night’s misadventures will cause Brad and Janet to question everything they’ve known about themselves, each other, love, and lust. A loving homage to the classic B sci-fi film and horror genres with an irresistible rock’n’roll score, The Rocky Horror Show is a hilarious, wild ride that no audience will soon forget.

1980 – The Old Country, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

No production description available at this time.

1983 – Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne.

The investigation of the death in police custody of an anarchist carried out by a brilliant Madman, himself brought into custody for false pretences and impersonations.

1982 – Flowers, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

A reworking of Jean Genet “Our Lady of the Flowers”

1957 – The Pajama Game, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

Romance is blossoming at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Handsome new Superintendent Sid Sorokin falls hard for feisty Union rep “Babe” Williams, and, despite her dismissal of all things love-related, it seems she’s falling right back. That is, until Sleep-Tite employees are refused a seven-and-a-half cent raise, and the pair find themselves on either side of the union protest that results. Based on Richard Bissel’s novel, 7 ½ cents, Adler and Ross’ Pajama Game portrays the ups and downs of romance, with the added heat of politics making the temperature extra hot. Babe and Sid must figure out how to love when the principles they value most are tearing them apart. First staged in 1954, The Pajama Game won three Tony awards, including best musical, and won another Tony for Best Revival in 2006, a testament to the fact that love, music, and politics are as hot as they ever were. The Pajama Game features hit songs including “Hey There,” “Hernando’s Hideaway” and “Steam Heat” which have also become pop standards that climbed as high as number one in the US charts.

1901 – VENUE DARK, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

All theatres closed for day of national mourning to mark the death on 24 January 1901 of Queen Victoria.

1895 – Cinderella and the Little Glass Slipper, The Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

The Williamson and Musgr0ve production on the much loved pantomime.

Passings

No local entries today.

Saturday 1st February, 2020.

February already! It’s going to be a very fast year.

So where did the name February come from?

Way back, around 690 B.C., Numa Pompilius the legendary second king of Rome, who succeeded Romulus, turned a period of celebration at the end of the year into a month of its own,. He named his new month after the festival of purification: Februa, and that’s how we got February.

Birthdays

1973 – Marta Dusseldorp. Stage and screen actress, and human rights ambassador

I’m not entirely sure in what part of Australia Marta was born, but I think we all agree, that we are extremely happy she was.

Today Marta turns 47.

What a wonderful performer.

Marta has had a fine career to date, and one which will without a doubt, continue to bloom as the years progress.

Much loved by many as the legendary Janet King, Marta has also had a fairly impressive award winning stage career, having appeared in productions for The Sydney Theatre Company, The Queensland Theatre company, and the Griffin Theatre Company.

Read more at – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marta_Dusseldorp

1949 – Lex Marinos AOM– Actor, director, writer and all round media personality.

Born in Wagga Wagga, NSW on this day.

Today Lex turns 71! Happy birthday Lex.

Lex is another of those popular actors with a face everyone seems to recognise.

Growing up I remember him as Bruno in Kingswood Country, many will remember him from the ABC drama The Slap, and a million other productions. Lex is known for so much more than that, having been one of the movers and shakers on the Australia Council (Deputy Chair) and has been quite an inspirational guide to many.

Read more at – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Marinos

1942 – Maggie Dence – Actress. Born in Victoria on this day.

Today we celebrate Maggie’s 78th Birthday. Happy birthday Maggie!

Everyone will remember Maggie from television classics such as The Mavis Bramston Show, The Sullivans, Prisoner, Kingswood Country, and Neighbours.

Maggie was quite a popular actress in the Sydney Theatre Scene, and also received a lifetime Achievement Award from Actors Equity for her outstanding services to the performing arts in Australia including her tireless efforts with the NSW Actors Benevolent Fund.

Read more at – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Dence

If you know of any significant Australian entertainment identities born on this day, please feel free to let me know.

Openings

February is an interesting month in the theatre. Traditionally, it’s one of the quietest months of the year for shows. Having said that, our search has turned up over ten pages of shows that have opened in this month, in years gone by. The month starts out quietly and builds like you would not believe.

Here’s our selection for today.

2012 – Midsummer (A Play with Songs), Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Originally premiering at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this charming lo-fi musical romantic comedy has gained cult status, playing to sold-out crowds around the world, from London to Washington to Vancouver. Midsummer (A Play with Songs) introduces us to Bob and Helena (played here by original cast members Matthew Pidgeon and Cora Bissett), two thirty-somethings whose one-night stand spills into a fabulous two-day bender of stolen money, car chases, wedding bust-ups, Japanese rope bondage, midnight trysts and self-loathing hangovers.

2008 – As You Like It, The Playhouse, Sydney Opera House

Bell Shakespeare presents a comedy for anyone who has ever contemplated packing it all in for a simpler life.

2006 – The Drover’s Wives, Playhouse Theatre, Perth, WA.

The Drover’s Wives blends dance theatre and music theatre with video and photography to create an ‘imagining’ fused with the ideas of displacement, location, isolation and occupation.

1992 – Money and Friends, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Come spend a weekend with Peter and his friends at their beach houses on the coast. There’s enough sun, fun, betrayal and secrets for everyone. But is there enough money?

1988 – Wogs Out of Work, The Playhouse, Sydney Opera House.

Gary Penny production / Maria Portesi, Nick Giannopoulos, Simon Palomares / Greg Hocking & Tim Woods present
A humorous look at what it’s like to be a ‘Wog’ living in Australia.

1987 – The Essential Coward – Blithe Spirit, The Playhouse, Sydney Opera House

Peter and Ellen Williams present.
Blithe Spirit is an original and unforgettable farce. Clever and as improbable as a play can be and still stay on the stage. Writer, Charles Condomine invites Madame Arcati to dinner, hoping to gain information on psychic phenomena. The unexpected materialism of his late, first wife’s spirit creates disastrous repercussions for Charles and his second wife. The consequences for the audience, however, are most hilarious.
With Carmen Duncan; John Hamblin; Paula Duncan; June Salter is Madame Arcati.

1980 – Bingo, La Boite Theatre, Milton, QLD.

Shakespeare has withdrawn from the theatre and lives in Stratford as a well-to-do country gentleman. But the material security he has achieved brings him no peace. The play evokes the image of an exhausted genius tormented with conscience about his cruelty to his family, the cruelty of the society he believes in and the worth of his own achievements.

1967 – Green Julia, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney, NSW.

The life of two young men after University.

1958 – Damn Yankees, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

J. C. Williamson Theatres Limited (1943-1976), Presenting Company. No production description available at this time.

Passings

No local entries today.

Tuesday 28th January, 2020.

Birthdays

We have no birthdays listed for today

If you know of any significant Australian entertainment identities born on this day, please feel free to let me know.

Openings

2017 – Ladies in Black, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

Frock up and rock up. Step back through the doors of F.G. Goode’s department store and into a magical modern fairytale. The ladies in black are back for the summer sales.

Sydney, the late 1950s: the city swelters in stuffy repression, longing for the cool, glorious liberation just around the corner. Bright-eyed, bookish school leaver Lisa takes a summer job in the most prestigious department store in town, and has no plans to become a housewife or secretary, despite what her father insists.

Among the racks and fitting rooms, she meets the exotic Magda and the ladies of the cocktail frocks department, who open this young ingénue’s eyes to a world of cosmopolitan possibilities.

Fresh from touring the nation, don’t miss this return season of the Helpmann Award winning hit musical by Tim Finn (Split Enz, Crowded House) and director Simon Phillips (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, The Musical; Love Never Dies; Dream Lover). It’s the hottest ticket in town.

Book by Carolyn Burns
Music and lyrics by Tim Finn
Based on Madeleine St John’s novel, The Women in Black
Directed bySimon Phillips

2014 – Looking Through A Glass Onion, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

John Waters explores the mystery and memory of John Lennon through song and spoken word.

2013 – Meow Meow, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Meow Meow’s unique brand of kamikaze cabaret kitsch and performance art exotica ensures this is one show you do not want to miss. The cat is back. Meow!

2012 – The White Divers of Broome, Heath Ledger Theatre, Northbridge, WA,

In the boom times of 1912 Broome, Sydney Pigott is a wealthy pearling master looking for a way around the White Australia Policy, anxious to keep his cheap Asian workers – and his high profits.

2009 – Being Harold Pinter – 2nd Season, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

Belarus Free Theatre was set up in 2005 to produce uncensored work in response to the authoritarian rule of President Alexander Lukashenko, who has viciously suppressed freedom of expression as well as political opposition. In August 2007, a performance was stormed by state police and 50 people were arrested. Fighting for democracy and free expression, this young, underground theatre troupe brings to Sydney their Australian premiere performance of Being Harold Pinter. This is wild, anarchic theatre at its purest. Scenes from Pinter’s plays and extracts from his Nobel Prize speech.

2003 – Jagged Little Wil, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Wil Anderson mixes tales of sky-larking with the Dalai Lama and his knee being stroked by Margaret Pomeranz with stuff on peace rallies, English sport and his girlfriend.

1987 – The Butterflies of Kalimantan, La Boite Theatre, Brisbane.

The story revolves around Kathy and her insecurities relating to her four year relationship with Pete. The play is set in the space of one afternoon. Sal and Danny, friends of Kathy’s, are having lunch with another visitor of hers, Sebastian. He is a butterfly collector, obviously where the title of the play is derived. Sebastian enthralls them with tales of the mating habits and rituals of some butterfly colonies.
Sal. apparently takes great delight in luring as many men as she can into her bed, and she is not very subtle about getting them there!

1981 – Mourning Becomes Electra: Part One, Athenaeum theatre, Melbourne.

Set in New England at the end of the Civil War, the story is an update of the Greek myth of Orestes.

1981 – When In Rome, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

When a Sydney family moves from Concord to St Ives, each member’s ability to cope is keenly tested.

1978 – Roots, Stables Theatre, Sydney

Playwright Arnold Wesker gives us a bickering, baffled, sometimes belligerent, always believable family of farm workers in the north of England. His achievement here is to show the Bryants simultaneously as individuals, as a family and as victims of an economic and social system far beyond their comprehension.

1888 – Dorothy, Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

Sadly, no production details are available at this point.

Passings

No local entries today.

Monday 27th January, 2020.

Birthdays

We have no birthdays listed for today

If you know of any significant Australian entertainment identities born on this day, please feel free to let me know.

Openings

2016 – Judith Lucy, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

A truly awful year for Judith always leads to a great show for her fans – and 2014 was magnificently terrible. Think death and menopause and you’ll be in the ballpark. Always hilarious, honest and occasionally shocking, Judith doesn’t write a show unless she has something to say and she’s more than ready for this one.

2004 – St Petersburg Puppet Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.

Intimate performances of classic and favourite fairytales brought to life. Three different programmes to choose from; Sleeping Beauty, Thumbelina, Carnival.

2000 – Seven Stories, SBW Independent Theatre, Sydney.

About a man who is trying to commit suicide by jumping off a seven story building. He is consistantly interrupted by residents in the apartment building and none of them seem to notice that the man is trying to harm himself.

1994 – A Chorus Line, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

The 25 dancers who turn up at the beginning, hoping to get a part in the chorus line of a Broadway musical, are the victims of a cruel elimination contest. Only eight of them are destined to be chosen … the auditions become a metaphor for the competitive dog-eat-dog world which most of us inhabit.

1993 – The Miracle of the Rose, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

A doggedly faithful and unrelieved adaptation of Genet’s erotic prose-poem fantasies

1988 – The Warhorse, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

The warhorse of the title is Jack Armstrong, a state Labor politician of the old school, who, at age 66, is considering retirement.

1988 – Happy End, La Boite Theatre, Brisbane.

A musical about Chicago gangsters.

1984 – Dance Works/Dance Exchange, Footbridge Theatre, Sydney.

No production information available at present.

1976 – Giselle, Adelaide Festival Centre.

No production information available at present.

Passings

No local entries today.

Sunday 26th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1965 – Catherine Martin – Designer extraordinaire.

Happy 55th birthday!

No Australian has more Oscars than this exceptionally talented lady. To some, that will mean a lot! To me, Catherine’s exceptional talent is awe-inspiring and I would happily kiss the ground she walks on, because it is extraordinarily gifted people like Catherine that inspire so many others to look, imagine and create.

Our most outstanding and internationally acclaimed costume, set, and production designer who is also a producer of note. Catherine is responsible for some of the most beautiful stage productions and films we have ever seen.

Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom, the Great Gatsby, La Boheme, Diary of a Madman, A Midsummer Night’s Dream……. The list is massive!

Born in Lindfield in Sydney on this day, Catherine went on to become one of the most applauded designers of the late 20th Century and beyond.

A graduate of the East Sydney Technical College, The Sydney College of the Arts, and NIDA.

Married, as most people will know, to Baz Lurhmann the equally talented director and producer.

Look out for their blockbuster Moulin Rouge Musical coming to Melbourne in 2021.

https://www.catherinemartin.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Martin_(designer)

If you know of any significant Australian entertainment identities born on this day, please feel free to let me know.

Openings

2002 – The Lady in the Van, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

The Australian premiere of this new autobiographical play by Alan Bennett. The story of a vagrant who parked her van on his front lawn and stayed for fifteen years.

1982 – The Right Man, Phillip Street Theatre, Sydney

Is it possible to take up a career in politics and maintain one’s integrity? With a deft and often humorous touch, Kenneth Ross explores these questions in The Right Man.

Passings

No local entries today.

Saturday 25th January, 2020.

Birthdays

We have found no Australian entertainer birthdays for today.

If you know of any significant Australian entertainment identities born on this day, please feel free to let me know.

International Birthdays

1882 – Virginia Woolf – Novelist, Essayist, Critic, and publisher, who became one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.

Was born on this day, all the way back in 1882. That would have made her 138 today!

Born in South Kensington, London. UK

Died 28th March, 1941, at Lewes in England. Aged 59. Suicide. Virginia tragically drowned herself by filling her overcoat pockets with stones, then walking into the River Ouse near her home.

Her very impressive, then very sad biography is attached.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf

Openings

2017 – Jasper Jones, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

It’s summer 1965 in a small, hot town in Western Australia. Overseas, war is raging in Vietnam, Civil Rights marches are on the streets, and women’s liberation is stirring – but at home in Corrigan Charlie Bucktin dreams of writing the Great Australian Novel. Charlie’s 14 and smart. But when 16-year-old, constantly-in-trouble Jasper Jones appears at his window one night, Charlie’s out of his depth. Jasper has stumbled upon a terrible crime in the scrub nearby, and he knows he’s the first suspect – that goes with the colour of his skin. He needs every ounce of Charlie’s bookish brain to help solve this awful mystery before the town turns on Jasper.

Kate Mulvany’s adaptation of Craig Silvey’s award-winning novel is wise and beautiful. A coming-of-age story, Jasper Jones interweaves the lives of complex individuals all struggling to find happiness among the buried secrets of a small rural community.

2014 – Australia Day, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

HIS experiences as an Australia Day Ambassador inspired playwright Jonathan Biggins’ new comedy Australia Day.

Opening on January 25 with the Queensland Theatre Company, the Aussie production is set in the fictional country town of Coriole and follows the members of the Australia Day Committee.

