Tim Carney - Page 2

With some spectacular visual effects and thrilling performances, Ghost the musical opened at the Regent Theatre last night in front of an appreciative audience. From the outset Jon Driscoll's video projections set the scene for what is a particularly clever musical both optically and emotionally. While Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard's score isn't overtly memorable there are some stunning melodies that capture characters inner thoughts and feelings and move the action forward, staying faithful to the original film with Bruce Joel Rubin adapting his original screenplay for the stage.

A new Australian musical had its world premiere last night and Georgy Girl - The Seekers musical is a show that will do Australians and theatre in this country proud. Based on the life of the Seekers, the first Australian band to achieve overseas success, the jukebox musical weaves timeless classics into a clever book to tell a truly remarkable story. While there may be some fine-tuning to be done on the script it's a minor quibble in an overwhelmingly positive success story.

? Shanon D Whitelock has had an extensive career touring the world as a musical director. His skill as a song writer is on display in his latest solo show Never Date a Songwriter, a song cycle of various relationships experienced by Whitelock in his life to date. Set in the kitsch backdrop of the Butterfly Club, Never Date a Song Writer manages to blend soulful ballad with witty patter song to particular success. The set is diverse in its style. While the subject matter remains similar, there is enough variance and familiarity to keep our attention throughout. Whitelock's melodies produce poignant progressions that elicit some meaningful response from his audience. While at times his lyrics seem somewhat rudimentary his melodies cannot be questioned. Nor too can his voice, which soars through the material. There is something to be a said about songwriters singing their own compositions. Whitelock describes writing as therapy and these sessions are heard in his vocals, which match his songwriting and his musicianship, clearly Whitelock's gift. Never Date A Songwriter will appeal to a diverse audience. While Whitelock's material is particularly personal, the notion of ideas and experiences are relevant to all.

The Production Company produced one of its finest shows in recent memory with George and Ira Gershwin's Nice Work If You Can Get It. As the production notes state 'This bubbling 1920s-era musical sparkles with extravagant dance numbers, glittering costumes and a delicious love story between a wealthy playboy and the feisty bootlegger who melts his heart.' And sparkle it does. The production team excel with the material. Roger Hodgman's direction is slick and his use of space is particularly clever and inventive, filling every morsel of it with his talented cast. Also maximizing the abilities of her cast is chorographer Dana Jolly. Her choreography is sympathetic to the era but with a contemporary edge and is truly a feature of the production. Orchestra Victoria, under the precise baton of musical director John Foreman, bring the Gershwin classics to life with fervor and grace. Also absolutely nailing the period and style is Isaac Lummis' costume design which is a visual smorgasbord and completely highlights the period.

Tonight the 2015 Helpmann Awards nominations will be announced concurrently in 6 cities across Australia. Presenters will include Todd Mckenney, Caroline O'conner, Kate Miller-Heidke, Craig McLachlan and Amy Lehpamer.

In what has become one of the most popular shows around the world, Dirty Dancing the musical opened in Melbourne this week. Where Dirty Dancing fails as a show it picks up in fun and froth, perhaps the key to its success. The part musical, part dance show is a perfect representation of the film, with every moment true to its iconic 1987 source. This updated version of the original employs projections that make up the majority of the set, often times comically presenting moments from the film, in what becomes the mantra of the show. It has a laugh at itself, doesn't take itself seriously at all and if you can accept that notion then you will be entertained, If by nothing else, then by the dancing itself, which, in this production is quite simply stunning.

A brand new Melbourne Theatre was christened last night with a brand new Australian musical. Sexercise The Musical centres around 6 real life people and their struggles with the routine and the monotony of life

Baz Luhrman's Strictly Ballroom 'The Musical' opened in Melbourne last night to great fanfare. Based on Luhrman's 1992 iconic Australian film, and Presented by Global Creatures, the team behind the musical King Kong, there is only one word that can describe this show...boring. It's long, drawn out and uneventful sequences result in an underwhelming piece of theatre. It is a stretch to call this show a musical, in fact you can't. Though originally written as a play by Luhrman this production is a re-working of a film for the stage. The show pastiches cliched classics from varied eras and combines them with a smattering of original songs resulting in a score that is flavorless and unmemorable. The action never reaches the heightened state it needs to in order to warrant a song, leaving the show brimming full of unfulfilled moments that cheat the public out of anything that could be deemed a real or satisfying moment.

The Production Company's final installment for 2014 La Cage Au Folles opened last night at the Arts Centre. Based on the play by Jean Poiret, opening in 1983 and winning 6 Tony Awards on Broadway, La Cage tells the story of Georges (Simon Burke), owner of the famous La Cage Au Folles club in St.Tropez where his partner Albin (Todd Mckenney) is the star drag act. Georges son Jean-Michel (Robert Tripolino) returns to the club to announce that he is engaged to Anne (Emily Milledge), daughter of the Edouard Dindon (Gary Sweet) leader of the Tradition Family and Morality Party. What ensues is a riotous fusion of two different worlds coupled with a touching story of love and the bond of family set against Jerry Herman's fun, poignant score.

