Am I the only one who has found 2014 exhausting? Though that’s a statement that makes me sound scarily like my mother… it’s still true. This year has been a schlepp and while that schlepp has brought out some incredible moments in theatres – and some terrible moments in theatres! – it’s all just grist for the mill. What’s that line in All About Eve that makes no sense? “In the theatre a lifetime is a season and a season a lifetime.” Something like that? My point here is that we ain’t done yet! 2014 has three jam packed months ahead and here is the Diva Knows Best walk through of everything to come. Get your calendars out – there’s a lot of planning to be done. And it all starts here…
The Motherfucker with the Hat – Eternity Theatre – September 19 to 19 October
Troy Harrison and Zoe Trilsbach in The Mutherfucker with the Hat playing now at the Eternity.
This crackingly funny comedy goes beyond must see. A smash hit in New York, this show played the TAP Gallery last year to wrapt reviews and is finally making a mainstage debut with the help of the Darlinghurst Theatre Company. Directed by Adam Cook and with a hot Australian cast, this is the last great comedy you need to see for the rest of 2014. With performances commencing on the 19th, get your tickets and get them now before the season ends. Really there is nothing more to say and no need for hyperbole. Just buy tickets and raise your tolerance for cussing. There’s a LOT of cussing!
Wicked – Capitol Theatre – September 20 to December 31
The final Australian cast of Wicked… for now!
I know what you’re thinking. It’s Wicked. Been there, done that, literally got the t-shirts at intermission after “Defying Gravity” and regretted it later when credit card bills came through. This same production has been running since the West End opening night in September 2006. Since then, not a note or a step or a stitch has changed. And while certainly the Australian fifth anniversary tour has thrown in some more LED’s, surely the last word has been said on this incarnation of Wicked? Or you’d think. Never underestimate the power of gifted direction. True, Lucy Durack doesn’t really have the range anymore. Sure, we’ve all heard Jemma Rix sing the showstoppers plenty of times before – that doesn’t stop this tour of Wicked being the most well executed we are yet to see. The cast are young, sexy, enthusiastic and committed and the result is a breathtaking production of the show. Sad to say, it’s aso to the best mainstage show on the road in Australia this year. Thinking of skipping this one? Don’t. It’s still worth the price. Now speed on the great Wicked re-staging we all know is coming. Starting at the Donmar or the Menier Chocolate Factory – it will take these characters and fill them with a Brechtian bitterness and angst. Too bad – it’s about thirty years away.
P.s. At present, closing night is New Years Eve! That’s a big way to close out 2014!
The Glass Menagerie – Belvoir Theatre – September 20 to November 2
Rose Riley and Harry Greenwood in The Glass Menagerie – now playing at Belvoir.
Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room. There was a production of The Glass Menagerie at the Ensemble Theatre last year and this revival by Belvoir would be a little premature – if the Ensemble production hadn’t been such a stinker. What? I’m just being honest. Directed by Eamon Flack and starring the magnificent Pamela Rabe in the iconic role of Amanda Wingfield, this show has a lot riding on it. But then, does any production of The Glass Menagerie not? A recent US tour and resulting Broadway production starring Zachary Quinto redefined exactly what this Tennessee Williams play could be. Shattering the expectations surrounding one of the most legendary American plays ever written is no small matter – and the repercussions have been widely felt. Belvoir have their work cut of for them. For now, all we can do is buy tickets and have faith that they get how high the stakes are here. And as for everyone who saw the Ensemble Theatres production last year, you are not excused from seeing this production. If anything – you need to see it more. Thankfully, with the right production and the right cast, good theatre can come after bad.
Sondheim on Sondheim – Reginald Theatre (Seymour Centre) – October 1 to October 18
The last word in the Sondheim revue – Squabbalogic will be the first Indie Sydney production company to stage a Sondheim in decades!
Squabbalogic is back – and how! Word from rehearsals is that this production of Sondheim on Sondheim is going to be world class. Though the Broadway production was high on star-fuckery and low on anything, well, new or in anyway insightful, director Jay James Moody has other things in mind. More than just a Sondheim biopic, this is a showcase of some of Sydney’s finest performers singing some of the Sondheim songs you just do not get to see live on stage. The cast are as diverse a bunch as you will see on a stage in this town all year (a big call in itself) and I’m already calling it – Louise Kelly performing “I Read” from Passion is going to be one of the landmark moments of the new season. Certainly worthy of a Helpmann… but then Squabbalogic, like the Hayes, are semi-pro. Let’s see if another “exception” will be granted or if they are now off the table after this years PR disaster. Everyone is looking – it’s going to be fun! Also what fun to see a good Sondheim retrospective! It’s been a while, and the palette cleanser after Victorian Opera’s Into the Woods is a timely addition to the season. Here’s hoping they nail it! Producers need to be reminded that even the worst of Sondheim can sell.
