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Chamber Music Festival 2010
February 5th 2010 22:56
Chinese Gardens
Chamber Music Festival 2010
Musica Viva is pleased to support the Chinese Garden Chamber Music Festival
Following on from the success of the first ever Chinese music festival in Australia in February 2009, the 2010 Chinese Garden Chamber Music Festival will be held:
February 4th to 6th in Sydney’s Chinese Garden of Friendship (Download Brochure)
We are proud to announce that 2010 will feature three of China’s masters of the erhu, pipa and guqin, Xing Lu, Tong Ying and Jin Wei. These extraordinary, virtuosic musicians will join prominent Australian artists in performing Chinese and Australian works, both ancient and modern. You will hear some of the world’s best chamber musicians from both countries in the intimate and magical environment of the Chinese Garden including the Orava String Quartet, Chinese Australian Music Ensemble, cellist Patrick Murphy, percussionists Claire Edwards, Kevin Man and Timothy Constable and The Sydney Chinese Music Ensemble.
There will be six concerts over the three days – three ‘yum cha’ concerts, all beginning at 11.30am, and three evening concerts at 7pm each night. Tickets will also include stimulating pre-talks before evening concerts and an excellent Chinese meal. Wine will be available.
Only 147 tickets are available for each concert and bookings can be made through the Musica Viva box office on 1800 688 482
More information about the festival HERE
John Huie
Artistic Director
"John Huie is an Australian musician and arranger that has spent some considerable time in Hong Kong and China researching various world music styles, including film soundtracks for Golden Harvest and also a commemorative piece for the 1997 handover. Now based in Shanghai, he has put together a crack band of local musicians to recreate many of the 1930’s jazz songs that were the soundtrack to the city in its pre-war heyday. “Shanghai Jazz – Musical Seductions From China’s Age of Decadence” is the sublime result."
"After moving to Shanghai in 2002, he spent three years researching and reproducing the authentic songs and musical style of Shanghai in the 1930s. The albums Shanghai Jazz 1 and Shanghai Jazz 2, were released by EMI. Huie then continued to write for small ensembles using a combination of traditional European and Chinese instruments, which resulted in the release of New Shanghai, also with EMI.During this time he wrote a number of film scores including The White Countess by legendary New York based film duo Merchant Ivory." SOUNDPET
Read the review for last years festival by Peter McGill below
Venue: Chinese Gardens, Darling Harbour, Sydney
Dates: 5, 6, 7, & 8th February, 2009
Producers: Chinese Chamber Music Company | Musica Viva | Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
February in Sydney is the perfect time to be sitting in the magical setting of the Chinese Gardens, Darling Harbour, and listening to chamber music. This was the inaugural festival which means that we will be treated to this event, hopefully, for many years to come. The music began just before dusk and on a gorgeous summer evening the Chinese Gardens couldn’t have looked more beautiful.
The proceedings began with a ‘Greeting to Country’ and the Festival was opened by the Governor of NSW Professor Marie Bashir AC. The Artistic Director of the Festival was John Z. Huie who is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium High School and has studied under Carl Vine. He lived for 15 years in Hong Kong, from 1991, studying the art of Chinese Chamber music. He was commissioned by the Hong Kong government to compose a piece, which he called “The Honourable Retreat”, for the handover from British rule back to China on 30th June, 1997. In 2002 he moved to Shanghai to research the complexities of that city's authentic songs of the 1930’s, later composing an album Shanghai Jazz, produced by EMI, and for which a tribute concert was held recently to honour his contributions. He has also written film scores, choral works, and produced, composed, and performed in various music ensembles.
Chinese instrumentalists performing with traditional instruments were a delightful highlight to the festival and the opening piece was Fang Yu on the ‘guqin’ which is one of the worlds oldest instruments.
The Shanghai Chinese Music Ensemble played a traditional Chinese folk song “Chun Jiang Hua Yue Ye”, (English translation “Night Along The River”) with other traditional instruments and Lulu Liu played a ‘pipa’ solo called “Ospreys Sporting with Water”. In the second half of evening The Chinese Australian Chamber Ensemble with guest artists Professor Wang Zheng Ting (sheng)and Tony Wheeler (zhong ruan) played a traditional Chinese New Year piece. To round out the evening Australian pianist Michael Kierin Harvey performed “Goldfish” by Debussy and “Mephisto Waltz No.1” by Liszt.
Not all the music on offer was instrumental. We were treated to the pentatonic sounds of ‘pingtan’, a traditional Suzhou (Chinese) Opera, which has harmonies in pentatonic scales that align with the ancient instruments of China. Sung in Chinese and a little foreign to the western ear it was accessible because of its use of the pentatonic scale, quite an experience.
The music in this festival is out of the ordinary and the opportunity to experience the worlds’ pre-eminent practitioners playing instruments thousands of years old in their design is exciting and new to Australia. If you missed the Inaugural Chinese Chamber Music Festival put it in your diary for next year. I doubt you will be disappointed.
Peter McGill.