“(As an ambassador) you get to go out to regional communities and you help in their Australia Day celebrations, help at their citizenship ceremony and generally wave the flag for the Australia Day Council,” Biggins told APN.

2013 – The Jade Hairpin, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Kunqu is one of the oldest and most refined styles of Chinese opera. It is regarded as the ‘mother’ of Chinese theatre, having spawned many other forms, and is listed as one of UNESCO’s Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

In this love story, the main character Pan Bizheng, after failing his exams, runs shame-faced to his aunt’s nunnery where he meets Chen Miachang, a Taoist nun, who has her own reasons for hiding in a convent. The two fall hopelessly in love, but must overcome obstacles of re-sitting exams and true identity before they can be together.

1996 – A Fifth of Love, a Bottle of Whisky, Athenaeum theatre, Melbourne.

This foray into Bukowski’s twilight zone draws freely on his prose and poetry…the effect is languorous and enthralling.

1988 – Not the 1988 Party!, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

“A group of black artists (supported by several white performers) put on public show the talents that are uniquely theirs”.

1985 – City Sugar, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

The Stephen Poliakoff play – charts a week in the life of a DJ, Leonard Brazil, as he launches what he calls the competition of the century aimed directly at a youth audience. It is a promotional campaign designed to whip up excitement amongst the station’s audience in preparation for a super-group’s visit to the city. As Leonard runs the competition, he is tormented by self-loathing and takes out his anger on those around him. He singles out Nicola Davies, one of his listeners and engineers, and she came into the studio where he purposefully humiliated her.

1959 – Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?, Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

A comedy/farce about a man who remarries after a divorce. His ex-wife joins the newly-weds on their honeymoon to declare that the divorce was not legal.

Passings

We have no Australian entries today.

Internationally

2017 – Mary Tyler Moore – American stage, film and television actress, producer and social advocate.

Dies in Greenwhich, Connecticut, USA. Aged 80.

1990 – Ava Gardner – American Actress and singer, died on this day at Westminster, London. Aged 67.

1947 – Al Capone – American Gangster, died at Palm Island, Florida. USA. Aged 48.

Friday 24th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1947 – Helen Morse – Actress,

Happy 73rd Birthday Helen!

Born at Harrow on the Hill, in Middlesex, England. Moved to Australia in 1950 with her family to Melbourne, and was educated here.

Helen is also a graduate of N.I.D.A. Her stage credits mumber into the 90’s, and are far too many to list here. Helen has worked with all of the major Companies.

Helen appeared in many of the now iconic Australian films from the seventies and eighties, including Caddie, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Agatha, The Eye of the Storm and the television series A Town Like Alice.

Her credits for stage, film and television continue to this day, and taking the time to read a little more about this wonderful actress is well worth the effort.

https://www.wheelercentre.com/people/helen-morse

Helen with a very young looking Jackie Weaver in Caddie.

Snuggled up to Bryan Brown in A Town Like alice.

Her Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Morse

Openings

2015 – Boston Marriage, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

Boston Marriage is set in a late Victorian Boston drawing room, the scene of much backbiting wit from Anna and Claire. Anna is being kept by a married man, but she prefers the company of women. Claire, Anna’s lover, has become infatuated with a much younger woman whom she hopes Anna will help her seduce. Anna’s lover has given her a fabulous emerald which actually belongs to the mother of Claire’s inamorata. Financial and moral scandal ensues, through which Anna forces Claire’s loyalty to her. Mamet’s play gives us his trademark blunt language and scheming characters, set rather unusually among the Victorian female intellectual set.

2013 – The Peony Pavilion, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Created during the Ming Dynasty, this masterpiece has endured as a classic of Kunqu. The passionate story of the impoverished yet bright Liu Mengmei and the Nanan Governor’s privileged daughter Du Liniang comes vibrantly into play through love, death, dreams and a visit from the Lord of the Underworld

2012 – Foley, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Political agitator Gary Foley presents a swag of stories from a life lived in the spirit of resistance. From the frontlines of black activism to the halls of mainstream culture, he presents a colourful personal history and a dissident narrative of an Australian half-century.

2010 – MacHomer, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

MacHomer is a one-person play by Rick Miller which blends William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth with the animated television series The Simpsons.

2008 – The Club, Athenaeum theatre, Melbourne.

Follows the fortunes of an Australian Rules football club over the course of a season, and explores the clashes of individuals from within the club.

2007 – Lotte’s Gift, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

Based on the memoirs and recollections of Lieselotte Reinke and the recollections of
Isolde and Karin Schaupp and Trudy von Stein.
Described as ‘the poet of the guitar’ Australian classical guitarist Karin Schapp is widely considered to be one of the most outstanding young guitarists on the international scene.
This remarkabale journey punctuated with Karin’s mood enhancing quitar playing, is the story of three generations of women. Karin, her mother Isolde and most importantly, her grandmother, Lotte.

2002 – Lobby Hero, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

About a luckless security guard who is drawn into a local murder investigation causing loyalties and friendships to be strained to breaking point.

2000 – After January, La Boite Theatre, Brisbane.

Alex is marking time while awaiting his school results: body surfing, watching TV and playing pool are meanwhile his primary concerns. So he’s not prepared for the girl with the nose-ring who cuts past him on a wave and draws him into a new way of looking at the world.

1999 – NDT: Ix4, Capitol Theatre, Haymarket, NSW.

4 dance works by Jiri Kylian and Paul Lightfoot

1995 – Petites Pieces Montees, Capitol Theatre, Haymarket, NSW.

A slick, witty entertainment in its mix of circus, dance and vaudevillian comedy

1975 – Utopia, La Boite Theatre, Brisbane.

No production description available at this time.

1972 – Patate, Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

The story of a failed inventor who finds it impossible to separate fantasy from reality.

1959 – My Fair Lady, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

Hailed by critics and audiences for its heart and its wit, My Fair Lady is a beautiful musical about transformation, patronage, gender politics and class, based on George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion. Acclaimed Professor and confirmed bachelor Henry Higgins makes a wager with his linguistic colleague Colonel Pickering that in six months he can pass off “gutter snipe” Eliza Doolittle as a duchess at an embassy ball. Through arduous training, day and night, Eliza learns how to speak English “properly,” and transforms into a lady respected and adored by all classes. Along the way she bewitches young Freddy Einsford-Hill into falling in love with her, and convinces a supposed linguistics expert that she is royalty. Through her transformation process, Eliza forges a deep connection with Colonel Pickering and most especially with Professor Higgins. However, she finds herself in a difficult position, now too refined to go back to her old life and not with any means or desire to live life as a lady of leisure – especially by herself. When Higgins completely fails to acknowledge Eliza’s role in her own transformation, she leaves his home. It is only then that Higgins realizes that he cares deeply for Eliza. The play ends with Eliza’s return to Higgins’ home, and the ending is left ambiguous, yet it is beloved for being both one of the cleverest and one of the most romantic plays of all time.

Passings

We have no “theatrical” entries for today, although Caligula the Roman Emperor and Winston Churchill did die on this day.

Thursday 23rd January, 2020.

Birthdays

1962 – Richard Roxburgh – Actor, writer, producer and director.

Turns 57 today! Happy birthday.

Richard was born on this day back in 1962, at the Mercy Hospital in Albury, NSW.

Another graduate of NIDA, he went straight from “acting school” to work for The Sydney Theatre Company.

He’s played some fantastic award winning characters on stage, opposite some of our finest including Cate Blanchet, Geoffrey Rush, Jacqueline McKenzie, and David Wenham.

To me, I always see him as the loveable rogue barrister, Cleaver Greene, a role which he helped create for the critically acclaimed ABS television series Rake. I believe there’s a bit of “Cleaver” in all of us.

His credits across stage, film and television are well worth the read, and I have been told by those in the know, that his children’s book (which he also illustrated) Artie and the Grime Wave is well worth the read. I can say, I do love his illustrations in that book, he’s quite a dab hand with the pen!

Another fact I find interesting is that he is married to Silvia Colloca, the Italian actress, blogger, cookbook author and television presenter. I love her cooking show currently showing on SBS. They have three lovely children, and I can only imagine the food at their house is fantastic if it’s anything like what Sylvia cooks on the telly.

Happy birthday Richard, and may you have many more.

Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Roxburgh

Openings

2019 – The Iliad Out Loud, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

Homer’s Iliad is the HBO series of the classics – a sweeping, bloody panorama of war cut with intimate scenes that reveal the emotional lives and frailties of the famed ancient heroes and villains. Gifted actor William Zappa brings Homer’s epic to life in a thrilling modern marathon of storytelling performed by four actors with live percussion by Michael Askill and an oud score. Presented in three parts over three nights, or over one day.

2016 – Spear, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Follow the journey of a young Aboriginal man, Djali, as he tries to understand what it means to be a man with ancient traditions in a modern world.

2010 – The Sapphires, Playhouse Theatre, Perth, WA,

Meet the McCrae sisters, four gorgeous Motown-crazy singers from country New South Wales. When a talent scout discovers their Supremes cover band in St Kilda’s Tiki Club, dreams of fame, fortune and glamorous international careers seem close at hand. Instead, these Koori divas find themselves in the war zone of Vietnam, entertaining the troops.

2008 – Sean Parker: This Show is about People, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Dance – no production information available at this time.

2008 – Aether, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

A dance work inspired by the increasingly invasive onslaught of communication received through email, phone, newspaper, television, billboards, radio, internet and the myriad of other forms for disseminating information.

2007 – Shaolin Warriors Legends of Kung-Fu, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

The show is more than a kung fu show. The four seasons of summer, autumn, winter and spring depict the philosophical theory of the life cycle of Buddhism and vividly show the rarely-seen temple life of Shaolin monks; their Buddhist meditation and dedication to the martial arts.

2007 – The Space Between, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

“The Space Between” is an intimate, emotionally-charged examination of our desire to be together, the things that keep us apart and that which lingers in the gaps in between. This passionate love triangle seamlessly integrates a range of draw-dropping tumbling and trapeze skills with dance and physical theatre.
It is set to a powerful sound track blending Aphex Twin, DJ Shadow and Jacques Brel and is saluted with layers of projection and lighting.

2006 – About An Hour – Lawn, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Set in an old Berlin apartment in winter, it tells the tale of three ex-pat Aussies who dream of sunlight, open spaces and the green lawn of home. The mood is deliciously dark and surreal, the choreography is gravity defying and the humour is most definitely black.

1999 – Corporate Vibes, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Sam, a real estate developer, is accustomed to getting his own way, usually by shouting. When his staff mutiny, he finds himself confronted by a softly-spoken mediator and a demand for buildings which ‘delight the eye’ – and the stage is set for a vintage farce.

1991 – Shirley Valentine, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

A British housewife and mother is reduced to talking to the wall in her kitchen. Late bloomers of the world rejoice! where there’s Shirley Valentine, there’s hope!

1990 – Software ’90: Bulge / The Cavalier / Self Abuse / Duet & Context,

Athenaeum theatre, Melbourne.

Software gives gay men the opportunity to conceive and present their own performances.

1990 – Jigsaws, La Boite Theatre, Brisbane.

“An incisive study of family relationships”.

1984 – From The South Seas Museum, Footbridge Theatre, Sydney.

The national capital’s dance company presents a mixed media experience, which effects a perfect balance between dance, theatre and music.

‘”South Seas Museum’ centres on the Dreamer, played by Wendy Wallace or Jane Mortiss, whose dreams are bought to life on stage. She dreams of her childhood, of flying, of sensuality, of death; sometimes exciting, beautiful, sad, bizarre or absurd. It provides an opportunity for the dancers to show their versatility and power, both in dance and theatre.”

1984 – An Act of Settlement, Playhouse, Sydney Opera House.

A naturalistic play. About the past and what it does to us, about the present and what we do to it, and the future that has yet to be made, but which is already upon us at any point in time.

1979 – Demand, Stables Theatre, Sydney

No production information available at this time.

Passings

We have no entries for today.

Wednesday 22nd January, 2020.

Birthdays

1960 – Michael Hutchence – Musician, songwriter and actor. Born in Sydney.

Today Michael would have turned 60.

Most widely known for his work as lead singer and lyricist with legendary rock band INXS.

Michael and INXS enjoyed international stardom, entertaining the masses right around the globe.

He also had a few feature film acting credits to his name. He was equally renowned for his notorious private life and love affairs with prominent actresses, models and singers, gaining him international press coverage along the way.

Michael Died in his hotel room (formerly the Ritz-Carlton in the eastern suburbs) in Sydney.

On the 22nd of November, 1997. Official cause…death by hanging. Aged just 37.

A very talented young man, gone way too early.

Rest in peace Michael, and, Thank you.

Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hutchence

Openings

2009 – Ivanov, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

“Sydney Festival welcomes one of Europe’s finest acting ensembles, Budapest’s Katona József Theatre, in their acclaimed production of Chekhov’s early masterpiece. Ivanov is Chekhov’s first performed work and tells the tale of a once idealistic landowner who has lost all interest in life. With consummate skill, director Tamás Ascher, one of Europe’s most respected interpreters of Chekhov’s work, has uprooted the play from its usual setting amongst the fading Russian bourgeoisie, and planted it firmly within Hungary’s ascendant peasant classes of the 1960s.”

2009 – Morphoses, Theatre Royal, Sydney.

Christopher Wheeldon is one of the most celebrated figures in contemporary ballet. He has created works for leading companies such as New York City Ballet, The Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera and The Australian Ballet. The scope and originality of his work has won him an unrivaled international reputation, with several of his works acclaimed as modern masterpieces.

2007 – White Cabin, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

“White Cabin” is a joyous sliver of Russian chaos. Technically astounding, with dazzling use of video, a vibrant score and splendid lighting, the three performers draw on the skills of magician, performance artist, clown and acrobat to create a work of theatrical boldness, comic invention and painterly beauty.
The actors present a series of imaginative episodes that expose the absurdities of life. “White Cabin” appears both incredibly disciplined and freely improvised, both minimalist and lavish in its simultaneously melancholic and high-spirited performance. Simple tasks spiral into wild

1993 – Taboo, La Boite Theatre, Brisbane.

A one-man, adults only performance about starvation, torture, political expendiency, sexual hang-ups and day to day living.

1992 – Single Spies, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

Two one-act plays, that look at four of Britain’s most notorious spies: Burgess, Maclean, Philby and Blunt.

1991 – The Norman Conquests: Round and Round the Garden, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

The third play in a series of three. This is a banquet of comedy and a modern classic.

1980 – The Sower and The Reaper, Stables Theatre, Sydney

No production overview available.

1887 – Iolanthe, Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

Twenty-five years after her banishment from Fairyland for marrying a mortal, a crime usually punishable by death, Iolanthe has been pardoned. She had a son by this illicit marriage, Strephon, who is, therefore, half mortal and half fairy. He is in love with Phyllis whom he is determined to marry.

Passings

2008 – Heath Ledger – Actor. Born in Perth on the 4th of April, 1979.

Heath died on this day at his home in Manhattan, of an accidental prescription drug overdose. Aged just 28.

Another very talented performer gone at a very early age.

Once you’ve had a read through Heath’s biography, and acting and directing credits, you will see just how focused and diverse he was on his career.

Another person we say thankyou to for their contribution to performing arts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Ledger

Tuesday 21st January, 2020.

