2015 live performances reviews/round-up
I don't know what to call it any more, so it's anything seen live - music, dance, exhibitions, plays, all of it!
Total shows: 4 operas, 12 plays, 3 exhibitions, 10 concerts, 3 dance/ballet, 2 musicals, 1 misc
Favourite Plays/Musicals
Cock @ Old Fitz Theatre
d - Shane Bosher; Brian Meegan, Matt Minto (M), Matilda Ridgway (W), Michael Whalley (John)
Incredibly intense and emotionally draining but very well acted three-hander. Whalley is good, squirmy and tightly held as John - the frustrating and yet understandably confused man-child who's torn between choosing his rocky but comfortable 7-year relationship with the older M (Minto, a little too forceful at times in showing the strong personality of the character), and his new, more nurturing love affair with W (Ridgway, another great performance). The script draws a delicate balance at the start exploring the similarities and differences in John's interplay with M and W, before it builds to the excruciating climax of John's decision. The ending comes as a real punch in the gut. I really liked the minimalist and smart production in the tiny theatre space - no props, no costume changes, just using the vivid imaginations of the audience to fill in the gaps.
Merchant of Venice @ York Theatre
d - Richard Cottrell; Lizzie Schebesta (Portia), Christpher Stalley (Bassiano), James Lugton (Antonio), John Turnbull (Shylock), Aaron Tsindos, Damien Strouthos, Darcy Brown, Erica Lovell, Jason Kos, Jonathan Elsom, Lucy Heffernan, Michael Cullen, Pip Dracakis
So interesting! So discomforting! With a modern lens (and lovely 1920s costumes), this production makes some interesting decisions to keep the text as is - with all its anti-Semitic slurs - and plays it fairly straight, but with some subtle but cutting nudges that show Shylock's monstrous demands spring in part from the monstrous hypocrisy the Venetian 'Christians' demonstrate in their interactions with him.
My reading was that this is a demonstration of the difference between mercy and grace. The Jewish characters are never shown grace (an unconditional, forgiving love that wipes away all that has gone before - receive what we do not deserve) as the Christian characters are called to in the gospels; instead, to escape what Shylock sees as justice in the end, Portia's clever solution is all about mercy (the dispelling of punishment deserved), and a cruel and conditional one at that e.g. the demand that Shylock convert to Christianity and abandon Judaism, and Antonio cutting Jessica (Shylock's daughter) down with an unkind stare as she tries to walk into their gathering at the end. So it's clear that the Christians don't understand what Jesus did for them at all, what's supposed to make them different from the Israelites who followed the Law - and so, are just as bad as the 'Pharisees' they are warned not to be in the gospels (the Jews who hounded Jesus because he did not adhere to the letter of God's Law as in the Scriptures, but showed compassion and kindness - grace - to everyone around him).
Anyway, all in all a good production with great actors - I'd call out Lizzie Schebesta as Portia and John Turnbull as Shylock in particular. The simple set worked for this straightforward Sport for Jove production, though it was puzzling to see it performed in the cavernous York Theatre to a small audience rather than in the better sized Reginald downstairs.
Matilda @ Lyric Theatre
d - Matthew Warchus; Marika Aubrey (Mrs Wormwood), Daniel Frederiksen (Mr Wormwood), Glenn Hill (The Escapologist), Travis Khan (Rudolpho), Elise McCann (Miss Honey), James Millar (Miss Trunchbull), Cle Morgan (Mrs Phelps), Daniel Raso (Michael Wormwood)
Joyous, lovely, getting the soul of the book - the power of words, the melancholy reflection on familial love - with a fun, gorgeous, high-energy production to delight the (many) children in the audience while keeping adults hooked in the view of a time past. The Matilda we saw (Bella Thomas) was great, precocious but not overly cute, heart tugging - and for someone making her professional debut, she was amazing - the show asks a LOT of a child actor and she really managed the acting/singing/dancing combination well. The other two standouts were Miss Honey (Elise McCann), who I really identified with, something I've never considered before - guess it’s a life stage thing. And the actor playing Miss Trunchbull, James Millar, went all out in a hilarious physical performance. Song and book are fine - it's very funny, and sharp at times, but I can't remember how much of that is Dahl rather than Minchin; not super super catchy overall but has its moments.