Craig Wright's The Pavilion is a wonderfully thought provoking piece of theatre. Boutique Theatre's presentation of the Australian Premiere of this piece captures the essence of the writing and presents it simplistically and elegantly. At the heart of the story are Pater (Tim Constantine) and Kari (Katharine Innes), high school sweet hearts, who split when Peter left Kari after she fell pregnant with his child. The Pavilion is set 20 years on from this moment at the reunion of the class of 1995 where Peter ultimately comes to try and rekindle the love he had for the now married Kari. On the periphery of this is the Narrator (Claire Pearson) who opens and closes the show with some lengthy philosophizing and then acts as the multiple supporting characters that intertwine throughout the reunion and ultimately the moments shared by Peter and Kari.

Once, the musical adaptation of the film by the same name is quite possibly the most complete display of craftsmanship and creativity in modern theatre. This coupled with its stunning book by Edna Walsh and equally exquisite score by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova provide for an evening at the theatre unlike any other.

Watching distinguished, seasoned veterans onstage in Jonathan Church's play The Last Confession was a privilege. Opening in Melbourne last night, in the final leg of an international tour, The Last Confession centres around the life of Albino Luciani, (played with sincerity and compassion by Richard O'Callaghan), his election as Pope John Paul I and ultimately his death a mere 33 days later. It is an intriguing event not only for the Catholic Church but also in the history of the world with the Church refusing to investigate the potential of foul play from the conservative enclave of the Vatican.

Last nights opening of the reimagined Les Miserables was a defining moment in Australian music theatre. While maintaining its history and staying true to its origins, Cameron Mackintosh's new production is the dawning of a new era. Its metamorphoses from its original production to this new adaption is subtle, yet every change advances the show into the realm of the contemporary theatre. While the grandeur of the original masterpiece is at times missed, the simplicity and sharpness of the design enhances the story and brings Victor Hugo's original text to life.

From the opening moments of this latest revival of Rogers and Hammerstein's iconic musical The King And I, we are transported to the heart of Asia, its intricacies, its nuances, its customs. Pre curtain, four male Buddhist monks adorned the stage with incense, creating a reverent, calming and authentic moment, the prelude to a plethora of stunning moments littered throughout this magical piece.

A show that can continue to run for over 10 years worldwide despite wars, financial crises, and political unrest can be nothing other than a smash hit. There are few shows that can sustain such longevity and remain as remarkably fresh and true to its original product. The return Australian season of Stephen Schwartz's defining musical Wicked proves that this show will remain one of the greatest musicals of our lifetime. For while last night's opening in Melbourne felt very long there was always a single moment to remind us that we were watching a truly spectacular show, performed by an even more spectacular cast. It dragged in parts and flew in others. It was a rollercoaster of extreme highs and periods of flatness. Wicked's biggest strength, it's score, is also its greatest weakness in that dialogue seems so slow seemingly trudging to the next musical highlight. The magic of the score outweighs these mundane moments so overwhelmingly though that it is easily forgiven. It's hard to think of a greater end to Act I in any other musical than Defying Gravity, a more narratively driving opening than No One Mourns The Wicked or a more powerful dramatic moment in No Good Deed.

Whether you've seen Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show on multiple occasions from its incarnation 40 years ago or last night's Melbourne opening was your first experience with the cult classic, one ensuing thought rings true; what was that all about, followed by wow...I think I actually enjoyed that. No doubt the more you see the Rocky Horror Show the more it gives you and the more meaning you create for yourself from the piece of science fiction theatre. Its cult status proves that more than just the audience at the Comedy Theatre last night enjoy this show.

Tim Maddren currently starring as Brad in the Australian tour of the Rocky Horror Picture Show took some time out to have a chat to Broadway World about the show, his role and it's upcoming opening in Melbourne on April 26. '

Bernadette Peters is a music theatre icon unsurpassed by many, if any. Even if you've haven't seen her craft on display, she is bound to be on an original cast recording that you have tucked away amongst your collection. Peters graced the stage of Her Majesty's theatre in Melbourne last night on the final leg of her Australian tour with an orchestra of local artists under the guidance of her legendary musical director Marvin Laird. Her familiar tone and vibrato was on display and even if her voice happened to waiver in certain moments the connection she had with her lyric far surpassed any technical hic up. As composer Stephen Sondheim's muse, Peter's has had to clearly develop her interpretation of some of the more complex melodies and lyrics in the music theatre repertoire. It is in this pocket that she sits superior to any of her peers. Her delivery of Send In The Clowns from A Little Night Music and Losing My Mind from her most recent Broadway show Follies prove to be Peter's stand out performances on this evening. The combination of piano, clarinet and voice in Send In The Clowns is as close to perfection as you could get.

The cabaret and circus worlds infused last night as incredibly talented performers welcomed their audience into the wonderful world of Empire at the return season of this ridiculously thrilling show. The intimate nature of the show captures your attention and imagination from the moment you step into the tent and that imagination is taken on a whirlwind ride through the vaudevillian world captured so aptly by its creative team led by director Terence O'Connell and choreographer John 'Cha Cha O'Connell.