A new exhibit in East Hawthorne showcases the previously unseen watercolour paintings of Australian rock legend Jim Keays of The Masters Apprentices, best known for their 1970 hit single “Turn Up Your Radio.” Keays was lead vocalist, harmonica-player and guitarist of The Masters Apprentices, who released six records including Masterpiece from 1965 to their disbandment…
He is a man of many words, but Artistic Director of the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) Paul Lightfoot is filled with incredible wisdom. Lightfoot kindly started his day with a Skype chat about the philosophies behind NDT, his journey with the company and the show he is bringing to our shores. You’ve had a beautiful journey with the NDT…
Thanks to Zaya Altangerel for her help on this feature. Many wonder about the story of Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel, from the counterculture icons of the 60s to the tumultuous breakup right at the beginning of the 70s to their hugely-attended comeback concert in New York City’s Central Park. The duo have many stories…
The Biennale of Sydney has announced that visitation to the 20th Biennale of Sydney: The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed, was the second highest on record. Curated by Artistic Director Dr. Stephanie Rosenthal, the 20th Biennale, which ran from 18 March – 5 June 2016, featured more than 200 works…
For some, it wouldn’t have been the Adelaide Cabaret Festival without Rhonda Burchmore making an appearance throughout its run at some point. This year, audience members got more for their money, with the leggy Aussie icon returning to the stage alongside her ‘twin’, the irrepressible Trevor Ashley. Wrapping up their season in Adelaide at the Dunstan Playhouse…
Oscar Wilde’s story of The Happy Prince reads much like a beautiful parable. Perhaps, this is why it seemed only appropriate to host the first ever musical tale of story in a church. Simon Chan, composer and artistic director at The Other Production Company, has translated Wilde’s beautiful story telling into equally beautiful music. Sharing the…
Dita Von Teese is a name many will have heard about, but have not experienced in her full glitz and glamour. Associated with seduction, flawlessness and opulence, the American burlesque icon graced Adelaide’s Festival Theatre overnight to close out the Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s official opening weekend – and our long weekend. An early announced headliner, Von…
Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II is set for a radical makeover in a new production for Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre opening this July. Adapted by Australia’s Anthony Weigh, who is currently an Associate Artist at the renowned Donmar Warehouse Theatre in London, this Edward II speaks with a contemporary voice, referencing 21st century lust and politics. Unlike…
There’s a sweet tenderness behind Hew Parham‘s popular clown character of Rudi. As the audience came to realise through the duration of Rudi’s The Rinse Cycle last night at the Festival Centre’s Artspace, Rudi is much more than a young clown put on stage to make us laugh. Those who were at the Cabaret Festival’s Variety Gala on…
In The Block Universe time happens simultaneously, so just as you’re reading this interview every other moment in the history of Time is also happening exactly now. Scary huh? We sat down with Briallen Clarke, who stars in the premiere of this new Australian work, to talk about the play’s existential time concept. So… Could you…
The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is officially GO, after a packed out Adelaide Festival Theatre enjoyed a night of entertainment at the festival’s annual gala performance overnight. The show gave the audience just a taste of what’s to come over the next few weeks of shows, with various local Australian and international artists treading the stage…
The life and times story of an American woman experimenting with feminism in the 60s, 70s and 80s may not seem like it has much relevance on today’s Sydney stage. But in bringing Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles to life, the team at the New Theatre have successfully highlighted the very long way women still…
Sammy J has long been associated with his partner in crime, the purple and ever-entertaining, Randy. We last saw the twosome at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, where they took the South Australian audiences through the story of their wild and fantastical theme park. Since then, things have been somewhat on the outs for the duo. Giving Sammy…
Il Signor Bruschino is a huge hearty romp of laughter and complexity. Setting itself in an Italian setting, but also singing in English, the opera translated itself well to a little but lively audience at Chapel off Chapel. Gioachino Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino for the uninitiated is a tale of mistaken identity where the head…
An open letter to Megan Hilty. Dear Megan, Hi, my name is Kara. You may remember me from the other day. Or not? I bumped into you outside The Langham Hotel in Melbourne as you were wrapping up a photo shoot. You startled me. I honestly couldn’t believe I’d met you. Let me tell you, the…
