Arts

Here’s what you need to see at Sculpture by the Sea 2018

Sculpture by the Sea , one of the world’s largest annual free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibitions, has now opened for another year across Sydney’s spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk. The exhibition, which each year sees the coastline transformed into a 2km long sculpture park over three weeks, features 107 sculptures by artists from 21 countries…

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Interview: Festival Director Nikki Anderson talks ahead of the Feminist Writers Festival in Sydney

Next month, some of Australia’s leading feminist writers and thinkers will be heading to Sydney for the Feminist Writers Festival. Held in conjunction with the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Incusion, it will be the first time the festival has been held in Sydney. Over three days, thirteen sessions, and featuring over forty speakers,…

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Melbourne International Arts Festival Review: Van Diemen’s Band excite with stunning Cello Napoletano

Walking into Elizabeth Murdoch hall for the first leaves you struck by it’s beauty. It’s architectural design is distinct, elegant and intimate. Steps echo as we venture to our seats and as the band steps onto the stage, suddenly everything changes. Under the direction of Melbourne-born violinist Julia Fredersdorff, Van Diemen’s band are an array…

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Melbourne International Arts Festival Review: Prize Fighter is a superb and emotional story that cannot be missed

There’s a boxing ring in the middle of the room, chairs set up like a stadium in the midst of Northcote Town Hall. As we find our seats, two people are throwing punches to the surprise of audience members, and others are working out, sweating throughout the performance space. For a moment I was deeply…

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Theatre Review: Margaret Fulton: Queen of the Dessert is a sweet & cheesy look at the cook’s many hats (Bondi Pavilion Theatre until 27th October)

For some people food is fuel, and then there’s Margaret Fulton. This food icon has been teaching Australians how to cook for seven decades. She’s also the subject of the rollicking musical, Margaret Fulton: Queen of the Desserts. The show had its Sydney premiere this weekend and is every bit as tasty and kitsch as…

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Melbourne International Arts Festival Review: Campagnie Carabosse’s Fire Gardens light up Royal Botanic Gardens

Fire and gardens… it’s not exactly what you expect to go together isn’t it? Yet as the sun starts to set across Melbourne, the Royal Botanic Gardens are only just lighting up with a (completely sold out) installation churning with people and garden pots filled with flames. Different, immersive and enveloped in an eerie atmosphere,…

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5 reasons you can’t miss Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art in Sydney

We’re counting down to the annual Sydney event, the Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art, which this year runs from the 18th to the 28th of October. Presented by Performance Space and held at Carriageworks, this 10 day festival showcases many new works from artists right though Australia and Asia Pacific. Jeff Khan, CEO and Artistic Director of Performance…

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Review: Shatner’s World is a warm, funny and occasionally surprising evening with a celluloid legend (Perth)

Monday night saw William Shatner kick off the Australian tour of his one-man show Shatner’s World: The Return Down Under in Perth. It was an evening of warmth, humour and philosophical musings. All. Delivered. In. That. Distinctive. Cadence. However, it was also not without its surprises. For example, whilst Shatner is likely best known for his role…

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Five Arts events not to miss in Australia this October

Summer might be on its way, but even without the unpredictable Spring weather there is plenty to keep us entertained indoors. There’s never a particularly quiet month in the Australian arts calendar, so here are some of our picks for the best Arts events this month. From the Adelaide Film Festival, to an exhibition re-contextualising Frankenstein…

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Melbourne International Arts Festival Review: My Name is Jimi is keeping Wagadagam culture burning bright

“There is a Fire, a bright flame that was lit in the past, it is still burning but the woods are burning out. My job is to put new woods in to keep the Fire burning.” This is a quote created and practiced by Jimi Bani‘s late grandfather, Adhi Ephraim Bani Jr. The fire represents…

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Interview: Michael Falzon spills the goss on Evita and why he just wants to work with his mates

Michael Falzon is one of Australian musical theatre’s favourite leading men. Currently, he is showcasing his considerable talents in Evita, where he shares the stage with the divine Tina Arena. He is also the creator of Swing on This, a collaboration with Ben Mingay, Luke Kennedy, Matt Lee and Rob Mills, with whom he is currently…

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Melbourne International Arts Festival Review: NoFit State’s Lexicon circus is a crowd pleaser

Looking for a dosage of engaging, crowd-pleasing and talent filled entertainment? NoFit State‘s Lexicon has everything you need. Dripping in nostalgic, early European costumes and a magnificent live band playing immersive and often gothic folk music, the circus embraced originality whilst still holding dear to it’s roots. 250 years ago a man by the name…

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Theatre Review: Powerful performances make YEN a genuinely moving experience (Kings Cross Theatre until 13th October)

Raw, real and deeply emotional, New Ghosts Theatre Company’s YEN gives us life as we’d rather not know it. Featuring some exceptionally talented new actors, who are expertly directed by Lucy Clements, this is heartfelt theatre at its most authentic. Fourteen year-old Bobby and his older brother Hench spend their days in their mother’s council…

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Review: Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ take on Bernstein’s Candide provides a mish-mash of all possible worlds

For years people have been perplexed by Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. Is it an operetta? A comedy? Musical theatre? A little of all of the above? Perhaps the safest description is that of “comic operetta,” where the draw-card is some dynamic and electric music. Mitchell Butel directs this latest production, which coincides with what would have…

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Melbourne Fringe Review: Bonnie Curtis’s GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS is confronting, imaginative and refreshingly honest

Being a woman in this modern age can suck. The expectation to keep that waist small, to get those likes on instagram and to have those Kylie Jenner-esque lips. The expectation to be more or less perfect. It’s unreasonable, isn’t it? Sometimes the way we move about in society and the pressures we put on…