Arms and the Man @ Drama Theatre, Opera House
d - Richard Cottrell; Brandon Burke (Nicola), Mitchell Butel (Bluntschli), Charlie Cousins (Saranoff), Andrea Demetriades (Rayna), Deborah Kennedy (Mrs Petkoff), Olivia Rose (Louka), William Zappa (General Petkoff)
Delightful, like the sweet so loved by Rayna and her 'chocolate soldier'. Funny, brisk, beautifully produced - very straight production almost to the letter of the original script - which allowed the comedy in the words and mannerisms shine through. Butel is lovely as Bluntschli, good soldier and secret romantic; Demetriades charing as Rayna with her idealistic pretensions; and Cousins hilarious as the preening 'war hero'.
Mortido @ Belvoir Upstairs
d - Leticia Cáceres; Toby Challenor, Tom Conroy (Jimmy), Otis Jai Dhanji (child), Colin Friels (Detective Grubbe, Christos, Bratislav, Heinrich Barbie), Louisa Mignone (Scarlet), Renato Musolino (Monte), David Valencia (El Gallito)
Chilling and arresting, with stories intersecting and intertwining across generations in a slick, cocaine-fuelled tale with hints of magic realism. Jimmy, a drop-out, goes in with his yuppie brother-in-law Monte in the drug trade trying to cut out (the unseen) matriarch of coke in Sydney, Le Madre; and in doing so, continues a chain of events that spirals into paranoia, death of innocence, and tragedy. Well acted by a good cast all round, and a good production - the claustrophobic, dark stage highlights the shiny surfaces of glass and stainless steel, somehow working to convey all the different locales - a nightclub in Berlin, a food court in Western Sydney, a jungle in South America, the home of an upwardly mobile urban young couple.
Favourite Concerts
One Direction @ Allianz Stadium
The following review/write-up was produced immediately after the concert by a happy untroubled fan who would not know then that mere weeks later Zayn would leave the band and this year would be the beginning of the end. *sigh*
"SO ENJOYABLE. This was my favourite, most fannish, time seeing them so far. It helps they've REALLY tightened up the show now that they've got enough songs to not need padding. There were beautiful harmonies in the ballads, and they were BSB-esque in that the crowd loved them and the energy didn't flag in the slower songs (Story of My Life; You and I; Night Changes). You can tell it's a boyband concert - there was so much pyro! Possibly too much at the start when it felt a little unnecessarily enthusiastic, but there was a moment of pure perfection in You and I where everything pauses for a moment of silence - and then the voices come back in along with a shower of fireworks.
Niall was my MVP of the night, funny and 'on' and wiggling his little butt all over the stage and generally LOVING Australia (wearing a Socceroos jersey Tim Cahill had given hi before the show, calling us the best country, draping himself in the Aussie flag). Better Than Words is SOOOOO good for Niall girls, and played back-to-back with Don't Forget Where You Belong, it gave me all the feels. Liam also asked at one point what everyone's favourite song off Four was; I screamed Spaces, and both
thawrecka and I felt that our section reflected that, even if Liam then said "Oh Fireproof, okay, well here's Girl Almighty!". LOL. Hilariously, I've seen posts on tumblr where people swear they could hear "Stockholm Syndrome" or "No Control", the point is, all the songs, we love all the songs.
Zayn looked like a supermodel. Liam started FLAT but was v entertaining and sweet, lots of fancy footwork as always. It seemed like if you wore a white top (Liam, Niall and Harry) then you had the energy to interact with the crowd, whereas black meant you didn't (Zayn, Louis). I think my theory was borne out when Zayn changed into a white shirt (very cute, with the Garfield front and back that Liam also loved) and amped up his interaction/energy for the encore. My only gripe about the production was that the stage was bloody spread out they didn't really spend more time interacting with each other, just looked like they were trying to set new records sprinting from one end to the other to hit their marks.
Fannish highlight: The incredible moment after What Makes You Beautiful, about midway through the night, where Niall, being adorable, talked about the stadium being a sweatbox. Then he blushingly fielded calls from the audience to take his shirt off ("I'm not taking my top off, leave me alone!") only for Harry to join in clearly ("Take it off! Why not?"). I have additional notes that remind me of something Liam/Louis in Night Changes, and Liam/Niall doing some kind of cute shuffle in Story of My Life, but those memories have faded in the face of that great Narry moment that I saw with my very own eyes!!
We had close to a perfect set list - I would dispense with Diana (and that useless raised B-stage, all for that one song what??), Little White Lies and Little Black Dress; and reinstate Moments.