Birthdays

1942 – Martin Sharp – Artist, Cartoonist, Songwriter and film-maker.

Martin would have turned 78 today.

Martin was without a doubt one of our leaders in Illustration, graphic design and popular culture for the second half of the 20th century, and into this one.

Known to many for his fantastic theatre posters, and to others for his stunning designs and cartoons for OZ Magazine way back in the 1960’s, Martin and his unique designs still shine today. He is represented all of the major national collections.

Martin died at his home in Belleview Hill, from Emphysema, on the 1st of December, 2013. Aged 71.

Below is just a very small snapshot of his unique style.

I have a large foyer version of this one in my own collection

His Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Sharp

Book

**Published:** 25th January 2017
**ISBN:** 9781760111755

https://www.booktopia.com.au/martin-sharp-his-life-and-times-joyce-morgan/book/9781760111755.html?source=pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiuDup4SU5wIVViUrCh3zdQv5EAQYAiABEgLHi_D_BwE

1953 – Angela Punch-McGregor – Actress and teacher-Stage and Film.

Today Angela turns 67. Happy Birthday!

What an amazing career this lady has had. A graduate if NIDA, Angela has had leading roles in some of the most Australian iconic films; The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, Newsfront, We of the Never Never, The Delinquents, Annies Coming Out, Double deal…..

On stage She’s played everything from Juliet to Mel Gibson’s Romeo in Romeo and Juliet for Nimrod Theatre, Pearl in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, all the way through to Nancy in Barmaids. And a hundred or so other productions covering all of the major subsidised companies, a fair few of the commercial producers, and even a smattering of community companies along the way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Punch_McGregor

Openings

2016 – All the Sex I’ve Ever Had, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

A group of Sydney’s over 65s draw on all their wisdom and experience to share true stories of their romantic and sex lives in a taboo busting tell all where the spotlight is at last shone on a part of the population often rendered invisible.

2016 – La Verità, State Theatre, Melbourne.

Welcome to the wondrous universe of La Verità, a dream-like circus extravaganza for the whole family from the director of Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo and Luzia.

Part love story, part lush dreamscape, La Verità is performed against the replica of a monumental Salvador Dalí backdrop that sparked the show and unfolds as a colourful, acrobatic spectacle where rhinos juggle, wine corks fall from the sky, and a troupe of Dalí-faced ballet dancers rivals a forest of enormous, towering dandelions.

With an extra serving of humour and heart, 13 multitalented artists play instruments, sing, juggle, contort, clown and Can-Can amongst unfurling flowers, ladders suspended in empty space, impossible balances, dismantled bodies, blindfolds, feathers and sequins.

The internationally-renowned director Daniele Finzi Pasca has pulled off everything from an Olympic ceremony to productions with English National Opera and Cirque du Soleil. Compagnia Finzi Pasca finally bring their mix of astonishing acts and fantastic visuals to Brisbane.

Time melts away in a dazzling spectacle that would have made that illustrious moustache twitch with delight.

2010 – Brooklyn Boy, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

Brooklyn Boy is a quintessentially New York Jewish play.

Middle-aged Brooklyn born novelist Eric Weiss puts two previous failures behind him when he finally hits the bestseller lists with his semi-autobiographical book about growing up in a Jewish family and neighbourhood.

Weiss has returned to Brooklyn, long left behind him, to visit his terminally ill father in hospital. He has spent his life seeking the approval of his father, an approval only ever gained in a beyond the grave final scene theatrical meeting. (Stage Whispers Magazine)

2005 – Warren Garnett & Alf Mitchell In…., Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

Warren Mitchell’s inside stories from more than 50 years in show biz are the second part of this unique performance. In the first act, he reprises the role of Alf Garnett, the hilariously cantankerous bigot from the BBCTV sitcom “Till Death Us do Part”.

2001 – The Way We Were, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

No production description information available.

2000 – The Hobbit, Lyric Theatre (QPAC), Brisbane.

The production is adapted and directed by Australian Christine Anketell, whose puppetry-based stage production of The Hobbit successfully toured venues in Australia from 1998 to 2000.

Starring: Henri Szeps, Lachan Haig, Stephan Friedrich, Ramsay Everingham, Craig Gillespie, John Hunt, Adam Kronenberg, Terry Ryan, Peter Jagger, Warrick Williams, Scott Ellery, Heath McIvor, Simon Tait.

1998 – Tharp! – The Fugue / Roy’s Joys / Sweet Fields, Capitol Theatre, Haymarket, NSW,

Sexy, athletic, witty, Tharp’s work owes something to classical dance, something to Broadway, but most to her astonishing imagination. With her new company of dancers, she has created some of her most ambitious works to date, the mood ranging from cheeky to ethereal. 5 dance pieces produced over 2 programs for the festival with the overlap of Sweet Fields in both programs

1984 – Funny Stories, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

No production description available.

1964 – An Entertainment: The Canterville Ghost / A Programme of Folk Song, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

No production description available.

1954 – Reluctant Heroes, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

This comedy is set in an army boot camp. It displays a drill sergeant who must somehow turn an inept group of recruits into real soldiers.

1948 – Swan Lake / Mephisto Valse / Lady Into Fox / Facade, Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

The Ballat Rambert Australian – New Zealand Tour 1947-48.

Passings

1975 – Marie Lohr – Actress – Film and stage. Born in Sydney, 28th July,1890.

Died on this day in 1975, aged 84.

Marie was an Australian born film and stage actress, active on stage and in film in Britain.

Another of our “lost treasures”.

Marie Löhr was born in Sydney, , to Lewis J. Löhr, treasurer of the Melbourne opera house, and his wife, the English actress Kate Bishop.

Her first stage appearance was in Sydney, aged 4, in The World Against Her. Her London debut (after the family’s move to Britain), was at age 11, in Shockheaded Peter as well as The Man Who Stole the Castle. (Shockheaded Peter also starred Kate Bishop and George Grossmith Jr., and was produced at the Garrick Theatre in 1900.)

Her later stage-work included appearances in a 1929 London stage production of Beau Geste alongside Laurence Olivier, and in the original production of the 1930 play The Bread-Winner.

Her first film appearance was in the 1932 film version of Aren’t we All?, and — having appeared in several of George Bernard Shaw‘s works onstage — her subsequent films included two Shaw adaptations. She died at the age of 84, and was buried in the Brompton Cemetery in west London.

Monday 20th January, 2020.

Birthdays

We have no entries for today.

Openings

2009 – Angelina’s Star Performance, State Theatre, Melbourne.

Following on from their performances is Brisbane.

Performed by 8 dancers from the world-renowned English National Ballet, Angelina’s Star Performance is the perfect introduction for children to the magical world of ballet.

Based on the hugely popular children’s book Angelina at the Palace created by author Katherine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig, Angelina’s Star Performance is the story of a remarkable little mouse who dreams of becoming a prima ballerina.

When Queen Seriphina requests a special mouselings’ ballet at the palace, Angelina decides to stage The Sleeping Beauty, the most royal ballet of them all. It’s Angelina’s biggest challenge yet… will she manage to pull it off?

2007 – Sideshow Alley, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

“Rita the fortune-teller, Billy the tent boxer, and Alec a charismatic drifter, find themsleves irrevocably intertwined in a love triangle beyond acceptable boundaries of the time. Their sanctuary among ‘misfits’, ‘outcasts’ and ‘curiosities’ of the 1950s travelling show, provides a setting for songs of love, laughter and drama, as they find themselves living lives that are filled with secrets and lies.”

2006 – About An Hour – Chronicles – A Lamentation, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

An ensemble performance with an international cast which incorporates ancient music, dance, mime, acting and laments sung in Albanian and Greek.
It centres on an ancient Sumerian epic inscribed on stone tablets over 5,000 years ago.

2004 – Chunky Move’s Tense Dave, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Dark, humorous and unexpectedly theatrical, Chunky Move’s latest work is set on a continually revolving stage. The unusual setting lends Tense Dave a cinematic quality emphasised by the extraordinary characters who navigate their spinning world with dexterity and grace.

2002 – Theatresports: King of the Hill, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

An ongoing comic improvisation competition.

2002 – Talking Culture – Critic’s Forum, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Respected national arts journalist Deborah Jones chairs an international critics’ forum. Cultural commentators from Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy discuss criticism and it’s role and relevance in the arts today from an international perspective.

2001 – Compania Nacional de Danza, Capitol Theatre, Haymarket, NSW.

Sydney Festival presents the highly anticipated return of Spain’s most celebrated dance company, Compañía Nacional de Danza.

Over the course of two different programs, their acclaimed Artistic Director, Nacho Duato, and the 30 outstanding members of the company synthesise classical and modern dance with a distinctly Spanish visual flair and passion.

Program 1, Multiplicity: Form of Silence and Emptiness. Program 2, Arcangelo, Remansos and Mediterrania.

1999 – One Of A Kind, Capitol Theatre, Haymarket, NSW.

The Dutch government, as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations in 1998, commissioned Jiri Kylian to compose a work based on the Dutch Constitution. Article One of that document states that all citizens of the Netherlands are equal and are to be treated equally without discrimination of any kind. This principle of equality was the inspiration of One Of A Kind.

1998 – Tharp! – Heroes / Sweet Fields / 66, Capitol Theatre, Haymarket, NSW.

1994 – Look At Me When I’m Talking To You, Lyric Theatre (QPAC), Brisbane.

Barry Humphries is the consummate professional… three hours of social and political observations. The repulsive Les Patterson opens the show with his rude remarks about recent political theatre and he’s followed by Daryl Dalkeith, a fast-talking buisnessman of the Eighties who’s done his time for fraud and thinks Chris Skase is a chicken for doing a runner instead of his time.

1981 – Five Minutes, Mr Klein / The Centenarian, Phillip Street Theatre, Sydney.

Mr Klein is a chiropodist who wants to be a tap dancer. In “The Centenarian” a long-suffering granddaughter eagerly awaits the insurance policy that matures on Grannie’s 100th birthday.

1906 – Utopia Limited, Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

Utopia, Limited; or, The Flowers of Progress, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W.S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of their fourteen collaborations.

Gilbert’s libretto satirises limited liability companies, and particularly the idea that a bankrupt company could leave creditors unpaid without any liability on the part of its owners. It also lampoons the Joint Stock Company Act by imagining the absurd convergence of natural persons (or sovereign nations) with legal commercial entities under the limited companies laws. In addition, it mocks the conceits of the late 19th-century British Empire and several of the nation’s beloved institutions. In mocking the adoption by a “barbaric” country of the cultural values of an “advanced” nation, it takes a tilt at the cultural aspects of imperialism. The libretto was criticised as too long and rambling by some critics and later commentators, and several subplots introduced in Act I are never resolved.

Passings

We have no entries for today.

Sunday 19th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1935 – Johnny O’Keefe – legendary Rock and Roll singer.

Johnny would have turned 85 today.

Where would entertainment in Australia be without J.O.K.?

Even today, we still hear his hits being performed around the traps. “The Wild One”, “Shout”, “She’s My Baby”, “Don’t You Know”, “I’m Counting On You”, “Move Baby Move”, and the list goes on.

With such a rich life story, the up’s, the down’s then the back up again roller coaster ride, it was of little surprise a stage musical on his life would come along.

The stage musical Shout! The Legend of the wild One (by John-Michael Howson, David Mitchell and Melvin Morrow) is just that story, and well worth looking into.

The link below offers a good insight to J.O.K’s life and achievements. You’ll also find information on Television mini-series, other TV programs and movies about life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_O%27Keefe

There are also a few books

See my Good Reads section

**Published:** 30th July 2013
**ISBN:** 9780733629341

**Published:** September 13, 2001
**ISBN-13:** 978-1865084794

International Birthday

Also born today.

1946 – Dolly Parton – Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actress, author, businesswoman, humanitarian. And an all-round lovely person.

Today Dolly turns 73. Happy birthday Dolly!

From humble beginnings, she was born Dolly Rebecca Parton on January 19, in 1946, in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pidgeon River in Pittman Centre; a very small community in Sevier County in the Great Smokey Mountains, of East Tennessee.

She is the fourth of 12 children born to Avie Lee Caroline (1923–2003) and Robert Lee Parton Sr. (1921–2000).

Dolly has gone on to being one of our most loved international performers.

Later this year her stage show 9 to 5 The Musical will have its Australian Premiere in Sydney (Lyric Theatre, April) BOOKNOW! It’s a fantastic show.

Visit good reads section for the most recent book on Dolly.

Visit Dolly’s website – https://dollyparton.com/life-and-career

General biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Parton

visit the official website for her show

https://9to5themusical.com.au/

Openings

2018 – Sorting Out Rachel, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

In this world premiere production, David Williamson cements his place as one of Australia’s most masterful storytellers with a brand new social comedy about legacy, entitlement and making good on past relationships

2017 – Odd Man Out, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

It starts like a fairy-tale romance: Ryan tells Alice she has a beautiful smile, and suddenly he is asking her out. Alice has never met anyone like Ryan before: he’s charming, forthright and painfully truthful. She knows their relationship is moving way too fast, but there is something ridiculously attractive about this straight-talking man. His bluntness may upset her family and friends, but when he asks her to marry him, she finds herself saying… yes. As newlyweds, Alice discovers a side of Ryan she never knew existed – and becomes determined to fix his flaws, with hilarious and disastrous results.

2016 – The Tribe, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

Performed by the inimitable Hazem Shammas (Mother Courage and Her Children, Scorched), this is a story of belonging, told by Bani as a small boy finding his way in a young country by recounting tales of an old country – and at the heart of it all, his love for his grandmother. She’s the core presence in Bani’s life, carrying all the truths of ‘The Tribe’ – a small Muslim sect who fled to Australia from Lebanon. Hazem’s Bani is like a visionary child channelling a Bedouin storyteller – all amongst the Hills Hoists, paling fences, frangipani and jasmine of the Sydney yard. Don’t miss this very special event.

2016 – Dirtgirl’s Get Grubby Musical, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

It’s time to get grubby with dirt girl’s get grubby musical, filled with all of your favourite songs and characters from the internationally acclaimed Get Grubby TV and brought to life by the Emmy Award-winning team behind dirtgirlworld. This brand new show is guaranteed to be a wheelbarrow-load of fun for all the family.

2016 – The Good Doctor, Glen Street Theatre, Sydney.

If laughter is indeed the best medicine, THE GOOD DOCTOR is the cure-all pill. In this collection of stories from master playwright Neil Simon (channelling Chekhov), we meet a cast of unforgettable characters from the tragically comical to the comically tragic. There’s the clerk who blows a sneeze out of proportion, the player who gets played, the dentist who’s just a little too enthusiastic…

2015 – Ukchuk-Ga: Pansori Mother Courage, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Little known outside it’s native Korea, Pansori is a genre of musical storytelling that showcases the ethereal vocal gymnastics of highly dedicated and highly trained singers. For Pansori singers, music is life. Ukchuk-Ga is a provocative retelling of Mother Courage and her Children.

2015 – Mister Maker Live!, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Experience Mister Maker live on stage these coming summer holidays at the Sydney Opera House. With catchy songs, creative makes and special guests The Shapes, this arty party is a treat for the whole family.

2010 – Warriors of Brazil, Theatre Royal, Sydney.

