Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane will make its home on the Arts Theatre stage from the 2nd of July, and Bert will be there to show you around.
It is the well known story of Mary Poppins that arrives on Adelaide’s chilly winter winds, but for the uninitiated it will be nothing like a live production of the 1964 Disney film.
“The show on stage is very different to the movie” says Brendan Cooney, who plays Bert in the Matt Byrne Media production. “There are a lot more characters in there” he says.
“It has a lot more depth to it”.
The amateur rights to the show became available in October last year and this production will be a South Australian premiere. Getting the rights to present the show was “an incredible honour” says Producer/Director Matt Byrne.
“We have a record five-week season to cope with expected demand as the professional production never made it to Adelaide”.
The show features Lauren Potter in the title role of Mary.
“Lauren has spent her childhood following Mary Poppins, so it is basically a dream role for her to have” explains Cooney, “She’s very good at it, and has the character down very well.”
The stage production is more closely based on the original stories by P.L Travers, but includes much of the films award winning music by the Sherman brothers. The stage musicals creator, Cameron Mackintosh, virtually had to beg Travers for the rights to create the show, and was eventually only allowed to do so under very strict conditions.
All of the favourites are in there like Spoonful Of Sugar, Chim Chim Cher-ee, Let’s Go Fly A Kite, Jolly Holiday, Feed The Birds and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
The big musical number is Step In Time which features Bert, Mary, Jane, Michael and the Sweeps. “We’ve spent a lot of time on that number… and at the moment it feels good” says Cooney.
“Once we get in the theatre we will be able to set it a lot better”
Bert is not the deepest of characters, but he is key to moving the story along. “I’ve been doing a bit of work, really concentrating on it” says Cooney. “Lots of people have said to me. ‘Oh, I watched that lots as a kid’ and I think geez, we better be good!”
For Cooney and Byrne acting is incredibly important in this production, “I’d love to make it more an actor’s role and not just a singer and dancer” says Cooney.
The cast features James McCluskey-Garcia and Ellonye Keniry as George and Winifred Banks, and Shalani Wood and Sebastien Skubala as their children Jane and Michael.
“There are a lot of older characters – people are going to come along and say ‘Wow! I didn’t realise there were that many good roles in this show’” says Cooney.
“Penni Hamilton-Smith is amazing” as the long-suffering cook, Mrs Brill and “Megan (Humphries) blows you away as Ms Andrew” Cooney explains. “The audience will just be in awe of what she does”.
The cast also features Callum Byrne, Chris Bussey, Neville Phillis, Maggie Wood, Russell Ford, Margaret Davis, Sean Hilton, Rikki DeJesus, Nikki Yiannoullou, Anthony Butler and a wonderful ensemble of fine Adelaide performers.
With Musical Direction from Gordon Coombes and Choreography by Sue Pole, Mary Poppins will play at the Arts Theatre from July 2 to 18 and at Elizabeth’s Shedley Theatre from July 23 to August 1.
As Bert is heard to say to Mr Banks in A Man Has Dreams, “Life’s a rum go, Guv’nor”… but one is sure this show won’t be!
Paul Rodda
When: 2 Jul to 23 Aug
Where: Arts Theatre & Shedley Theatre
Bookings: mattbyrnemedia.com.au, 8262 4906 or bass.net.au
Any assumptions that The Rep is old school fly out the window as It’s Just Sex hits the stage in its Australian premiere.
The play is hot off the off-Broadway sell-out list and hot, hot, hot in sizzling content, but not too hot for The Rep to handle; albeit it is the sexiest show they have dared to do in 107 years. Director Erik Strauts thinks Rep audiences are going to find it not just hilariously funny but also thought-provoking. He envisages lively conversations in cars and bedrooms after each performance.
The play by Los Angeles-based playwright Jeff Gould is a new-wave romantic comedy. Well, according to its director, it starts in that vein through Act I but in Act II it becomes something else “The results of the actions of Act I hit home in Act II,” he says.
It’s about three couples whose teen children are away for two whole weeks at summer camp. Child-free, the parents get together for a social evening, have a few cocktails, then a few more and then they start delving into issues and actions they normally would not broach. Partner-swapping, for one. “But,” says director Strauts, “all three relationships have significant challenges and Act II probes those challenges.
You could say that in It’s Just Sex, the subtext is 'or is it’?”