Set list: Clouds, Steal My Girl, Where Do Broken Hearts Go, Midnight Memories Kiss You, Ready to Run, Happily, Strong, Better ThanWords, Don't Forget Where You Belong, Little Things, Night Changes, Alive, Diana, One Thing, What Makes You Beautiful, Through the Dark, Girl Almighty, Story Of My Life (break) You and I, Little White Lie, Little Black Dress, Best Song Ever.
Final but important question: is Liam really a lizard? It was 29 degrees and humid as hell, and he came out in a fleece jumper at the start, then into a flannel shirt for the encore."
Demi Lovato @ Hordern Pavillion
She's so adorable and sweet in person. Her voice is strong and great for most part, though sometimes it sounds like she's pushing it to the max when she could let there be more shade and light. But the ballads were lovely and heartbreaking, the dance songs fun and energetic. She looked AMAZING and was very earnest about her causes (the Lovato scholarship fund) and honest about what she's been through ("Sometimes I'm sick of being the poster child for recovery. Real talk."). Highlights for me were a sexy Got Dynamite (unf); the heartbreak of Warrior (though I could've done without the poverty porn of her visiting Africa as a backdrop but it was tasteful enough and she obviously was moved by her experiences); and the joy of encore Neon Lights with the young girls in front of me going nuts at the beat dropping and everyone dancing like crazy.
Charli XCX @ Metro Theatre
This was a great birthday present from
littlerhymes. I had lots of fun even though I was quite ill. But I'm glad I spent my last night as a 31 year old dancing to a room full of teens going nuts over cleverly dumb shiny pop. It was perfect seeing her at the Metro, the small space giving some intimacy to the event, with a show that had the glitter and shine of larger shows in her bands' sequinned dresses, her oversized props. It was very interesting to see this right after Demi’s concert; while Demi is ever so earnest even when she doesn't mean to be, Charli is all slick surface and image in a deliberate, intelligent way. Her voice is fine but her star power is all in the attitude, the strut, the deconstruction of a pop star; and she managed to bring some of her less notable songs from True Romance to life through the energy from the performance.
Backstreet Boys @ Allphones Arena
Always so much fun, always worth seeing live - they’re not afraid to be cheesy and give the crowd the perfect pop entertainment they’re looking for. Real 20 (22) year retrospective, from first single 'We've Got it Going On' (all the way from 1995!) to a couple of new songs from the latest album In a World Like This (which I really like). They brought back the original choreography, gave each of the guys getting their time in the spotlight to entertain and banter with the crowd, did a fantastic acoustic section in the middle where they played instruments and sang 10,000 Promises acappella (be still my beating heart!!). Just a night that gave me so many feelings about being a die hard pop fan for life.
Best of everything else
Australian Ballet: Sleeping Beauty @ Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre
Artistic director - David McAllister
Would you like some glitter with your ballet? Sure! Here, have the whole shebang as well - fluffy tutus, floaty dresses and coat tails that twirl delightfully in pirouettes, gorgeous OTT costumes, French rococo sets, and scenes that look directly taken from Fragonard paintings - it was so beautiful, an absolute confection of a production. And the dancing was so fun to watch as well, with lots of solo dances for the principals - Benedicte Bemet was lovely and graceful as Princess Aurora and danced well with her prince (Kevin Jackson); the Fairies were all delightful in their different ways (Amber Scott as the Lilac Fairy, Amy Harris as the Fairy of Joy, Nicola Curry as the Fairy of Grace, Vivienne Wong as the Fairy of Generosity, Jade Wood as the Fairy of Musicality, and Miwako Kubota as the Fairy of Temperament); and Chengwu Guo and Ako Kondo were crowd pleasers for good reason as Bluebird and Princess Florine.
Opera Australia: Turandot @ Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre
d - Graeme Murphy
This was beautifully staged, with a sumptous, fantastical Orientalism that actually softened the potential racism by making the setting an imaginary place and time rather than referring to any real part of Chinese history. The Korean guest performers for Calaf (Yonghoon Lee) and Liu (Hyeseoung Kwon) were excellent, both as singers and in conveying the moving story; it was Lise Lindstrom as Turandot that was probably the weak point vocally and in performance. I found the Ping/Pong/Pang sequences overly long and somewhat tedious but they did have a fair bit of exposition to do. But overall, beautiful and tender where it counted.