It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman – Hayes Theatre – October 6
Ready to see Matthew McFarlane and James Millar battle to the death for Lucy Maunder? They’ll be wearing very tight outfits!
The long, long, long (long, long, long, long!) awaited return of Neglected Musicals to the Sydney Independent scene – well, independent as in no one is getting paid – this classic Broadway flop with score by Charles Strouse with lyrics by Lee Adams is a must see. The Superman musical is actually a hidden gem. A gorgeous musical comedy, it’s also been cast spectacularly well. Starring music theatre super-hottie Matthew McFarlane as the Man of Steel, Lucy Maunder as Lois Lane and James Millar as the super-villain, it may be a volunteer production but it’s a once in a lifetime moment in the music theatre. Recently produced in Manhattan to great acclaim by City Centre Encores, this is the closest we will ever get to seeing this show professionally produced in Oz. Though it has to be said, with Squabbalogic about to commence their series of one night only mystery musicals – Negelected Musicals seriously need to pick up the pace if they plan to keep the corner on this market. Tickets are already scarce for this one. Grab ‘em while you still can. You don’t want to miss it.
Calpurnia Descending – Wharf 2 Theatre (STC) – October 9 to November 8
Ash Flanders and Paul Capsis are about to take the Hollywood diva down fabulously hard!
Two words only are required to make this essential viewing: Sisters Grimm. Throw in legendary Paul Capsis as the star and dear gods what a show! Calpurnia Descending is all about the Hollywood diva – and who better to write that show than Ash Flanders and Declan Greene! Capsis will play Beverly Dumont, a faded screen star who has just been offered the come back opportunity of a lifestyle. Now she just has to face off against the Eve Harrington of the century – who will naturally be played by Ash Flanders. Containing nudity and “sexual references” – this show is going to be nasty, sexy, campy fun. Frocks galore and divas in smack downs to the death, what’s not to love! Almost sold-out months out from opening night, grab tickets while you can. This is already the hottest show in town and it hasn’t even rung up a single curtain. Paul Capsis, Declan Greene and Ash Flanders sharing the same stage – I’m already verklempt!
The Light in the Piazza – Parade Theatre – October 14 to October 21
Ordinarily I would not send you off to see a student production, but for this show, just shut up and go! Go by any means necessary to see this incredible musical. The Light in the Piazza has only ever been produced once professionally in Australia as a one night only concert. Word amongst most Australian producers is that this show just doesn’t have a major audience. Here’s hoping this production can hit the heights and remind the new independent producers in town that this little bit of magic exists and is very much in need of a professional production. To be directed by Roger Hodgman, this production will be presented by the graduating class of 2014 at NIDA. Yes, they’re students, and yes, the Parade Theatre looks sad when it’s not full, just do what I am going to do and think of a full orchestra playing this magnificent Adam Guettel score and pack your tissues. You’re going to need them!
Miracle City – Hayes Theatre – October 17 to November 16
“If my days were beg and borrow, if my nights were pain and sorrow – how could I face one more tomorrow?”
The stakes for Sydney’s new independent music theatre scene have rarely been higher than they are for this Australian musical. The second coming, as it were, of one of the greatest Australian musicals yet written, this production, with musical direction by composer Max Lambert and direction by his partner Darren Yap, could very well finally be its launching pad to bigger things. Garnering rave reviews when it was first workshopped at the Sydney Theatre Company in 1996, promises were made to take this show (by the late great Nick Enright) to bigger stages, but it just never seemed destined to find the right moment. Now with a cast led by Blazey Best, Mike McLeish, Esther Hannaford, Hilary Cole, Marika Aubrey and Peter Kowitz, this is the right moment to bring this masterpiece back to life. With expectations at a fever pitch, this production seriously needs to deliver. Even by Hayes Theatre standards it needs to go off! All the same, expect a sell-out season and buy your tickets NOW! No really… NOW!!! Have you bought them yet? Why not?!? Do you want to miss out and have to pay twice the price in Canberra like Sweet Charity? Diva Knows Best will be there the very first night – just cannot wait.
Emerald City – Stables Theatre – October 17 to December 6
The undeniably sexy Marcus Graham – ready to take on the Emerald City!