The way the play delves into many of the issues of modern marriage tapped a nerve among American audiences, resulting in the play’s runaway success. It is still running in the US and picking up lots of awards as it goes.
The couples depicted include a family therapist, a masseuse, a lawyer, an uptight nerd, a predatory novelist and a finance executive.
“It’s not an epic piece of theatre. It’s a relationship play and what attracted me to it was its comedy,” explains Strauts. “It’s not intense like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf. Nor is it deep and probing like a Shakespeare or an Ibsen. It looks at heterosexual partnership challenges, things most of us may have encountered in life. It’s about fidelity and affairs and how to handle them. As they say in the script, it is about things we usually sweep under the carpet but in the events of that night, they lift that carpet up."
Performing in this Rep production are Bronwyn Ruciak, James Whitrow, Luke Budgen, Sharon Pitardi, Tess O’Flaherty, Laura Antoniazzi, Izzy Rositano and Jonathan Johnston. Strauts is pleased with this cast and the way that Johnston was able to step in late in the piece to replace an actor who had to withdraw.
The show has been coming together well with actors honing their American accents as they go. If they fall foul of a pronunciation, Strauts’s American wife is there to put them straight.
Strauts has been busy in Adelaide theatre for nigh on 50 years. He’s 63, retired from an IT career, and has been everything backstage from sound and lighting tech to set builder, producer and stage manager. The latter is his favourite role for some reason. He’s done his share of acting but, he says, he loves directing more. He’s worked with Unseen, Blackwood, Stirling Players, Galleon, St Jude’s and now, for the first time, The Rep.
“I was aged only 14 when I got involved in theatre,” he says. “It was the first thing my parents let me do unchaperoned.”
It was not just the greasepaint and drama which lured the lad. “Theatre people always had the best parties,” he admits.
“And many pretty girls with not so many males. I’ve had two wives and I met them both on stage.”
It’s Just Sex runs at The Arts Theatre from June 18 to 27.
Book at adelaiderep.comAdelaide Repertory Theatre or 82125777
25 May 2015
Queensland artist Hugh Sawrey's famous canvas, the Four Deuces, soared beyond expectations to make a new record for his works at auction in Adelaide this week.
Its hammer price was $146,000 and, to auctioneer Jim Elder's great satisfaction, the Queensland painting is going back to Queensland. It has been purchased by a private collector.
The last time this work came onto the market, some 30 years ago, it sold through the same Adelaide auctioneer for $42,000. Sawrey's action record, however, was $105,000 for a work sold in Melbourne ten years ago.
The Four Deuces was always expected to break the record, but Mr Elder had tipped about $120,000 as the anticipated price.
Hugh Sawrey was one of Australia's most beloved outback painters and also, with R.M. Williams, one of the men who founded the Stockman's Hall of Fame.
A decade before his death in 1999, he was awarded a C.B.E. for his contribution to art.
This record-breaking work is a big, sprawling 137x132cm oil painting of hot and languid Queenslanders gathered in the pub, some drinking at the bar, others grouped around a round table playing poker. And there is that winning hand, The Four Deuces, being presented right there on the table.
A moment is magically captured and this well-wrought oil has become acclaimed as one of the artist’s great masterpieces.
Samela Harris
Winter is upon us; cue hearty soups, extra layers and rainy weekend afternoons hibernating on the couch. Oh, and desperately trying to find new and exciting ways to entertain the kids without switching on the dreaded idiot box. Luckily, there are plenty of quality live action alternatives to that expensive trip to the cinema.
Forget dusty old stages and uncomfortable seats, theatre for kids is colourful, fun and interactive. Most importantly, it offers far more parental enjoyment than all the ice-throwing princesses Disney can muster.
If you're keen to head out and take in what's on offer, get your skates on because it's already in full swing.
Adelaide Festival Centre's 'Something on Saturday' is a winter stalwart, entertaining kids through the rainy months for the past 38 years. Running from 2nd May to 5th September, this year's program is a wonderful selection of music and theatre content aimed at 2 to 10 year olds.
For under 5's, Look by Imaginary Theatre is the brainchild of the company's "Play Project", which saw the performers spend over 100-hours in childcare centres playing with the preschoolers and understanding how they learn. The 35-minute show is set in the world of the child; it is largely non-verbal and is designed as an ideal first-time theatre experience. The performance runs for 35 minutes, followed by an interactive play session with the performers.
