James Bell News

It’s… Hairspray! BroadwayWorld is taking a look back at what the cast of this beloved musical has been up to since the show first graced the Broadway stage!

This bright and bubbly musical is sure to attract large audiences.

The perfect start to the holiday season, the cast from Sister Act will perform together with Melbourne's beloved Choir of Hard Knocks, in a free performance to celebrate the joy and connection of singing on Sunday 1 December at 11am on the steps of the Regent Theatre.

New seats go on sale today for the Brisbane season of the most heavenly of musicals, Sister Act. Starring Casey Donovan as Deloris Van Cartier as well as Genevieve Lemon and Rhonda Burchmore, Sister Act will open in February at QPAC for a strictly limited season.

Casey Donovan brings her bold voice and brilliant comic sensibilities to lead the feel-good SISTER ACT, A DIVINE MUSICAL COMEDY. 

Tickets for the Brisbane season of the most heavenly of musicals, Sister Act, will go on sale at 9:00am AEST, Thursday 18 July. Learn more about how to get tickets here!

Brooke Shields has officially been elected as president of Actors’ Equity Association. Learn more about the full results of the election here.

What did our critic think of MEASURE FOR MEASURE at Shoreside Theatre, Pumphouse Theatre? What makes any Shakespeare production superb is the director’s ability to recognise the themes within Shakespeare’s text - his extraordinary ability to bring his characters to life by a turn of phrase, a pun, the looks they share, by a breath they take, by the pause they make, the jokes they make.

What did our critic think of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Shoreside Theatre, Pumphouse Theatre? It’s the second night of the Shoreside’s 28th Summer Shakespeare in the Park  – and indeed,  it’s an ideally warm midsummer evening with clear skies and stars – and an enthusiastic audience awaits -  filled with anticipation.

What did our critic think of 'THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR' BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE at Shoreside Theatre?

Based on the hit 1980 film and the television series it spawned, FAME: THE MUSICAL has burst into Crown Theatre to tell the story of a group of aspiring performers. This production bills itself as being by Western Australians, for Western Australians, and in doing so shows that WA is indeed home to many talented performers and creatives. Read our critic's review.

Opening night of the second play of the Shoreside's Auckland Shakespeare in the Park - and it's raining. However, spirits undeterred - the actors and the audience move into the auditorium, and the comedy begins. The Two Gentlemen of Verona was probably one of Shakespeare's first comedies alongside The Comedy of Errors and The Taming of the Shrew. By writing a play about friendship versus love, Shakespeare was challenging more established writers of the time --namely, Chaucer, Lyly and Francis Bacon. The play incorporates many of the themes, stereotypes and ideas of his later works: how appearance and reality might not be the same thing, the use of disguises, mirror plots, and cross gender performances.

Powerful performances and fresh new perspectives - the tragedy unfolded with well-focused emotionally charged performances full of clarity and conviction.

Opening night of the second play of the Shoreside’s 25th Summer Shakespeare in the Park  – and it’s a comedy through and through.

The image of Shakespeare peering out, as if hidden from behind a barrier, as the choice of poster, entices and intrigues - and sets the scene for a pair of revealing performances - is he watching us, or are we watching him? Shakespeare's insights into the tortured depths of the ambitious and unscrupulous, paired by his playful reveal of pastoral romance set against the seven ages and stages, in human development.

As the summer evenings settle, enjoy traditional presentations of two of Shakespeare's finest plays performed outdoors in The PumpHouse Amphitheatre. Now in our 24th season, Shoreside Theatre's Auckland Shakespeare in the Park is presented by a company of professional and community actors, production crew, enthusiasts and supporters with the aspiration to stage real Shakespeare.

Directed by Hollace Starr, an associate professor of theatre at Pepperdine University, a designated Linklater Voice teacher, and a lifetime member of the Actors Studio, with an innate understanding of feminine emotional turmoil, and John Perrin Flynn's keen eye for multimedia effects, EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON tackles our chronic inability to act in the interest of our future generations. At the center are three very different sisters who are left to raise and care for one another after their mother dies and their father abandons them. Now adults, the sisters find themselves navigating a 21st century London that is at the precipice of both an existential and an all-too-real environmental crisis.

Troupe today announces the full cast for The Sweet Science of Bruising by Joy Wilkinson which transfers to Wilton's Music Hall, following its sold-out run at Southwark Playhouse last year. Kirsty Patrick Ward directs Owen Brenman (Professor Charlie Sharp), Celeste Dodwell (Violet Hunter), Jane How (Aunt George), Tom Lorcan (Paul Stokes), Emma McDonald (Anna Lamb) and Wilf Scolding (Gabriel Lamb) alongside returning cast, Ashley Cook (Doctor James Bell), Alice Kerrigan (Emily), Jessica Regan (Matilda 'Matty' Blackwell) and Fiona Skinner (Polly Stokes). The production opens at Wilton's Music Hall on 7 June, with previews from 5 June, and runs until 29 June.

Troupe today announces full cast for the The Sweet Science of Bruising by Joy Wilkinson which transfers to Wilton's Music Hall, following its sold-out run at Southwark Playhouse last year. Kirsty Patrick Ward directs Owen Brenman (Professor Charlie Sharp), Celeste Dodwell (Violet Hunter), Jane How (Aunt George), Tom Lorcan (Paul Stokes), Emma McDonald (Anna Lamb) and Wilf Scolding (Gabriel Lamb) alongside returning cast, Ashley Cook (Doctor James Bell), Alice Kerrigan (Emily), Jessica Regan (Matilda 'Matty' Blackwell) and Fiona Skinner (Polly Stokes). The production opens at Wilton's Music Hall on 7 June, with previews from 5 June, and runs until 29 June.

Featuring Jim James, bell hooks, Rachel Grimes, Wendell Berry, Joan Shelley and many more wonderful Kentucky artists, with proceeds benefiting the Kentucky Natural Lands Trust & Pine Mountain Settlement School.