Australia - Brisbane Theatre Newsroom Page 23

With tickets selling like hot cakes in all other cities, Frontier Comedy is happy to add a Brisbane date to prodigious sports satirist and best-selling author Titus O'Reily's (Herald Sun, Channel 7, Nova 100) national tour. Now wrapping up at Brisbane's Sit Down Comedy Club on Wednesday 5 September, Titus will hit seven cities this August and September on The Bye Round 2018 Tour: Manifestly Inadequate. Tickets to all shows, including the newly added Brisbane show, are on sale now and selling fast. 

Don't miss this opportunity to workshop with the award-winning School of Hard Knocks founder Dr Jonathon Welch AM, and an exciting introduction to creating your own musical with Olivier nominated music theatre composer and performer - Warren Wills.

Joyous Broadway hit Beautiful: The Carole King Musical will make its official Brisbane premiere at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC tomorrow night, after taking home top honours in five categories at this year's Helpmann

The narrative is a fantastical depiction of an immigration tale; following a man who ventures solo to a foreign country in search of a better life for himself and his family. In the strange new land he's confronted with a myriad of obstacles and spectacles, goes on a few adventures and along the way meets other characters each with their own stories and histories to tell. In keeping with the graphic novel - which doesn't include text, dialogue in The Arrival is sparse - and what little there is appears to be in an incomprehensible language (which I later discover is based on English words with certain letters swapped around to change the sound). The story is told through movement, mime, and puppetry - performed by a cohesive and remarkably versatile ensemble (comprising of a mix of Brisbane dance artists and Red Leap company members) equally capable at slapstick mime, puppetry, and intense acrobatic scenes. The Arrival is a sensory treat from start to finish, owing a to a production team that's not only individually capable but collaborate to a level such that the results far transcends the sum of its parts. John Verryt's set design is not only strikingly beautiful with a surreal, Tim Burton-esque aesthetic, but ingeniously clever and unconventional. Jeremy Fern's lighting design completes the visual aesthetic with an expansive palette that includes mottled blue and violet for night-time scenes to warm amber for the daytime, with bolder iterations of both towards the climactic end. Lighting and set design coordinate to produce something emergent when facilitating the various kinds of puppetry - particularly the kinds relying on light and shadow. Andrew McMillan's composition and sound design adds to the film-like quality of The Arrival, with a soundscape that ranges from whimsical percussion and poignant instrumental, to terror and despair distilled into aural form. The journey on stage in The Arrival extends beyond the narrative; it is also a journey into the transportive qualities of live theatre at its best, of the expressive capabilities of movement and mime, and the seemingly limitless range of the kinds of magic that can happen on stage. Behind the fantasy-like story on the surface lies weighty, pertinent themes that adults can appreciate; showing that theatre can be relevant yet still fun. The Arrival is a one-of-the-kind theatre experience that will leave an indelible impression on audience members young and old, and a fantastic introduction to the world of theatre.

Everyone knows the tale of Alice in Wonderland; of a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy, nonsensical world filled with mad creatures, so to speak. Each year features new adaptations by a plethora of theatre companies, both independent and commercial and each adaptation transforms the story to accentuate a different part of the narrative, that you wouldn't have thought of before. Unfortunately, Penny Farrow's Alice in Wonderland Live didn't teach us anything new but maybe that wasn't the playwright's intention as the production gave birth to Carroll's world spectacularly and in exuberant colours.

Brisbane band Sheppard, music writer Glenn A Baker AM, singer Christine Anu and comedian Anne Edmonds have all been added to the line-up for Helpmann Awards Act II on Monday 16 July at the Capitol Theatre Sydney.