Chamber Music Festival 2010
Musica Viva is pleased to support the Chinese Garden Chamber Music Festival
Following on from the success of the first ever Chinese music festival in Australia in February 2009, the 2010 Chinese Garden Chamber Music Festival will be held:
February 4th to 6th in Sydney’s Chinese Garden of Friendship (Download Brochure)
There will be six concerts over the three days – three ‘yum cha’ concerts, all beginning at 11.30am, and three evening concerts at 7pm each night. Tickets will also include stimulating pre-talks before evening concerts and an excellent Chinese meal. Wine will be available.
Only 147 tickets are available for each concert and bookings can be made through the Musica Viva box office on 1800 688 482
More information about the festival HERE
John Huie
Artistic Director
"John Huie is an Australian musician and arranger that has spent some considerable time in Hong Kong and China researching various world music styles, including film soundtracks for Golden Harvest and also a commemorative piece for the 1997 handover. Now based in Shanghai, he has put together a crack band of local musicians to recreate many of the 1930’s jazz songs that were the soundtrack to the city in its pre-war heyday. “Shanghai Jazz – Musical Seductions From China’s Age of Decadence” is the sublime result."
"After moving to Shanghai in 2002, he spent three years researching and reproducing the authentic songs and musical style of Shanghai in the 1930s. The albums Shanghai Jazz 1 and Shanghai Jazz 2, were released by EMI. Huie then continued to write for small ensembles using a combination of traditional European and Chinese instruments, which resulted in the release of New Shanghai, also with EMI.During this time he wrote a number of film scores including The White Countess by legendary New York based film duo Merchant Ivory." SOUNDPET
Read the review for last years festival by Peter McGill below
Venue: Chinese Gardens, Darling Harbour, Sydney
Dates: 5, 6, 7, & 8th February, 2009
Producers: Chinese Chamber Music Company | Musica Viva | Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
February in Sydney is the perfect time to be sitting in the magical setting of the Chinese Gardens, Darling Harbour, and listening to chamber music. This was the inaugural festival which means that we will be treated to this event, hopefully, for many years to come. The music began just before dusk and on a gorgeous summer evening the Chinese Gardens couldn’t have looked more beautiful.
The proceedings began with a ‘Greeting to Country’ and the Festival was opened by the Governor of NSW Professor Marie Bashir AC. The Artistic Director of the Festival was John Z. Huie who is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium High School and has studied under Carl Vine. He lived for 15 years in Hong Kong, from 1991, studying the art of Chinese Chamber music. He was commissioned by the Hong Kong government to compose a piece, which he called “The Honourable Retreat”, for the handover from British rule back to China on 30th June, 1997. In 2002 he moved to Shanghai to research the complexities of that city's authentic songs of the 1930’s, later composing an album Shanghai Jazz, produced by EMI, and for which a tribute concert was held recently to honour his contributions. He has also written film scores, choral works, and produced, composed, and performed in various music ensembles.
Chinese instrumentalists performing with traditional instruments were a delightful highlight to the festival and the opening piece was Fang Yu on the ‘guqin’ which is one of the worlds oldest instruments.
The Shanghai Chinese Music Ensemble played a traditional Chinese folk song “Chun Jiang Hua Yue Ye”, (English translation “Night Along The River”) with other traditional instruments and Lulu Liu played a ‘pipa’ solo called “Ospreys Sporting with Water”. In the second half of evening The Chinese Australian Chamber Ensemble with guest artists Professor Wang Zheng Ting (sheng)and Tony Wheeler (zhong ruan) played a traditional Chinese New Year piece. To round out the evening Australian pianist Michael Kierin Harvey performed “Goldfish” by Debussy and “Mephisto Waltz No.1” by Liszt.
Not all the music on offer was instrumental. We were treated to the pentatonic sounds of ‘pingtan’, a traditional Suzhou (Chinese) Opera, which has harmonies in pentatonic scales that align with the ancient instruments of China. Sung in Chinese and a little foreign to the western ear it was accessible because of its use of the pentatonic scale, quite an experience.
The music in this festival is out of the ordinary and the opportunity to experience the worlds’ pre-eminent practitioners playing instruments thousands of years old in their design is exciting and new to Australia. If you missed the Inaugural Chinese Chamber Music Festival put it in your diary for next year. I doubt you will be disappointed.
Peter McGill.
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You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story | BOOK REVIEW
February 6th 2009 07:57
Way back in 1923 brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack L. Warner incorporated their new motion picture company which continues to this day to produce major films.
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. (WB) Studios’ 85th anniversary was celebrated in 2008 and part of the celebration was the release of, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story, an illuminating new documentary produced, written and directed by award-winning filmmaker and Time magazine Senior Film critic Richard Schickel. Clint Eastwood narrates.
The documentary You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story was broadcast in the USA in three-parts. Now you can have much of the detail on your lap in the form of this beautiful hard cover publication written by Richard Schickel & George Perry, with a Foreword by Clint Eastwood. It's a handsomely covered coffee table book spins-off and ties-in to the five-hour PBS doco that Schickel wrote and produced. Full of essays on the studio's history from its humble beginnings through a variety of changes in corporate ownership.
