Vanessa Scammell News

At a star-studded ceremony tonight, the winners of the 2014 Sydney Theatre Awards were announced, with a record 33 Awards presented. Over 340 members of the Sydney theatre community packed the auditorium at Paddington RSL to celebrate the best of Sydney theatre throughout the past calendar year.

From the WIZARD OF OZ/WICKED opening number right through the encores, the gorgeously refurbished Hamer Hall resounded with appreciation for Idina Menzel in this, her first Melbourne show, and the last concert of her first ever Australian tour.

Live Performance Australia (LPA) announced today that the critically acclaimed multi-talented Eddie Perfect and musical theatre and cabaret star Christie Whelan Browne will host the 13th Annual Helpmann Awards presented live in Sydney atSYDNEY OPERA HOUSE on Monday 29th July. Currently performing together in Shane Warne the Musical, Eddie and Christie are truly fitting ambassadors for Australia's Live Performance industry.

Adelaide Cabaret Festival Artistic Director Kate Ceberano has upped the ante at this year's Festival with not one, not two, not even three leading ladies making their Adelaide Cabaret Festival debut but four divas will reign supreme, including both the good and bad witches of Broadway smash hit Wicked, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel as well as Cassandra Wilson and Molly Ringwald.

Adelaide Cabaret Festival Artistic Director Kate Ceberano has upped the ante at this year's Festival with not one, not two, not even three leading ladies making their Adelaide Cabaret Festival debut but four divas will reign supreme, including both the good and bad witches of Broadway smash hit Wicked, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel as well as Cassandra Wilson and Molly Ringwald.

What do Geoffrey Rush, Lisa McCune, Bob Downe, Silvie Paladino, Colin Friels Tony Bartuccio, Chunky Move, John Bell, Richard Gill, Neil Armfield, Chambermade, Bangarra, MKA, Simon Stone, Pamela Rabe, Todd McKenney all have in common? They've all received nominations for the 30th Annual Green Room Awards.

There is a rare kind of production where each element is so in synch, so finely tuned that this particular production eclipses other casts, other interpretations, and goes on to be considered a defining moment in the history of that show, and indeed of musical theatre itself. The current Australian production of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic SOUTH PACIFIC is that rare and beautiful kind.

Having never seen The Producers, but having heard so much about it, I was genuinely excited to see a performance of this show on a stage. The lasting impression that I took from The Production Company's version is that Mel Brooks is one very funny man who's writing stands alone in the musical comedy genre. Whether on the expanses of a full scale broadway stage, on the West End or on the minimalist stage confronting us at The Arts Centre, this show genuinely works and is so clever in its nuance and wit that you can't help but admire its creator.

The Production Company opens its 2012 Season on July 11 with the Mel Brooks comic masterpiece, The Producers. This brand new staging by Andrew Hallsworth and Dean Bryant will star seven of Australia's best comic talents in a company of fifty singers, dancers and musicians.