In a show that combines the extraordinary martial art of Capoeira (kah-poh-ayr-ra) with the music and dance of Carnival, Warriors of Brazil showcases all of the power and the passion that is modern Brazil.

2010 – Angelina’s Star Performance, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

Performed by 8 dancers from the world-renowned English National Ballet, Angelina’s Star Performance is the perfect introduction for children to the magical world of ballet.

2002 – Talking Culture – Director’s Forum, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Join one of the great theatre directors of our time, Ariane Mnouchkine, as she discusses her work and the creation of Theatre du Soleil with Adrian Kiernander, Professor of Theatre Studies at The University of New England. In 1964 Mnouchkine founded one of Europe’s greatest theatre companies. Since then the company has established an international productions astounding for their vision, beauty and originality.

2001 – Art, Playhouse, Melbourne.

Serge has bought a modern work of art for a large sum of money. Marc hates the painting and cannot believe that a friend of his could possibly want such a work. Yvan attempts, unsuccessfully, to placate both sides with hilarious consequences. The question is: Are you who you think you are or are you who your friends think you are?

1997 – Carmen Linares, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

On the 50th anniversary of Manuel de Falla’s death, Sydney joins Paris, New York, Madrid and Buenos Aires in celebrating the life and work of this greatest of Spanish composers. As part of this tribute, Carmen Linares, acclaimed as the greatest living flamenco singer, will perform Falla’s El Amor Brujo (Love the Magician), the hypnotic and terrifying Ritual Fire Dance and the popular Seven Spanish Songs.

1982 – I’ve Come about the Suicide, Phillip Street Theatre, Sydney.

Why is a famous ex-explorer, ex-author, ex-adventurer recording his own increasingly eccentric behaviour on videotape? In his intriguing comedy, author Craige Cronin reveals (not quite) all!

1979 – Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

Barney Cashman is forty-seven, happily married, the father of three children, a successful businessman, and a man going through a midlife crisis. Barney has come to the realization that his whole life can be summed up in one word: nice. And Barney has realized that “nice” simply isn’t enough. He wants to experience his secret fantasies and dreams at least once, and so Barney determines to have an affair. He tries not just once, but three times, with three different women, and each time, something prevents the affair from happening. In the end, Barney returns to the familiar and invites his wife up to the apartment where he has been rendezvousing with the other women. Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers examines what it means to grow older, and asks the question, “What do you do when it seems as if your life hasn’t been fully lived?”

Passings

1889 – Snub Pollard – Vaudeville performer and silent movie star. Born Harold Fraser, in Melbourne.

Many people would have no idea who this man is from his name, but I am here to tell you, he was one of our most famous early pioneers of film industry who went on to have a major career, back in the day, in Hollywood.

Beginning in a highly successful children’s Opera Company here, he toured Australia and he went on to tour the US.

It was there that he was spotted performing on stage in LA, where a movie producer “discovered him”. He rapidly gained popularity in the silent film business.

Snub has his own STAR on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

With over three and a half pages of film credits to his name, we is one well worth the read in the link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snub_Pollard

9 to 5 the Musical

Saturday 18th January, 2020.

Birthdays

We have no entries for today.

Openings

TONIGHT

2020 – Mazda Opera in the Domain, The Domain, Sydney.

OPERA AUSTRALIA

Join the annual tradition and head to the Domain – picnic in hand, friends in tow. Australia’s brightest opera stars serenade you under the balmy summer sky, performing popular highlights with the magnificent backing of the Opera Australia Orchestra.

Christopher Lawrence returns as master of ceremonies, but most of the music won’t need any introduction – whether you recognise them from the Opera House or the television, these are melodies to make you smile and swoon.

The music is thrilling, the atmosphere relaxed. And whether you’re indulging in your favourite operatic moments or just discovering the dramatic power of human voice, Opera in the Domain is a musical highlight of the Sydney summer.

Dress up – or not – and bring your own picnic or enjoy delicious food from the many local food trucks catering the event. A family friendly event, suitable for all ages, Opera in the Domain is accessible to the d/Deaf and hard of hearing through Auslan interpretation.

Visit the official website

https://opera.org.au/sydney/opera-in-the-domain

2017 – The Book of Mormon, Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

The Hit musical comedy by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone.

A satirical examination of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ beliefs and practices that ultimately endorses the positive power of love and service.

2006 – About An Hour – I Want to Dance Better at Parties, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

A dance documentary that presents the dancing that five men do against the backdrop of their personal stories. Moving from dusty dance halls and family gatherings to pounding nightclubs, these men’s intimate disclosures reveal a whole lot more about what makes men move.

2006 – Bright Abyss, Theatre Royal, Sydney.

A feverish fantasy in which bodies and objects collide creating an explosion of visual poetry. Contortionism, acrobatics, mysterious transformations, music and dance fuse to shape a wonderful fanfare of the physical.

2006 – Winter’s Discontent, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

William Zappa’s salty play for two actors is full of funny-sad insights into the actor’s life.

1999 – Nothing But Pleasure, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Leaping in where angels fear to tread, British comedian David Benson deals with life, love and death in a performance that includes an hilarious and often moving account of the Funeral of the Century. It’s an unnervingly brave, knife-edged walk between voicing the vexed thoughts of the silent majority and tottering into the abyss of taboo.

1996 – Glamalot: Knights in White Satin, Lyric Theatre (QPAC), Brisbane.

An agglomeration of spoof and satire, jokes and slick routines crudely packed around the unstable energies of the Seventies pop music… hybrid of pantomime and rock eisteddford with a broad larrikin streak.

1991 – Punch and Judy: The real Story, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

The exploration of physical violence within marriage

1984 – Limbs, Footbridge Theatre, Sydney.

Three Boxes – a technically demanding dance for three women to music by her next-door neighbour. Dominos – a group catch-and-fall to music by Auckland composer Graeme Gash. Knee Dance – A haunting dance. Ranterstantrum – A hypnotic tribal dance. Land of A Thousand Dances – A humorous/sad look at adolescence. This Is A Love Song – An intense angry pas de deux with clowns chorus. Poi – an exploration of spatial effects of movement. Tangos – two tongue in cheek solo pieces to music by Stavinsky.

1983 – The Circle, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

The W. Somerset Maugham classic comedy.

Depicts a young married woman contemplating leaving her husband for another man, and looking to an elderly peer and his partner, who eloped thirty years earlier, for advice.

1982 – The Rocky Horror Show, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

The now famous humorous tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s.

The musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and coming to the home of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr Frank-N-Furter, unveiling his new creation, a sort of Frankenstein-style monster in the form of an artificially made, fully grown, physically perfect muscle man named Rocky, complete “with blond hair and a tan”.

1980 – Up in One, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

A Dee Anthony Production of the smash hit Broadway stage show

1949 – The Land of Promise, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

Written by Somerset Maugham.

1929 – Pigs, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne. 18 January

Written by Somerset Maugham.

Passings

No entries for today.

Friday 17th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1923 – Carol Raye – Actress, comedian, producer and director. Was born on this day in London.

Celebrates her 96th Birthday today.

Carol Raye

Carol started her career in the United Kingdom in theatre and television and starring film roles.

She worked as a producer and director for the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation in the early 1960s, before emigrating to Australia in 1962.

Carol is perhaps best known to many from her many roles in television serials such as Number 96, The Mavis Bramston Show, all the way through to SeaChange.

In the 1980’s, Carol had a four-year appointment with the Theatre Board of the Australia Council.

She also appeared in many Australian theatre productions including California Suite, Pleasure of His Company, Travelling North, The Merry Wives of Windsor, You Can’t Take It With You, Noises Off and Hay Fever.

Carol was also honoured with her own episode of This Is Your Life.

Happy Birthday Carol!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Raye

1925 – Alan Edwards AM MBE – Actor, director and educator.

Would have turned 94 today.

Born in Britain in 1925, Alanwas an accomplished actor and was the founding Artistic Director of the Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane.

Alan was a true legend of theatre in Australia.

In 1964 he was brought to Australia to teach at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney. During this time Edwards also managed to act with The Old Tote Theatre Company, The Theatre Royal, Hobart and played many roles on television for the ABC and commercial networks.

Edwards founded and built up the first state theatre company in Queensland in 1969 and in the process helping to establish the career of future star Geoffrey Rush as well as Bille Brown, Carol Burns and many others. He was so highly esteemed that celebrity actors such as Diane Cilento came back to Brisbane to work with him. In 1988 Alan Edwards was succeeded in the post of Artistic Director by Aubrey Mellor.

Edwards served on the Theatre Board of the Australia Council and was also Chairman of the Steering Committee which brought into being the Confederation of Australian Performing Arts (CAPPA) and later served as its Vice-Chairman. He was a board member of the Queensland Performing Arts Trust for 10 years, Inaugural President of the Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund (Qld) Inc., Patron of the Queensland Theatre of the Deaf, a Member of the Immigration Review Panel (Queensland) and was a Justice of the Peace.

Alan died in Brisbane on the 14th January, 2003. Aged 77.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Edwards_(actor)

Openings

2018 – The Wider Earth, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Written by David Morton, this ambitious collaboration is a visually stunning reimagining of Charles Darwin’s voyage on the HMS Beagle. It’s brought to life by an award-winning cast and astonishing custom-built puppets, with original music by Lior and Tony Buchen. Join Darwin on his five-year journey, encountering the wildlife that inspired his theory of evolution.

2017 – Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Ronald Dahl’s legendary book leaps off the page to become a spectacular live show. Set to completely lift the roof, it’s packed (to the rafters) with mischief, magic and giant laughs for ages 6+.

2014 – Black Diggers, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

To mark 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War, Black Diggers explores the untold and exceptional stories of Indigenous Australian soldiers who fought for the British Commonwealth.
Shunned and downtrodden in their own country and banned from serving in the military, Aboriginal men stepped up to enlist and take up arms to defend the free world in its greatest time of need.
Directed by Wesley Enoch and written by Tom Wright, Black Diggers uncovers the fearless contribution these Aboriginal men made to Australian history.

2014 – Flood, Studio Underground, Perth, WA,

It is the summer of their lives. Six Perth friends, young, privileged and bullet-proof, are back together over the holidays to take a trip into the Mid West. As they travel deeper into the land, they edge closer to the dark heart of the Australian psyche. When something unexpected happens, their impulsive decisions have lethal consequences.

Which of your friends would be the best at keeping a secret? Who would crack first under pressure? And what lengths would you go to in order to protect ‘the group’?

2013 – Rian, Theatre Royal, Sydney.

Joyous and exhilarating, the latest creation from Irish dance company Fabulous Beast is a thrilling evening of music and dance. For this internationally acclaimed work, director and choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan collaborates with composer Liam Ó Maonlaí of Hothouse Flowers, drawing inspiration from Ó Maonlaí’s 2005 solo album Rian (‘mark’ or ‘trace’ in Gaelic).

2013 – The Motherf**cker with the Hat, Studio Underground, Perth, WA,

Jackie, a petty drug dealer, is just out of prison and trying to stay clean. He’s also still passionately in love with his coke-addicted childhood sweetheart, Veronica. Ralph D. is Jackie’s smooth-talking, shifty Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. He’s married to the jaded and sharp-tongued Victoria, who, by the way, has the hots for Jackie. And then there’s Jackie’s cousin Julio, a stand-up, “stand by me” kind of guy. When Jackie finds a man’s hat in the flat he shares with Veronica, his jealousy spirals out of control and mayhem ensues.

2012 – Iota – Young, hard and solo, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

With four Helpmann Awards under his sequined belt, iOTA takes to the stage for this deeply personal and wildly theatrical concert.

2007 – Kaidan: A Ghost Story, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

“Kaidan” is based on the Japanese ghost story “Of a Mirror”, which tells the story of a woman whose life crumbles when she gives away an old family mirror – an often used metaphor for a woman’s soul. While tragic, the story is also full of love, desire and ultimate release and is an exhilarating platform for the visions of an extraordinary collection of artists

2003 – Black Chicks Talking, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

From childhoods full of denials and lies through to histories of separation, Black Chicks Talking is gut wrenching, funny, warm and poignant. It integrates theatre and storytelling with traditional Indigenous and contemporary dance. The play is the third incarnation which began as a best-selling book and went on to become an acclaimed documentary film.

2003 – Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Theatre Royal, Sydney.

In drama, dance and song this Chronicle explodes with bold and passionate gesture and image. It brings new life to Marquez’s famous story of the assassination of Santiago Nasar by the Vicario brothers in ‘legitimate defence’ of their sister’s honour. With a sardonic edge and Latin soul, the spiraling and unavoidable whirlpool that ensues reflects upon social prejudices, the irrationality of violence, society’s moral codes and the complicity of silence.

2003 – This Is Our Youth, The New Dolphin Theatre, Crawley, WA.

A black comedy set in 1982 on Manhattan’s Upper West Side 48 hours in the lives of three hard living teenagers.

2001- Alice in Wonderland, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

Ballet Theatre of Queensland

A ballet based on Lewis Carroll’s well-known children’s classic.

1996 – Scared In America, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

They’re scared, they’re weird and they’re little. Two young lads who perform their own brand of witty music parodies.

1991 – Phantoad of the Opera, Lyric Theatre (QPAC), Brisbane.

“Musical entertainment out of the rock-pop detritus of yesterday.”

1979 – A Cheery Soul, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

A Cheery Soul is a 1963 play by Australian writer Patrick White, set in the fictional Sydney suburb of Sarsaparilla at the end of the 1950s. White described it as being about “the destructive power of good.”

1978 – After Liverpool, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. “After Liverpool is not a play but a suite of pieces, to be performed by one or more actors and one or more actresses. The order in which the pieces are played is not specified. Using a musical analogy, the script gives some themes, within and between which any number of variations are possible.”

– James Saunders (The Playwright)

1946 – Dear Ruth, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

The romantic comedy on which the film was based.

1945 – The Amazing Dr Clitterhouse, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

Dr. Clitterhouse, a learned and dignified physician, becomes interested in the study of criminology and decides to find out from actual experience just how the nerves of criminals respond to their misdeeds. Thus, entirely in the interest of science, he becomes a famous bandit, first alone, and then at the head of a gang. Eventually he gets enough material for his book and that is where his difficulties come in. For on the outskirts of the gang and jealous of its success is the wicked fence, Benny Kellerman, who tries to outwit the fine gentleman, but the good manners of the doctor triumph. Dr. Clitterhouse may be a crook, but he is first a gentleman.

(Samuel French – vault)

Passings

no entries for today.

Thursday 16th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1937 – Lorraine Bayly AM – Actress. Stage, film and television. Born in Narrandera, NSW.

Today Lorraine turns 82.

Best known to the wider community as Grace Sullivan, from the legendary television series The Sullivans, not to mention her appearances as the host of PlaySchool.

Lorraine describes acting for the stage as her first love.

Lorraine was a founding member of the Ensemble Theatre at Kirribilli in Sydney, and has had a wonderful career having performed in over 50 stage productions. Lorraine has had a fantastic career, and her links below show just how much she has achieved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_Bayly

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/3377

Greg Page AM – Singer, Actor and Musician. The original “Yellow Wiggle”. Was born in Sydney.

Celebrating his 47th Birthday today.