Insights into characters such as John Wayne, George Cukor, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland and John Ford (to name a few) are quite fascinating. The political piquancy of WB is quite evident as you sort through the hard boiled Detectives and zany crazy comics, the very drunk Elizabeth Taylor (in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?) who have all featured heavily in one way or another in the company's history.
Warner Bros. like all film production companies tend to reflect edgy or deeply held values of society - they'll swing from one extreme to another; sometimes it's high moral ground other times it's kooky sexy strangeness they explore. Producing films for example like Driving Miss Daisy and The Witches of Eastwick in the 1980's they were not only encouraging great emerging Australian film making talent, they were giving out a vast amount of information about injustice and intolerance, a very worthy thing to do even embedded in a drama or a comedy.
WB sold us Bonnie and Clyde, Cool Hand Luke, Gypsy, Risky Business, and What's Up Doc? and Schickel & Perry cover the studio's entire history with fantastic photographs from many many films.
Poster art from films such as Yankee Doodle Dandy is beautifully reproduced with full page glossy pictures from WB's all time classic, and one of the most remembered WB films of all time Casablanca. More recent films recorded in this great history of the studio include The Matrix and The Polar Express, Sweeny Todd, of course I could go on but I think the best advice for film lovers is go out and find this book, add it to your library. It will be a great coffee table book because it is more than a nice picture book, it's got history, guts and glamor for sure.
For more information about Richard Schickel and his work, visit www.richardschickel.com
David Jobling
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. (WB) Studios’ 85th anniversary was celebrated in 2008 and part of the celebration was the release of, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story, an illuminating new documentary produced, written and directed by award-winning filmmaker and Time magazine Senior Film critic Richard Schickel. Clint Eastwood narrates.
The documentary You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story was broadcast in the USA in three-parts. Now you can have much of the detail on your lap in the form of this beautiful hard cover publication written by Richard Schickel & George Perry, with a Foreword by Clint Eastwood. It's a handsomely covered coffee table book spins-off and ties-in to the five-hour PBS doco that Schickel wrote and produced. Full of essays on the studio's history from its humble beginnings through a variety of changes in corporate ownership.
Insights into characters such as John Wayne, George Cukor, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland and John Ford (to name a few) are quite fascinating. The political piquancy of WB is quite evident as you sort through the hard boiled Detectives and zany crazy comics, the very drunk Elizabeth Taylor (in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?) who have all featured heavily in one way or another in the company's history.
Warner Bros. like all film production companies tend to reflect edgy or deeply held values of society - they'll swing from one extreme to another; sometimes it's high moral ground other times it's kooky sexy strangeness they explore. Producing films for example like Driving Miss Daisy and The Witches of Eastwick in the 1980's they were not only encouraging great emerging Australian film making talent, they were giving out a vast amount of information about injustice and intolerance, a very worthy thing to do even embedded in a drama or a comedy.
WB sold us Bonnie and Clyde, Cool Hand Luke, Gypsy, Risky Business, and What's Up Doc? and Schickel & Perry cover the studio's entire history with fantastic photographs from many many films.
Poster art from films such as Yankee Doodle Dandy is beautifully reproduced with full page glossy pictures from WB's all time classic, and one of the most remembered WB films of all time Casablanca. More recent films recorded in this great history of the studio include The Matrix and The Polar Express, Sweeny Todd, of course I could go on but I think the best advice for film lovers is go out and find this book, add it to your library. It will be a great coffee table book because it is more than a nice picture book, it's got history, guts and glamor for sure.
For more information about Richard Schickel and his work, visit www.richardschickel.com
David Jobling
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REVIEW | Phillip Johnston & the Coolerators
October 9th 2008 01:06
Phillip Johnston and the Coolerators
VENUE: Riverside Theatres
DATE: Sunday 4 October at 7.30pm 2008
Parramatta Riverside Theatres
Phillip Johnston is originally from the U.S.A. and now lives in Australia. He is an accomplished saxophonist as well as being an arranger and composer of jazz and contemporary music; he has also composed for a multitude of genres such as silent film, theatre, and dance and been the force behind the ensembles the Microscopic Septet (whose back catalogue was re-released in 2006 by Cuniform Records), Big Trouble, and The Transparent Quartet. He recently collaborated with Hilary Bell, who wrote lyrics, on the silent film soundtrack Faust by F.W. Mumau, and has taught composition at the Steinhardt School of Music at New York University.
Sam Golding on the tuba adds a dynamic bass note that accentuates the swing elements and balances the timbre of the group. His musical interests include Senegalese Mbalax, Cuban Son, Caribbean Steel Pans, Cabaret, Symphony Orchestras, Classical Brass Trios and Classical Hindustani Bansouri, and Reggae. Other groups he has performed with are Jackie Orszaczky’s Budget Orchestra, Chosani Afrique, Monsieur Camembert, Sydney Conservatorium Big Band, Nadya Golski and the 101 Candles Orkestra, The S-Bend, and the Sydney University Orchestra.