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Melbourne Fringe Review: Funerals with Phoebe proved the perfect ending to an incredible festival

Delightful, different and refreshing, real life funeral singer Phoebe Deklerk‘s show Funerals with Phoebe proved to be the perfect ending to my amazing month of Melbourne Fringe Festival shows. Have you ever wondered what songs you’d like to have at your funeral? Or noticed just how similar wedding and funeral songs can actually be? Would you consider…

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Melbourne Fringe Review: Why Gillian English’s 10 Things I Hate About Taming of the Shrew is the best

Gillian English is my new favourite person. We have never met before but as soon as she stood on the makeshift stage at Belleville and roared her way into my life with her insistently angry comedy, I knew I had met my match. Viewer warning: If you have an undying love for Shakespeare than I…

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Theatre Review: Funny Girl is a joyous romp through New York’s golden years (Paramatta’s Riverside Theatre to 6th October)

The film Funny Girl is celebrating its golden anniversary but this story feels so young and vital it could have been made yesterday. Theatre & Co. present their version of Funny Girl at Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre. It’s something often associated with Barbra Streisand because it once catapulted her to fame. These are some big shoes to…

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Melbourne Fringe Review: Jude Perl is talented, hilarious, genuine and everybody needs to go and see I Have a Face

Jude Perl made me think about a lot of things. Made me notice a lot of things. And she made me laugh more than I thought was actually physically possible. If I could give any person who chances to wander over this article a small snippet of life advice it would be this. Go and…

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MONA FOMA announces hilarious money-back guarantee for Launceston debut as 2019 dates are confirmed

The Tasmanian music and art festival MONA FOMA (Museum of Old and New Arts: Festival of Music and Arts) has announced the new location for its annual run in 2019. From next January on the MOFO will take place in the northern Tasmanian city of Launceston instead of being held at its usual Hobart location….

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Theatre Review: Beauty & The Beast delivers some entertaining, family-friendly fun (Glen Street Theatre to 29th September)

It’s a tale that is – by its own admission – one that is as ‘Old as time’. The story of Beauty & the Beast has inspired two-hit Disney films and the stage production has played all over the world. Stage Artz reprise their production to deliver an entertaining and family-friendly charity event. Stage Artz…

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Melbourne Fringe Review: Jake Matricardi showcases stellar storytelling ability with The Gargoyle

Jake Matricardi plays a centuries old stone gargoyle who was struck by lightning whilst perched atop a church, plummeting into the river and rising with blood in his veins and a heartbeat in his chest. Living his days beneath a bridge, this wondrous and creative one man production explores the gargoyle’s existence and the stories…

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Melbourne Fringe Review: Consciously Kyah presents powerful creative collaboration Seeping

The first thing that hit me when I entered the dimly lit room in the midst of Sydney Road is the enveloping smell of incense. Basking in a red hued light, an array of flowers had been artfully placed around the area. The stage had been set and Consciously Kyah’s “Seeping” was about to begin….

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Theatre Review: Family-friendly Potted Potter is not quite potty enough (Seymour Centre until 23rd September)

First, there was the Complete Works of William Shakespeare – Abridged, and now we have Potted Potter – The Unauthorised Harry Experience – A Parody by Dan and Jeff (a title that, like the eponymous show, tries desperately to cram as much as possible into a very short space). Covering all seven Harry Potter books…

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Theatre Review: Tina Arena wows as Evita (at Sydney Opera House until 2nd November)

Take a much-loved child star known for her angelic voice, throw in some musical theatre heavy-weights and a modern opera/musical whose composer is celebrating a milestone year, and you have a revival that could very well be the hit of Opera Australia’s 2018 season. The 40th anniversary restaging of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita,…

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Photo Gallery: Evita Opening Night – Sydney Opera House (18.09.18)

Starring the incomparable Tina Arena, Evita enjoyed its opening night at the Sydney Opera House last night. Nathan Atkins was there to capture the invited guests on the red carpet at the anticipated premiere! Evita is enjoying performances of the Sydney Opera House until November 3rd. Tickets and more details are available HERE.

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Not just Nanette: The 7 funniest stand-up specials on Netflix

Netflix is full of more stand-up comedy than ever before; both original releases, and favourites from the stage. With Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette gaining so much attention this year, we wanted to shine a light on 6 other stand-up specials that aren’t to be missed. But we have to start with the best… Hannah Gadsby: Nanette…

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Theatre Review: The Wharf Revue’s Deja Revue celebrates politics repeating with some all-singing & all-dancing comic revelry

The Wharf Revue have been proudly entertaining audiences by skewering politicians since 2000. This year’s instalment was the troupe’s first without co-founder and musical director, Phil Scott, but the show remained strong and funny. The opening night at Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre was a rollicking one with a vaudeville feel that hit some really high notes….

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Live Review: Canberra’s National Gallery American Masters: Friday Night Live feat. Brass Knuckle Brass Band

Coinciding with the National Gallery of Australia’s American Masters exhibition, featuring classic American artwork from the likes of Andy Warhol, Robert Morris, Roy Lichtenstein, the National Gallery of Australia announced a “Friday Night Live” event, with live music and dance acting as support and accompaniment to a selection of the artwork. The exhibition primarily includes works…

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Melbourne Fringe Review: Darwent & Gray’s The Rest is Drag is a divine, feel good production to make you think

I called my boyfriend just after four o’clock. He was leaving his boring office to get on the boring train with the potential of taking a squiz at the boring financial review before eating a boring dinner and you get the gist. His flamboyancy was lacking, but lets not tell him that just yet. “How…

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