A cowlick of a fringe
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 1 comment so far
“Bob is an average insecure penis,” begins the Melbourne Fringe Festival’s synopsis for puppet play Tyrannosaurus sex. Bob the knob may be average but the Fringe is definitely not.
This year’s festival has the usual unusual smattering of experimental, post-post-modern, kitsch and just plain weird music, art and theatre but also has a strong puppetry bent and includes a children’s program for the first time.
Spring is my favourite time of the year to be in Melbourne and the Fringe is a big part of that. It’s a theatre of risk: the artists are doing non-bankable works that are often self-funded (and in the case of neon-bulb swallower Manx, really bloody dangerous) but the audience takes a risk, too. Fringe shows are mostly one-offs, and hit-and-miss depending on which show you attend.
But for about $12 a pop, that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
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
What is your gangsta name?
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 20 comments
Now that Carl Williams will be behind bars until he’s 71, I don’t think he’ll be needing his nickname “baby face” any more. So I’ll have it, thanks. What would your gangster name be?
Some suggestions:
“Holey” bill
Lady “Black Widow” Chaos
The Shadow. (Nuff said.)
“No” Mercy
What do you reckon?
Big Day Out of Bounds
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 9 comments
So the Big Day Out organisers are urging people to leave their flags at home, to avoid stirring racial tension at the rock festival. But the flag, to me, is not about race at all. That is the point, isn’t it?
The festival is known for taking risks (as any girl who took part in the 2004 She Pee disaster will attest) but this move will probably cause more friction than a couple of flag-waving zealots could.
Has the Big Day Out jumped the shark?
The organisers’ message is under NEWS at: www.bigdayout.com
A balmy balls-up in the Midsumma heat
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 3 commentsFederation Square
Last night, Melbourne’s annual queer festival Midsumma had its opening party at Federation Square. All the bars got into the spirit (the multicoloured wig on the Transport drinks wench was a nice touch) but the drinks were a little pricey ($7 for a beer in a plastic cup from Arinji!). My gang of four had a great night drinking and chatting, meeting old (and new) friends and enjoying being out and about in our beloved city.
There were bands (including one with the delicious name Love Box), people boogie-ing and public snogging. There was air-kissing, booze, networking and the beginning of scores of relationships. And Melbourne’s gay community did what it does best: party.
It went off with a bang. Well, not for me, but there’s three weeks of the festival to go!
Midsumma events run until February 11. www.midsumma.org.au
Location:
Cnr Swanston and Flinders Sts Flinders St Cnr
Swanston, VIC 3000
Australia
(03) 9655 1900
Sorted out for Es and whizz
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 3 commentsSome people crave food, others are hooked on crack. Me, I’m addicted to music.
It doesn’t seem to matter what kind of music, even, though I do like it when the bass is so loud it makes my ribs vibrate. I can’t get enough of it and I’m willing to go way out of my comfort zone to find it (read: Belgrave).
Sometimes I go to see bands I’ve never heard of because they have cool names (read: Actor/Model and Ouch! My Face at the Tote tonight).
Going to see live music is just like a drug: you buy your tickets from a shady-looking fellow and you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. You’re in a crowd of a hundred people but it feels like the band is playing for you. The gig has the capacity to ruin your night or change your life.
Like a drug, there are side effects: tinnitus, sore feet, tiredness, agoraphobia and the propensity to get drunk. And you have to deal with people pushing in front of you, being covered in smoke (bring on the smoking bans!), the hair-flick dancers, the mosh pit couples and the mobile phone snappers.
So why do I keep going back? Because there is something old, almost primal, about listening to music in a crowd. Because there isn’t any experience like it. Because I have a thing for musos.
And because I’m hooked, clearly. But is that so bad?
Park yourself here
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 3 commentsCreate yourself as a South Park character here: http://www.sp-studio.de/
Pretty good likeness, no?
A green room for all of us
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 6 comments
Take 40 young actors, ten playwrights, some wine, Minties and assorted props. Put them in an urban pub, build them a stage and tell them to do their worst. It sounds like a recipe for disaster but it’s actually a fun and productive night out.
Dante’s, Gertrude St, Fitzroy, holds play readings on the third Monday of each month where they open the floor to new and innovative works by local writers, presented (with scripts) by actors with as little as an hour to get to know their parts. It gives the playwrights a chance to see their work being staged and the actors can help them develop it.
Everyone pays $10 at the door, which goes into a pool to be distributed to the writers with the most popular plays.
This week, I saw plays about brotherhood, good and evil, madness, perverts and phone sex. It was a great night out and a panacea to the cultural cringe of the silly season.
Well worth hopping on the 58 tram.
Who operates your teleprompter?
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 6 commentsHere’s a question to divide the nation: who is the sexiest newsreader on television?
Is it Sandra Sully from late night Channel 10 news?
Or Kerry O’Brien from the 7.30 report?
Lee Lin Chin from SBS World News?
Or Peter Thompson from Talking Heads?
Well then, who is it?
Doolittle doily looks a million bucks
Posted by cacophony in : Entertainment , 1 comment so far
Yesterday, some mug paid $1 million for the glamorous black dress from the opening sequence of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It’s a nice frock, sure, but is any dress worth a million bucks?
Seven years ago, the dress that Marilyn Monroe wore while singing “Happy Birthday, Mr President” - badly - sold for $1.5 million (US). What do these collectors plan to do with these frocks anyway? Put them under glass as some kind of pop culture history exhibit?
Are they important relics of our time; or do some people have more money than sense?