While still a teenager, Page was a roadie for and sang with the Australian band the Cockroaches during their final years. On bandmate Anthony Field’s recommendation, he enrolled in Macquarie University to study Early Childhood Education. While students, Page, Field, and guitarist Murray Cook, along with former Cockroaches member and keyboardist Jeff Fatt, combined their music backgrounds and teaching skills to form the Wiggles.

The rest, as they say, is history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Page_(musician)

Openings

2019 – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part One, Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

Australian Premiere

Parts One and Two.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places

2018 – Brainiac Live, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Strap on your safety goggles boys and girls, for science’s greatest and most volatile live show! With exploding dustbins, combusting microwave and daredevil experiments, delve fearlessly into the mysteries of science this summer. Ages 6+.

2014 – Dido and Aeneas, Sydney Lyric Theatre, Sydney.

Renowned for her boundless visual imagination, Berlin choreographer Sasha Waltz has come together with celebrated baroque orchestra to present her first opera: a majestic re-imagining of one of the world’s greatest romantic tragedies.

2009 – The Pianist, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

In September 1939, concert pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman was midway through a performance of Chopin’s Nocturne in C Sharp Minor for Warsaw Radio when the Nazis pulled the power. Six years later, after an infernal odyssey of survival during which he saved his sanity by playing silently on a tabletop every day, Szpilman returned to Warsaw Radio and completed his recital.

His memoir, The Pianist, is the story of those six years (and served as inspiration for the 2002 Academy Award winning film of the same name).

2008 – Mortal Engine, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

In Mortal Engine, the limits of the human body are an illusion. Emanating from within, crackling light and staining shadows represent the most perfect or sinister of souls. Drawing on the kinetics of the interior, enveloping lasers and movement responsive video projections paint an ever-shifting shimmering world. Within this visually spinning, humming and oozing environment, dancers fluidly exchange and combine form with light around them in a constant state of becoming. Witnessing moments of exquisite cosmological perfection, or grotesque evolutionary accidents of existence, we are ceaseless.

2008 – The Sleeping Princess The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

Ballet Theatre of Queensland

A beautiful princess named Aurora is born and all the kingdom’s fairies have been invited to bestow on her their speical gifts. However, the evil fairy Carabosse has been left off the guest list and is furious. She lays a terrible curse on Aurora. Fortunately, the Lilac Fairy has yet to give her gift. Instead of death, the castle and its occupants will sleep for 100 years. A prince’s kiss will awaken the sleeping princess. Will they marry and live happily ever after?

2002 – The Nutcracker, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

Ballet Theatre of Queensland

The enchanted story of Clara and her beloved nutcracker.

1999 – Jails, Hospitals and Hip-Hop, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Brooklyn bad-boy Danny Hoch specialises in serving up unique slices of New York life. For his Australian debut, this Obie-award winning performer presents a wild ride through hospital lobbies, prison cafeterias, jail cells and television talk-show sets and the personalities encountered.

1993 – Hot Shoe Shuffle, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

A tap and musical extravaganza which displays a unique understanding of 1940s showmanship.

1990 – The Tin Twin, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

Sha Sha Higby is a unique performance artist who blends the mystery and excitement of Indonesia with the electronic world of MTV.

1988 – Manning Clark’s History of Australia: The Musical, Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

“This extraordinary show represents something uniquely Australian, not just in its subject matter, but in its combination of a massive intellectual project with popular modes of entertainment to create something which is both unpretentious and extremely ambitious, raising serious issues and raising a lot of laughs, too”.

1979 – Animal-Vegetable and Mineral, Stables Theatre, Sydney.

No performance information available.

1967 – Where’s Daddy?, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

A play about tolerance and intolerance, and how these are manifested in families and communities.

1964 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

Twice daily pantomime: adaptation of Walt Disney’s film (1937)

Passings

No entries for today.

Wednesday 15th January, 2020.

Note: Bold and underlined production titles are direct links to the production credits. Simply hold the Ctrl Key down and click your mouse to go to the site. On your phone, simply tap the underlined production name.

Birthdays

Surprisingly, we have found no birthday entries for notable Aussie theatricals born on the 14th of January. If you know of someone suitable, please let us know.

Openings

2020 – Bran Nue Dae – Parramatta Riverside Theatres, Sydney.

OPENS TONIGHT

Tonight is the opening night of the 2020 revival, before touring nationally.

Jimmy Chi’s coming-of-age musical comedy Bran Nue Daeis an exuberant ride through 1960s Western Australia. Young Willie embarks on a journey of discovery, hitchhiking his way from mission school back to Broome, determined to win the heart of the girl he left behind.

The first ever Aboriginal musical celebrates family, forgiveness and reconciliation with a feel-good mash-up of rock-and-roll, gospel, country and blues music. It returns to the stage 30 years after its sparkling 1990 debut.

Visit the official website

https://brannuedaemusical.com.au/

2015 – Sweet Charity, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Sweet Charity follows the romantic trials and tribulations of Charity Hope Valentine, “a girl who wanted to be loved.” Charity is a taxi dancer, a dance partner-for-hire at a seedy dance hall in New York City. Though the job may be decidedly undesirable, Charity’s hopeful romanticism and unfailing optimism lift her out of her circumstances and help her reach for a life beyond. In the past, she’s been strung along and hung out to dry by a series of bad relationships and lousier men. When she meets Oscar, a neurotic, shy actuary seemingly from another world, will she finally find true love at last? One of the most famous shows by legendary director/choreographer Bob Fosse and with a laugh-a-minute script by the incomparable Neil Simon, every audience is destined to fall in love with Charity’s limitless spirit, as she lives life “hopefully ever after.”

Debuting on Broadway in 1966, Sweet Charity features a memorable music score by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields including major hits like Big Spender and If My Friends Could See Me Now.

https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/1662/sweet-charity

2015 – Venus in Fur, Studio Underground, Perth, WA.

Thomas Novachek, a director/playwright, has suffered through a long day of abysmal auditions for his adaptation of the German sadomasochistic novel Venus in Furs, until Vanda, a crass and pushy actress, stumbles into his audition room. While Vanda shares the lead character’s name, she lacks her sophistication. However, when Thomas agrees to let Vanda read for the role, she displays a surprising understanding of the material. Working through the script with Thomas playing the masochistic male lead, the roleplay becomes intense, erotic, and less like acting. David Ives’ mesmerizing play explores themes of submission, domination, and power with a fast-paced, mutable language he is known for. Reality and pretend become blurred lines in Venus in Fur, and the question of “who’s on top” always has a different answer.

https://stageagent.com/shows/play/611/venus-in-fur

2005 – Three Furies: Scenes from the Life of Francis Bacon, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House. 15 January

Greek furies and the passionate relationship of a famous painter with his muse are some of the elements in this new play. Sensual, poetic, sordid, satiric and often sublime, Stephen Sewell takes as his starting point the period leading up to a Paris retrospective which would anoint the celebrated Anglo-Irish artist Francis Bacon as the greatest figurative painter of the twentieth century. On the eve of the exhibition his model, muse and lover George Dyer, committed suicide.

2003 – Peter Pan, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

Ballet Theatre of Queensland

The classic story of Peter Pan and the Darling children and their adventures in Neverland.

1991 – Pundulmura (Two Trees Together), Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

“A ‘busking cabaret’ in which an Italian spruiker runs a street stall selling aboriginal artefacts.”

Passings

No entries for today.

Tuesday 14th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1926 – Warren Mitchell – Actor. Was born (Warren Misell) in Stoke Newington, London.

Today would have been his 94th birthday.

Warren is remembered by many for his character Alf Garnett from the ‘60’s and 70’s television series To Death Us Do Part, but his career spanned so much more.

Warren gained Australian citizenship in the1980’s and had quite a stage career here, as well as in Britain.

The links below will give you a pretty good idea of just how talented and diverse Warren was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Mitchell

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/mel-gibson-pays-tribute-to-mentor-warren-mitchell-who-had-profound-effect-on-him-as-a-young-actor/news-story/f7ba6ebf613fc88797c648885613dc03

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/world/warren-mitchell-theatre-mourns-actor-who-shone-in-vaudeville-and-shakespeare/news-story/dcbc9a03c453c64c08d870f075685a6e

Warren passed away at Highgate in London on 14th November, 2015. Aged 89.

1949 – Paul Chubb – Actor and screenwriter. Was born (Paul Dunford) at Arncliffe in NSW, on this day.

Today would have been Paul’s 71st Birthday.

An actor who many may not recall the name, but a face instantly recognisable to most.

He began his career as an “everyman” character actor by studying under Hayes Gordon at the Ensemble Theatre and began to appear in television commercials, soap-operas including Number 96, and television dramas. He wrote and acted in pub plays and pantomimes and segued to feature film work such as with Julie Forsyth in Stan and George’s New Life (1990), which “remains a defining portrayal in a body of work that includes Così, Bliss and Road To Nhill,” a total of 22 feature films.^[3]

Chubb guest-starred as a State Member of Parliament Patrick Rafferty (Michael Rafferty’s brother), in Rafferty’s Rules.

Paul was married to actress Linda Nagel, he died due to post- operative cardiomyopathy complications, in Newcastle, NSW, on the 9th of June, 2002.Aged 53.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Chubb

Openings

2016 – Loaded: Girl Shut Your Mouth / Tonsils and Tweezers, Studio Underground, Perth, WA.14 January

Western Australia’s hottest young playwrights, Gita Bezard and Will O’Mahony oﬀer intriguing insights into the lengths some go to for friendship and the chance at a new life. What would you do?

Witness WA’s rising stars, fresh out of WAAPA, as they take The Lab by storm in two award winning plays out of the Emerging Writers Group.

Visit Black Swan State Theatre Company – https://bsstc.com.au/plays/loaded-a-double-bill-of-new-plays

2016 – The Tiger Who Came to Tea, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane. 14 January

A children’s Theatre production adapted from the popular short story by Judith Kerr.

The story concerns a girl called Sophie, her mother, and an anthropomorphised tiger who interrupts their afternoon tea.

2008 – Akmal Saleh, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House. 14 January

An evening’s entertainment with the popular Egyptian – Australian comedian and actor.

2006 – Dirty Dancing, Lyric Theatre (QPAC), Brisbane. 14 January

This show is based on the classic film Dirty Dancing , considered to be one of the most popular movies of all time and seen by millions around the world.

The stage production portrays the wonderful story with all the emotion, energy, thrilling dance sequences and characters that made the film a classic. Featuring the big hits from the movie including (I’ve had) The Time Of My Life, Do you love me; she’s like the wind, hungry eyes and many more.

2004 – Aladdin, The Playhouse(QPAC), Brisbane. 14 January

The Ballet Theatre of Queensland

Staged in the original Chinese setting of this fabled story, Ballet Theatres’ Aladdin showcases Queensland’s most talented young dancers in a spectacular theatrical and dance production for all the family.

2002 – SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House. 14 January

A new work from Kate Champion exploring the way shared experiences are remembered and retold in completely different ways.

1992 – Wizard of Oz – The Musical, Adelaide Festival Centre. 14 January

The RSC production had its Australian premiere at the State Theatre, Melbourne in January to February 1991. The production played in December 1991 in Brisbane and January to February 1992 in Adelaide. The cast included Tamsin West as Dorothy, Cameron Daddo as Hunk/Scarecrow (replaced by Brian Rooney in Brisbane and Adelaide ), David Whitney as Hickory/The Tinman, Pamela Rabe as Miss Gulch/Wicked Witch and John Gaden as Professor Marvel/The Wizard (replaced by Bert Newton in Brisbane and Adelaide).

Passings

2003 – Alan Edwards AM MBE – Actor, director and educator.

Died in Brisbane on this day.

Born in Britain in 1925, Alan as an accomplished Actor and was the founding Artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane.

Alan was a true legend of theatre in Australia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Edwards_(actor)

1977 – Peter Finch – Actor.

Born in South Kensington, London in 1916, and moved to Australia as a child.

Died on this day. Aged 60.

He died from a heart attack, in the lobby of The Beverly Hills Hotel.

He is best remembered for his role as crazed television anchor-man Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of film and Television Arts, and a Best Actor award from the Golden Globes.

Peter Finch was the first of two persons to win a posthumous Academy Award in an acting category, both of whom were coincidentally Australian, the other being Heath Ledger.

Early Days – Finch went to work as a copy boy for the Sydney Sun and began writing. However he was more interested in acting, and in late 1933 appeared in a play, Caprice, at the Repertory Theatre.

In 1934–35 he appeared in a number of productions for Doris Fitton at the Savoy Theatre, some with a young Sumner Locke Elliott. He also worked as a sideshow spruiker at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, in vaudeville with Joe Cody and as a foil to American comedian Bert le Blanc. At age 19 Finch toured Australia with George Sorlie‘s travelling troupe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Finch

Monday 13th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1990 – Liam Hemsworth – Film and television actor. Was born on this day in Melbourne.

Today Liam turns 29.

Remembered by many from his beginnings in television, performing in Neighbours(Josh Taylor) and the children’s series The Elephant Princess.

In film, his credits include – as Will Blakelee in The Last Song (2010), as Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015), and as Jake Morrison in Independence Day: Resurgence (2016). Other films include Killerman (2019) Isn’t It Romantic (2018), and the Tourism Australia: Dundee – The Son of a Legend Returns Home(Video short) (2018).

Liam’s older brothers, Luke and Chris, are also actors.

Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Hemsworth

Film and television credits – https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955013/

1977 – Simon Gleeson – Actor and Singer. Was born in Wagga Wagga on this day.

Today is Simon’s 42nd Birthday.

Simon is best known for his acclaimed interpretation of Jean Valjean in Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Les Miserables for which he received the 2015 Helpmann award for Best Male Actor in a Musical.

His stage credits include Jolson, Shout, Mamma Mia (Helpmann Award nomination), Eureka, Chess (Greenroom Award nomination) Love Never Dies (Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award nominations) and Hipbone Sticking Out (BighART). He appeared for the Sydney Theatre Company in Harbour and The Republic of Myopia and was a member of the original cast of Rupert for the Melbourne Theatre Company, which he also toured to the Kennedy Center in Washington. Simon’s UK credits include The Far Pavilions (West End; for which he received a Whatsonstage Award nomination), Imagine This (West End), Three Sides, The Silver Lake, Certified Male (Edinburgh Festival), Shoes (Sadler’s Wells) and Southwark Fair (Royal National Theatre) directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner.

Simon’s film and television credits in Australia include City Homicide, Blue Heelers and SeaChange. In the UK, he played a regular role in EastEnders and was a member of the principal cast of Kombat (BBC2) directed by Monty Python member Terry Jones. Simon also appeared in the feature film My Life In Ruins.

(From his website)

Simon Gleeson http://www.simongleeson.com/bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Gleeson

Openings

2004 – George Piper Dances, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

George Piper Dances’s new work provides an unprecedented opportunit to enjoy the diversity and originality of Matthew Bourne (Dearest Love), Michael Clark (Satie Stud), Akram Khan (Red or White), Russell Maliphant (Trio) and Christopher Wheeldon (Mesmerics), fully exploiting the artistry of the company and divulging the secrets of the creative process through fly-on-the-wall film footage.