Toby Hall's percussion provides an abundant backbone for the quartet. Highly sort after as a drummer he has worked with the cream of Australian jazz musicians, Don Burrows, Paul Grabowsky, Bernie McGann, Phil Slater, and Vince Jones amongst the mix. He has also been engaged by top international artists such as Charles Mingus, Doug Cameron, and Sheila Jordan. Hall’s ability to play intuitive intricate rhythms and time signatures on the backbeat with distinctive and stylish elegance is an exciting feature of the group. His personality on stage also brought a welcome element of humour to the night’s entertainment.
Alister Spence is well known on the Australian jazz circuit with his group the Alister Spence Trio. He is a pianist and composer of renown and has also worked with Don Burrows and Bernie McGann, as well as a diverse range of Australian music luminaries like Ed Kuepper, Archie Roach, Paul Capsis, and Dale Barlow. He co-led the internationally recognised Clarion Fracture Zone and has contributed richly to the Australian recording industry with many of his contributions winning Australian Jazz Album of the Year.
Phillip Johnston and the Coolerators are consummate musical artists, they present a unique style of jazz performance that is relaxed, smooth, and eloquent with phrasing that bursts forth intricate improvisations in jazz and swing with a splattering of funk that is all class - for the uninitiated and jazz aficionados alike a delight to imbibe.
Peter McGill
Band Website
Band Members
Phillip Johnston: alto, soprano saxophones
Alister Spence: organ
Steve Arie: bass
Toby Hall: drums
The Coolerators is a Sydney-based quartet, led by New York expatriate Phillip Johnston, combining the organ-based “groove jazz” style identified with Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack Macduff & Dr. Lonnie Smith with more contemporary and idiosyncratic influences.
The repertoire features originals and reinvented cover tunes. It features some of Sydney’s best-loved jazz musicians: Alister Spence, organ, Steve Arie, bass, and Toby Hall, drums.
VENUE: Riverside Theatres
DATE: Sunday 4 October at 7.30pm 2008
Parramatta Riverside Theatres
Phillip Johnston is originally from the U.S.A. and now lives in Australia. He is an accomplished saxophonist as well as being an arranger and composer of jazz and contemporary music; he has also composed for a multitude of genres such as silent film, theatre, and dance and been the force behind the ensembles the Microscopic Septet (whose back catalogue was re-released in 2006 by Cuniform Records), Big Trouble, and The Transparent Quartet. He recently collaborated with Hilary Bell, who wrote lyrics, on the silent film soundtrack Faust by F.W. Mumau, and has taught composition at the Steinhardt School of Music at New York University.
jazz and swing with a splattering of funk
that is all class
Peter McGill
that is all class
Peter McGill
Toby Hall's percussion provides an abundant backbone for the quartet. Highly sort after as a drummer he has worked with the cream of Australian jazz musicians, Don Burrows, Paul Grabowsky, Bernie McGann, Phil Slater, and Vince Jones amongst the mix. He has also been engaged by top international artists such as Charles Mingus, Doug Cameron, and Sheila Jordan. Hall’s ability to play intuitive intricate rhythms and time signatures on the backbeat with distinctive and stylish elegance is an exciting feature of the group. His personality on stage also brought a welcome element of humour to the night’s entertainment.
Alister Spence is well known on the Australian jazz circuit with his group the Alister Spence Trio. He is a pianist and composer of renown and has also worked with Don Burrows and Bernie McGann, as well as a diverse range of Australian music luminaries like Ed Kuepper, Archie Roach, Paul Capsis, and Dale Barlow. He co-led the internationally recognised Clarion Fracture Zone and has contributed richly to the Australian recording industry with many of his contributions winning Australian Jazz Album of the Year.
Phillip Johnston and the Coolerators are consummate musical artists, they present a unique style of jazz performance that is relaxed, smooth, and eloquent with phrasing that bursts forth intricate improvisations in jazz and swing with a splattering of funk that is all class - for the uninitiated and jazz aficionados alike a delight to imbibe.
Peter McGill
Band Website
Band Members
Phillip Johnston: alto, soprano saxophones
Alister Spence: organ
Steve Arie: bass
Toby Hall: drums
The Coolerators is a Sydney-based quartet, led by New York expatriate Phillip Johnston, combining the organ-based “groove jazz” style identified with Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack Macduff & Dr. Lonnie Smith with more contemporary and idiosyncratic influences.
The repertoire features originals and reinvented cover tunes. It features some of Sydney’s best-loved jazz musicians: Alister Spence, organ, Steve Arie, bass, and Toby Hall, drums.
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WICKED | Vale | Rob Guest
October 3rd 2008 22:04
VALE | Rob Guest (1950 - 2008)
Much loved and greatly talented thespian Rob Guest has passed away. He had been at home with his partner Kellie Dickerson, Wicked's musical director, when he collapsed about 10pm on Tuesday. In true theatre style, the show must go on, and so the Wicked cast did it with 'Guesty' in heart and mind as understudy Rodney Dobson played the Wizard, the role Guest had been performing.
Guest, 58, suffered a massive stroke on Tuesday evening in Melbourne and died early Thursday in St Vincent's Hospital after he was taken off life support, surrounded by family and friends.
