Brodie Turner - Page 5

Tales from our backyard need much more service in the broader scene, something Tunks Productions has long given local stories, and Flame Trees is no exception. The return of a young woman to the town she burned to a cinder several years ago is fraught with anger, regret and a huge secret. A tight-knit community is fractured by Tess' defiant return to reconnect with the family she lost in a piece reminiscent in tone and plotline of The Dressmaker.

Hairspray. The Craft. Jawbreaker. Mean Girls. Can't Hardly Wait. Buffy. We would have none of these without Heathers. The flop-turned-cult-phenomenon film starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater in 1988 was a black comedy that took on every young-adult issue and shot it in the face. It's perfect fodder for a musical unlike any you've ever witnessed before, rightfully making its return to Sydney after touring the nation, to shock and shine at the Sydney Opera House. We've had a few cast changes since the Australian premiere at Hayes Theatre - don't worry they're all still alive, most of them just bailed to become Queens of a new musical - and the latest cast have really sensationalised the sass, camped it up like Christmas and made the vocals so very! If you missed it last time, it's a must-see moxie-fest. If you did catch it last time, then you definitely have to get back and see how it takes on the big stage with new choreography, design and drama!

There is no legend, living or dead, whose art hasn't been compromised in some way by fame. Those built to last are often those who turn their creative lens onto fame itself, exorcising their demons and their reputation in pursuit of true expression. Many in the Australian theatre scene believe homegrown and widely acclaimed playwright Nick Enright was built so, and if not for his death in 2003, A Man with Five Children would be far from his final comment on fame, relationships and the Australian lower-class. Nonetheless, entering into that bare stage, lone camera and scattered chairs at Eternity Playhouse, the tragedy of Enright's passing and of the impending narrative was acute.

He's played everyone, from Galileo Figaro in We Will Rock You, to the titular character of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He's also earned a stellar reputation both here and overseas a soloist in his own right. In fact it's hard to find anyone in the performance industry who doesn't admire the talent, work ethic and congeniality of Michael Falzon. I found myself thoroughly charmed in a chat with him about his brainchild Swing On This that has had more comebacks than Farnham! And with good reason as I discovered.

One can simply never tell, when entering The Stables

The pursuit of an original idea is the most fruitless of our generation, it might perhaps be pertinent to say, as it is inferred in Justin Fleming's The Literati which itself is modernised after Moliere's 17th century comedy 'Le Femmes Savantes'. Premiered to the world at The Stables by a partnership of Griffin Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare, what we have here is riotous, irreverent and cheesy good fun. We enter into the salon, exquisitely designed by Sophie Fletcher to dynamic effects, and are introduced to two polarised sisters. The younger, Juliet, seems set to marry Clint, the former lover of the elder Amanda, who spurned him in favour of intellectual pursuits in the image of their mother. Amanda and her mother oppose the coupling, due to their investment in the odious poet Tristan as suitor for Juliet, utterly manipulated by his pretentious prose. A domestic war is waged between sincerity and scholastics, and all done in Fleming's verse to seemingly effortless comedic effect.

He would have been 70 this year, and people mourn his death as acutely today as they did when it was announced, so much so that the name Freddie has become exclusively synonymous to his memory as one of the most unique, boundary-pushing and talented singer/songwriters of all time. Accompanied by similarly legendary musicians who still perform under the name to this day (they're soon to conclude their European tour fronted by Adam Lambert), Queen are proven time and time again to still be audience favourites in everything from karaoke to musical theatre extravaganzas and tribute juggernauts. The latest of these to reach Australian Queen fans features the incredible Giles Taylor, who I was fortunate enough to connect with and discuss his excitement about returning Down Under.

