Incredible interactive art sensation House of Mirrors, US singer-songwriter Kurt Vile, US godfather of chillwave Toro Y Moi, and Aussie music legends The Bamboos are all set to rock the Adelaide Festival’s newest and most exciting venue, the Riverbank Palais and surrounding Parc Palais.
The Palais will feature more than 60 free and ticketed acts involving more than 130 artists and special guests across 18 days and nights of the Adelaide Festival, the Riverbank Palais will light up the Torrens with a full dance card of live bands, DJs, theatre shows, lunchtime forums and special events from breakfast until late night, complemented by a sumptuous selection of food, wine and roving entertainment in the surrounding Parc Palais in Elder Park.
Officially opening to the public on Thursday, March 2, the Riverbank Palais will commemorate its first night by harking back to the historic Adelaide venue that inspired it – the legendary Floating Palais de Danse of the 1920s – with a swinging concert of 1920s music by Andrew Nolte and his Orchestra.
Opening night festivities will spread onto the Adelaide Riverbank in Parc Palais, with live music from a range of local bands and DJs in the rotunda and the must-try mirror-maze House of Mirrors.
A smash hit at the 2017 Sydney Festival and Hobart’s 2016 Dark Mofo, House of Mirrors is an interactive art installation for all ages that has enthralled and amazed its Australian audiences. It has been created by Melbourne artists Christian Wagstaff and Keith Courtney from 40 tonnes of steel and 15 tonnes of mirrored glass. The walk-in maze features oblique corridors of full-length mirrors, arranged at varying angles to produce multiple reflections and kaleidoscopic-like chambers in a labyrinth of intrigue. This crazy amusement in the Parc Palais will have festival goers of all ages both lost and found - and delighted.
Delicious, affordable, theatrical and totally South Australian, Parc Palais will also offer an amazing array of food cooked by one of Adelaide’s favourite chefs, Brad Sappenbergh of Comida at Adelaide’s Central Market. Enjoy a snack, dinner before a show, supper or just hang out and enjoy the daily specials proudly showing off South Australia’s best produce, with beer and wine by SA beverage partners including Coopers and Penfolds. There’ll be Comida’s world famous Paella, a flaming fire pit with ethically sourced free range pigs and lamb on giant spits, and delicious locally sourced ingredients from whiting and chips, oysters and prawn cocktails to vegetarian delights cooked over the flames before your eyes.
Music lovers will find their home at the Palais, with a packed concert program kicking off in spectacular style with the Festival’s free opening weekend concert by music legend Neil Finn on Sunday, March 5.
You can then rock your nights away on board the Riverbank Palais seven nights a week with concerts by the raucous and rollicking Hot 8 Brass Band from New Orleans, who will get the dance floor jumping with their eclectic mix of marching band jazz, funk, RnB and hip-hop, forerunner of the “chillwave” movement US artist Toro Y Moi, and Mexican musical gunslingers Mexrrissey, putting a unique spin on Morrissey hits with their seven-piece Latin rhythms.
Also on the music program are Australian music royalty Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes and iconic Melbourne soul groovers The Bamboos, Colombian nine-piece salsa band La Mambanegra (The Black Mamba), Sydney Argentinian tango outfit Tángalo and indie folksters, All Our Exes Live in Texas, local electronica sensations Electric Fields and Urtekk, and a late night program of local and international DJs including Total Eclipse, Nickodemus, Frank Booker and Adelaide’s Late Nite Tuff Guy that will keep the Palais swinging into the small hours.
Theatre will also take centre stage on The Riverbank Palais program with two shows - The Duke, a funny, poignant and playful show from writer/performer Shôn Dale-Jones, with half proceeds going to Save the Children’s Child Refugee Crisis, and Who Am I?, former Castanet Club member and Sale of the Century champion Russell Cheek’s funny and heart-warming account of his attempt to scale the summit of Australian quiz shows.
Join journalist and commentator Annabel Crabb in The F Word, a series of early evening conversations with prominent women from across the Adelaide Festival and Adelaide Writers’ Week. Guests include award-winning author Kate Grenville, acclaimed filmmaker Lynette Wallworth, celebrated Australian chef Christine Manfield and lauded columnist and self-confessed “loud woman” Lindy West for fascinating tête-à-têtes about those other F words – female, feminist, fun, food and festival.
With a range of exciting day time events and activities, the fun isn’t just restricted to when the sun goes down.