Opera Australia: Marriage of Figaro @ Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre
d - Sir David McVicar
Very enjoyable! Light and fun and so full of silly shenanigans. As Susanna, Taryn Fiebig has a lovely voice, and sweet chemistry with both Paolo Bordogna as Figaro (a cheeky and charming performance) AND Nicole Car as Countess Rosina Almaviva - their friendship was something that really came across well. We were in the third row so it was great for watching people act and the expressions on their faces - important for this farce because there was a lot of joy in it (on the downside, we couldn't read the surtitles without twisting our necks so I missed some of the jokes in the libretto).
Orfeo ed Eurydice @ Art Gallery of NSW
d - Shannon Murphy
Interesting - it would be great for the novelty factor alone but it was also beautifully sung - Silvia Colloca's dark, tortured Orfeo well matched with Catherine Bouchier's Euridice, warm and alive in a beautiful gold shimmering gown with waves of gold hair. But it was also the experience, starting with the dramatic entrance from outside the gallery into the sorrowful funeral pyre echo in the lobby (while drinking fancy gin), followed by a descent into ‘hell’ accompanied by haunting voices and surrounded by giant classical European artworks as we traipsed through the gallery. Then there were Matt Moran finger foods (and a gin cocktail) that we couldn’t identify in the dim red light of while the choir on the bar sang and dancers in scary masks harassed the gathered crowd (tbh this was more giggle-worthy than frightening…). And then even more gin and sweet treats as we took our seats for the finale with a happy ending for once - Amore restores Euridice to Orfeo even after she turns to look at her lover on entreaty as they near the surface of the earth.
Most disappointing
The Photograph and Australia @ AGNSW
The gallery has some great works and has put together wonderful collections featuring homegrown art before, but I was truly underwhelmed by this paltry exhibition. At its start, the early photos of landscapes from the late 19th century were so beautiful and incredible I had high hopes, but as we progressed into the later eras the photos became more commonplace, there were so few there appeared to be huge gaps (we’re going to look at iconic photography in Australia in the 20th century and NOT talk about Cotton or Dupain or Cazneux??), was poorly arranged in some rooms, and failed to draw enough of a narrative arc about Australia through its captured images.
Melbourne City Ballet: Carmen @ Reginald Theatre
Well, they tried, and it was an inadequately advertised Fringe Festival performance to a tiny audience. Still, it was pretty painful - average dancers stomping away at some very blah choreography in a tiny space with some poor casting; unfortunately, the most egregious example was the dancer playing Carmen who seemed to have confused sultry with pouty. :////
I must admit I also didn’t truly enjoy:
As You Like It (d - Peter Evans)
Mother Courage and her Children (d - Eamon Flack)
Orlando (d - Sarah Goodes)
All three had their moments (and some great performances, see below) and I don’t regret seeing them, but I also didn’t walk out feeling satisfied.
Favourite performances
Apart from those mentioned in the favourite shows above, I also thought the following were excellent in decent but not fantastic plays:
Kelly Paterniti - Celia, As You Like It
Matthew Backer - Ariel, The Tempest; Marmaduke (and others), Orlando
Blazey Best - Babakina, Ivanov
John Howard - Lebedev, Ivanov
Luisa Hastings Edge - Sasha, Orlando
Helen Buday - Goneril, King Lear
Mark Leonard Winter - Edgar, King Lear
Upcoming shows
HAHAHAH.
littlerhymes and I both bought opera, ballet and STC subscriptions for next year so...we have an insane calendar coming up in 2016 already. In January it'll be Jasper Jones, Woyzcek and The Rabbits.
January
La Boheme (opera)
The Kitchen (performance?)
