Some fun facts about The Barber of Seville that I didn’t know going in is that it is based on a novel and is actually the prequel for The Marriage of Figaro, despite Seville being the work of Rossini and Figaro of Mozart. Having of course seen Opera Australia’s The Marriage of Figaro last year…
Read more
The Rabbits, written by John Marsden and illustrated by Shaun Tan, is an extraordinary piece of work. It takes important historical events and recreates its message in a haunting picture book- reaching children and adults alike. It does not shy away from what it needs to say. The adaption of this work into this opera…
Read more
The Fantasticks has become the longest running production of any kind in the history of American theatre, no small feat, and yet I hadn’t heard of it. So noticing we were getting a production here in the wonderful Hayes Theatre I went to listen on Spotify. I wound up a good deal confused- what is…
Read more
When a story is told and retold and adapted in so many different ways you know there’s something special about it. This is of course the case with Puccini’s La Bohème, which has been adapted into popular modern musical RENT and used as inspiration for Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge just to name a few. In…
Read more
I have wanted to see Mozart’s The Magic Flute for so long. The “happy” opera, full of playfulness, colour and magic, a welcome change from my more recent (brilliant) but tragic La Bohemes and Don Carlos’. And boy was everyone correct! The Magic Flute is absolutely the happy opera. The first thing I noticed about…
Read more
On the 13th February at Sydney’s Theatre Royal, Leigh Sales will sit down with the one and only acclaimed composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz! There is no doubt that you would have heard some of Schwartz’s work, whether it be his Broadway hits including Godspell, Pippin and Wicked or his work on Disney movies such…
Read more
It’s been an incredible year for the Sydney arts scene. I managed to get to well over fifty productions this year, ranging from musicals to operas to theatre to experimental interactive experiences. It seems like each year there are more and more wonderful things to see! With so many fabulous productions it was tough to…
Read more
From do-re-mi to hills to brown paper packages to yodelling to being sixteen (going on seventeen) to climbing mountains to solving problems like Maria and all the way to that beautiful little flower Edelweiss, mention The Sound of Music to anyone and they’ll surely be respond by singing any one of these fabulous tunes. It…
Read more
There are few who seem to understand the concept of the coffee table book as well as photographer Simon Griffiths, who today releases Boat – a “celebration of the humble vessel that symbolises escape, trade and travel” – as the press release aptly puts it. The beautifully designed book is one you can judge by…
Read more
Orlando, based on Virgina Woolf’s novel of the same name, is a whimsical, magical tale of time and transformation. It follows the nobleman Orlando in the court of Elizabeth I who awakes transformed as a woman and begins a glorious journey of time travel in her way to find her true self. We caught up…
Read more
Irish actor Robert Sheehan (pictured in the middle above) – best known for his work in the first two seasons of the series Misfits is currently appearing on stage is London as Richard III in Shakespeare’s The Wars of the Roses trilogy. While they were still in dress rehearsals, I caught up with the talented…
Read more
RENT is just one of those musicals that everyone knows. Perhaps it’s due to the success of the film, or perhaps just because it’s story and characters are so resonating, but it has clearly become a mainstay staple in musical theatre 101s. For whatever reason it is also a musical that I had actually never…
Read more
To me going to the ballet is more than watching a dance performance, it’s about the whole experience of the evening. The dancing is important of course, but there is this feeling- the excited little girls bouncing eagerly around their mothers and the groups of girlfriends (both young and old) all dressed up and walking…
Read more
Disney’s critically acclaimed Broadway musical Aladdin will be making its way to Sydney’s Capitol Theatre in August next year. The show features the much loved music of the original film, as well as all new songs written especially for the stage. It opened on Broadway in 2014 and quickly became one of the most popular…
Read more
I said it on Twitter and I will say it again here- I have never been so unprepared for a film’s plot progression in my life as I was for My Ordinary Love Story. It was unexpected and completely masterful. The story follows a slightly outspoken Eun-Jin (Gang Ye-Won), who introduces us one by one…
Read more