Begin your day on board the Riverbank Palais with Breakfast with Papers where you can enjoy quality coffee and light breakfast from CIBO Espresso and copies of The Advertiser, along with lively discussions on current affairs and Festival news with Festival artists and some of South Australia’s top journalists.
Weekday lunchtimes will see a series of free Festival Forums, hosted by one of Australia’s most influential commentators, David Marr and selling fast are the already announced six weekend Riverbank Palais Long Lunches, each helmed by a different iconic Australian chef: Cheong Liew (Neddy’s, The Grange) and Christine Manfield (Paramount, East@West, Universal), Cath Kerry (Petaluma, Art Gallery Restaurant at the Art Gallery of SA), Mark Best (Marque, Pei Modern), Michael Ryan (Range, Provenance) and Karl Firla (est. Restaurant, Oscillate Wildly).
Adelaide Festival Artistic Directors Neil Armfield and Rachel Healy are thrilled to unveil the debut program for their new venue, set to be the jewel in the Festival’s crown for the next three years.
“We have such pleasure in delivering to you the heart and hub of our festival, our stately pleasure dome, the floating Riverbank Palais,” says Mr Armfield.
“Whether you're hungry or thirsty, in need of a thrill or a thought or a moment's respite, on the Palais or in the grounds of the Parc Palais that surrounds it, there's a place for you from dawn through dusk, to the small bewitching hours of the night. Come and join us. And come again. And again!” Ms Healy adds.
The Riverbank Palais and Parc Palais are open from March 2 to 19, 2017. Entry to Parc Palais is free. Entry to the Riverbank Palais is both free and ticketed according to programming; please check the guide for details. Tickets to all Adelaide Festival shows, including the Riverbank Palais program, are on sale through BASS on 131 246 or via www.adelaidefestival.com.au.
Adapted from a Media Release by Petra Starke
Trepidation as to what may follow on from the rare, lengthy David Sefton era of the Adelaide Festival of Arts was quite a reasonable feeling ahead of the 2017 program announcement.
No other Artistic Director in its history has served so long, No other Artistic Director has so strongly championed new work created by local South Australian artists for the entirety of his tenure. No other Artistic Director looked so powerfully to the future, as did Sefton, without losing sight of foundations of time past.
With a budget stripped of $1 million and the loss of key staff who powered the Adelaide Festival of Arts most successful regeneration after a series of lacklustre years, there was a very great deal to be worried about.
Could Neil Armfield, that much lionised Australian director responsible for some of the most important developments and creations of the Australian theatrical canon, with his equally capable management side kick Rachel Healey who supported his greatest achievements, salve any worries one might have?
Yes.
Their imaginings, fuelling the first of three programs, finds its real strength in the creative reasoning behind the recreation of 1920s Adelaide nightlife glamour venue, The Floating Palais, to be known as The Riverbank Palais. Resurrecting the magic and mystery of the past, its stories anew is something Healey has spoken publicly of, something she, born of Adelaide and Armfield, a much loved honorary son are both keen to explore. This club anchors that for the next three years.
This balance of past and future manages to find expression in much of the program, be it a production or the inclusion of a company. Most powerfully with the the big ticket Saul which was universally celebrated on announcement earlier this year given everyone wanted a Kosky return to Adelaide, to the inclusion of local companies Restless Dance Theatre’s Intimate Space and Gravity and Other Myth’s Backbone.
Especially of note are works from Sydney Theatre Company/State Theatre Company of SA, The Secret River, Neil Armfield’s award winning work based on Kate Grenville’s novel, Israeli dance company L-E-V’s OCD Love which surges forward to the future in its smashing together of poetry, techno and indie band The Knife’s work, and a blazing production of Richard III by Schaubühne Berlin.
Take your pick of the music and visual arts content and this same reflection on things past in context with the present and with future tonalities will be found. It’s a grand program. Sefton’s shoes were huge ones to fill. So far, challenge met.
Full details and program available on the Adelaide Festival website.
David O’Brien
When: 3 to 19 Mar 2017
Where: Adelaide Festival Centre and surrounds
Bookings: adelaidefestival.com.au
Bulldozers and wrecking balls are about to start ripping into the Adelaide Festival Centre environs to regenerate the public space and buildings, as long foretold. There’ll be rubbish everywhere and there’s going to be venue issues and all that to boot.
What difference has it made to Adelaide Festival Centre’s 2017 plans?
