THE BACKSTAGE CAT SEZ

March 11th 2010 2:28 pm | Theatre | News - By Puss in Boots

NOTHING official yet, but it's more than a definite maybe that a new Reg Livermore show is not too far off. That is, a Reg show rather than Reg in somebody else's show. And Madam Wondrous, Nancye Hayes, is closely involved in it.

Whether it'll be titled Living National Treasures on Tour is anyone's guess, but as uber-indie producer Christine Dunstan is also up to her neck in the undertaking you can be sure it won't be afraid to leave the metro area and travel. Regional Australia: watch your theatre schedules for late 2010 and 2011 and watch this space. Btw, pictured here is Reg as a gorgeous young thing, a role he played almost as well as he does the Gorgeous Mature Thing.

APPARENTLY there's an idea in the wind to do another "three divas" - this time with Yvonne Kenny joining Judi Connelli ad . It's a great idea, if you think about it for a minute. Aside from the great voices, there's the humour - all three have over-developed funny bones. And Kenny came up with a possible title: Jurassic Divas. True.

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Say no to blood ivory

March 10th 2010 10:47 am | Theatre | Feature - By Diana Simmonds

IVORY should only be used by elephants. This week the governments of Zambia and Tanzania will try to undo the 20-year-old worldwide ban on ivory trading. They are lobbying the UN for special exemptions from the ban by demanding "experimental one-off sales".

This is like the Japanese "scientific whaling" industry, but probably worse. If ratified the decision could wipe out whole elephant populations across Africa and bring these magnificent animals ever closer to extinction.

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Judi Connelli at the Civic

March 6th 2010 4:31 pm | Theatre | Review - By Diana Simmonds

BURNED at the stake. That would have been the fate of Judi Connelli if she'd lived in the Middle Ages because she would have been deemed a witch - such was the fate of women born with different coloured eyes. As it is, in the 21st century, in the 40th year of her brilliant career, it's the audience that gets burned - exquisitely - by the close proximity, in cabaret, to one of the greatest voices and greatest live performers Australia has produced.

Connelli has been lost to the small rooms and intimate environments in recent years, particularly in Sydney, because of a move to Melbourne and consequent roles in Production Company shows such as Gypsy and Sunset Boulevard. And, most famously, perhaps, she has carved a unique niche in opera and, especially, the role of Mrs Lovett in Opera Australia's production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.

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NINETY

March 3rd 2010 4:03 pm | Theatre | Review - By Diana Simmonds

NINETY, Ensemble Theatre, February 4-April 3, 2010

MEMORY is a slippery thing and when a marriage has foundered, it can become not only impossible to grasp but also an unpredictable weapon of war between the parties. It is multi-layered, constantly shifting and capable of a variety of interpretations. Memory is treacherous.

For Isabel (Kate Raison) and William (Brian Meegan) the memories of their marriage are simultaneously what keep them together (in her mind) and apart (in his). She wants him to see them clearly, while he has reconfigured them to suit his purpose: of leaving her and remarrying a younger woman.

Or it may not be quite like that: the essence of memory is that it looks different depending on your point of view. And William and Isabel are good at points of view, particularly opposing ones. He is an actor, she is an art historian and restorer; points of view are their business; hidden stories, underlying meanings and revealed meanings their stock in trade.

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LIZA ON AN E

February 27th 2010 9:30 pm | Theatre | Review - By Diana Simmonds

LIZA ON AN E Civic Cabaret Underground, February 24, 25, 26; March 5, 6, 2010.

TREVOR Ashley has been a lynchpin of Sydney's drag and cabaret scene for the past decade as a performer and also, in recent years, as an indefatigable promoter and producer (Showqueen etc). Ironically, his own talent has probably been overshadowed in the wider (straight) community by his ubiquity: he's everywhere in such a whirlwind of perpetual motion he's been impossible to catch and pin down.

Initially, and inevitably, "the public" fell in love with him when he created the role of Miss Understanding in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the Musical, but such is the extent of his abilities he should be a household name. Turning 30 this evening (27 February) while queening it on his own float in the Mardi Gras parade, if he chooses, he's the natural successor to Reg Livermore in theatre and has everything and more that iOTA dreams of in alternative performance-cabaret.

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THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE

February 23rd 2010 1:06 am | Theatre | Review - By Diana Simmonds

THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE Wharf 2, STC Education Program (STC Ed), 22 February-13 March 2010. Images by Tracey Schramm.

DRAMA NSW's website tells teachers that the STC Ed production of Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane is "Perfect for HSC Drama and English students, this play promises a good night at the theatre for anyone who has had to deal with an interfering mother." Which suggests that someone at Drama NSW has a talent for understatement or black humour. The same person might have written that 2009's superb STC Ed production of The Crucible was "a good night in the theatre for anyone who has had to deal with ditzy schoolgirls." In both instances it's a case of "yes, but" - the productions are scintillating and any kid who is lucky enough to see such theatre must surely be turned on to the live stage forever.

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