Mary Shelley’s Gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein, forms an unlikely subject for London’s Royal Ballet. Choreographed by Artist-In-Residence Liam Scarlett, the Covent Garden based company’s performance will receive its Australian première, in an exclusive screening event in Sydney later this month. Reunited with composer Lowell Liebermann, and designer John Macfarlane, and featuring principal dancers Federico Bonelli (Victor Frankenstein),…
Love, Loss, and What I Wore, a play by Nora and Delia Ephron, is based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman. We are introduced to five women who take it in turns presenting individual, and sometimes joint, monologues. These range from irreverent and funny to painful and heartbreaking, the common…
What better way to spend a wintery Sunday afternoon than at the theatre soaking up all the incredible orchestrations by the one and only, Jason Robert Brown. As you enter The Loft at the iconic Chapel Off Chapel you are wistfully calmed by the sounds of a lapping sea, as a ship with its mast…
Co-comissioned by the Brisbane Festival in 2015, Il Ritorno wowed audiences in the River City last September with its fusion of stripped back acrobatics and baroque opera. This coming August, the creators, Brisbane based circus troupe Circa, are bringing the show to Melbourne, for a strictly limited run. Headed by artistic director Yaron Lifschitz and…
After a sell out season at the Adelaide Fringe, Danielle Baynes, with Lies, Lies and Propaganda, is set to bring her one woman play, Bicycle, to the Old Fitz Theatre, Woolloomooloo, later this month. A thematic mash-up made up of one part Gothic horror and one part celebration of a female “first”, Bicycle follows a Victorian Englishwoman…
A once-charming cabaret chanteuse has gone rogue – armed with a biting wit, an appetite for romance and revenge, and a set of lungs you really have to hear to believe. A brand new work from this fearless darling of the Australian Cabaret Stage, Rogue Romantic sees Anastasia’s satirical wit turn personal experiences inside out…
Time to take a look at seven of the must-see arts events happening around Australia this month – June 2016. As the winter sets in, there are hidden gems all around Australia to go and see: Il Signor Bruschino A operatic farce of dual identity where a two lovers attempt to deceive their elders in…
Adorned in a steampunk-esque head-piece made of gold wire and pearls, pioneering Icelandic artist and musician Björk addressed a small group of media ahead of her collaboration with Carriageworks and Vivid Sydney, an exhibition titled BJÖRK DIGITAL. “The music came first and it kind of had that sense of urgency about it,” she said, making…
Buried Country: Live in Concert is a new stage show born from the ground breaking book, film and compilation album from Clinton Walker – Buried Country: The Story of Aboriginal Country Music – which was initially published in 2000 before being updated and re-released in 2015 to acclaim. Buried Country, which premieres at The Playhouse…
Just for Laughs Sydney will be back for their sixth year when the festival kicks off in in early September. The festival, which brings together, some of the biggest names in comedy from Australia and internationally, will be returning to the Sydney Opera House. Taking place from the 6-11th September, the festival has announced the…
Chances are you’ve seen the 80s cult classic film Heathers, with its darkly humorous story of high school cliques, power-crazy scrunchie-wearing girls and trench-wearing bad boys. The off-Broadway smash hit musical translates all of this glory straight to the stage, and now after a sell-out season at the Hayes theatre Heathers is marching its shoulder-pads…
Splendour in the Grass 2016 is almost upon us, and with that comes the announcement of its arts programs – Splendour Arts and Splendour in the Craft. This year’s Splendour Arts will feature six major pieces scattered across the events site, curated by artist Craig Walsh. The Arch Tunnel Response, a site responsive painting by Melbourne…
Quarterly magazine The Lifted Brow is nearing its tenth birthday, after thirty issues dedicated to showcasing young Australian literary and artistic talent. The 30th issue is both a milestone publication for the team, and also a swan song for editors Ellena Savage and Gillian Terzis, who have been with the magazine since its relaunch in 2015….
Supported by VIVID Ideas 2016, Telling Tales: Excursions in Narrative Form opens this week at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Sydney. Running from June 2nd until early October, Telling Tales explores inventive approaches taken by Australian and international artists to the narrative form. Ahead of opening weekend, MCA has released a schedule of events showcasing…
Sure Vivid Sydney has been seen as a great celebration of music and light, but many fascinating talks are to take place over the next few weeks of the festival as well. Many topics in this year’s festival have a focus on tackling difficult ideas with creative solutions. With this in mind, we have decided here to…
