Fag Boy & The Married Guy

Because tonight you get to see what it feels like to be helpless. To feel what it’s like to be punished and for it to be out of your control.

What would you do if you found the school bully and your tormentor from high school on Grindr, ten years later? A psychological sexual thriller, Fag Boy & The Married Guy is the latest work by Tunks Productions.

Will was persecuted at High School for his emerging homosexuality, barely making it out alive following a savage beating from bullies and a suicide attempt. He’s tried to move on, losing considerable weight and becoming a successful vet but still struggles trusting people.

 

Unexpectedly he receives a message on Grindr from a familiar face - his school bully Alex. Alex is now a failed footballer with a wife, mortgage, kids and a life he resents. Forced to face his own demons, Alex isn’t prepared to go down without a fight.

As these two men face off, it’s clear that neither will be the same again. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but one you may choke on yourself.

Wayne Tunks is an award winning writer, director, producer and actor. His theatre credits include the previous Midsumma Festival hit 37 Ways To Say I’m Gay and most recently, His Room, which opened the True West Season at the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta earlier this year.

Performers Matthew Candeland (Crossed, La Mama Courthouse, 2011) and Benji Groenwegen (The Omega Quest, Revolt, 2012) have both previously worked with Tunks Productions and bring a youthful energy and intensity to the work.
 

Fag Boy & The Married Guy
Season: 16 - 27 January 2013
Venue: La Mama Theatre
Address: 205 Faraday St, Carlton
Bookings: (03) 9347 6142 or online at: www.lamama.com.au 
Image: Sarah Candeland

Fag Boy & The Married Guy is presented as part of the 2013 Midsumma Festival.

 

Brett Willis - 2NARAMA

After the outrageously successful 2012 exhibition, Facebook phenomenon TOONARAMA returns to celebrate TOON-tastic 2-somes as part of the 25th Anniversary of Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival!

2NARAMA is a cartoon exhibition of 50 limited edition digital artwork caricature prints featuring a collection of Incredible Icons, Cool Celebrities, Community Cuties, Sexy Sports Stars and Fabulous Friends by celebrity cartoonist Brett Willis.

TOON-tastic 2-somes include Celebrity TV chefs Nigella Lawson & Audrey Gordon, Dance Idols Ricky Martin & Beyoncé, Aussie Icons Dame Edna Everage & Sir Les Patterson, Fab TV Friends Karen & Jack and many more dynamic duos!

 

Growing up in the 80's on a diet of glamorous Angel detectives, buff mutant superheroes and Material Girl video clips, Melbourne Freelance Cartoonist Brett Willis developed an insatiable taste for Popular Culture and the cult of Celebrity.

 

Inspired to draw as a child by comic book superhero artwork, Brett has produced an extensive variety of cartoon and illustration work for children's books, TV show merchandise, magazines, newspapers, websites, corporate promotions, and successful solo exhibitions showcasing his "bright, bold and sexy cartoon style".

 

2NARAMA
Exhibition: 11 - 20 January 2013
Venue: ArtBoy Gallery
Address: 99 Greville St, Prahran

For more information, visit: www.artboygallery.com for details.

 

 

Out Cast Theatre - Here & After

Continuing their mission of delivering new Australian theatre on stages both here and around the globe, Melbourne’s Out Cast Theatre in conjunction with Steven Dawson is proud to present its first offering for 2013, Here & After.

 

It’s Melbourne 1942 and Patrick has met the man of his dreams. Tom is everything you could want:  tall, good looking, an American GI, the only thing is he may also be dead.

 

“It’s been a long time since I wrote something as straight forward and romantic as this one. I wanted it to be a simple, yet heart-warming tale coloured with my typically skewed take on the world we live in" says Steven Dawson, Artistic Director of Out Cast Theatre.

 

"It’s very Hollywood, slightly soppy but I like to think it is thoroughly engaging. There was no wish to make bold statements. I just wanted to have a good time watching it and hoped others would join me on the journey."

 

In the last four years Out Cast Theatre has toured to Edinburgh, Dublin, Manchester, London and Sydney as well its regular performances in Melbourne.  It receives no government assistance and relies solely on ticket sales and the generosity of our generous partners.

 

"Our audiences are there to see work that is aimed squarely at them" says Dawson.

 

"The themes are universal and the mixed audiences, both gay and straight are testament to that but these are our stories and we love telling them."