February
McBusted / One Direction (concert)
Pop to Popism (exhibition)
Deep Sea Arcade / Spoon (concert)
Cock (play)
As You Like It (play)
March
Lucy Wainwright / Rufus Wainwright (concert)
Orfeo ed Eurydice (opera)
Jamie Lawson / Ed Sheeran (concert)
April
Demi Lovato (concert)
Charli XCX (concert)
May
Les Miserables (musical)
Backstreet Boys (concert)
Sufjan Stevens (concert)
The Photograph and Australia (exhibition)
The Merchant of Venice (play)
July
Mother Courage and her Children (play)
Turandot (opera)
Blur (concert)
Adventures in the Skin Trade (play)
August
Marriage of Figaro (opera)
The Tempest (play)
Sylvie Guillem (dance)
September
Matilda (musical)
Carmen (dance)
Ivanov (play)
October
Arms & the Man (play)
Edward II (play)
November
Mortido (play)
Taylor Swift (concert)
December
Orlando (play)
Sleeping Beauty (ballet)
The Art of the Brick: DC comics (exhibition)
King Lear (play)
Total shows: 4 operas, 12 plays, 3 exhibitions, 10 concerts, 3 dance/ballet, 2 musicals, 1 misc
Favourite Plays/Musicals
Cock @ Old Fitz Theatre
d - Shane Bosher; Brian Meegan, Matt Minto (M), Matilda Ridgway (W), Michael Whalley (John)
Incredibly intense and emotionally draining but very well acted three-hander. Whalley is good, squirmy and tightly held as John - the frustrating and yet understandably confused man-child who's torn between choosing his rocky but comfortable 7-year relationship with the older M (Minto, a little too forceful at times in showing the strong personality of the character), and his new, more nurturing love affair with W (Ridgway, another great performance). The script draws a delicate balance at the start exploring the similarities and differences in John's interplay with M and W, before it builds to the excruciating climax of John's decision. The ending comes as a real punch in the gut. I really liked the minimalist and smart production in the tiny theatre space - no props, no costume changes, just using the vivid imaginations of the audience to fill in the gaps.
Merchant of Venice @ York Theatre
d - Richard Cottrell; Lizzie Schebesta (Portia), Christpher Stalley (Bassiano), James Lugton (Antonio), John Turnbull (Shylock), Aaron Tsindos, Damien Strouthos, Darcy Brown, Erica Lovell, Jason Kos, Jonathan Elsom, Lucy Heffernan, Michael Cullen, Pip Dracakis
So interesting! So discomforting! With a modern lens (and lovely 1920s costumes), this production makes some interesting decisions to keep the text as is - with all its anti-Semitic slurs - and plays it fairly straight, but with some subtle but cutting nudges that show Shylock's monstrous demands spring in part from the monstrous hypocrisy the Venetian 'Christians' demonstrate in their interactions with him.
My reading was that this is a demonstration of the difference between mercy and grace. The Jewish characters are never shown grace (an unconditional, forgiving love that wipes away all that has gone before - receive what we do not deserve) as the Christian characters are called to in the gospels; instead, to escape what Shylock sees as justice in the end, Portia's clever solution is all about mercy (the dispelling of punishment deserved), and a cruel and conditional one at that e.g. the demand that Shylock convert to Christianity and abandon Judaism, and Antonio cutting Jessica (Shylock's daughter) down with an unkind stare as she tries to walk into their gathering at the end. So it's clear that the Christians don't understand what Jesus did for them at all, what's supposed to make them different from the Israelites who followed the Law - and so, are just as bad as the 'Pharisees' they are warned not to be in the gospels (the Jews who hounded Jesus because he did not adhere to the letter of God's Law as in the Scriptures, but showed compassion and kindness - grace - to everyone around him).
Anyway, all in all a good production with great actors - I'd call out Lizzie Schebesta as Portia and John Turnbull as Shylock in particular. The simple set worked for this straightforward Sport for Jove production, though it was puzzling to see it performed in the cavernous York Theatre to a small audience rather than in the better sized Reginald downstairs.
Matilda @ Lyric Theatre
d - Matthew Warchus; Marika Aubrey (Mrs Wormwood), Daniel Frederiksen (Mr Wormwood), Glenn Hill (The Escapologist), Travis Khan (Rudolpho), Elise McCann (Miss Honey), James Millar (Miss Trunchbull), Cle Morgan (Mrs Phelps), Daniel Raso (Michael Wormwood)
Joyous, lovely, getting the soul of the book - the power of words, the melancholy reflection on familial love - with a fun, gorgeous, high-energy production to delight the (many) children in the audience while keeping adults hooked in the view of a time past. The Matilda we saw (Bella Thomas) was great, precocious but not overly cute, heart tugging - and for someone making her professional debut, she was amazing - the show asks a LOT of a child actor and she really managed the acting/singing/dancing combination well. The other two standouts were Miss Honey (Elise McCann), who I really identified with, something I've never considered before - guess it’s a life stage thing. And the actor playing Miss Trunchbull, James Millar, went all out in a hilarious physical performance. Song and book are fine - it's very funny, and sharp at times, but I can't remember how much of that is Dahl rather than Minchin; not super super catchy overall but has its moments.