On Tuesday, The Brisbane Festival launched its fabulous new line-up for this year's program, including even more world premieres, big-name acts and a brand new light and laser show off of the river, which will illuminate Brisbane for the entirety of the festival celebrations. Running from the 8-29 September, the festival will feature close to 600 performances, with 100 of them being free to the public, of 70 shows across seventeen venues in Brisbane, involving more than 1000 artists and hundreds of volunteers. Not only that, but the festival will premiere eight brand new works from leading Australian company's including Legs On The Wall, Circa and Dancenorth, as well as two major music events at the Riverstage, with Ball Park Music performing on the opening night and Violent Soho on the closing night. This year, the mammoth program is divided into three distinctive acts which frame the scope of the performances with Act One revolving around the idea of gender, memory and home. Amongst these performances is Memorial, a grand theatrical experience which 'gives life to the exquisite life to each of the 215 dead soldiers named in Homer's Iliad', starring the incredible Helen Morse and a community chorus of 215 choreographed by Circa's Yaron Lifschitz, featuring a soundtrack by Golden Globe nominee Jocelyn Pook. Performances featured in the first act include Home, a piece from the United States in which a house is magically built onstage from nothing and ends in a lively house party, Queens on King, an inner-city garden soiree in which eight real-life same sex couples tie the knot in a public ceremony and LIFE the show, a world premiere by Strut & Fret which showcases the extraordinary abilities of the human body. Other headlines include tv personality Hugh Sheridan's return in the 2016 smash hit the California Crooners Club; Yothu Yindi and the Treaty Project, the return of Symphony For Me, Michael Leunig and The Camerata in Gratitude & Grief and Katie Noonan's Elixir. Act Two is made up of performances which cast the individual against the forces of society, fate and nature, including Circa's En Masse, Dancenorth's Dust and Rhonda Burchmore and Rob Mills' BANG! BANG! And, the festival's closing week includes a variety of acts such as the scary movie homage HORROR; the world premiere of The Man with The Iron Neck from Legs On the Wall and the vibrant children's opera The Owl & The Pussycat. According to Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold, "Each act has its own explosion of story, and each opens a window to the world that will entertain and enlighten. We hope this festival is altogether alluring and will bring us all together, breathing as one, as we witness artists from here and around the world working at the very limits of their imaginations to blow our minds." For the full program here: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

Presented by the School of Hard Knocks, work with our Founding Artistic Director - Dr Jonathon Welch AM, and our special guest - Warren Wills, at a day of fun singing with fabulous workshops in vocal technique. A new series of one day workshops to help choral singers, performers and conductors STRETCH their skills and vocal knowledge.

Following on from a massive first round announcement of speakers in May, BIGSOUND continues to cement its reputation as the country's biggest discovery event for new music, with the unveiling of the first round of live acts, set to take the stage across 4 nights in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley this September 4-7.

The Mathematics of Longing, presented by La Boite in collaboration with playwright Suzie Miller's production company The Uncertainty Principle and dance-theatre company The Farm, is a new work by Miller, who's Dad was 'fluent in mathematical formulas and equation', which lead her to study science at university for a decade before she became a playwright.

One of my firm beliefs is that dance is one of the most elegant and poignant forms of storytelling, and the creatives behind 4Seasons have re-affirmed that tenfold. If you'd like a night of an exquisite blend of physical theatre and dance, this is a must see.

Set in a private Catholic boarding high-school, Bare is a contemporary electric, confronting LGBT pop-rock musical with examines the struggles teenagers grapple with such as sexuality, identity and growing up. At its heart is the budding romance between Peter, who is formulating a plan on how and when to come out to his mother and Jason, who wants to hide their love away in fear of losing his position in the social ladder, as well as the respect from his classmates. These star-crossed lovers, coincidently, happen to be rehearsing a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at school, a script which enhances, as well as awakens, their own inner battles with themselves and their adolescent life. Thus, it makes it relevant in our contemporary political climate, in which love is not always accepted in all of its forms and for what it truly is; love.

More than 100 Year 3 students at Redbank Plains State School are getting their dance shoes on in preparation for Queensland Performing Arts Centre's (QPAC's) 2018 Out of the Box Festival for children eight years and under, which opens in less than a month (26 June to 1 July).

Strewth! Everyone's favourite flamin' galah, Ray Meagher, will reprise his role as outback mechanic "Bob" in the 10th anniversary celebration tour of homegrown musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert. The treasured Australian actor, who recently notched up 30 years as Home and Away's Alf Stewart, will swap Summer Bay for the Queensland stage, joining the cast of Priscilla for the musical's Brisbane run at Lyric Theatre, QPAC beginning 26th September. Ray takes over from veteran actor Robert Grubb who will down tools at the end of the Adelaide season after more than eight months on the road.

Natalie Weir is an acclaimed choreographer, known internationally for her highly physical partner work, her organic movement style and her touching insight into human nature. She has created over 170 professional works in her 30+ year career and was a founding member of Expressions Dance Company (EDC).

Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra promises its trademark energy as it takes to The Edge at State Library of Queensland in its intimate concert Up Close concert on Friday 3 June.