Two cities, two plays, in theatres a suburb apart – both Australian classics, both with stellar casts and both with seriously high expectations! Does David Williamson’s play Emerald City need an introduction? If you’re uncertain about this one, watch the TV movie starring an unbelievably young and unplasticised Nicole Kidman. A self-described love-letter/hate mail about the harbour city, this glorious play is the epitome of where Sydney thought it was going in the 1980’s. The high art, the big deals, the fast women, the cash, cash, cash and the seriously high stakes. The theatre world was ambitious back then. Thirty years on of course, the thirty-somethings who first saw Emerald City are now retiring and subscribing to John Frost’s mailing list. Tale as old as time. This production has all the hallmarks of a genuinely rip-roaring night of theatre. Starring Lucy Bell, Mitchell Butel, Marcus Graham, Jennifer Hagan, Kelly Paterniti and Gareth Yuen, get ready. Sparks will fly! And what a fantastic way to see a Sydney story… at the Eternity Theatre! Geddit? Sydney – Eternity?!? Or certainbly this play can feel like it if they fuck it up! Time will tell…
Open for Business: The Wharf Revue – Wharf 1 Theatre – October 21 to December 20
The Abbott government is about to go down harder at the Wharf than Tim Campbell backstage at an Anthony Callea concert!
Last years Wharf Revue lacked a certain killer instinct it has to be said. Given the bitterness we all felt about the then recent election and the Wharf Revue’s notoriety for political skewering, somehow I felt they just could have gone further, angrier, darker! A year and many an Abbott government faff later and ladies and gentlemen: start your engines! The Wharf Revue is the ninety minute annual must-see at the Sydney Theatre Company and the company’s longest ongoing investment in original Australian musical material. Created by Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phil Scott – this years production will star Biggins and Scott (Forsythe is still stuck in Strictly Ballroom – a shame, he does the most fabulous Gina Rinehart drag you ever saw!) along with the fabulous Amanda Bishop and newcomer Doug Hansell. It’s also almost completely sold-out! The Wharf Revue is one of the last remaining incarnations of a great Australian traditional – unrelenting political satire! The last bastion of protest against political correctness the theatre has to offer, while the Wharf Revue tours extensively and receives a continuously longer season annually down at the Wharf Theatre, it’s a wonder STC haven’t just gone all out and stuck this on in a big house! Imagine these brilliant people with a full chorus, a full set and a two thousand seater? Too ambitious? Too expensive? Damn the torpedos you bitches this is the Wharf Revue!
Glory Days – Tom Mann Theatre – October 24 to October 26
Damon Grebert-Wade, Tim Dal Cortivo, Aaron Robuck and Julian Kuo in the Australian debut of Glory Days
Australia’s newest music theatre repertory company, run by the alumni of the Australian Institute of Music’s music theatre course is kicking it up a notch with this seldom seen are often forgotten mid-noughties musical. A huge hit when first presented, it crashed on Broadway, closing after opening night due to lack of ticket sales. That’s not to say the show itself is a dog – if anything it makes for a fascinating choice for the new rep company. Written by Nick Blaemire and James Gardener in 2008, the show is about four teenage friends (all male) who meet on the bleachers of their high school football field a year after graduation. Glory Days has since become a major cult hit around the world for young performers and the 90 minute pop musical still leaps off the stage, bursting with energy, machismo and angst. This young company staged a successful revival of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee earlier this year, so it’s good to see them take a creative risk immediately after. Definitely worth a look in.
Light the Night LTN’14 – City Recital Centre – October 27
Light the Night 2014 – the tenth and final benefit concert from Shaun and Adam Rennie to aid the Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation
LTN needs no introduction. Organised by Shaun and Adam Rennie annually to raise money and awareness for leukaemia research, the concert has raised over $350 thousand in nine years towards The Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation. The Rennie’s lost their brother Matthew to leukaemia in October 2007, and LTN has remained to remember his life and to assist others still fighting this disease. A staple on the Sydney concert scene, Light the Night is the closing book end to the Sydney Hats Off concerts – both having become infamous for their stellar line up of performers and their propensity for legendary moments. Hosted, as always, by the very, very famous musical therapist Jan van der Stool (do I need to mention that Queenie van de Zandt was once her pupil? I think so!), this year, Jan will be joined by Rob Mills and Brendan Moar in her hosting duties. This years performers will include: Emma Pask, Johanna Allen, Trevor Ashley, Tom Sharah, Lucy Maunder, Tyran Parke, Marika Aubrey, Vanessa Raspa, Tony Sheldon, Gretel Scarlet, Amelia Ryan, Mitchel Butel, Michael Griffiths, Danny Ross, Adam Rennie, iOTA, Queenie van de Zandt, The Idea of North – with more to be announced as the concert draws nearer. LTN14 will be the tenth and FINAL Light the Night concert and it is assured everyone who is anyone within the music theatre will be there whether on stage or off.