Arms and the Man @ Drama Theatre, Opera House
d - Richard Cottrell; Brandon Burke (Nicola), Mitchell Butel (Bluntschli), Charlie Cousins (Saranoff), Andrea Demetriades (Rayna), Deborah Kennedy (Mrs Petkoff), Olivia Rose (Louka), William Zappa (General Petkoff)
Delightful, like the sweet so loved by Rayna and her 'chocolate soldier'. Funny, brisk, beautifully produced - very straight production almost to the letter of the original script - which allowed the comedy in the words and mannerisms shine through. Butel is lovely as Bluntschli, good soldier and secret romantic; Demetriades charing as Rayna with her idealistic pretensions; and Cousins hilarious as the preening 'war hero'.
Mortido @ Belvoir Upstairs
d - Leticia Cáceres; Toby Challenor, Tom Conroy (Jimmy), Otis Jai Dhanji (child), Colin Friels (Detective Grubbe, Christos, Bratislav, Heinrich Barbie), Louisa Mignone (Scarlet), Renato Musolino (Monte), David Valencia (El Gallito)
Chilling and arresting, with stories intersecting and intertwining across generations in a slick, cocaine-fuelled tale with hints of magic realism. Jimmy, a drop-out, goes in with his yuppie brother-in-law Monte in the drug trade trying to cut out (the unseen) matriarch of coke in Sydney, Le Madre; and in doing so, continues a chain of events that spirals into paranoia, death of innocence, and tragedy. Well acted by a good cast all round, and a good production - the claustrophobic, dark stage highlights the shiny surfaces of glass and stainless steel, somehow working to convey all the different locales - a nightclub in Berlin, a food court in Western Sydney, a jungle in South America, the home of an upwardly mobile urban young couple.
Favourite Concerts
One Direction @ Allianz Stadium
The following review/write-up was produced immediately after the concert by a happy untroubled fan who would not know then that mere weeks later Zayn would leave the band and this year would be the beginning of the end. *sigh*
"SO ENJOYABLE. This was my favourite, most fannish, time seeing them so far. It helps they've REALLY tightened up the show now that they've got enough songs to not need padding. There were beautiful harmonies in the ballads, and they were BSB-esque in that the crowd loved them and the energy didn't flag in the slower songs (Story of My Life; You and I; Night Changes). You can tell it's a boyband concert - there was so much pyro! Possibly too much at the start when it felt a little unnecessarily enthusiastic, but there was a moment of pure perfection in You and I where everything pauses for a moment of silence - and then the voices come back in along with a shower of fireworks.
Niall was my MVP of the night, funny and 'on' and wiggling his little butt all over the stage and generally LOVING Australia (wearing a Socceroos jersey Tim Cahill had given hi before the show, calling us the best country, draping himself in the Aussie flag). Better Than Words is SOOOOO good for Niall girls, and played back-to-back with Don't Forget Where You Belong, it gave me all the feels. Liam also asked at one point what everyone's favourite song off Four was; I screamed Spaces, and both
thawrecka and I felt that our section reflected that, even if Liam then said "Oh Fireproof, okay, well here's Girl Almighty!". LOL. Hilariously, I've seen posts on tumblr where people swear they could hear "Stockholm Syndrome" or "No Control", the point is, all the songs, we love all the songs.
Zayn looked like a supermodel. Liam started FLAT but was v entertaining and sweet, lots of fancy footwork as always. It seemed like if you wore a white top (Liam, Niall and Harry) then you had the energy to interact with the crowd, whereas black meant you didn't (Zayn, Louis). I think my theory was borne out when Zayn changed into a white shirt (very cute, with the Garfield front and back that Liam also loved) and amped up his interaction/energy for the encore. My only gripe about the production was that the stage was bloody spread out they didn't really spend more time interacting with each other, just looked like they were trying to set new records sprinting from one end to the other to hit their marks.
Fannish highlight: The incredible moment after What Makes You Beautiful, about midway through the night, where Niall, being adorable, talked about the stadium being a sweatbox. Then he blushingly fielded calls from the audience to take his shirt off ("I'm not taking my top off, leave me alone!") only for Harry to join in clearly ("Take it off! Why not?"). I have additional notes that remind me of something Liam/Louis in Night Changes, and Liam/Niall doing some kind of cute shuffle in Story of My Life, but those memories have faded in the face of that great Narry moment that I saw with my very own eyes!!
We had close to a perfect set list - I would dispense with Diana (and that useless raised B-stage, all for that one song what??), Little White Lies and Little Black Dress; and reinstate Moments.
