Is it wrong to root for the other team?
Posted by cacophony in : Sport & Leisure , 8 comments 
Sporting allegiances tend to be set by your parents, where you grew up and who with, or by virtue of a star player at the time you were most excited by the sport.
I must have missed something. My parents are not great sports fans and I moved around too much as a kid to have a region-based team (or for that matter, any particular sport to follow) and my crush on Tony Modra (Adelaide Crows, early 1990s) faded as quickly as his chromium trading card lost value. (Aside: In retrospect, I should have held onto that card. It’s probably worth a lot of money now.)
Don’t get me wrong, I like sport. I just don’t support anyone in particular.
This makes me a particularly underdressed fairweather friend. I’m happy to go along with rabid fans of any persuasion and wear any scarf they want to lend me. Last weekend, I watched Geelong beat Collingwood at the MCG, wearing a singing Cats scarf to support my friend Greg. In the last few minutes, three goals up, the big Cats were playing very petty football. They had a couple of shots on goal but instead kicked the football back and forth, wasting time until the siren. It was a cheap way to win and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Greg, however, was rapt the Cats had slain the Magpies whichever way they could.
Which brings me to tonight’s Rugby game: New Zealand is playing Australia in Auckland. Even though I’m a proud Aussie and I’ve never even been to kiwiland, I’m going for the All Blacks because I think they play better. I go for them because they make the game great.
Does that make me unAustralian?
The music of the night
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 5 comments 
Actors are a superstitious lot. I guess it must be a symptom of the unpredictable nature of the theatre. If I worked in an industry where so much could go so badly wrong with one slip-up, I think I’d be wary too. So it was with some pleasure that I noted the Princess Theatre had left a box empty for the opening night of The Phantom of the Opera on Thursday.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic modern musical breathes new life into the 1886 theatre with lavish costumes, strong vocal and musical performances, pyrotechnics and constantly surprising staging. It is as bewitching and intricate as the Opera Ghost himself.
Phantom veteran Anthony Warlow is captivating in the lead role, backed up by a strong and enthusiastic cast from which Andrea Creighton as Carlotta is a clear standout. Ana Maria plays the Phantom’s love interest Christine a little too demurely and as a result, she pales next to the other leads during group scenes.
The production makes excellent use of the intimate and ornate Princess Theatre, using levels and lighting to show changes in space and time, and electronic props glide on and off stage to set the scene. Fireworks add drama and spectacle, and the chandelier that is almost itself a character, is mobile, suspended from the ceiling by pulleys.
Phantom is a challenging play and this production demands a lot of its cast and crew. One confounding costume and set change takes place in less than 30 seconds during the first act, and poor Christine is either singing or swooning for the better part of the evening. But save for one minor “wardrobe malfunction”, opening night was without fault.
The Phantom of the Opera is on at the Princess Theatre until at least late November. Tickets are $69.90-$99.90 from www.ticketek.com.au
Details: www.thephantomoftheopera.com.au
The most frightening four letter word?
Posted by cacophony in : My life , 19 comments
Sorry I haven’t been around for a few weeks, guys. I’ve been busy; falling in love.
My new beau, Darren, is an extraordinary fellow. He’s smart, funny, caring, drop dead gorgeous and keen on me. I’m the kind of girl who falls in love at the drop of a hat but a broken heart or seven have taught me to exercise caution. We’ve been going out for a month.
I know that I’m falling in love with him. He can probably tell. But at some point, you need to say it.
So when is the right time to use the “L” word?