The first unexpected news reports revealed his condition to be extremely grave; family, friends and fans drew their best attentions towards the well traveled actor and singer who started his life journey in England and was awarded an OBE for his services to the New Zealand entertainment industry later in life. Guest found success in USA then New Zealand as a pop star before arriving in Australia to perform in Les Miserables some years ago.
As well as Les Miserables and roles in many other shows, Guest spent seven years in the lead role as the Phantom of the Opera, performing over 2,000 performances.
Guest, relocated to Melbourne from the Gold Coast when he took the role in Wicked.
When he shall die
Take him and cut him out in little stars
And he will make the face of heav'n so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Take him and cut him out in little stars
And he will make the face of heav'n so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
The inaugural WICKED DAY will be held on Sunday 26 October 2008 at the Regent Theatre. WICKED will join forces with ANZ and Starlight Children's Foundation to create some WICKED magic for seriously ill children and their families.
This exclusive event includes a never been seen before pre-show experience hosted by Australian Producer John Frost & a ticket to the 1pm performance of WICKED (children are welcome).
Limited tickets available at $250 per head, subject to availability. Proceeds donated to the Starlight Children's Foundation. To book, please contact Ticketek Groups on (03) 9299 9030.
The official companion to the Broadway Musical
Wicked:The Grimmerie
By David Cote
This Hyperion Book is the readers master class to Wicked the stage
musical; it contains the story of the show, how it came together, the songs, the characters in breakdown and a great deal of excellent photography showing various props and set elements. It's more than a superficial look and will delight those already planning to travel
East for the Australian cast version of the show. New musicals are not exactly rare – but ones that actually entertain an audience and provide something new and engaging don't come around all that often. As one follows the yellow brick road to Wicked early on in the book it's made clear The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is the initial
inspiration to Wicked (first the novel, then the stage musical) and
much is made of the timeless characteristics of that original font of
all things Oz.
The question 'Are people born wicked?' drives the subtext of the musical and to some degree it begs the answer 'Are people born American?!' which is not to suggest that Americans are wicked, but that the story is very American, and a fascinating reflection on the shifting standards and morals between the satirical original Oz stories and today's inspired revisiting of that wondrous place.
Wicked: The Grimmerie will provide solid insights for High School Drama students as well as anyone who wants to study theatre production or get swept up in the strikingly green world of Elphaba (she destined to become the Wicked Witch) and her salad days.
David Jobling
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REVIEW | Risky Lunar Love
September 22nd 2008 04:19
Luke Milton’s
Risky Lunar Love
Directed by John Sheedy
Reviewed by Peter McGill
RISKY LUNAR LOVE
CarriageWorks’
Bay 20 theatre
limited season.
Risky Lunar Love is written by Luke Milton and made its' first appearance in 2002 as a university project in Perth. The concept is a musical theatre sci-fi extravaganza which involves a sex goddess from outer space who has a whole planet of Venus babes that need seeding. The goddess manipulates two rival earthbound sci-fi writers into being her donors but before she commits to either one she has to be sure that they are up to the task.
The show is risqué, with an 18 rating, funky, retro, sci-fi, and contemporary. While Milton’s script is pure unashamedly 50’s sci-fi B-grade movie the production design by Gypsy Taylor, who has worked on Moulin Rouge, is a blast fusion of 50’s retro kitsch with a neon contemporary vogue. It has twists and turns, astounding characters, and Rabelais-esque debauchery all over the place, all driven by the magical powers of a Tiki.
There is a potent sense of familiarity with the Rocky Horror Picture Show in the storyline as well as the stylized movement and choreography by John O’Connell who has also worked on Rocky Horror and Moulin Rouge.
A highlight of the production is the live original music. Brent Hill wrote the basis of the score then collaborated with Ross Johnston, from Machine Gun Fellatio. Together they worked on seventeen of the eighteen musical numbers. The band and the music are a dynamic powerhouse of auditory sensation. The musical virtuosity carries the action and adds to the funky flavour.
Director John Sheedy has melded these elements and realized a wacky, out-there, sexy, sci-fi romp which is trying hard to push the boundaries of musical theatre. The performers work well as an ensemble.
Risky Lunar Love is an exciting new Australian adult musical.
Peter McGill.
Risky Lunar Love
Writer Luke Milton
Director John Sheedy
Producer Oliver Wenn
Original Music Brent Hill
Musical Director Ross Johnson
Choreographer John O’Connell
Designer Gypsy Taylor
Cast: Eliza Anderson, Don Christopher, Shannon Dooley, Ryan Gibson, Sheridan Harbridge,
David Hynes, Julia Ohannissian, Mark Pound, Emma Palmer, Nick Simpson Deeks, Lauren Rutherford, Melle Stewart, Lucy Taylor, Amy Usherwood, Sophie Webb.
Carriageworks Bay 20 Theatre
From Monday 15 September
15 September- 4 October
Media night Thursday 18 September
Tue - Fri & Sun 8pm, Sat 5pm & 9pm.