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – Theatre Royal – October 28 to November 2
Black Swan got nothing on this!
Possibly one of the most electrifying ballet performances of the last twenty years – Matthew Bourne’s incarnation of Swan lake is rightly one of the most famous and most celebrated of all time. It’s return to Australia makes it a must see not only for those who appreciate ballet (and remember much of Bourne’s Swan Lake embraces jazz and modern dance) but for those who appreciate theatre. Revolutionary as it places the Prince at the heart of the story in the arms of swans danced by men, this production takes the legendary ballet and brings it firmly into the 21st century. Updated several times since its original presentation at Sadler’s Wells in London in 1995, the production still remains the longest running ballet in West End and Broadway history. Lavishly presented, angry, violent, psychological, sexual and incredibly bold, this is not a production to be missed.
Switzerland – Drama Theatre (Sydney Opera House) – November 3 to December 20
Sarah Peirse will play the spectacular bitch Patricia Highsmith in Sydney Theatre Company’s Switzerland.
The latest from Joanna Murray Smith, this play is about novelist Patricia Highsmith who created in her time some of the most famous criminal dramas of the 20th century including The Talented Mr Ripley and Strangers on a Train. Set in Highsmith’s own declining years, a publishers lackey is sent to the semi-hermetic and reputedly rude to the point of sadistic authors home in Switzerland to take possession of the final book in the Tom Ripley series. Naturally Highsmith has her own agenda and a struggle of wits, words and wills follow as a legendary bitch tangoes one final time with the commercial world she had previously served so angrily if so well. Played in one ninety minute Act, the suspenseful production will be Murray-Smith at her best, the language vivid and the characters taut as garrotte wire! Though obviously the big play to close out the STC season is Cyrano de Bergerac, if you saw Sport For Jove’s recent production, honestly you needn’t bother seeing what really looks like it will be a polished star fuck. The reliable Cyrano, or the dangerous Joanna Murray-Smith? Up to you!
Mitchell Butel in Killing Time – Hayes Theatre – November 9, 23, 30 & December 7
Get ready to kill some time with the gorgeous Mitchell Butel!
Killing Time is Mitchell Butel’s next cabaret and right there I’m already sold! Making it’s Sydney debut, this looks like that show that could spend 2015 on the road around the major cabaret festivals… unless of course Mitchell is about to do a major show (like Matilda?). In either case, you need to see this cabaret. The man has three Helpmann Awards for a reason – he’s spectacular! This show is about 24 hours in the life of Butel himself but also all ourselves and will feature a gamut running catalogue of songs by Ellington, Berlin, Jarreau, Bernstein, Mercer, Arlen, Elling, Sondheim and Dolly Parton. Performing with a jazz trio and ready to raise the roof and the bar yet again, Mitchell Butel is sex on legs on the cabaret stage and simply unmissable. It’s a grand way to close out the Hayes Theatre’s month of Sundays series – and what a series that has been this year! Blake Erickson, Marika Aubrey, David Campbell and John Bucchino, Toby Francis, Hilary Cole, Christie Whelan-Browne, Joanna Weinberg and now Mitchell Butel. It’s going to be hard to top that line up for 2015… but they will!
Beyond Desire – Hayes Theatre – November 21 to December 13
Another world premiere for the Hayes Theatre – Beyond Desire, by Neil Rutherford and Keiren Drury.
The final musical in the Hayes Theatres incredible 2014 season and the final note of the most spectacular inaugural season Sydney has ever seen from a music theatre company, in true pioneering spirit, it’s going to be a world premiere. This new Australian musical is an Edwardian period thriller – somewhere between Hamlet and E.M. Foster’s Maurice – and has the most truly spectacular cast. With a book and score by Neil Rutherford and Keiran Drury, the show will also be directed by Rutherford and will feature musical direction from Australian composer Peter Rutherford (The Hatpin). The cast will be led by musical theatre royalty: Nancye Hayes and Chloe Dallimore, who will be joined by Blake Bowden, Daniel Bulters, Ross Hannaford and Christy Sullivan. Stay tuned for more updates on this production as it draws closer. The fact that this original material has been chosen by the Hayes at all suggests there is something extraordinary to be had within. In the meantime you should go read E.M. Foster’s Maurice – it’s a helluva book! I’m going top assume you all know Hamlet…
The Legend of King O’Malley – Reginald Theatre (Seymour Centre) – November 26 to December 13
James Cook as King O’Malley – soon to star at the Seymour Centre in the revival of an Australian classic.