For 4 to 10-year olds, The Owl's Apprentice by Little Wing Puppets is the story of a young owl learning to be wise. A young owl named Poot Poot is sent to study at Owl school. On his journey he meets an Echidna, a Wombat, a Kookaburra, a Lyrebird, a Kangaroo and a Platypus who each share with him their own special kind of wisdom. This unique show, created by Jenny Ellis, features shadow puppetry, hand puppetry and story-telling and is designed to engage and extend the questioning minds of children.
For 3 to 7-year olds, The Wonky Donkey Man with Craig Smith features the author himself performing his books with hilarious results. Very popular in previous showings, be quick to get tickets for this one.
For 7 to 13-year olds, Argus by Dead Puppet Society is a touching piece performed with just household objects and four pairs of hands. When Argus's friends are taken away by the rubbish truck he determines to find them, no matter what. What follows is an epic and dangerous quest and Argus travels across the desert, snow, space and the ocean to find his friends and rescue them. On his adventure he encounters seals, space people, sharks, cars, trains, giants, birds and other creatures, and becomes a hero.
Dead Puppet Society creates Argus's fantastical world in a low-tech style that has its roots in puppetry and its heart in old-fashioned storytelling. It promises to expand the imaginations of adults and children alike.
Ticket pricing for Something On Saturday shows is very reasonable, starting from just $14.50, but you can save further by subscribing. Simply purchase tickets to four or more shows in one transaction to qualify. Most sessions have free workshops before or after the performance with fun craft and activities.
Nicole Russo
When: 2 Mar to 5 Sept
Where: Various Venues
Bookings: bass.net.au
With only a few performances left in the 2015 Adelaide Festival of Arts season, the event will have its largest attendance in 5 years. Audience numbers are still being collated but are expected to exceed 560,000.
The third festival for director, David Sefton, the signature of this year’s event was free programming on a grand scale. Blinc, Curated by Joel Cockrill and Craig Morrison, was the largest work within the festival, and turned Elder Park and surrounds into a giant spectacular outdoor digital art gallery. Since its opening on the 27th of February social media pages have henceforth been awash with photos of the giant 3D trumpeting elephant, Elephantastic!, the seemingly floating LED lights in the rotunda entitled Submergence, and A-Synchron, the series of changing projections shown on the facades of the Festival Centre and Parliament House.
Also free at this year’s festival was a showing of selected work from one of the world’s most important living artists, Bill Viola, with exhibitions stretching the entire length of festival across multiple venues including the Art Gallery of South Australia, St Peter’s Cathedral and the Queens Theatre.
Sefton’s commissioned works created specifically for the festival have been a raving success, with opinions split on the re-imagined Tommy, by Eric Mingus, and emotions overflowing for Kid Koala’s Nufonia Must Fall (follow the links to read our reviews).
Director, David Sefton says he could not be more pleased with the quality of this year’s festival, and Festival Chief Executive, Karen Bryant says “Bringing the best, never before seen work to Australia and making sure the widest possible audience have the opportunity to see that work has always been the core aim of the festival. We are delighted that audiences have turned out in their droves to enjoy the handpicked events that make this festival so special.”
Always a Festival draw card, Adelaide Writers’ Week has once again achieved capacity crowds. Robert Dessaix, Julia Gillard, Dan Barber, Helen Garner, David Marr and Roxane Gay amongst the most popular sessions. Setting new records, Writers’ Week also achieved a 17% increase in book sales across the event.
Final numbers will be collected throughout the coming week with continuing shows in Black Diggers, the stories of unsung indigenous war heroes at Her Majesty’s Theatre; The Cardinals by Stan’s Café at the Flinders Street Baptist Church; and the decidedly adults-only Beauty and the Beast featuring Julie Atlas Muz and Mat Fraser at the Dunstan Playhouse (follow the links to read our reviews).
The 2015 Adelaide Festival of Arts has seen 889 artists and writers from over 20 countries take part in 150 performances of 42 separate events. There have been 22 Australian premieres and 26 Adelaide exclusives. There were sell-out seasons of Azimut, Dylan Thomas – Return Journey, Beckett Triptych and SmallWaR, and memorable debuts it Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and the yet to play Danny Elfman’s Music from the films of Tim Burton (follow the links to read our reviews).
Paul Rodda
When: 27 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: Various Venues
Bookings: bass.net.au