Preview Monday 15 September $29.00(Unreserved)
Function Nights 1 & 2- $35 Stalls & $45 Table (Unreserved)
A Reserve $45.00
B Reserve $30.00
Premium Reserve $55.00
Tables including food and wine service
Table $95 per head (min two persons)
Group of 4 $365
Group of 8 $720.00
Menu options available when booking
Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au or 1300 723 038
Risky Lunar Love
Directed by John Sheedy
Reviewed by Peter McGill
RISKY LUNAR LOVE
CarriageWorks’
Bay 20 theatre
limited season.
Risky Lunar Love is written by Luke Milton and made its' first appearance in 2002 as a university project in Perth. The concept is a musical theatre sci-fi extravaganza which involves a sex goddess from outer space who has a whole planet of Venus babes that need seeding. The goddess manipulates two rival earthbound sci-fi writers into being her donors but before she commits to either one she has to be sure that they are up to the task.
The show is risqué, with an 18 rating, funky, retro, sci-fi, and contemporary. While Milton’s script is pure unashamedly 50’s sci-fi B-grade movie the production design by Gypsy Taylor, who has worked on Moulin Rouge, is a blast fusion of 50’s retro kitsch with a neon contemporary vogue. It has twists and turns, astounding characters, and Rabelais-esque debauchery all over the place, all driven by the magical powers of a Tiki.
There is a potent sense of familiarity with the Rocky Horror Picture Show in the storyline as well as the stylized movement and choreography by John O’Connell who has also worked on Rocky Horror and Moulin Rouge.
A highlight of the production is the live original music. Brent Hill wrote the basis of the score then collaborated with Ross Johnston, from Machine Gun Fellatio. Together they worked on seventeen of the eighteen musical numbers. The band and the music are a dynamic powerhouse of auditory sensation. The musical virtuosity carries the action and adds to the funky flavour.
Director John Sheedy has melded these elements and realized a wacky, out-there, sexy, sci-fi romp which is trying hard to push the boundaries of musical theatre. The performers work well as an ensemble.
Risky Lunar Love is an exciting new Australian adult musical.
Peter McGill.
Risky Lunar Love
Writer Luke Milton
Director John Sheedy
Producer Oliver Wenn
Original Music Brent Hill
Musical Director Ross Johnson
Choreographer John O’Connell
Designer Gypsy Taylor
Cast: Eliza Anderson, Don Christopher, Shannon Dooley, Ryan Gibson, Sheridan Harbridge,
David Hynes, Julia Ohannissian, Mark Pound, Emma Palmer, Nick Simpson Deeks, Lauren Rutherford, Melle Stewart, Lucy Taylor, Amy Usherwood, Sophie Webb.
Carriageworks Bay 20 Theatre
From Monday 15 September
15 September- 4 October
Media night Thursday 18 September
Tue - Fri & Sun 8pm, Sat 5pm & 9pm.
Preview Monday 15 September $29.00(Unreserved)
Function Nights 1 & 2- $35 Stalls & $45 Table (Unreserved)
A Reserve $45.00
B Reserve $30.00
Premium Reserve $55.00
Tables including food and wine service
Table $95 per head (min two persons)
Group of 4 $365
Group of 8 $720.00
Menu options available when booking
Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au or 1300 723 038
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REVIEW: The DC Vault
September 3rd 2008 13:32
The DC Vault
by Martin Pasko
Everywhere you look, on every surface imaginable one way or another there is an image from the world of DC Comics and that’s just the way they like it over at DC. This new book The DC Vault is a complete beauty as far as the art work and treasures it holds goes.
I’m a little skeptical about the ring-binder style of publication, it’s practical to a point but a little frustrating because you have to be quite careful with it; not as tear-proof as Superman’s cape. I guess that contributes to the sense of ownership and its special status as an interactive object. Obviously a book is an interactive object, but this one more so than the average because it contains a variety of awesome little treasures inside plastic slips; so in the act of reading the book, or even simply looking through it, one is tempted consistently to pull out each of the treasures and have a look. It’s something you unfold and avoid damaging. Speaking of the treasures I have to say I was a bit flabbergasted with delight.
Excellent objects such as: The No.1 Action Comics cover; great artwork. Spicy Detective cover, Passion Killer (1922); what a rare little hoot this is. Face down but searching up with her eyes, a woman bound at the wrists on a red rug with a dead match on the wooden floor. No wonder there was such a close watch on comics from the moral majority. Double Action Comics #2, Ashcan (January 1940) a great reproduction. A Batman Mask reproduction from 1943; cute as. Wonder Woman Button (May 1942) reproduced as a sticker, so you’ll have to decide yourself if you want to peel and stick it or not.
This is a collectors dream. A reproduction of original artwork by Joe Kubert (1976) with a deliciously devilish story referenced. A Wonder Woman Bookmark (1987); I love that the princess is saying reading is strength, and DC Moving Notice (1980) another fabulous plaything, wonderful artwork. Shazam Cellophane Button (1972) reproduced as a sticker; Shazam is Coming. It’s magnificent stuff with the freshest from the vault feeling you could hope for.
