Legendary duo Basement Jaxx have just announced three special Australian shows for April 2019, re-imagining their long line of hits with a full orchestra and backing singers. The tour, which will take them to iconic venues like the Sydney Opera House and Margaret Court Arena, is a completely updated and refreshed version of a project…
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Anyone who has seen the almighty Wu-Tang Clan live before would be forgiven for being a bit cynical about their sold out four-show run at the Sydney Opera House. As far back as I can remember, all nine living members of the Wu have never been on an Australian stage together. The closest we got…
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What they say is still true: the Wu-Tang is dangerous. Emerging from a dingy basement in the New York City borough of Staten Island, the Wu-Tang Clan was legendary from the very beginning. The group’s status was cemented in 1993 when the nine MCs came together like Voltron for their classic debut album Enter The…
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Ten comedians walk into the Opera House. They deliver some cracking jokes. Hilarity ensues. Rinse and repeat. This is how you could sum up the 8th Just for Laughs All-Star Gala. Local and international comics came together to deliver some wonderful observational and improvisational comedy. Our nation’s very own Dave Hughes was MC for the…
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It’s remarkable to think that a TV series about improv could last for 30 years. But indeed, Whose Line is it Anyway? (or Whose Line? as it’s often known, and will be referred to as henceforth), has always beaten the odds. Starting as a radio programme on the BBC starting Clive Anderson, Stephen Fry and…
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Earlier today, I stood on the steps of the Sydney Opera House with one of the most iconic names in entertainment, Bill Murray, and acclaimed classical cellist Jan Vogler. The pair are performing tonight and tomorrow night with “Friends”, including cellist Mira Wang, and violinist Vanessa Perez. This marks the first time Vogler has made it to…
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A legend across contemporary classical, electronica and experimental music, Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a long an illustrious career. Spanning a number of collaborations, it’s his sixteen year partnership with German composer Alva Noto that has stuck, garnering five albums, along with the soundtrack to the movie The Revenant. A largely improvised affair, the duo meshed sparse…
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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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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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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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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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Unveiling its 2019 season, Opera Australia has announced its most exhilarating and innovative program to date, with an incredible selection of productions set to take the stage at the Sydney Opera House. Exploding onto the scene with an array of classics and diverse, new inclusions for the year ahead, Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini has said:…
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It is as magnificent, jaw-dropping, gasp-enticing and lavish a staging as you can imagine, but Opera Australia’s decision to rely on digital technology for its latest production of Aida nearly came unstuck on opening night, due to a tiny, blinking square of blue light. Using soaring, rotating LED panels as the primary set, onto which…
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Up from the 36 chambers the legendary Wu-Tang Clan have announced a triumphant return to Australia with two exclusive, very special shows celebrating the 25th anniversary of their iconic debut Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). The 1993 classic will be performed in full by all nine surviving core members at none other than the Concert…
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Tackling Verdi’s Rigoletto in the #metoo era could have been a real opportunity for Opera Australia. A story featuring a leader who believes women merely objects for his desire and a disadvantaged subject who cheers on this behaviour until it is directed towards his own daughter – just think of the possible political parallels to…
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The bright lights of Broadway will shine on the Sydney Opera House 12-14 July as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra presents the classic Broadway musical Funny Girl in Concert. With the film celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2018, this special concert production directed by Mitchell Butel will feature some of Australia’s favourite leading ladies who each…
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It takes extraordinary strength of character (both in personality and portrayal) to deliver a flawless performance while one of your leads is being rushed to hospital with a serious injury, but that is what the cast of Assassins did on opening night at the Sydney Opera House this week. A sharply designed, brilliantly performed production,…
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Bathed in blue and green hues, as smoke envelopes the stage the goal of the night is intimacy, intimacy held perhaps at an arm’s length. No Mono the new project by #1 Dads and Big Scary member Tom Iansek and Tom Snowdon of Lowlakes relishes in the private moments, whether they are obscured by the…
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Solange didn’t know if she’d make it to Sydney for her run of Vivid shows. Standing atop the stairs set up in the middle of the Opera House’s Concert Hall, she walked back and forth while telling the sold out crowd that there was a moment back in October where she seriously thought performing would be a…
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Leaps and bounds. Apart from being a classic Paul Kelly track, it is exactly what Middle Kids have been coming along over the past two years. While certainly not an overnight success, the steam the now four-piece from Sydney has built up in 2018 is almost unparalleled. Releasing their debut album Lost Friends less than a month…
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It’s hard to believe that it’s been over twenty years since the release of the debut LP from Welsh rockers Stereophonics, Word Gets Around. With hit singles like “Local Boy in the Photograph” and “A Thousand Trees”, the album set the stage for the group to eventually become one of the UK’s biggest act; with almost all…
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Flying candy, endorsement of cheating and a few life lessons – and that’s just in the first 10 minutes – The Miss Behave Gameshow is hands down the most entertaining night out I’ve had in a long time. In fact, stop reading, jump over to the Sydney Opera House website and grab yourself some tickets…
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In its sixth year, All About Women celebrates International Women’s Day (March 8) with a line-up of inspiring and empowering discussions around the universal struggle for equality in a world still dominated by the white, privileged patriarchy. While I could have easily gone to every talk on offer, it wold have been physically impossible given…
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The Sydney Opera House have released details on the much anticipated UnWrapped series, a biannual season featuring acclaimed work by new and established artists. Unwrapped will take place in May and August each year, and be the centre stage for the Opera House’s new Artist & Sector Development initiative that aims to support emerging and…
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The Sydney Theatre Company is kicking off their 2018 season with the Caryl Churchill classic Top Girls, and will be hitting the stage from 12 February to 24 March. The production is directed by STC Resident Director Imara Savage with an extraordinary all-female ensemble including Helen Thomson, Kate Box, Michelle Lim Davidson, Paula Arundell and…
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Strut & Fret have reimagined the wickedly entertaining Limbo production Sydneysiders have come to know and love into Limbo Unhinged, a new show that has toured the country to critical acclaim and constant sell-outs before landing at the Sydney Opera House, where it will sit for the next three months. It is vastly different to…
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Graeme Murphy’s divine production of The Merry Widow finally makes its way to the Sydney Opera House and it’s a cracking way for Opera Australia to kick off 2018. The combination of stunning Art Deco design, a witty new English translation and two extremely charismatic leads make this an extremely accessible introduction to opera for…
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Seeing is believing. Especially when you are watching a theatre show like, The Unbelievables. This variety show comes from the producers of The Illusionists and Circus 1903 and promises to be the “greatest” one on earth. The finished product is a grand assortment of different treats and tricks, with performers from multiple disciplines and presentations…
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Much loved Canadian artist Feist has been in the country this past week, touring her latest LP Pleasure, the six-years-in-waiting follow up to 2011’s acclaimed Metals. Her brief jaunt in Australia came to an end last night at the Sydney Opera House; a night that also called to an end her Pleasure world tour. The…
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Bell Shakespeare Company’s latest production of The Merchant of Venice has a few high points. But overall Director Anne-Louise Sarks has played it pretty safe and as a result there’s nothing about this show that really stands out. Listed among Shakespeare’s comedies, The Merchant of Venice contains some of Shakespeare’s most well-known characters. First, there’s…
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