In case you missed the announcement about the arrival of one of Broadway's latest hits to Sydney shores, and are racking your brains as to what is going to be the next big thing in Australian theatre, then perhaps this will jog your memory:

77 years ago, 'The Wizard of Oz' changed the game for what it meant to be a witch. Since, we've had Maleficent, Samantha, Witchiepoo, Sabrina Spellman, The Halliwell Sisters, Willow, Thessaly, Hermione Granger, Fiona Good and Melisandre, among many others. What is it about these women that so enthrals us? One can imagine a little insight will be shed this coming July when four of Australia's most renowned witches will take the stage of Sydney Opera House and cast a chorus of the songs we've all come to treasure as the musical anthems of some incredibly powerful women. Fortunate enough to be granted audience with Helen Dallimore, Lucy Durack, Amanda Harrison, and Jemma Rix, Witches with your SSO is sure to transcend their wicked performances for a truly enchanting audience experience.

The King of Pop, upon whose head the crown was heavy. A star from the age of five, using that remarkable voice to catapult his entire family into global fame and of course massive personal tumult. Amidst a reportedly abusive childhood, accusations of child sexual assault, a transformation of appearance unlike any seen before that time, and the controversial circumstances surrounding his death, it is the connection with his music that has lasted for audiences the world over. A new tribute show promises to reign as Jackson himself did, fronted by Dantanio, a man called the 'most loved' impersonation act. I was fortunate enough to communicate with Dantanio about the upcoming HIStory tour, arriving in the coming weeks to Australia and New Zealand.

Amidst the anguish of music-lovers everywhere mourning the all-too-recent passing of icons from the previous fifty years, there is bound to be offered an opportunity to gather and commune at the altar of the music that made them so dear to us. The loss of David Bowie was not felt so much by the mainstream, which brought quite an eclectic and sensitive crowd to the Sydney Opera House to see how the Sydney Symphony Orchestra would pay tribute to the man of many disguises.

If there is anything an audience can relate to in contemporary theatre, it is the concept of struggling to forge ahead with one's own individual passions whilst navigating the traditions of the past and the expectations of those who, having grown up in more desperate times, had only such traditions to survive by. Where parents fought to give their children a better life, but don't know how to handle it when they start to take such opportunities. My Name is Asher Lev turns up the dial hard on this theme by setting such conflict in the home of an observant Torah Jewish family, wherein the titular character is awakened with a prodigal gift for art. In his father's mind, this gift is from the devil. So Asher's narrative plays out as the ultimate declaration of independence from family, from community, but not perhaps from faith.

She is a legend of Australian stage, earning a global reputation for her epic vocal performances. He won the nation's hearts at fifteen as the winner of Australia's Got Talent. Now these charismatic classical singers are coming 'Together'. It was an honour to share a chat, a chuckle, and even some heartfelt memories with Marina Prior and Mark Vincent to discuss their new release!

In a partnership that proved you can teach an old dog new tricks, Squabbalogic and Sydney Philarmonia Choirs paired choral force with vaudeville vibes to reinvent Leonard Bernstein's classic Wonderful Town. This tale of two sisters trying to make it in 1950s New York has contributed to the blue print for countless more stage and silver screen narratives, and for its time was progressive in its focus on independent women.

Mother's Day gives the most important women in our lives a chance to be celebrated, treated to a little breakfast in bed, and for some, a nice day at the opera! Pacific Opera, a company developing Australia's emerging talent, presented Sounds Like Heaven yesterday to standing ovation, a showcase of their stellar students delivering a program themed by nature.

They say it's never one moment that turns paradise into peril, but a series of small, indiscernible hairline fractures that suddenly at the most innocent of moments cause a shattering from which no hope of rebuilding can be drawn. Although the events that transpire in Belleville bear a little more drama, the suspense and fragility of human romance connected audience and actor alike at Old Fitz Theatre for a thrilling weekend in Paris.

When the theatre-going Sydneysider is hunting for a story unlike any other, set amongst the most powerful of creatures and the most notable moments in modern history, told with passion and humour and dulcet sublimity, where else but the White House?!