2000 – How I Learned to Drive, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

About a young, bright and sensitive girl, Li’l Bit, and her relationship with her aunt’s husband, Uncle Peck. The playwright was inspired by Nabokov’s seminal novel, Lolita, when she pondered the question whether a woman writer could write the story of Lolita from Lolita’s perspective.

1999 – The Boy From Oz, Lyric Theatre (QPAC), Brisbane.

The blockbuster musical based on the life of Australian singer and entertainer Peter Allen.

1999 – Cinderella, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

The Ballet Theatre of Queensland.

The classic fairy-tale comes to life with this company of young dancers.

1981 – Hammer, Phillip Street Theatre, Sydney.

Simon has committed a series of bizarre murders – a distorted view of reality; a fascinating play.

1978 – A Chorus Line, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.

Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre, the musical is centred around seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. A Chorus Line provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer, as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Chorus_Line

Passings

2013 – Bille Brown AM – Actor, writer and director.

Bille passed away after a battle with Bowel Cancer, in Brisbane on this day in 2013, just 2 days after his 61st birthday.

Bille was born in Biloela, in 1952.

Bille began working with the Queensland Theatre Company in 1970, racking up more than 27 productions, and going on to work with most of the major Australian theatre companies. He went on to work in the United States and the United Kingdom where he performed in the West End, with the Chichester Festival Theatre, English National Opera, Dublin Theatre Festival and Royal Shakespeare Company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bille_Brown

Sunday 12th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1938 – Lewis Fiander – Actor (stage, film and television). Was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on this day.

Lewis went on to become one of our most popular actors working here in Australia, and London’s west End.

Died in Melbourne, Victoria on 24th May in 2016, following a recent Stroke. Aged 78.

Melbourne Theatre Company tribute – https://www.mtc.com.au/discover-more/backstage/farewell-lewis-fiander/

General Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Fiander

Openings

2010 – Hi-5 Surprise!, Theatre Royal, Sydney.

Live performances by Hi-5 the Australian children’s musical group, formed in 1998 in association with the television series of the same name.

The group is composed of five performers who entertain and educate preschool-aged children through music, movement and play.

Hi-5 were one of Australia’s highest paid entertainment entities, placing in the Business Review Weekly’s annual list several times, earning an estimated $18million in 2009 alone.

2005 – The Sapphires, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

1969. Vietnam. Bombs are dropping and the world is exploding in protest. Meanwhile, back at the Tiki Club in St Kilda, four Koori sisters from country Victoria catch the eye of a big city talent scout with their Supremes cover band.

But for the McRae girls, the realisation of a lifelong dream to perform overseas isn’t quite what they had in mind. They’re off to sing for the troops on the front line.

The true story of The Sapphires as they shake it for the troops and push blood to the limit.

2005 – Beauty and the Beast, The Playhouse(QPAC), Brisbane.

Ballet Theatre of Queensland.

In nineteenth century provincial France, happy villagers are celebrating their harvest festival, but not far away is the gloomy forest where lives a frightful beast, condemned to suffer under the spell of a wicked fairy.

2000 – Keene / Taylor Theatre Project, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Amid so much ephemera and commercialism, the Keene/Taylor Project stands to put audiences in touch with lives and experiences which are a genuine cause for concern.

Additional Information – https://australianplays.org/kttp

2000 – Pinocchio, The Playhouse (QPAC), Brisbane.

Ballet Theatre of Queensland.The timeless tale of a lazy, selfish, wilful little wooden puppet carved by a kindly old man named Geppetto. The happy-ever-after ending has Pinocchio having his wish granted and being turned into a real boy

1999 – The Gogmagogs, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Seven dazzling young string players who do for music what Stomp did for percussion and Tap Dogs for dance – give it a contemporary spin, energy and style. In their exhilarating high voltage show they play squatting, standing, sitting, even spread-eagled on the stage.

1998 – Dick Whittington and his Cat, Athenaeum theatre, Melbourne.

The much loved Pantomime.

1997 – The Return of Gothic Theatresports, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

Teams of players (improvisers) discover themselves at the mercy of ‘The Count’ and his ‘Bride’ on a dark and stormy night. Their only way to escape is to defeat his Challenges. Only one team can survive.

1995 – Emerald City, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

A film writer moves from Melbourne to Sydney where he is seduced by notions of wealth and power.

1994 – Falsettos, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Falsettos was written over a decade, the first half in 1981, the second in 1990…the first half, March of the Falsettos, tells how Marvin leaves his wife and young son for another man…in the second half, Jason becomes the centre of attention as his bar-mitzvah approaches, causing more disruption between his separated parents.

1991 – The Norman Conquests:Living Together, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

The second play in a series of three. This is a banquet of comedy and a modern classic.

1990 – Sherwoodstock, Lyric Theatre (QPAC), Brisbane.

A Musical comedy loosely based on the Robin Hood story, and set in the 60’s.

1990 – A Night with Robinson Crusoe, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

Set on Sydney Harbour, this world premiere comedy is the hilarious yet moving story of six shop assistants on a girls-only cruise.

1984 – Fair and Tender Ladies, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

About the attitudes of some Australian men towards women. Sexual politics.

1982 – Conundra, Phillip Street Theatre, Sydney.

Writer John Smythe introduces us to an amazing conjurer who presents us with an evening of dazzling entertainment and magic and, incredibly, an opportunity to study the mating habits of the economy bus tourist visiting the Red Centre of Australia.

1975 – The Ass, Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.

A self-devised and collectively written theatre piece, this production explores law and punishment in society.

1959 – Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne. 12 January

The play is considered to be the most significant in Australian theatre history, and a “turning point”, openly and authentically portraying distinctly Australian life and characters. It was one of the first truly naturalistic “Australian” theatre productions.

Passings

1976 – Dame Agatha Christie – legendary crime and murder mystery writer and playwright.

Died peacefully on this day, at the age of 85 from natural causes. Agatha passed away at her home Winterbrook House which was located in Winterbrook, Wallingford, Oxfordshire.

Agatha wrote 19 plays, and scores more of her novels have been adapted by others for the stage, screen and television.

Her production of The Mousetrap (opened in 1952 at the Ambassador’s Theatre) and still holds the record for the longest-running show in The West End, now nudging 28,000 performances at the St Martin’s Theatre, and is by far the longest initial run of any play in history.

I’ts hard to imagine a world without characters such as Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot.

2020 will see the release of a new film version of Death on the Nile.

Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie

Saturday 11th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1952 – Bille Brown AM – Actor, writer and director. Was born in Biloela, Queensland on this day. Today would have been his 68 birthday.

Bille passed away after a battle with Bowel Cancer, in Brisbane on 13th January, 2013, just 2 days after his 61st birthday.

Great Bio – https://australianplays.org/playwright/PHX-1

And another – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bille_Brown

1930 – Rod Taylor – internationally celebrated Aussie actor, was born in Lidcombe, NSW. Today would have been his 90th birthday.

Rod acquired extensive radio and stage credits, before embarking on an international movie career spanning more than 50 feature films. Rod died of a heart attack on January 7, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California, at the age of 84, four days short of his 85th birthday.

There’s also a great book about Rod Taylor’s life. See Good Reads section.

Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Taylor

Openings

2020 – Carmen – Opera Australia at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House.

OPENS TONIGHT

The simple story line – Set in southern Spain and tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen.

Do yourself a favour and visit the Opera Australia website and take a look, from all accounts, this will be a stunning production. Better still…buy a couple of tickets!

Opera Australia’s official website: https://opera.org.au/whatson/events/carmen-sydney

2020 – War Horse – Regent Theatre, Melbourne.

OPENS TONIGHT

Based on the beloved novel by Michael Morpurgo, the National Theatre of Great Britain’s Multi Tony Award Winning Broadway Hit production of War Horse is now playing in Melbourne until 8 February and will open in Sydney on 15 February before continuing onto Perth from 24 March.

Hailed by Time Magazine as ‘a landmark theatre event’, this powerfully moving and imaginative drama, filled with stirring music and songs, is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing life-sized puppets created by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage. An unforgettable theatrical experience, ‘not to be missed.’ (Chicago Tribune)

At the outbreak of World War One, Joey young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped from England to France. He is soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.

Visit the official website

https://warhorseonstage.com.au/

2019 – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Capitol Theatre, Sydney. Official Australian Opening.

The stage musical based on the much loved 1964 children’s novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, with book by David Greig, music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

Official Australian website – https://charliethemusical.com.au/

Broadwayworld article – https://www.broadwayworld.com/sydney/article/CHARLIE-AND-THE-CHOCOLATE-FACTORY-Opens-Its-Doors-In-Sydney-Tomorrow-20190103

2009 – Lipsynch, Theatre Royal, Sydney. 11 January

“Lipsynch is structured in nine units, each of which concentrates on a figure from the floating gallery of characters who populate a series of overlapping plots, building to an exquisitely moving and unexpected climax. As so often in Lepage’s work, the protagonists find themselves adrift in the world and, as we follow their journeys, we become deeply involved in their search for identity. The production moves from war-torn Vienna to pre-revolutionary Nicaragua and contemporary London, encountering those who have lost the power of speech or are tangled in linguistic confusion.”

1996 – Out of the Frying Pan, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

A simple domestic set turns out to be a crazy forest of hid/den musical instruments that the clown-like characters keep finding and playing.

1993 – Furtive Nudist, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

A brilliantly surreal monodrama – totally original and comic evening with Ken Campbell recounting the major milestones in his bizarre and often hilarious life.

1986 – Swimming to Cambodia, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

A uniquely talentend New York based performer will present his latest monologue “Swimming To Cambodia” as part of the Festival of Sydney’s tenth anniversary celebrations.

Spalding Gray’s monologue, centered on such themes as his trip to Southeast Asia to create the role of the U.S. Ambassador’s aide in the film The Killing Fields, The Cold War, Cambodia Year Zero, and his search for his “perfect moment”.

1984 – The Island, Athenaeum theatre, Melbourne.

The play follows two political prisoners at the notorious Robben Island jail as they rehearse their two-man version of Sophocles’ Antigone for the prison’s annual concert. It’s based on the true story of Norman Ntshinga, a black actor cast as Haemon in a version of Antigone that Fugard directed in the ’60s.

1944 – Kiss and Tell, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

There’s little information available for this production – we will keep looking!

Passings

we have no entries for today.

Other

The Age (Newspaper, Melbourne) /Friday 11 Jan, 1929. Mussolini Bans film

Talk about passionate Sailors!

MUSSOLINI BANS FILM.

Italians Seize It in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, 9th January.

Thirty Italian sailors from a gunboat

stationed at Shanghai, armed with knives

and pistols, raided the Capitol Theatre

during a matinee performance and seized

the film, Street Angel, containing alleged

false impressions of Italy. This film was

banned by Signor Mussolini. They took

the film to a near-by canal and burntit entirely.

Police reserves were called out and

hurriedly dispatched to the -Carlton Theatre,

where the Street Angel film was being

screened simultaneously. There they

awaited a possible, visit from the sailors.

The sailors, however, did not appear.

The – municipal authorities are making

representations to the Italian Consul-

General. The Capitol Theatre’s

Performances have necessarily been suspended.

Friday 10th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1966 – Jeremy Sims – Actor and Director, turns 54 today.

Born in Perth, Western Australia. Jeremy describes himself as an entertainer and story teller….which he most certainly is!

A graduate of NIDA (1990) in acting, he has accomplished a great deal in his 54 years.

With many stage credits to his name, his own theatre production company Pork Chop Productions, and an equally impressive list of film production credits including our “modern classic” Last Cab To Darwin.

There’s plenty of great background information on Jeremy in the links below.

Biography – https://yellowcreativemanagement.com/jeremy-sims/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Sims

ABC Radio, Perth interview: Who Are you: Jeremy Sims – Download this mp3 file

Openings

2007 – The Shaolin Warriors, Lyric Theatre (QPAC), Brisbane.

Twenty-four authentic warrior monks will display an awe-inspiring combination of martial arts, contortion, acrobatics skills as they weave an enchanting storyline that reflects their ancient philosophy.

2007 – Mousson, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

“Mousson” is a magical piece of theatre, drawing you into a beautiful and captivating parallel universe where a feast of exotic sounds and images emerge.
French performance trio Au Cul du Loup engulfs the audience in image, sound, form and movement to create a charming, inventive and highly evocative experience. The three artists express childlike curiosity as they tease unexpected music out of metallic, wooden, canvas and rubber objects.
Taking the theme of climatic and industrial change affecting an island paradise, “Mousson” creates a visual and aural poetry that conjures haunting effect.

2006 – About An Hour – The Department, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

In the not so remote totalitarian regime, four neurotic bureaucrats toil away in the bowels of the Department of Information. Coded messages are translated and bleeping lamps herald important news from Central Office.
In the midst of this darkly hilarious setting, the men dream of meadows in the summer breeze, the tender touch of maternal hands and the pretty girl next door. But up above ground level things are changing and the alluring aroma of baking bread signals all is not quite right.

2002 – Wil Anderson: Wil By Mouth, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.
A new hour of stand-up comedy by Wil Anderson.

2001 – The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

All 37 plays in 97 minutes! Three madcap men in tights weave their wicked way through all of Shakespeare’s comedies, histories, and tragedies in one wild ride that will leave you breathless and helpless with laughter. An irreverent, fast-paced romp through the Bard’s plays, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) was London’s longest-running comedy.

2000 – The Sunshine Club, Drama Theatre – Sydney Opera House.

Summer 1946. The war is over. Frank Doyle is an Aboriginal soldier back from the war. He discovers that although the wider world has changed, attitudes back home are just the same. Filled with a defiant energy and ambition for a better life, Frank creates the Sunshine Club. Here he dreams of a future where he can dance in step with Rose, the girl next door, the girl of his dreams.

2000 – The Weir, Theatre Royal, Sydney.

In a remote Irish bar, Valerie finds herself spending and evening with the local bachelors, listening to stories about restless ghosts and ancient superstitions. As they desperately try to win her affections, the men discover that Valerie has her own tale to tell, a tale so haunting and beautiful that it is destined to change their lives forever.

1996 – Heaven by Storm, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

The Umbilical Brothers are highly skilled and marvellously inventive…the precision with which they work is astounding.

1995 – Roll-a-Pea, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

All the glitz and glamour of our Western styles are banished and replaced with a ’90s style theatre drawn powerfully out of the traditions of Meyerhold, Growtowski and Kantor for which Poland is highly renowned.

1990 – How the Other Half Loves, Footbridge Theatre, Sydney.

There are three couples in this play, the men all working for the same firm. One of the younger men is having an affair with the wife of the oldest, and when each returns home suspiciously late one night or early one morning they invent a story about having to spend some time smoothing domestic matters in the home of the third couple. Both living rooms are shown in the single set, and both share a common dining room which takes on a character of its own as it serves two dinners simultaneously on two different nights. Of course, the third couple have to show up to put the fat in the fire, but that complication only adds to the fun of this famous farce.

1989 – Victor & Barry, Playhouse – Sydney Opera House.

Taking the mickey out of everything from Marks and Spencers to the Mahabharata. Dressed to match in monogrammed blazers, beautifully tied neckerchiefs and slicked back hair, this pair of young Glaswegians intersperse their Thespian reminiscences with songs worthy of the great Noel Coward.

