Hello, Beautiful! is a funny, big-hearted, one-woman show performed by one of Australia's best-loved playwrights, Hannie Rayson. Based on her best-selling memoir, Hello, Beautiful! brings you a 60-minute piece of sublime comic storytelling - true stories from an adventurous life, spiced with wit, tenderness, social observation, and intimacy.
Rayson takes you from the East Brighton of her childhood to the treacheries of Hollywood, from share-houses in Fitzroy to the beauties of rural Australia. Rayson's life and writing has always been driven by her deep curiosity about contemporary Australian life: how we live and what matters to us - the political and ethical challenges we face.
Both as a playwright and columnist for magazines and newspapers, she has an ear for the ways we speak and a knack for understanding how our inner lives affect our public selves. You'll be struck with many "OMG that happened to me" moments, and feel as if you've been listening to stories told by your new best friend.
DOWNTOWN to BROADWAY - A Tribute
Petula Clarke… so much more than the sixties pop princess who sang Downtown!
A career spanning more than six decades has seen her evolve from a child star bringing songs and messages (sometimes encoded!) to soldiers during World War Two to sixties sensation… star of stage and screen… to concert performer who still delivers with as much passion and skill as ever. A superstar around the world, she is as much at home performing in French as in English and is said to be as loved in France, where she lived for many years, as the great Piaf!
Hilary Henshaw and Will Conyers grew up tapping their toes to Petula’s hits of the sixties… and continue to follow her career with fascination and admiration as she keeps abreast of the “sign of the times”, continuing to perform and record ever new and different genres, including her own compositions. This labour of love and respect features many of her timeless hits including Sign of the Times, The Other Man’s Grass, This Is My Song and…Downtown. Petula’s contribution to movies such as Finian’s Rainbow and Goodbye Mr. Chips is also celebrated, as well as her musical theatre achievements. Did you know that she was the longest running ever Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard? And… as a beautiful bonus… a taste of her timeless French and European repertoire.
And this is not your standard tribute show! Great care has been taken to make the presentation of this piece as interesting as her story and her varied repertoire. Hilary Henshaw plays Petula throughout… Will Conyers plays various roles including Leon Cabat from Vogue Records, Claude Wolf (Petula’s husband), Andy Williams and… Elvis Presley!
To date she has recorded more than 1000 songs and sold over 68 million recordings... and still loving every moment! Come and revel in the nostalgia, the surprises and the beautiful compositions that have been recently created by a legend who continues to sing the song of her life!
Praised by The Australian for its "rare warmth and timbral richness," Greta Bradman's luminous soprano is the ideal vehicle for lush songs by Debussy. It’s also the inspiration for new songs by Australia’s leading composer of music for voice, Calvin Bowman.
The second half of the nineteenth century saw an extraordinary flowering in French music. Composers including Chausson, Debussy and Fauré transported audiences to previously unimagined worlds of sound, mysterious in their beauty and subtle charm. For this concert, we bring to life exquisite new arrangements of this iconic music, including Debussy’s Clair de lune and Chausson’s Poème.
CHAUSSON Poème
DEBUSSY Clair de lune
Ariettes oubliées
FAURÉ Dolly Suite
DEBUSSY La soirée dans Grenade
Children's Corner (selections)
CALVIN BOWMAN Ophélie*
*world premiere season supported by Robert Salzer Foundation.
Poème arr Keith Crellin for violin and string orchestra
Other works arr Nicholas Buc for string orchestra
A young man sits alone on stage. He looks like us. He sounds like us. Yet he asks us to join him on an unimaginably alien journey into his recent past.
Both an intimate character study and an edge-of-your-seat thriller, Elegy fuses precision performance, an affecting soundscape and visual poetry to lure us into a playful, theatrical, humorous and personal world to reveal a story as powerful… as it is true.
Elegy was the Australian premiere of an innovative piece from the UK exploring the unimaginable homophobia still occurring in “post-liberation” Iraq, and the horrific realities imposed on any minority group faced with no choice but to flee.
The play at first appears to be an intimate account of one man’s impossible love for his best friend but, gradually, our young man pieces together a deeper story: of love and flight, of empty train stations and bomb-blasted towns, of a world where local militia “disappear” his friends one by one.
It slowly builds to the shocking revelation that these stories are, in fact, true.
Based on verbatim interviews with refugee survivors of brutal regimes and inspired by images from photojournalist Bradley Secker, Elegy is a lyrical, searing exploration of loss, displacement and a longing for home.