 

Here & After
Season: 16 January - 9 February 2013
Venue: Mechanics Institute Performing Arts Centre
Address: Corner Sydney Road and Glenlyon Street, Brunswick
Bookings: (03) 9308 4574 or online at: www.outcast.org.au

Here & After is presented as part of the 2013 Midsumma Festival.



Welcome back to Arts Review

After a hiatus of a few years, the Australian Arts Review returns in 2013. Over the coming weeks, we will be featuring performances and visual arts from Melbourne's Midsumma and Sydney Festival. We will also take a look inside the covers of the latest book releases, and for movie buffs, a selection of film and dvd releases.

Soweto Gospel Choir - African Spirit

In their third Australian tour and after a sold-out season last year, the Soweto Gospel Choir returned to Adelaide’s Festival Theatre with their new offering African Spirit.

In its short but spectacular rise on the international stage, the Soweto Gospel Choir has achieved much more than other performers would in a lifetime including winning successive Grammy’s in 2007 and 2008 for Best Traditional World Music Album.

For just on two hours, twenty-six performers costumed in a dazzling kaleidoscope of colour treated the audience to a musical program that is vibrantly enthusiastic and a celebration of community.

Performing in a number of different languages including English, Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho, much of the repertoire draws on a mix of traditional and contemporary South African gospel music interspersed popular song including Bob Dylan’s I’ll Remember You and a medley of Oh Happy Day with Bob Marley's One Love.

At times, the singers are accompanied by a band comprising guitar, keyboards, bass and drums, or dance in engaging traditional forms. However, the Choir’s strength lies within its vocal blends and harmonies, accompanied only by a pair of djembes providing a tribal underscore of rhythmic pulses.

The versatility of the choir is evident, especially in act two with a highly percussive routine titled The Canteen, where cutlery, crockery and glassware become the instruments. In a celebration of the strength of the human spirit, African Spirit is an inspirational program of music and dance.

The Soweto Gospel Choir once again prove why they have become a musical tour-de-force, in turn the audience offering them a well deserved standing ovation.

Soweto Gospel Choir - African Spirit
Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Saturday 21 June 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season closed

Altar Boyz

The multi award winning and longest musical to play off Broadway in years, Altar Boyz, has had its highly anticipated Australian premiere to a very enthusiastic response at Sydney’s Seymour Centre.

The shows premise is very basic – the Altar Boyz, a five piece boy band in their final performance of their national ‘Raise the Praise’ tour. In just over ninety minutes, we bare witness to the trials and tribulations of life in a boy band, while they try to redeem the lost godless souls of the audience.

With the early proliferation of musical outfits such as Westlife and Human Nature combined with the evangelistic organizations such as Hillsong Ministries, there is much inspiration to draw upon.

While Altar Boyz has the potential to become a clichéd product of itself, director Kate Gaul has taken everything we have come to love (and hate!) of the boy band phenomenon to present a highly entertaining and fast paced production.

Gaul has assembled a dynamic young cast includes Cameron MacDonald (Matthew) Dion Bilios (Mark) Tim Maddren (Luke) Jeremy Brennan (Juan) and Andrew Koblar (Abraham), who sing and dance their way through twelve original songs penned by Garry Adler and Michael Patrick Walker.

Robert Gavin’s musical direction and leader of the four piece band offers a driving accompaniment to the highly energetic choreography by Anthony Ginandja. While some sound issues did mar the early part of the show, these did settle down as the show progressed.

While opening night audiences can be predictably enthusiastic, if you take the show for what it is - a tongue in cheek swipe at boy bands, Altar Boyz is a fun and entertaining night out. Amen!

Altar Boyz
Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney
Wednesday 11 June 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn.
Season plays till 2 August 2008. Bookings: (02) 9351 7940

Queenie van de Zandt – Cabaret in 12 Easy Steps

Queenie Van de Zandt’s Cabaret in 12 Easy Steps is a behind the scenes look at how to develop your own cabaret show.

At times irreverent and unashamedly funny Queenie is accompanied on piano by Peter J. Casey. These two performers have come along way since their early days at the Queanbeyan School of Arts Café.

In between tributes to Andrew Lloyd Webber - thanks to early home videos, the musical repertoire included gems from Tim Minchin and Eddie Perfect. Add to that the obligatory bit of audience participation in the form of a Dutch lullaby, the only low point being the politically correct rendition of Waltzing Matilda which dragged and felt out of place with the rest of the show.

Queenie’s rendition of Defying Gravity from the musical ‘Wicked’ was the standout highlight, making one ask why isn’t this woman in the show?