1948 – Benghazi, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

Little information available on the content of this production – the search continues!

1947 – Alemein, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

Little information available – the search continues

Passings

No entries for today.

NOTE: Please feel free to contribute entries on our entertainment history. We are particularly interested in birthdays, show and venue openings & closings, death notices, and anything interesting that relates to the shaping of the entertainment industry in Australia. Information can be on anyone: performers, creatives, technicians and stage crew, or any type of professional venue including our much forgotten regional venues.

Thursday 9th January, 2020.

Birthdays

1920 – Bunney Brooke – legendary actress, director, creator, producer, designer, playwright and casting agent.

Known to many from her early television performances, especially in the role of Flo Paterson in the landmark soap opera, Number 96.

Bunney had a massive collection of live performance credits to her name, and we’ve attached a link below, to two full pages of them.

Her life was a very sad story in many ways, almost a play or movie script in itself, as you will see in her biography link below.

Born on this day in Bendigo, Victoria and named Dorothy Cronin.

Bunney passed away after a two year battle with liver and bowel cancer, at Manly in Sydney on the 2nd of April, 2002. Aged 80.

Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunney_Brooke

Theatre credits – https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/4848

Openings

2020 – Every Brilliant Thing– Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney. OPENS TONIGHT

Hosted beautifully by Steve Rodgers, the hit of 2019 returns. About a boy’s list of things that make life worth living, builds hope and joy – with the audience’s help – every night.

2016 – Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich, Drama Theatre (Sydney Opera House), Sydney.

Acclaimed choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s seminal piece, set to four ‘phases’ by American composer Steve Reich, is a profound interplay between minimalist music and movement, bodies and light.

2014 – Oedipus Schmoedipus, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

A democratic theatrical extravaganza! This show is about death: real death, fake death, and the Western theatrical Canon. Oedipus Schmoedipus is an intentionally impossible task, an ambitious epic complied of all the death scenes ever written. These death scenes will be dismembered, catalogued in a computer database and reordered to establish new narratives, and a new theatre show: a collective manifesto on death.

2012 – CIRCA – Wunderkammer, Drama Theatre (Sydney Opera House), Sydney, Presented by Sydney Opera house.

Described by The Australian as “faster, stronger, more extravagant and dangerous,” Circa returns to Sydney with a breathless cocktail of new circus in Wunderkammer.
In this exquisite cabaret of the senses, a diva melts into a rope suspended high above the ground, muscle bound gents defy the laws of gravity, balloons disappear strangely, bubble wrap discovers its artistic soul, while hoops spin and bodies twist, fly and tumble. World renowned for making the seemingly impossible possible, the troupe of seven will delight audiences this summer with a sexy, funny and explosive display.

2012 – Anatomy Of An Afternoon, Playhouse (Sydney Opera House), Sydney.

Produced by Performing Lines and The Sydney Opera House for the Festival of Sydney. With music byMark Bradshaw.

The enigmatic allure of Nijinsky’s legendary ballet, The Afternoon of a Faun, is reborn for a new century by choreographer Martin del Amo. Multi-award winning solo dancer Paul White navigates a dream-like landscape full of hidden dangers and secret pleasures, a kinetic combustion of animalistic grace and menace.

2008 – Ngapartji Ngapartji, – Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

For two thousand generations Trevor Jamieson’s people lived in the Western Desert. Then the Spinifex nation found itself in the Cold War. Many were rounded up in cattle trucks and their traditional lands became a test site for British atomic weapons.

2007 – The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and Little Ragged Blossom ,– Theatre Royal, Sydney.

A new musical adapted from the series of books by May Gibbs.

2007 – Structure and Sadness, Drama Theatre,Sydney Opera House, Sydney.

“Structure and Sadness” is a physical, visual and emotional response to a devastating accident in recent history. In 1970, a span of Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge collapsed during construction. This collpase changed the project from being a symbol of achievement and unity to one of deep sorrow.
Choreographer Lucy Guerin has based her unique movement vocabulary on the engineering principles of compression, suspension, torsion and failure. The result is a complex and arresting dance work, examing the conflicts between the impressionable human body and the unyielding inanimate world.

2002 – The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union, 9 February 2002 Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

A quirky play about two cosmonauts aboard a forgotten space ship. One wants to return to earth while the other wants to continue the mission.

2001 – Colour me Judith, – Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

Judith Lucy in a show for the Festival of Sydney

2001 – Mitridate re di Ponto – Capitol Theatre Sydney. Produced by Capitol Theatre Management, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Opera Australia, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra for the Festival of Sydney. Drected by Graham Vick and Patrick young, Designed by Paul Brown, with lighting by Nick Chelton, Choreography by Ron Howell. Featuring performers John Heuzenroeder, Donald Kaasch, Emma Matthews, Bejun Mehta, Sinead Mulhern, Ingrid Silveus and, Sonora Vaice

Mozart wrote Mitridate re di Ponto in 1770 when he was just 14 years old. It’s a work in which one dazzling solo aria follows another, many of them uncannily foreshadowing tunes from Mozart’s later operas and displaying the teenage composer’s capacity for musical empathy with his characters.

Production credits – https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/916

1997 – Denise Stoklos as Mary Stuart, Playhouse (Sydney Opera House), Sydney

In this version of Mary Queen of Scots…Denise Stoklos’s acting style is frenetic, intense and gestural in the Brechtian sense…everything she does is extreme, clear and evokes a context, an idea or a whole society which elabortes vastly the simple story of conflict…she is intelligent, funny and a superb mime.

1997 – Emzanzi – Down South Africa with Rishile Gumboot Dancers, – Playhouse, Sydney Opera House, Sydney.

From Soweto. Originating in the mine compounds and hostels during the height of the migrant labour system and the oppressive law restrictions under apartheid in South Africa, gumboot dancing gained popularity in the townships and rural areas.

1994 – Theatresports Sydney Festival, – Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.

4 spectacular nights of the best improvised comedy in Sydney.

1990 – A Very Private Diary, Playhouse (Sydney Opera House), Sydney.

A Very Private Diary is a colourful dossier of Victor Spinetti’s encounters with the mildly and wildly famous during his 30-year show business career.

1986 – Company, Drama Theatre (Sydney Opera House), Sydney

Originally produced and directed on Broadway by Harold Prince.
The subject of “Company” is marriage or perhaps it’s staying single. Whatever it’s about, the tension between the two “Company” delivers a score so constantly delightful, stimulating and original.

1985 – Master Class, – Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House,

A winter evening, the Kremlin, January 1948. The composers Shostakovich and Prokofiev, though giant in the eyes of the music world, knew from experience the dangers of crossing their political masters. Stalin fumed – they had failed to glorify the great Russian victory.
Stalin – Peter Carroll, Zhadanov – Simon Chilvers, Prokofiev – Dennis Olsen, Shostakovich – Huw Williams.

1979 – The Mysterious Potamus, – Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House.

Presented by the Marionette Theatre of Australia.

Wednesday 8th January, 2020.

My goodness, a lot has happened on this day in years gone by!

Birthdays

1959 – Paul Hester – Musician and television personality, best known as the drummer for bands Crowded House and Split Enz, and also had his own television show on the ABC, Hessie’s Shed, not to mention collaborating and appearing with The Wiggles.

Born in Melbourne, on this day. Paul would have turned 61 today.

A long-time sufferer of depression, Paul took his own life on the 26th March, 2005, aged just 46.

Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hester

1956 – Archie Roach AM – Multi award winning musician, singer, songwriter and Indigenous rights campaigner.

Born in Mooroopna, Victoria. Today we celebrate Archie’s 63rd birthday today.

Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Roach

Archie’s website: http://www.archieroach.com/

1945 – Jeanie Lewis – Musician, stage performer and social consciousness advocate, celebrates her 74th birthday today.

Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannie_Lewis

Internationally

A few who’ve made quite an impact on us.

1935 – Elvis Presley – yes, the singer and actor with the swivelling hips, was born on this day.

Born in Tupelo, Mississippi. USA. Elvis would have been 82 today.

Elvis didn’t ever tour Australia, and there’s a great story behind that – see the second link below for that story. Although he did send his famous gold Cadillac for a tour of Australia to raise funds for local charities.

Elvis died from cardiac arrest on the 16th of August,1977.

Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley

Touring story: https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis-presley-wanted-to-tour-australia-but-colonel-parker-stopped-him.shtml

1947 – David Bowie – iconic singer, songwriter and actor, was born on this day.

He was born and Named David Robert Jones, in Brixton, London.

Unlike Elvis….David Bowie did tour Australia on multiple occasions, even filming some music videos here. We believe he simply loved coming to Australia.

David passed away after a battle with liver cancer, on the 10th of January,2016, just two days after his birthday, aged 69.

Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie

1937 – Shirley Bassey DBE – Welsh born singer. Turns 82 today.

Born on this day at Tiger Bay, Cardiff in Wales.UK.

Shirley and her powerful and distinctive voice, became an international singing sensation and is also widely acknowledged for her musical contributions to the The James Bond films, singing the theme songs for: Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker.

Shirley has toured Australia on multiple occasions, starting all the way back in 1957, and returning in 1958, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1997.

Rumour has it she may tour Australia again possibly later this year – keep an eye out.

Best link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Bassey

1983 or 1984! – Kim Jong Un – Supreme Leader of North Korea.

The year of his birth, depending on who you listen to, is as follows – South Korea insists 1983, and America says, no, no, no… it was a year later in 1984.

He hasn’t returned my phone calls, so I guess we can just accept either depending on mood, until we hear otherwise.

We do know for sure that he was born in Pyongyang, North Korea.

We can’t find any references to him “performing” but he is quite a character who has “entertained” us with his antics for quite some time.

In any case, happy 35th…..or 36th Birthday.

Biography: : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-un

Openings

Our daily records search of the major venues show a whopping 10 openings on this day over the many years….centuries..

I won’t add all of the information for every show, but I will attach links where available.

2010 – Optimism – Sydney Opera house, Drama Theatre. Produced by The Sydney Theatre Company, The Malthouse Theatre, The Edinburg International Festival, as a part of the Festival of Sydney. Directed by Michael Kantor, designed by Anna Tregloan, lighting design Paul Jackson and sound design by Russell Goldsmith, choreography by Luke George. Composer Iain Grandage. A cast of eight, please refer to the link below for full production credits.

Turning a quizzical eye to the woes of the heart, and reeking with scandal and scurrilous vice, this production transforms Voltaire’s classic satire of enlightened insanity, Candide, into a cutting commentary on the “no-worries” bravura of the Australian swagger.

Production credits – https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/83522

2010 – Le Grand Cirque – Lyric Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Contemporary Circus.

Their current website: http://www.cirquemb.com/

2007 – Our Brief Eternity – Sydney Opera House, Play House.

Review – https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/our-brief-eternity-20070110-gdp7nw.html

2002 – Hotel Central – Theatre Royal, Sydney.

Hotel Central is a hip, sexy and wildly contemporary exploration of human dynamics from the bar to the bedroom. It is the latest dance creation by Claude Bruchamon, wowing audiences with his fresh, innovative and exciting take on sex in the city.

Production Credits – https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/17990

1998 – Gypsy Passion – Capitol Theatre, Sydney.

Forget the ruffles and the attitude. This is contemporary flamenco, danced by an exciting young company lead by the astonishing Joaquin Cortes.

Production Credits – https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/118615

1987 – Skating on thin Uys – Footbridge Theatre, Sydney.

Direct from Johannesburg, Pieter-Dirk Uys is one of South Africa’s most controversial humourists.

Production Credits – https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/118181

1975 – The Magical Tintookies Return – Princess Theatre, Melbourne. Life Sized Marionette puppet extravaganza.

About the Director and producing company – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Scriven

1949 – Born Yesterday – Comedy Theatre, Melbourne. Produced by J.C. Williamson

Set in Washington D.C. in 1945, this classic comedy traces the transformation of a dumb-blonde chorus girl into a concerned and intelligent citizen, exposing the greed and corruption of her former boyfriend = the biggest junk dealer in the U.S.A.

Production Credits – https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/61833

1898 – The Manxman – Princess Theatre, Melbourne. Presented by Barrett and his London Company.

Production Credits (partial) – https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/102857

1887 – The Pirates of Penzance – Princess Theatre, Melbourne. One of the earliest (2nd production listed.) for The Princess Theatre as we know it.

Production Credits – https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/104007

Passings

2010 – Monica Maughan – Very popular actress with roles in film, theatre, radio, television and ballet over a career spanning 52 years.

Monica was actually born in Tonga, and moved to Australia aged 3.

She made her stage debut opposite Barry Humphries in Ben Hecht’s fast paced satire The Front Page in April, 1954, and never looked back.

Instantly recognisable to many of us from her television performances, Monica had a very extensive list of theatre credits to her name.

She passed away from complications with cancer. Aged 76.(2010-01-08)

Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Maughan

1983 – Ron Fraser – Australian actor and comedian.

A popular performer most remembered for his work on the television show The Mavis Bramston Show, he also appeared in the Australian sitcoms The Gordon Chater Show, Birds in the Bush and Father, Dear Father in australia, which was a sequel to the British sitcom.

Passed away on this day at Edgecliff in Sydney. Aged 54.

Biography (short) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Frazer

Obituary – https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-IVWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=puYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4199,2658951

Tuesday 7th January, 2020.

Birthdays

Essie Davis – The actress probably most widely known to the general population as Miss Fisher in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries television series, and Lady Crane in Game of Thrones.

Was born on this day in Hobart, Tasmania in 1970.

Essie (Esther) is a graduate of NIDA, and has quite an extensive collection of theatre credits to her name, and an equally extensive list awards nominations and wins across film, television and stage.

Today Essie turns 50. Manny happy returns.

The link below reinforces just how widely prolific a performer she is, and is a wonderful insight to one of our most loved performers.

Biography – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essie_Davis

Openings

WORLD PREMIERE TONIGHT

2020 – Betty Blokk Buster Reimagined – Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North. Sydney.

Inspired by the original 1975 staging and created with Livermore’s imprimatur, this 21st century Betty Blokk-Buster invites Sydney Festival audiences into her tent show, where a live band and Betty’s coterie of reinvented has-beens, battlers, freaks and survivors are waiting to wow a new generation.

Visit the official website

https://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/events/betty-blokk-buster-reimagined

2018 – The Town Hall Affair – Sydney Opera House, Drama Theatre. A Sydney Festival event presented by The Opera House. Starring Maura Tierney.

An artful reimagining of the classic 1971 documentary Town Bloody Hall, which captured a raucous debate between author Norman Mailer and leading feminists like Jill Johnston and Germaine Greer (played by Maura Tierney). The debate may have taken place 45 years ago, but its themes remain relevant

Review

https://dailyreview.com.au/town-hall-affair/

Production credits –

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/138985

2008 – The Age I’m In – Sydney Opera House, Drama Theatre. A Force Majeure, Adelaide Festival, Sydney Festival and Sydney Opera House production. Directed by Kate Champion and designed by Geoff Cobham with costumes by Bruce McKinven.

A poignant, witty and revealing portrait of Australia today. The piece explores age and its variables; how we experience ageing, how we regard others in terms of difference in years and how we embody these in social behaviour and physical intimacy.