Starring Nick Simpson-Deeks (The Play That Goes Wrong, Winners & Losers) and directed by John Kachoyan (Bell Shakespeare), it is a lament for lives in exile and more importantly for the dead that they have left behind.
At a time when elected leaders maintain their commitment to “turning back the boats”, and show resistance to marriage equality, this award-winning work lays bare the human cost of these vote-seeking headlines.
A story about dreams, believing in yourself... and a dancing kangaroo.
From the award-winning team behind Pete The Sheep comes another hilarious tale of a bush animal you'll never forget.
Josephine is a kangaroo – who loves to dance. Her little brother, Joey, tells her that kangaroos don't dance, they hop – but Josephine continues to point her toes and leap through the air.
When a ballet troupe comes to the sleepy town of Shaggy Gully Josephine learns that there is another way to dance – ballet. As the ballet company prepares to perform, Josephine sneaks into town to peer through the window as the dancers rehearse, watching for hours and hours as they perfect their routine. Then Josephine goes home and practices all night, all alone, until she knows the dance by heart. She spun, she swirled and pirouetted dreams… and at the end she always curtsied. She desperately wanted to dance like the ballerinas in pink tutus and silk ballet shoes!
On the day of the first performance the ballet company was in trouble: the prima ballerina twisted her ankle and the understudy had a splinter in her toe!
Who could dance the lead role? Who else could leap that high? Josephine's talents are called upon to help save the day. Can she do it, and more importantly, does it matter that she's a kangaroo?
A delightfully funny tale that looks at the importance of believing in yourself and realising your dreams.
Madame Butterfly is a love story that reaches across cultures, across oceans, across time. Puccini's popular opera inspired the musical Miss Saigon. It is filled with gorgeous music, from the lovers' first rapturous embrace to the intense finale. It features the aria 'One Fine Day' and the Humming Chorus, along with Japanese and American musical themes.
One of Australia's greatest theatrical minds, John Bell, directs this English-language production, complete with beautiful costumes and sets.
Hear Opera Australia's wonderful singers perform with a chamber orchestra, along with a children's orchestra drawn from local communities.
Brutus is suspicious. Cassius is conspiring. Caesar’s days are numbered.
Loved by the people, Caesar’s power is growing – which is dangerous if you live in a world driven by ego and idealism.
Those that rise too fast must be dealt with. For the good of the country. For the good of those who wish to be rulers themselves.
Julius Caesar is Shakespeare’s political thriller, a masterpiece of intrigue and treachery. Stand witness to the assassination that leads to a life and death struggle for power in the Republic. Citizens mutiny, Mark Antony schemes, and the fate of Rome hangs in the balance.
Bell Shakespeare’s Associate Director, James Evans, will direct a production that’s seething with rage, leaving audiences breathless at how quickly violence reveals the fragility of democracy.
Starring Kenneth Ransom (Gods of Egypt, Belvoir’s Prize Fighter) as Caesar, and featuring an ensemble cast including Ivan Donato (Richard 3), Emily Havea, Louisa Mignone, Nick Simpson-Deeks and Russell Smith, this production will tour to 27 venues around Australia.
Experience the tension between aspiration and ambition, the triumphal entrances and brutal exits, as it is all laid on the line for Rome.
Recommended age 13+
Join Kasey Chambers by the “ Campfire” for a musical journey through the stories of places, people, cultures and sounds that have inspired one of Australia’s most revered performers.
Be part of this intimate acoustic experience enjoying songs new and old that have shaped Kasey’s rich and unique life travelling thru the vast lands of Australia, American and Africa.
Playing songs from her new album ‘Campfire’ (Out April 27) and all her much-loved songs from way back to the The Captain and Barricades and Brickwalls days up until now. Don’t miss a very special evening of music and stories with Kasey and the Fireside Disciples.
“Campfire is an album I have wanted to make my whole life and represents the connection I’ve had to the different lands and cultures throughout my life that have influenced me the most. I have taken all of those experiences and put them into songs and sounds for Campfire. Join us for a very special evening of music and stories of the places, people, cultures and sounds that I would like to share with you all around my Campfire.”
“Everyone sing ‘round the campfire... where the song of the Curlew awaits....