Written by William Shakespeare, the dark comedy tells the story of unrequited love, mistaken identity, the idea of madness, trickery, adventure and the extraordinary things that love can make us do. Admittedly, the narrative of Twelfth Night can be hard to follow for those that aren't familiar with the piece or Shakespeare's obsession with subplots, which are all magically woven together and tied with a bow at the end. The plot unfolds with a shipwreck which separates Viola from her twin before, who in order to survive in the foreign land of Illyria, disguises herself as a boy and works as a page to Duke Orsino. Not long into the plot there is a love triangle between the Countess Oliva who has fallen in love with Cesario/Viola, Cesario/Viola who has fallen in love with Orsino and Orisino who is courting Olivia. Meanwhile Olivia's uncle Sir Toby Belch, his friend Sir Andrew Agruecheek and servant Maria formulate a drunkard plan to reveal the aspirations and self-love of Olivia's head steward Marvolio (who's now a woman called Malvolia), who disapproves of their frequent partying ordeals. Hence, they forge a letter from Olivia's hand to Marvolio, tricking him into believing that the countess is head over his heels from him. And while all this is happening, you find out that Sebastian (Viola's twin) did not die but like his sister, has survived the shipwreck and is making his way toward the palace with his companion Antonio, a noble prince, in two.

Although American Idiot is classified as a musical, it would be better classified as a very politically-powerful rock opera. From the head banging to the electric guitars and booming bass, the audience were enrolled as spectators in a rock arena. Although quite disjointed, the piece features music composed by the punk-rock band Green Day, with the score including each song from the album of the same name, as well as additional songs from their album 21st Century. American Idiot follows the story of three alienated childhood friends Johnny (Linden Furnell), Tunny (Connor Crawford) and Will (Alex Jeans) as they navigate their way to find meaning, purpose and colour in a Trumpian suburbia. Whilst Will stays at home to fix his rapport with his pregnant girlfriend Heather (Ashleigh Taylor), Tunny and Johnny flee a stifling suburban lifestyle and parental restrictions; however, as always, things don't always turn out as they seem. Tunny ends up joining the military and although he starts a relationship, it quickly turns to dust after Johnny turns to drugs, discovering a darker part of himself.

The Crucible (1953) is a partially fictionalized narrative of the Salem witch trials which occurred in Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692 to 1693, written by American playwright Arthur Miller.

Based on the two-time academy award winning Disney animated film of the same name, Aladdin the musical encompasses all the magic that the movie has and more. In fact, I believe it's more magical than the movie and here's why. I've only had my draw drop twice in the opening number of a musical; first was The Lion King and now, Aladdin can be added to the list. I've tried to think of the words to explain the extravagance of the set. The word magical is the closest I can find but even that's not enough. It's Disney and it's budgetless. Six-time Tony Award winning set designer Bob Crowley draws from Middle Eastern, North African and Asian designs and eras to produce the most immaculate storybook middle-eastern silk back-drops, market-place scene furnishings and the inside of the palace walls. The cave of wonders featured golden treasures that transformed into skyscrapers but none more beautiful than the flying carpet which carries the lovers aloft in the air. As it spins and turns through Natasha Katz's (lighting designer) star-strewn night sky, the audience is left not wanting to believe their eyes and wanting to know the answer as to 'how they did it'.

Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch and Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones today announced Italy's illustrious Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company would come to perform only in Brisbane for the company's first ever Australian visit in its 240-year history as part of the 2018 Queensland Performing Art Centre (QPAC) International Series from 7 to 18 November.

THE FUTURE OF THEATRE IN THIS CITY. La Boite's HWY Festival of new work returns 12 - 24 March with a program of performances, workshops and masterclasses, conversations, podcasts and much more. This years program is set to celebrate a diverse array of artists in the throes of developing new work. Now in its third year, HWY has become a celebration of exciting, ambitious, and powerful theatre practice in Brisbane, as well as being a unique opportunity to meet, collaborate, and engage with a range of incredible local artists and industry. Prize Fighter, which tours nationally in 2018, our 2018 Season show The Mathematics of Longing, and our sell out production Single Asian Female, which opens its season at Belvoir in Sydney this week, all began as creative developments in previous HWY programs.

shake & stir theatre co has responded to claims made in a Facebook post by recently-dismissed cast member, Mr. Linden Furnell.

Get set to be swept away on a magic carpet ride as Disney's Aladdin officially opens in Queensland Performing Arts Centre's, (QPAC's) Lyric Theatre today Friday 23 February, running until Sunday 3 June 2018.