There’s a great insight into the whole DC Comics universe which means television and animation production as much as publishing comics. What a remarkable thing was The New Adventures of Wonder Woman in the 1970’s. Lynda Carter cut a fine figure, but possibly not as fine as Jenette Kahn the incoming manager in 1976 who led a shift in the entire comic industry between 1976 and 2004.
How much do people love the comic world of DC Comics? Plenty; for example when the publishers decided to create a story called Crisis where various planet Earths in the Multiverse are crashed together, and a range of super heroes are brought together onto one planet Earth it created a bridge for readers into the stories of characters they’d never considered to read. Some readers were annoyed by it, but others responded by publishing an index in two volumes of the whole thing. That’s love, dedication and wonder.
If you know little or nothing of this vast world, here in the Vault is the best place to start; highly informative and containing a beautiful reproduction of the History of the DC Universe Poster (1987) with everybody’s favourites all in one big group. For a considerable period of time there was censorship in cartoons in the form of the Comics Code and you had to publish outside the seal of the code if you wanted to publish horror or crime titles. Once the Time Warner merge happened in the late 1980’s DC Comics promised to pour many fine stories into the Hollywood machine…
The Batman Movie changed a great deal for Warner and DC as well as Michael Keaton who rode a few good lead roles on the dramatic trail after his moody portrayal. I personally will always love Jack as The Joker; a Joker for the time. Just as Karen Berger was clearly the woman to step up on the helm of new imprint Vertigo in 1993. Over the years from the start until now there have been some fine items left in the DC Vault, something to continue to treasure for every comic lover who will want this very much.
David Jobling
The DC Vault, published by Running Press, distributed by Bookwise International RRP$65.00 Available now in good bookstores.
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Québec Review
July 23rd 2008 23:41
Putumayo presents Québec
The sheer enjoyment of listening to this sort of music can be a little infectious and you may find yourself seeking out some more material from the artists represented on the album. Putumayo have a vast catalogue of World Music releases; this album was created to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Québec, the only Canadian province whose official language is French. Québec’s local music scene is widely diverse and most definitely essential to the culture. Celebrated music festivals of the province include Montreal Jazz Festival, Les FrancoFolies and the Festival d’eté de Québec. The album has a predominantly acoustic sound and would suit easy listeners as much as French speakers. This is a compilation of polished performers such as two percussionist-singers DobaCaracol and laid back beautiful women, Marie-Annick Lépine, Myreille Bédard among others.
It’s the sort of thing you’d line up for during ant music festival (and be really pleased you did). The freshness and variety of the compilation is consistently relaxing and enjoyable to listen to. I’m not a great speaker of French so I’m oblivious to the content of the lyrics, although I find myself smiling quite a lot listening to the airy jolly sound of La Bottine Souriante a traditional Québécois band – wonderful music. It’s a re playable mini-festival with the tiniest touches here and there that suggest you may be sitting in a cosy Montreal club having a fabulously warm time.
David Jobling
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Cassingle is the new CD!
July 16th 2008 06:12
Cassingle is the new CD release from David McCormack. It is something to nibble on whilst you are having a pre-dinner drink. Expect a full album later in 2008. And DON’T PANIC if you have NO IDEA how to create your own cassette from this CD, Jewel Case and (He)artwork – David has kindly supplied all the necessary instructions in the 10 How To Tips supplied. You might need to look up a dictionary under “cassette”. Others will fondly recall their first time recording a record to cassette many years ago.
The Cassingle is essentially a 6 track EP. And whilst McCormack has produced each track you will also hear that Wayne Conolly and “Master” Magoo have lent a hand here and there, as, well now old mates and cohorts to love to work together, even on the smaller projects. They too cannot help themselves but have something to nibble whilst having a pre dinner drink! New name to some, Wes Chew makes an appearance in the recording process.
First cab off the rank is the gorgeous I Don’t Even Know Where To Start With This Kind Of Music, an instant McCormack classic along the lines of Beck’s Sea Change. It is a hazy meditation on loneliness, music and the passing of time. Backed on this track by his long suffering backing group, The Polaroids and mixed by Magoo, McCormack’s rarely sounded better.
Next up we have two tracks recorded in one evening with a pick up band in Kings Cross. The song writing and the playing is wild and free, just the way we like it. Text Book and A.V.O. have to be heard to be believed. Track 4, Hey Lord sees McCormack entering into some quasi-religious material. Think Tom Waits catching a bus with the Flaming Lips and you’ll be about half way there. At last, the truth about fame and fortune, track 5 Rockstar.
We wrap the whole thing up with I Won’t Let You Down, a beautiful string soaked ballad that let’s us all know McCormack is still out there, singing the blues the way only a Brisbane boy can.
Watch out for the David McCormack Retrospective featuring songs from 1990 to 2008 including songs from the Cassingle in October.