Set list: Clouds, Steal My Girl, Where Do Broken Hearts Go, Midnight Memories Kiss You, Ready to Run, Happily, Strong, Better ThanWords, Don't Forget Where You Belong, Little Things, Night Changes, Alive, Diana, One Thing, What Makes You Beautiful, Through the Dark, Girl Almighty, Story Of My Life (break) You and I, Little White Lie, Little Black Dress, Best Song Ever.
Final but important question: is Liam really a lizard? It was 29 degrees and humid as hell, and he came out in a fleece jumper at the start, then into a flannel shirt for the encore."
Demi Lovato @ Hordern Pavillion
She's so adorable and sweet in person. Her voice is strong and great for most part, though sometimes it sounds like she's pushing it to the max when she could let there be more shade and light. But the ballads were lovely and heartbreaking, the dance songs fun and energetic. She looked AMAZING and was very earnest about her causes (the Lovato scholarship fund) and honest about what she's been through ("Sometimes I'm sick of being the poster child for recovery. Real talk."). Highlights for me were a sexy Got Dynamite (unf); the heartbreak of Warrior (though I could've done without the poverty porn of her visiting Africa as a backdrop but it was tasteful enough and she obviously was moved by her experiences); and the joy of encore Neon Lights with the young girls in front of me going nuts at the beat dropping and everyone dancing like crazy.
Charli XCX @ Metro Theatre
This was a great birthday present from
littlerhymes. I had lots of fun even though I was quite ill. But I'm glad I spent my last night as a 31 year old dancing to a room full of teens going nuts over cleverly dumb shiny pop. It was perfect seeing her at the Metro, the small space giving some intimacy to the event, with a show that had the glitter and shine of larger shows in her bands' sequinned dresses, her oversized props. It was very interesting to see this right after Demi’s concert; while Demi is ever so earnest even when she doesn't mean to be, Charli is all slick surface and image in a deliberate, intelligent way. Her voice is fine but her star power is all in the attitude, the strut, the deconstruction of a pop star; and she managed to bring some of her less notable songs from True Romance to life through the energy from the performance.
Backstreet Boys @ Allphones Arena
Always so much fun, always worth seeing live - they’re not afraid to be cheesy and give the crowd the perfect pop entertainment they’re looking for. Real 20 (22) year retrospective, from first single 'We've Got it Going On' (all the way from 1995!) to a couple of new songs from the latest album In a World Like This (which I really like). They brought back the original choreography, gave each of the guys getting their time in the spotlight to entertain and banter with the crowd, did a fantastic acoustic section in the middle where they played instruments and sang 10,000 Promises acappella (be still my beating heart!!). Just a night that gave me so many feelings about being a die hard pop fan for life.
Best of everything else
Australian Ballet: Sleeping Beauty @ Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre
Artistic director - David McAllister
Would you like some glitter with your ballet? Sure! Here, have the whole shebang as well - fluffy tutus, floaty dresses and coat tails that twirl delightfully in pirouettes, gorgeous OTT costumes, French rococo sets, and scenes that look directly taken from Fragonard paintings - it was so beautiful, an absolute confection of a production. And the dancing was so fun to watch as well, with lots of solo dances for the principals - Benedicte Bemet was lovely and graceful as Princess Aurora and danced well with her prince (Kevin Jackson); the Fairies were all delightful in their different ways (Amber Scott as the Lilac Fairy, Amy Harris as the Fairy of Joy, Nicola Curry as the Fairy of Grace, Vivienne Wong as the Fairy of Generosity, Jade Wood as the Fairy of Musicality, and Miwako Kubota as the Fairy of Temperament); and Chengwu Guo and Ako Kondo were crowd pleasers for good reason as Bluebird and Princess Florine.
Opera Australia: Turandot @ Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre
d - Graeme Murphy
This was beautifully staged, with a sumptous, fantastical Orientalism that actually softened the potential racism by making the setting an imaginary place and time rather than referring to any real part of Chinese history. The Korean guest performers for Calaf (Yonghoon Lee) and Liu (Hyeseoung Kwon) were excellent, both as singers and in conveying the moving story; it was Lise Lindstrom as Turandot that was probably the weak point vocally and in performance. I found the Ping/Pong/Pang sequences overly long and somewhat tedious but they did have a fair bit of exposition to do. But overall, beautiful and tender where it counted.