And dance with me under the moonlight until the morning breaks”
Kasey Chambers
Award winning and highly acclaimed Australian country singer Daniel Thompson and Golden Guitar winning, Telecaster picking, Australian country music legend Stuie French, along with their powerhouse backing band, The Tennessee Express are excited to bring you Johnny Cash The Concert - Revisits Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison.
Australia’s premier tribute to the Man In Black, Johnny Cash The Concert, hits the road once more in 2018 bringing you this iconic album in it’s entirety. Since 2009, more than 50 thousand ecstatic Johnny Cash fans Australia wide have witnessed the magic of Johnny Cash and his music through Daniel Thompson and Stuie French’s authentic tribute to this iconic and beloved superstar.
In 2018, Johnny Cash The Concert gives Australian Cash fans the opportunity to relive the magic of the legendary “Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison” album. The show will also feature a set of The Man in Black’s greatest hits from throughout his entire career.
Off The Leash Theatre Company is proud to present RENT running from 24 August to 1 September 2018 at West Gippsland Arts Centre.
Directed by Todd Miller, Musically Directed by Esther White, Choreographed by Rachel O’Dwyer and Production Managed by Leane Gooding.
Set in the East Village of New York City, RENT is about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, RENT has become a pop cultural phenomenon with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages.
Based loosely on Puccini’s La Boheme, RENT follows a year in the life of a group of friends struggling to make it in the big city. They include Mark, a filmmaker and the narrator of the story; his former girlfriend, Maureen, a performance artist; Maureen’s lover, Joanne, a public interest lawyer; Mark’s roommate Roger, a musician; Mimi, an exotic dancer, with whom Roger falls in love; Tom Collins, a computer genius; Collins’ lover, Angel, a street musician and drag queen; and Benny, a former member of the group who, after marrying into a wealthy family, has become their landlord. How these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loved and conflicts, against a backdrop of the 1990s AIDSs epidemic, provides the narrative thread for this ground-breaking musical.
"Hey, you got an hour? Look, I've been doing a ton of thinking about...us, and where we're headed. This isn't easy, but I need to be 100% honest with you, even if what I say makes you laugh, very, very hard.
You had better sit down for this...."
Australia's adopted son of comedy returns to WGAC with his brand new show 'We Need To Talk.'
⋆⋆⋆⋆ "A must see for anyone who loves a laugh..." Adelaide Now
⋆⋆⋆⋆ "On-point delivery and irresistible charm, it's clear to see why he continues to sell out" Herald Sun
Arj Barker started his career in comedy after graduating from high school in 1989. His first gigs were at an old café called Caffe Nuvo in downtown San Anselmo where he hosted stand-up night every Sunday throughout the early 1990s. Barker appeared on Premium Blend in 1997, followed by appearances on the shows Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Glass House. He twice hosted Comedy Central Presents, first in 2000 and again in 2006. Barker was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. He appeared on the Australian hit show Thank God You're Here in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
Barker co-wrote and performed in The Marijuana-Logues, an Off-Broadway show in New York City, with Doug Benson and Tony Camin.
Barker appeared in the HBO sitcom Flight of the Conchords, playing Bret and Jemaine's indifferent friend Dave.
Barker has enjoyed great success in Australia for a number of years since first appearing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2000, and presently resides here.
Australia’s favourite and most successful country group, The McClymonts are returning to the road after a year off and they’re ready to kick it up in style. Despite the break, Brooke, Sam & Mollie have been anything but quiet with their best-selling latest album ‘Endless’ debuting #1 Country & #3 ARIA all-genre album chart upon release and generating three smash hit singles - “House”, “Don’t Wish It All Away” and “Like We Used To”, after which the tour is named. On top of that, the girls took home three awards at the 2018Golden Guitar Awards including the coveted Album of the Year and Group of the Year at the CMC Awards.
Most importantly there have been major personal milestones including the birth of Sam’s first baby, Wilder, the upcoming birth of Mollie’s second child and Brooke released a duo album with her husband, Adam Eckersley.
The girls & their band are fired up and ready to go and with over 20 smash hit singles from their 5 much-loved albums, you are sure to be in for an unforgettable night. They’ll be performing hits like Forever Begins Tonight, Here’s To You & I, Wrapped Up Good and Kick It Up, all sung with their stunning harmonies and backed by their incredible band.
We’re so excited to head off around Australia to play the ‘Like We Used To’ tour together!” Mollie said. “It will be a high energy show packed with all of the favourites. It has been a while since we the road and can’t wait to see you all soon!”