A crafty lot of good!
The biggest hint being the inclusion of a number of Adelaide Fringe 2017 shows, particularly UK production Trainspotting (Andrew Kray and Associates/AFC/King’s Head/In Your Face.) It’s based on Irvine Welsh’s novel and references the film.
The venue? A secret CBD location. Then there’s Adelaide Fringe punk cabaret An Evening with Amanda Palmer, at Her Majesty’s.
This kind of thing is not ‘the usual’ for the Adelaide Festival Centre. What there is of ‘the usual’ for 2017 - wonderfully rich in content as it is - such as Dusty, The Look, The Legend, The Musical does not diminish the fact the 2017 program is distinctly focused on a sense of regeneration right across the board.
Most telling, is the fact the inSPACE program now offers three full new works, along with eight works in development. All 11 works involve cutting edge artists and small companies who’ve made a mark either in the Adelaide Festival of Arts - during the grand era of David Sefton’s Artistic Directorship - Adelaide Fringe, or Melbourne Fringe, as well as major European Festivals.
Venues vary for work in development. The three full works will show at Her Majesty’s, Plant 1 Bowden and The Space; again, not really ‘the usual’ biz for Adelaide Festival Centre.
They created inSPACE back in 1998. Collaboration happens with State Theatre Company now, but this is a quite a shift.
There should be such a shift; to meet pressures of ‘renovating’ as much as reinventing possibilities for a completely new physical environment.
Things change, thinking changes.
Having successfully brought Adelaide to embrace OzAsia Festival’s presence not just in theatres, but the Centre's grounds bedecked with food and song, as much as Adelaide Guitar Festival’s Guitars in Bars ‘mini festival’ pushed the joy of the instrument as a culture to the furthest pub possible, 2017 will be the year we see AFC consolidating a capacity to reach beyond its grounds, even as they are being shaped most especially to invite Adelaide’s people in.
David O’Brien
The AFC 2017 season will feature:
Dusty The Musical
Matilda The Musical
The On Stage Summer School
Operation Ouch! live on stage
Deadly 60 Live! Pole to Pole Tour
SAUL
David Bowie: Nothing Has Changed
Scotland The Brave
Long Tan
1984
Rabbits
Big Bad Wolf
Beep
Butterfly Ladies Band
Nouvelle Vague
Ludovico Einaudi
Tubular Bells For Two
An Evening with Amanda Palmer
Sun Rising
Trainspotting
The Whitlams 25th Anniversary Tour
The Something on Saturday program
Herman and Rosie with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
The GreenRoom program
DreamBIG Children’s Festival
The Adelaide Cabaret Festival
The OzAsia Festival
Frame of Mind
inSPACE: Developmentprogram
Morgan’s International Piano Series
World of Cultures
Our Mob
Christmas Proms
The CentrEd schools program
Morning Melodies
The Overture program
and much, much more, 2017 at Adelaide Festival Centre will be brimming with events and activities for all South Australians.
For full program details including co-presenters visit adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au
The South Australian amateur premiere of Wicked kicks off at the Arts theatre on the 7th of July and with only a few rehearsals remaining before opening night, performers Dianne K Lang and Kat Sachse are filled with both excitement and trepidation.
“It’s terrifying… there’s a lot of expectation out there!” says Di “But, we have an amazing cast”.
Di is playing the role of Elphaba, the green witch who becomes an outcast and later the better-known Wicked Witch of the West. Kat plays Glinda the good witch. The premise of the show finds the two girls meeting as teenagers and becoming close friends.
Producer/Director, Matt Byrne announced the auditions for the well-known musical two months before they were scheduled to take place.
“It’s been a long time, because auditions were back in December” Kat recalls.
“It’s all coming together now… seeing everyone practicing in costumes [makes] it feel more together.”
Kat had success on the 2014 season of The Voice which, along with her band commitments, has meant significant time away from the theatrical stage.
“I haven’t done a musical in a couple of years.” Kat says.
“It’s one of those roles that I’ve always wanted to do, but I always psych myself out of auditions.”
Di feels very much the same way. In fact she almost didn’t go for the role, believing that if she didn’t get it she was unlikely to get another shot at it. “It was actually Inara, my daughter, who said ‘Mum you have to do this, you have to audition’.” It was that encouragement that gave her the push she needed.