Opera Australia: Marriage of Figaro @ Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre
d - Sir David McVicar
Very enjoyable! Light and fun and so full of silly shenanigans. As Susanna, Taryn Fiebig has a lovely voice, and sweet chemistry with both Paolo Bordogna as Figaro (a cheeky and charming performance) AND Nicole Car as Countess Rosina Almaviva - their friendship was something that really came across well. We were in the third row so it was great for watching people act and the expressions on their faces - important for this farce because there was a lot of joy in it (on the downside, we couldn't read the surtitles without twisting our necks so I missed some of the jokes in the libretto).
Orfeo ed Eurydice @ Art Gallery of NSW
d - Shannon Murphy
Interesting - it would be great for the novelty factor alone but it was also beautifully sung - Silvia Colloca's dark, tortured Orfeo well matched with Catherine Bouchier's Euridice, warm and alive in a beautiful gold shimmering gown with waves of gold hair. But it was also the experience, starting with the dramatic entrance from outside the gallery into the sorrowful funeral pyre echo in the lobby (while drinking fancy gin), followed by a descent into ‘hell’ accompanied by haunting voices and surrounded by giant classical European artworks as we traipsed through the gallery. Then there were Matt Moran finger foods (and a gin cocktail) that we couldn’t identify in the dim red light of while the choir on the bar sang and dancers in scary masks harassed the gathered crowd (tbh this was more giggle-worthy than frightening…). And then even more gin and sweet treats as we took our seats for the finale with a happy ending for once - Amore restores Euridice to Orfeo even after she turns to look at her lover on entreaty as they near the surface of the earth.
Most disappointing
The Photograph and Australia @ AGNSW
The gallery has some great works and has put together wonderful collections featuring homegrown art before, but I was truly underwhelmed by this paltry exhibition. At its start, the early photos of landscapes from the late 19th century were so beautiful and incredible I had high hopes, but as we progressed into the later eras the photos became more commonplace, there were so few there appeared to be huge gaps (we’re going to look at iconic photography in Australia in the 20th century and NOT talk about Cotton or Dupain or Cazneux??), was poorly arranged in some rooms, and failed to draw enough of a narrative arc about Australia through its captured images.
Melbourne City Ballet: Carmen @ Reginald Theatre
Well, they tried, and it was an inadequately advertised Fringe Festival performance to a tiny audience. Still, it was pretty painful - average dancers stomping away at some very blah choreography in a tiny space with some poor casting; unfortunately, the most egregious example was the dancer playing Carmen who seemed to have confused sultry with pouty. :////
I must admit I also didn’t truly enjoy:
As You Like It (d - Peter Evans)
Mother Courage and her Children (d - Eamon Flack)
Orlando (d - Sarah Goodes)
All three had their moments (and some great performances, see below) and I don’t regret seeing them, but I also didn’t walk out feeling satisfied.
Favourite performances
Apart from those mentioned in the favourite shows above, I also thought the following were excellent in decent but not fantastic plays:
Kelly Paterniti - Celia, As You Like It
Matthew Backer - Ariel, The Tempest; Marmaduke (and others), Orlando
Blazey Best - Babakina, Ivanov
John Howard - Lebedev, Ivanov
Luisa Hastings Edge - Sasha, Orlando
Helen Buday - Goneril, King Lear
Mark Leonard Winter - Edgar, King Lear
Upcoming shows
HAHAHAH.
littlerhymes and I both bought opera, ballet and STC subscriptions for next year so...we have an insane calendar coming up in 2016 already. In January it'll be Jasper Jones, Woyzcek and The Rabbits.
January
La Boheme (opera)
The Kitchen (performance?)
February
McBusted / One Direction (concert)
Pop to Popism (exhibition)
Deep Sea Arcade / Spoon (concert)
Cock (play)
As You Like It (play)
March
Lucy Wainwright / Rufus Wainwright (concert)
Orfeo ed Eurydice (opera)
Jamie Lawson / Ed Sheeran (concert)
April
Demi Lovato (concert)
Charli XCX (concert)
May
Les Miserables (musical)
Backstreet Boys (concert)
Sufjan Stevens (concert)
The Photograph and Australia (exhibition)
The Merchant of Venice (play)
July
Mother Courage and her Children (play)
Turandot (opera)
Blur (concert)
Adventures in the Skin Trade (play)
August
Marriage of Figaro (opera)
The Tempest (play)
Sylvie Guillem (dance)
September
Matilda (musical)
Carmen (dance)
Ivanov (play)
October
Arms & the Man (play)
Edward II (play)
November
Mortido (play)
Taylor Swift (concert)
December
Orlando (play)
Sleeping Beauty (ballet)
The Art of the Brick: DC comics (exhibition)
King Lear (play)