Production Credits

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/82183

About the Director

https://opera.org.au/artists/kate-champion

2006 – Twelfth Night – Theatre Royal, Sydney. Produced by Checkov International Theatre Festival for The Sydney Festival. Directed by Declan Donnellan, designed by Nick Ormerod.

A sparkling production of Shakespeare’s gender-bending comedy with an all male cast.

Production Credits:

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/67989

1984 – Insignificance – Sydney Opera House, Drama Theatre. Produced by Playbox Theatre and the Sydney Theatre Company, for Sydney Festival and The Sydney Opera House. Directed by Rex Cramphorn and designed by Shaun Gurton, lighting designer John Beckett. Starring Gary Files, Kate Fitzpatrick, Carrillo Gantner and John O’May.

New York 1953 … high above the city in a luxury hotel bedroom, on a hot summer’s night, four of America’s most famous legends – a beautiful film star, a Nobel prize-winning scientist, a champion baseball player and an infamous senator – meet in extraordinary circumstances. “Insignificance” won the Evening Standard and Plays & Players Awards for 1982.

Production Credits

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/31009

1982 – Rocky Horror Show – Comedy Theatre, Melbourne. Produced by Phillip Emanuel Productions and J.C. Williamsons. Directed by David Toguri, designed by Brian Thomson (set), Nigel Levings (lighting), Sue Blane (costumes), Phillip Scott and Ian Mawson (Music). With Daniel Abinari as Frank.N. Furter.

The much loved now cult classic high camp and humorous musical tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s.

Production Credits

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/68104

About the show

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Show

About this production

http://www.ozrockyhorror.com/Aussie%20Tour%201982.html

1974 – What If You Died Tomorrow? – Sydney Opera House, Drama Theatre. Produced by The Old Tote Theatre Company in association with J.C. Williamson and The Elizabethan Theatre Trust. Directed by Robin Lovejoy. Designed by Yoshi Tosa, and featuring a cast including Colin Croft, John Allen, Ruth Cracknell and Ron Haddrick.

David Williamson’s play about the traumas of deserting regular employment and married life to pursue a career as a writer and greater fulfilment.

Production Credits

https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/88866

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/5665

Passings

2015 – Rod Taylor – internationally celebrated Aussie actor, passes away after a heart attack on this day in Beverly Hills, California, USA. Aged 84. Just 4 days short of his 85th birthday.

Born in Lidcombe, NSW. On 11th January, 1930.

Rod acquired extensive radio and stage credits, before embarking on an international movie career spanning more than 50 feature films.

If you’d like to know more, have a look at the link below.

Biography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Taylor

Rod Taylor – Publicity photo from the movie The V.I.Ps 1963.

Monday 6th January, 2020.

Birthdays

Harry M. Miller – The legendary celebrity manager, promoter and publicist, was born on this day in Auckland, New Zealand in 1934. Moving to Australia in 1963, Harry progressed pretty quickly through the ranks to become one of our most noted promoters, bringing us some of the defining moments in Australian entertainment. He promoted everything from rock concerts for The rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, and The Beachboys, to performers including Louis Armstrong, and then onto Musical Theatre.

His earlier premier productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show certainly helped set the scene for modern day musicals in Australia.

In 1978 he formed Australia’s first computerised entertainment ticketing system (called Computicket), which went into receivership just six months after it was launched. Harry was later found guilty of fraud related charges and spent 10 months in Long Bay Prison and the Cessnock Correctional centre.

He went on to become our most successful celebrity manager looking after the likes of Graham Kennedy all the way through to today’s batch including Osher Ginsburg and Tara Moss.

Harry passed away on July 4, 2018, in Sydney.

Many people ask “what did the M stand for?” Harry’s middle name was Maurice.

In the words of Molly Meldrum “do yourself a favour” and have a look at the links below to see just how much this man achieved during his time on earth, you will be amazed.

Also refer to the Good Reads section for his biography. Confessions of a Not-so-secret Agent.

Refer to Good Reads Post for details on this book

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/legendary-celebrity-manager-and-promoter-harry-m-miller-dies-aged-84-20180705-p4zpka.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_M._Miller

http://www.harrymmiller.com.au

Openings

2004 – Dance of Death, opens at The Theatre Royal, Sydney. Produced by ACT Productions for The Sydney Festival. Directed by Sean Mathias and starring the internationally acclaimed performers Frances de la Tour, Sir Ian McKellen and Owen Teale.

Review

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/dance-of-death-20040112-gdi5gb.html

Production credits

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/32069

1987 – Nunsense, The Musical, opens at Sydney’s Footbridge Theatre. Produced by The Gordon Frost Organisation, and presented as a part of that year’s Sydney Festival. Directed by Barry Creyton and starring Robin Arthur, Maggie King, Georgie Parker, Joan Sydney, and Kelly Wells.

Production credits

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/78

Passings

1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, internationally acclaimed Russian Ballet Dancer and choreographer, died of an AIDS related illness on this day, in Levallois-Perret, France. Aged 54.

Biography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Nureyev

Sunday 5th January, 2020.

Birthdays

Brian Thomson AM – Is without a doubt, one of our most successful and highly regarded theatre, Opera and film designers. Born in Sydney in 1946, Brian turns 73 today. Many happy returns.

This man has accomplished so much in his life, you should do yourself a favour and take a look at the links below to see just how prolific, and wide ranging his talents and credits are. Arguably the best designer we have ever produced. This man is a true legend of the Australian Theatre.

Brian Thomson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Thomson_(scenic_designer)

BRIAN THOMSON AM

Athol Guy AO – Musician and singer, who is to most of us at a “certain age”, instantly recognisable as the bass player from the 1960’s (and beyond) pop group THE SEEKERS.

He was born in 1940 at Colac, in Victoria, as Athol George Guy. Today Athol celebrates his 79th Birthday. We’ve included one of his original headshots, and a link to The Seekers website, where you can see what they all look like now, and I think they’ve all aged remarkably well. I certainly hope I will be as lucky in the aging department.

https://www.theseekers.com.au/about-us/bio-pages/biographies/athol-guy

Openings

2019 – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Opened for previews on this day at The Capitol Theatre in Sydney. Ahead of it’s official opening on 11th January. The producers list is almost as long as the script for the show: John Frost, Craig Donnell, Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Langley Park Productions and Neal Street Productions.
The musical is a replica production of the US tour. The original primary cast annonced for Australia included U.S. actor Paul Slade Smith (who played Grandpa George in the original cast of Charlie on Broadway) as Willy Wonka alongside Australian actors Tony Sheldon as Grandpa Joe and Lucy Maunder as Mrs Bucket. The role of Charlie is shared between Tommy Blair, Ryan Yates, Xion Jarvis and Oliver Alkhair. After ending its Sydney run on Sunday 28 July, the show transferred to Melbourne in August 2019 at Her Majesty’s Theatre^] and will go to Brisbane in March 2020 at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_and_the_Chocolate_Factory_(musical)

2000 – Elektra, Opened at The Captitol Theatre in Sydney. An opera in one act by Richard Strauss, To a libretto by Hugo Von Hofmannsthal, After the drama by Sophocles. Produced by Opera Australia, The Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Staatsoper Unter Den Berlin, and presented as a part of the Sydney Festival for that year. Elektra was conducted by Simone Young, Designed by Yannis Kounellis, and directed by Katharina Lang. for production details see the link below.

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/epic-opera-arrives-at-the-capitol-20030628-gdh06h.html

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/118817

1995 – The Shaugraun, openedon this day, in the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House. Produced by the Melbourne Theatre Company in association with the Sydney Theatre Company, and based on the Queensland Theatre Company version from 1993. Directed by Gale Edwards, and designed by Dale Furguson. Refer to the link below for the full production credits list.

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/22803

Other

Artistic differences

The Ballarat Star Newspaper. 5th January, 1866.

Saturday 4th January, 2020.

Birthdays

Craig Revel Horwood – Australian-British Ballroom and Latin American dancer , choreographer, conductor, author, theatre director and television personality now working in the United Kingdom.

He is best known as a judge on the popular BBC dancing show Strictly Come Dancing

Born in Ballarat, Victoria back in 1965, Craig turns 54 today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Revel_Horwood

Openings

2002 – The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin opens at The Sydney Opera House, Playhouse. Starring John Wood as Robert O’Brien in this one man Aussie classic play by Steve J. Spears. Directed by Richard Wherrett.

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/18012

2006 – A Couple of Blaguards starring Max Cullen and Max Gillies opens at The Comedy Theatre in Melbourne. Produced by Andrew McKinnon Presentations and directed by Howard Platt. See the link below for production credits.

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/67655

Passings

Sophie Heathcote – (25 December 1972 – 4 January 2006) was an Australian actress, known for her role in film Reckless Kelly and for her regular television serial roles, including A Country Practice, Water Rats, and Grass Roots. Died suddenly on this day in Connecticut, just 33 years old.

Sophie died reportedly from an aneurysm. At the time of her death she was also suffering from Skin and Pancreatic Cancer. Sophie was laid to rest on the 18th of January, 2006 at the Sorrento Cemetery on the Mornington Penninsula in Victoria.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Heathcote

Friday 3rd January, 2020.

Birthdays

Charles “Bud” Tingwell AM– another of our legendary actors was born at Coogee NSW, on this day back in 1923. Bud was a real icon appearing in everything from the classic TV show Homicide, all the way through to Neighbours, and beyond. And yes, Bud did also appear on stage, and even in a musical, playing the role of John Conroy in – The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular which toured nationally back in 2002. – Buds’ resume is very impressive and well worth the time to take a look at his life in the link below. Bud died on May 15th, 2009, in Melbourne from Prostate Cancer, aged 86. Bud was so highly regarded, he was given a State Funeral, which was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Tingwell

Mel Gibson AO – Also celebrates his 63rd birthday today (b.1956). Although we claim him as our own, Mel was born in New York, USA, and moving to Australia with his family when quite young. Again, Mel is a true icon of the performing arts, having trained at NIDA and notching up a very impressive list of stage performances before embarking on his highly successful international film career. Happy birthday Mel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Gibson

Denis Walter AOM – Radio & Television presenter, and singer, also celebrates his 64th birthday today (b.1955). Denis will be familiar to many of you from his news reading days, and current 3AW radio show. Denis was also well-known for his rich baritone singing voice, having sung all over the country and proving to be a popular favourite at the many Christmas Carols events in Melbourne and Sydney.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Walter

http://deniswalter.com.au/

Openings

1992 – Return to the forbidden planet the crazy lost in space type musical opens at the comedy Theatre in Melbourne.

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/13300

2017 – Ladies in Black – The beautiful Australian musical with music by Tim Finn opens at the Lyric theatre, Sydney.

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/126906

Passings

Dame Judith Anderson AC DBE – was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A preeminent stage actress in her era, she won two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award and was also nominated for a Grammy Award and an Academy Award. She is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest classical stage actors.

The legendary and highly acclaimed actress (Born Frances Margaret Anderson on 10th February, 1897) died on this day in 1992, in Santa Monica, California, of Pneumonia, aged 94.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Anderson

Thursday 2nd January, 2020.

Birthdays

Graham “Shirley” Strachan – singer songwriter, radio and television personality (not to mention qualified carpenter) was born on this day in 1952. Sadly, he was killed when the helicopter he was piloting crashed at Mount Archer on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on the 29th of August, 2001, aged just 49. “Shirl” would have been 68 today.

**Graham “Shirley” Strachan**, way back in the Skyhooks days.

Openings

1978 – The Festival of Sydney had shows opening all over the city on this day, and what a mixed bag it was! There’s far too many to list here, so we’ve included a little sample to show the diversity: Sole Brothers Circus under the Big Top, at Prince Alfred Park in Surrey Hills, a marionette puppet show The Grand Adventure at the Everest Theatre in Chippendale, and the Peter and Ellen Williams production of the pantomime Cinderella at the St’ James Playhouse in the city. 1978 was a huge festival, visit their website below to review the entire program line up.

https://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/events/1978

Passings

2006 – Elenora Mason – Sydney based actress best known for her regular performances with the Bell Shakespeare Company and a short stint on Neighbours, dies in Sydney of Stomach Cancer. Aged 55.

Other

1923 – Union trouble in Adelaide! A theatre employees dispute between the Theatrical Managers Association (including the famous J.C. Williamson and a few of the local managers of theatres) and the Theatrical Amusements Employees Association (I used to be a member!) They held their “conference” to resolve issues including the employment of juveniles in wardrobe rooms, under-manning stage staff in one of the theatres, and the need to update the award to bring it into line with the existing customs of industry….well, as they were in 1923. Some things never seem to change. We will keep you posted when we finally receive the minutes of the meeting.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106719906#

NOTE: Please feel free to contribute entries or offer information on our entertainment industry. Particularly birthdays, openings & closings of shows and venues, death notices and anniversaries or anything interesting that you think may be of interest to others. Information can be on anyone, not just performers, they could be creative, technicians. stage managers, stage crew, or any information on the history of professional venues including our much neglected regional ones.

Wednesday 1st January, 2020.

Happy new year!

May your new year be full of peace, happiness, good health and good fortune.

Birthdays

It was on this day in 1901 that The Commonwealth of Australia was officially “born”. Happy 119th Australia !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proclamation_Declaring_the_Establishment_of_the_Commonwealth_of_Australia

Caroline Jones AO- Our much loved ABC Television personality and best selling author. Well known for her work on legendary TV programs such as This Day Tonight, Four Corners and Australian Story. Caroline turns 82 today.

https://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/caroline-jones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Jones

Judy Stone AM – celebrates her 78th birthday today. Popular 1960’s pop and country music singer. A regular performer on Bandstand TV show, Judy had many hits including ” I’ll Step Down”, “4,003,221 Tears from Now”, “Born a Woman”, “Would You Lay with Me”. Judy was awarded her AM in 2006 “for service to the community as an entertainer at fundraising events for a range of charitable organisations, and as a singer”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Stone

Openings

1980 –The Sunny South, the first Sydney Theatre Company produced play, opened on this day, in the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House. The Sunny South was directed by Richard Wherrett assisted by John Gaden with music by Terrence Clarke. See the link below for the full cast list.

https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/30582

Internationally

Closing Shows

The final Gladiator Contests at the Colosseum closed on this day in 404 AD. The show was cancelled by decree by Emperor/”producer” Honorius. It was a lovely day, I remember it well.

http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/gladiators/gladiator-history.htm

Failed Auditions – The Beatles failed their first audition for DECCA Records on this day in 1962. Poor old DECCA,if only they knew what was to come.

**The Beatles** – looking a bit like a mug shot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles%27_Decca_audition

Passings

Maurice Chevalier – The French singer and actor passes away in Paris in 1972 aged 83. We all remember his songs such as: “Thank Heaven for Little Girls”, “Livin’ in the Sunlight”, “Valentine”, “Louise” and “Mimi” to name just a few. Maurice did tour Australia way back in 1960, take a look at the newsreel in the link below.

**Maurice Chevalier** – what a suave man he was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Chevalier https://www.britishpathe.com/video/maurice-chevalier-tours-australia

NOTE: Please feel free to contribute entries on our national treasures of entertainment. I’m particularly interested in birthdays, show and venue openings & closings and anything of significant interest nationally. Although I am most interested in the Australian entertainment industry, interesting items of international significance are also welcome.