“It is a really important role for me” Di continues, “And it’s kind of hard to explain to people how personal it is, because it brings back a lot of childhood memories. I remember being a young child, about 7, and I remember my mum letting me stay up late to watch the Wizard of Oz. She sat me down and said ‘Now there is a really scary witch in this movie, and she scared me so much when I was a child that I hid under the seats in the cinema’… so I prepared myself for that. When she came on the screen, I distinctly remember thinking – yeah she’s mean, but why is she so angry? And I remember thinking, just in my innocent child mind, what’s happened to her to make her so angry with everyone?”
“On a subconscious level I think that stayed with me most of my life. I have recently gone through my [late] parents’ home and found all my books from my childhood; and they are all with this recurring theme of misunderstood witches… it just struck a chord with me.” Di explains.
“When Wicked was written and I discovered the musical it was like these were the answers I’d be searching for my entire life.”
Ironically Di gave Kat the extra encouragement she needed to step up and audition too. “What actually gave me an extra push to audition”, explains Kat, “Is that Di… said, ‘Do you want to run some lines with me before auditions?’, so I went over to her house, we ran some lines together and sang some songs together, and I [thought] I really want this role now!”
Kat and Di have actually worked on stage together before in a performance of Les Misérables, but Kat played Cosette and Dianne, Fantine, which meant they never spent any actual time performing opposite each other.
“This is the first time I’m actually onstage with Dianne, because she was my mum!” Kat says; after Les Misérables Kat and Dianne kept in contact.
“We became really good friends, and she has so much experience, she is a bit of a mentor.”
Kat finds it really easy to play Elphaba’s best friend, since she and Di are such good friends off stage. “The friendship is not something that has to be manufactured or faked… it’s genuine.” Kat explains.
Kat connects with Glinda in a few different ways and draws parallels between her own bravado and insecurities and the ones of her character. The two have spent a lot of time researching their respective roles. They have both read the book and use it as the basis of their characterisations, “The musical is quite different to the book, it has a lot more humour in it and is family friendly, but the characters of Elphaba and Glinda remain the same, they are fluffed up a bit for the musical, but the core of their character and their relationship is the same as in the book” Dianne says.
“We talk after each rehearsal about the characters and the motivations behind each scene.” Kat explains.
“It’s going to be different because we don’t have the million dollar budget [of a professional show], but what Matt has come up with will be really exciting to see”.
Byrne’s production is really focussing on the characters and their friendship.
“It’s about making sure that the character arc is convincing” Kat continues.
“She does go through quite a big journey – she starts off a bit ignorant, and it’s not until she befriends Elphaba that she realises there is more to life than just getting what you want. It’s not until the end, when she’s lost everyone, that she realises she needs to make sacrifices for the greater good. In the end she ends up sacrificing the love of her life and her best friend.”
Kat is a huge fan of the show too, and she isn’t afraid to admit it.
“I am following all of the [Wicked] blogs on Tumblr” she says, “It’s a bit embarrassing to admit”. She has also seen several versions of the show.
It isn’t the first time Kat or Di have worked with Matt Byrne either. In fact Matt is responsible for introducing Di to her husband Jeff! Kat has also been in a couple of Matt’s shows.
“I did Hairspray and Phantom with him” she remembers.
“I have nothing but the utmost respect for Matt” Kat says. “He just gets so excited about a production and it is one of the reasons I enjoy working with him, he has such a passion for this show and it’s infectious. He gives us a little pep talk before each rehearsal.”
Both performers are highly complementary of each other and their fellow cast and production team too. “The show is brilliantly cast, we are really lucky” Di says.
The character of Boq is played by Zak Vasiliou. “He is absolutely wonderful” says Kat, “I think he was born to play this role, he’s got the voice of an angel. I’m really excited for Adelaide to see him showcase his talent because he is only 19!”
Di agrees adding, “I swear he has munchkin D.N.A in there somewhere, because he is the best Boq I have ever seen in my life.”
On the production side Anne Williams has been working on the girls’ costumes. “She is an amazing woman” Kat says. Di adds that the costumes Anne has made are simply “amazing”.
Wicked is a big show for the two lead roles and will require a lot of stamina from both Kat and Di.
“In terms of singing it is something that I’m comfortable to do, but the acting side of things is definitely the biggest challenge because this is probably the biggest role I’ve ever played” Kat explains.