Friday July 18th - The Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Tickets from the venue 02 9544 3844
Sunday July 20th - The Heritage Hotel, Wollongong
Tickets from the venue 02 4284 5884
Friday July 25th The Troubadour, Brisbane
Tickets from Oztix or 1300 762 545
Saturday July 26th - Joe's Waterhole, Eumundi
Tickets from the venue 07 5442 814 and Backbeat 07 5479 5115
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Tamam Shud
July 16th 2008 05:37
Tamam Shud
Goolutionites and the Real People
The words tamam shud are taken from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and they mean: the very end. The band Tamam Shud were gigging around the East coast of Australia in the 1960’s and their music was heavily supported by film maker Paul Witzig who used much of their work in his ground breaking surf movie Evolution and others.
Newly released on CD for the first time Goolutionites and the Real People includes eight bonus tracks including tracks from the surf movie Morning of the Earth and a selection of live recordings from a gig at the Regent Theatre, South Yarra 1971.
The album is fresh and funky in so many ways. The line up over their relatively short life was: Lindsay Bjerre [gtr,vcls] 1967-72, Peter Barron [bs] 1967-72, Dannie Davidson [dr] 1967-70, Larry Duryea (aka Larry Taylor) [congas], Tim Gaze [gtr, vcls] 1970-2, Bobby Gebert [kbds] 1971, Richard Lockwood [sax, flute, clarinet] 1972, Nigel Macara [dr] 1970-72, Kevin Sinnott [dr] 1970, Kevin Stevenson [reeds] 1970, Alex 'Zac' Zytnic [gtr] 1967-70.
The band has obviously been influenced by 60’s musicians Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Doors and the whole San Francisco movement that discovered and popularized LSD, and their cover notes to this brilliant album aren’t afraid of saying so. Just one 76 minute session listening to Goolutionites and the Real People is likely to make you feel like you’re there, off your face and ready to hit the Uni Bar. It’s down right excellent!
Young cynics may hear it as music to destroy the planet by, but that’s not really the case. Australian youngsters in the 60’s and 70’s were just starting to protest against a lot of the darker things becoming obvious, including war, old growth forests, over population, the slaughter of whales and the mining of uranium… there were plenty of issues to protest against and a great willingness to create Australian experiences that were just as real and valid to the individual as the American or UK experience – thus – music that is honestly Australian but sounds like so many bands from far away in space and time. The lyrics are just as cutting now as they may have been back in the day – possibly more so because in so many ways this is a time capsule for Australian kids particularly to get a grip on what has come before them.
With so much diversity on the Australian music front these days, and the enormous influence of our multicultural society has had on the breaking out of new sounds it’s great to go back and hear something like this.
I highly recommend it to anyone who likes funky acid-rock with an authentic retro feel to it. One of the slickest and entertaining albums to come out for some time, Goolutionites and the Real People is a cracker!
Goolutionites and the Real People
The words tamam shud are taken from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and they mean: the very end. The band Tamam Shud were gigging around the East coast of Australia in the 1960’s and their music was heavily supported by film maker Paul Witzig who used much of their work in his ground breaking surf movie Evolution and others.
Newly released on CD for the first time Goolutionites and the Real People includes eight bonus tracks including tracks from the surf movie Morning of the Earth and a selection of live recordings from a gig at the Regent Theatre, South Yarra 1971.
The album is fresh and funky in so many ways. The line up over their relatively short life was: Lindsay Bjerre [gtr,vcls] 1967-72, Peter Barron [bs] 1967-72, Dannie Davidson [dr] 1967-70, Larry Duryea (aka Larry Taylor) [congas], Tim Gaze [gtr, vcls] 1970-2, Bobby Gebert [kbds] 1971, Richard Lockwood [sax, flute, clarinet] 1972, Nigel Macara [dr] 1970-72, Kevin Sinnott [dr] 1970, Kevin Stevenson [reeds] 1970, Alex 'Zac' Zytnic [gtr] 1967-70.
The band has obviously been influenced by 60’s musicians Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Doors and the whole San Francisco movement that discovered and popularized LSD, and their cover notes to this brilliant album aren’t afraid of saying so. Just one 76 minute session listening to Goolutionites and the Real People is likely to make you feel like you’re there, off your face and ready to hit the Uni Bar. It’s down right excellent!
Young cynics may hear it as music to destroy the planet by, but that’s not really the case. Australian youngsters in the 60’s and 70’s were just starting to protest against a lot of the darker things becoming obvious, including war, old growth forests, over population, the slaughter of whales and the mining of uranium… there were plenty of issues to protest against and a great willingness to create Australian experiences that were just as real and valid to the individual as the American or UK experience – thus – music that is honestly Australian but sounds like so many bands from far away in space and time. The lyrics are just as cutting now as they may have been back in the day – possibly more so because in so many ways this is a time capsule for Australian kids particularly to get a grip on what has come before them.
With so much diversity on the Australian music front these days, and the enormous influence of our multicultural society has had on the breaking out of new sounds it’s great to go back and hear something like this.
I highly recommend it to anyone who likes funky acid-rock with an authentic retro feel to it. One of the slickest and entertaining albums to come out for some time, Goolutionites and the Real People is a cracker!
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Posted By: David Jobling - Category: Welcome Release, Review, Live, Sydney Scene, Adelaide Scene, CD/DVD, News, Qstage
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