It’s an Australian musical – making a return after forty-four years, this musical about an Australian legend is a true satire about a man who become instrumental in the Australian process of Federation. Originally directed by John Bell for NIDA and starring the likes of Robyn Nevin and Gillian Jones, the return of this production is sure to bring out not only a star-studded crowd but also the next generation of us who are finding new reasons for obsession with Australian musical theatre. It’s never a good idea to overhype up a long lost Australian musical as the truth is it’s hard to tell exactly what you’re going to get! Was the show actually any good in the first place? Can a new new production capture the essence of what this production needs? Has the music dated? Does the material retain its relevance? Can the creative team bring it alive? One thing is for sure – you have to check it out. To keep the genre alive we all need to know more about where it has come from. This production is more than a revival – it’s an opportunity.
Elaine Paige and the Broadway Orchestra – State Theatre – December 5
Elaine Paige in the single most airbrushed image since the Sex and the City 2 movie posters!
Elaine Paige is back to Oz in December for the third time in the five years and she’s bringing a dubiously entitled band in the Broadway Orchestra with her. I always enjoy a good Elaine Paige concert, but here’s hoping its better than her last, where her supporting act Nic Kyle worked harder than she did! And she didn’t sing “I’m Still Here”! Yes, Elaine’s voice has decayed with age, as any good divas does. Sure that key change in “Memory” is come down a tone or two (or three) from where we’re used to, but she’s still a legend in her time. While the event now of an EP concert is primarily to be “in the presence” – the career this actress has had and the catalogue of songs she has at her disposal still makes her unique as a star of the music theatre. Hopefully a better set list and a more diverse catalogue of songs will accompany this concert – otherwise it’s always worth it to have a gay old time in Sydney’s State Theatre. And oh my giddy aunt Fay, Elaine, this time- sing “I’m Still Here!” We shouldn’t have to beg!
Strange Bedfellows: Under the Covers – Vanguard Theatre – December 16 & 17
Kanen Breen and Jacqui Dark – the epitome of fabulous!
This is the cabaret by opera diva Jacqui Dark and her friend and colleague Kanen Breen. Heavily celebrated at its original presentation in Melbourne during the now legendary Opera Australia’s production of The Ring Cycle, Dark and Breen would leave the stage of their epic production each night and proceed to present wild and dark cabaret and reportedly had audiences eating out of the palm of their hand! Deliberately described as Weimar-esque, Strange Bedfellows is a dark, loud, debauched – filled with character assassination, dubious ditties, shameless story telling and one up-manship as only two friends and opera stars can manage! Self-described musical terrorism (expect ASIO bag checks at the door), there will be heavy swearing and a great deal to laugh about and think on as the curtain falls. Jacqui Dark is, of course, one of Australia’s most celebrated opera divas and easily one of its most electrifying vocalists. Not to be confused, however, with a classical recital… this is going to be naughty as hell! Show up to see a truly great opera star say “c***” many, many, many times!
And surely that can’t be it?!?
And yet it is! That’s the big picks for the remainder of 2014 – grab your tickets now while they’re hot. It’s been a big year and there’s still so much to see before the final curtains fall and the new seasons begin to kick in.
A small note, however, to the music theatre community of Sydney – there’s surely a chance here to go out with more of a bang? It’s been one of the most spectacular seasons this city has seen in time immemorial. Not since Sharon Millerchip appeared with a handgun in Chicago and rapped out: “NOBODY walks out on ME!” has there been more cause for excitement on our stages than has been allowed for this year. It should end with more celebration – more thunder! Stage a concert on New Years Eve. Hayes Theatre, Squabbalogic, John Frost, Global Creatures – I’m talking to you!! Gather together the brightest stars in a fabulous theatre and as the New Year draws to a close bring the theatre world to a fabulous and beltastic climax! If people are willing to pay hundreds upon hundreds to close out the New Year at the Sydney Opera House to the strains of La Boheme or Wicked at the Capitol – what’s to stop them doing the same for a giant night of stars – the best the music theatre world in Australia has to offer.
Chew it over you guys and see what you think. If you need further encouragement, Barbra did it twice in Vegas and made millions.
For now, that’s it for 2014. Enjoy the ride!
Diva Knows Best
Xoxox
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