Di says “I’m taking each day as it comes. I’m just focussing on the story, I’m focussing on the character, I think the pressure would just get to me if I didn’t do that. I do feel a lot of pressure and I just have to block that out!”
When asked if Elphaba will soar 15 feet into the air Di kept the secrets of the show safely locked away. “I can’t tell you that, you’ll have to come and see it!” Di exclaims.
The show opens on the 7th of July for two weeks at the Arts Theatre in the Adelaide CBD and then for a further two weeks at the Shedley Theatre in Elizabeth.
Admission is $40 Adults and $35 for Concessions, with Group Discount prices of $38 /$33 for 10 or more. Wicked Cheap Nights will be $30 on July 12 at the Arts and July 20 and 27 at the Shedley. (Booking fees apply.)
Book at wickedsa.com, mattbyrnemedia.com.au, 8262 4906, bass.net.au or dramatix.com.au
Paul Rodda
They call it "The GC". It is the latest acronym in Fringe destinations.
The German Club at 223 Flinders Street has been a successful alternative venue in several Adelaide Festivals but this year, brandishing The Fringe banner with entrepreneurial flourish, a team of seasoned Adelaide identities has transformed the Club into a multi-space, multi-function arts centre.
It is a sensational success.
Modestly, its creators are calling it "the new kid in town" but it is not starting small. A lot of work has gone into The CG and for its first Fringe it is turning on no less than 174 performances.
Colin Koch and Alan Rosewarne recognised The GC potential when performing there in their band, The Bald Eagles, at last year's Fringe.
Drawing in their old mate, renowned Adelaide marketer, Ron Dent, they branded themselves "three amigos" and set the show on the road.
Unlike most of the Fringe movers and shakers, these "amigos" are sexagenarians. They even describe themselves as “old farts".
They are also savvy seniors with a wealth of arts experience and an influential network.
Hence, this great new Fringe performance centre which ranges over four floors is set out with a big touch of class.
Of course, the German Club came equipped with good toilets, air conditioning, bars and, without doubt, the wonderful German Club Bistro with its famous German meals.
It now has five performance rooms - the Lounge, the Studio, the Clubroom, the Cellar and Showroom One - all with good seats, stages, lighting rigs, sound and professional facilities.
The biggest space is called Showroom One. It stretches out from a proscenium stage, down a long bar, the vast expanse laid out in a cabaret configuration. Obviously, it is where the big shows are taking place, among them, the famous Masters Apprentices and the Brewster Brothers with the glorious Moonshine Jug & String Band.
Abba Gold by the Flaming Sambuccas is also programmed for Showroom One, along with Bless My Soul - The Gospel Music of Elvis. Oh, and not forgetting Hans and Willsy. Big shows in the big room.
Then again, serious theatre is scheduled in Showroom One, among them one of those special festival-time experiences of epic theatre nights. The Irish plays are very hot ticket - with Beowulf - The Blockbuster, Underneath and Donal O'Kelly's Little Thing, Big Thing able to be seen in one gorgeous big, greedy night, or, for those who prefer, spread over the Fringe season on separate nights.
These are Arts Project Australia goodies and The GC's Alan Rosewarne croons that they are a major coup for a Fringe, let alone a new venue.
Fringe director, Heather Croall was among those enthusing about the venue and its program when it turned on its media opening this week.
Also on hand was award-winning actor, Joanne Hartstone who has turned producer and entrepreneur for the 2016 Fringe and is using the GC as the venue for one of her top imports - Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Eno Pain. This show was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Hartstone has other interesting Fringe shows spread around town, especially in the other new hotspot, the White Queen in the Old Queen's Theatre.
Among shows in The GC Lounge is Chopin's Last Tour, a hit show from Edinburgh. In the Clubroom, Party, by Tom Basden offers a spot of political satire. Then there's Lady Cara's Travelling Art Show, something completely different from the freaks and misfits world of burlesque.
Lots of information is provided on facebook.com/thegermanclubadelaide or thegermanclub.com.au - and, of course, in the Fringe guide.
The GC rises up to complement the other great Fringe arts hub, Holden Street Theatres at Hindmarsh where once again, Martha Lott has curated a brilliant program of award-winning theatre including some for children.
2016 is a bumper year for good theatre. The Bakehouse Theatre also is presenting a major theatre program and there are other intriguing works at Queens.
If only one could be everywhere and see everything.
Samela Harris
When: 12 Feb to 14 Mar
Where: 223 Flinders Street, Adelaide
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au