At just under ninety minutes, Cabaret in 12 Easy Steps is an interesting show that could benefit from some small revisions. With that aside, Queenie van de Zandt is one of Australia’s under-rated talents, who I would like to see more of.

Queenie van de Zandt – Cabaret in 12 Easy Steps
Artspace, Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Sunday 8 June 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season Closed

Amanda McBroom – Crimes of the Heart

Warm, generous and engaging, these are only some of the words that easily describe Amanda McBroom. Coming to public attention as the writer of the 1979 hit, The Rose, McBroom has carved out a career equally as a song writer and musical and dramatic theatre performer.

For 75 minutes, this extraordinary performer accompanied by the fabulous Michele Brourman, an award winning songwriter in her own right, mesmerized the audience with an eclectic program of classics, standards and original song.

In between her generous story-telling, musical treats included Porter’s I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Brel’s Carousel, Dorothy Field’s The Way You Look Tonight, and originals, Dance, Errol Flynn, The Rose and the title song, Crimes of the Heart.

Earlier in the evening McBroom was honoured by the Adelaide Cabaret Festival by presenting her with the 2008 Cabaret Crème Award for her contribution to the artform.

Amanda McBroom – Crimes of the Heart
Banquet Room, Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Friday 6 June 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season Closed

Everybody Loves Rhonda

Created especially for the Adelaide Festival Centre’s 35th Birthday and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Everybody Loves Rhonda is full of glitz, glamour and those infamous legs!

From the opening number of The Lullaby of Broadway and resplendent in a dress designed by Melbourne couturier Craig Braybrook, beaded with purple Swarovski crystals, Rhonda Burchmore treats the audience to a cavalcade of spectacular frocks and wonderful song, all backed by the Adelaide Art Orchestra under the musical direction of Ray Alldridge.

Musical highlights including Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, a Madonna inspired Material Girl, an earthy Birth of the Blues. Each number is a chance to show off her range from the emotionally charged In My Daughter’s Eyes, through to the finale of Abba’s Dancing Queen.

Dana Jolly’s choreography adds a certain style in the bigger numbers by including four male dancers, Trevor Holland, Nick Jones, Paul Malek and Troy Savic, all appropriately dressed in formal attire.

For each costume change, special guest Kane Alexander delighted the audience with his smooth interpretations of Oasis's Wonderwall, and the swing standard Ain't That a Kick in the Head, only to join Burchmore for Frank Loesser’s Baby It's Cold Outside.

In a fitting start to the 2008 Cabaret Festival, Rhonda Burchmore once again proves why she is Australia’s leading lady of the musical stage.

Everybody Loves Rhonda
Festival Theatre, Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Saturday 7 June 2008 – 1.30pm. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season Closed

French Connections, Festival Theatre, Adelaide

Paying homage to the legendary Ballets Russes, the Australian Ballet treated Adelaide audiences to a sumptuous triple bill featuring works by Krzysztof Pastor, Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine.

Set to Hector Berlioz’s magnificent score, Symphonie Fantastique, Krzysztof Pastor in collaboration with designer Tatyana van Walsum produce a visually stunning palette of projected clouds, rain, wheat and red poppies in a new interpretation of Leonide Massine’s symphonic ballet.

A work in five parts, it allows Robert Curran as the Artist to shine, amply demonstrating his ability with a rounded performance, as does Danielle Rowe as his obsession. Rachel Rawlins and Remi Wörtmeyer as the pastoral couple bring a subtle warmth and some fine choreography to the roles.

Set in a gauzy dance studio, Jerome Robbins has stripped away the mythological aspects of Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun. As the young couple, Olivia Bell and Adam Bull are full of wondrous yearning. Playing no defined roles, they dance, trance-like, as though the steps are only now occurring to them. A mesmerising beautiful performance.

Considered a tribute to the Maryinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and Tchaikovsky, George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial was a glorious finale to the evening as the dancers presented a dazzling display with plenty of Joie de vivre, with Hugh Colman's tutus looking stunning juxtaposed against a backdrop of a menacing sky.

Set to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2 magnificantly played by Lachlan Reed and accompanied by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Nicolette Fraillon, Curran and Rowe return and are joined by Lana Jones in a triumphant display that ensured rapturous applause.

French Connections

Australian Ballet. Festival Theatre, Adelaide.
Saturday 24 May 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season closed.

Image: Robert Curran in Symphonie Fantastique – photo by Jim McFarlane