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Post by lauren on Feb 2, 2008 13:44:26 GMT 9.5
good god, my computer freakin hates dorain now, as well as general audio and visual stuff
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Post by sanderella59 on Feb 10, 2008 3:18:15 GMT 9.5
Just a quick review of the concert I went to last night on the first leg of my "Eastern Seaboard Concert Trek"! Saw the Twilight Taronga Concert with David Hobson. It was a fabulous night's entertainment - and the rain held off. For anyone who doesn't live near Sydney, they have had an incredibly wet summer, and it bucketed down most of yesterday as well (and started raining about 15 minutes after the Friday night concert finished and rained all night). In fact when we got to the Zoo at about 3pm, you couldn't see across to the Opera House the rain was so strong. My friend and I spent a while wandering around with raincoats and umbrellas, running from covered area to covered area, and then about 4pm it stopped raining and the sun came out!!!! The concert was held in the Concert Lawn area at Taronga, just up the hill from the Ferry Wharf, and it surely must be one of the most spectacular concert venues in the world, with the backdrop of the Harbour, the Bridge, the Opera House and the city skyline. It was sold out (2000 people) and a very appreciative audience. David opened playing piano and singing his own composition The Promise from his new album. He was backed by David Cameron on piano and guitar, a drummer/percussionist, keyboard player, double bassist and cellist - an unusual combo, but it really worked, especially the cello (my fave instrument). David worked through a wide range of repertoire, from opera to musical theatre, from Italian 19th century music to modern classics by the Beatles and later, in defernce to his wide audience who range from opera goers, G&S lovers and devotees of "Dancing With the Stars" and "It Takes Two". Amongst other things, he sang Impossible Dream, Reviewing the Situation (Oliver) as a tribute to his late father who had played that role in Ballarat many years ago, an aria from Faust, a Beatles collection (Across the Universe, Blackbird, Till There Was You ), a Neapolitan love song dedicated to Pavarotti and a few other numbers which escape me at this hour of the morning. He was joined by his special surprise guest Sylvie Paladino who sang a few solos, I Dreamed a Dream, which was stunning ( I saw her in London in 1998 in Les Mis when she played Fantine), an Italian love song Caruso, Your Grace Still Amazes Me from her new album and Here, There and Everywhere and then joined with David for some duets, which were the highlight of the night. The sang Nella Fantasia, The Prayer, O Sole Mio (with David on guitar doing a cross between a manic Italian musician and Elvis) and then finished the night with Time to Say Goodbye which just about got a standing ovation. After much applause and curtain calls, he re-appeared just with David Cameron on guitar, and finished with When You Wish Upon a Star which was a perfect way to end the evining, in the Zoo, overlooking the City night sky with stars twinkling overhead!! He was very funny and a great entertainer, made a lot of funny disparaging comments about baritones (in opera the Tenor gets all the good arias and the girl while the baritone gets stabbed compared to music theatre where the baritone gets all the good songs and the girl and the tenor plays some kind of foppish part designed to make the baritone look better and more attractive to the girl!!). He also sang Come into the Garden, Maud with as much passion as on Tenor and Baritone, but with all the melodramatic Victorian actions and spoke a bit about his collaboration with Ant on this project. Lastly, he revealed that his partner on this season of "It Takes Two" will be Julia Morris and from what I can remember from her early comedy days, she has quite a good voice so they should make a good pairing. I really must go back to bed now, but I woke up thinking about the concert (and busting to go to the loo!!) so thought I'd better do this while it was all still fresh in my mind. Off to see Chinese New Year Parade today, then Billy Elliot this afternoon (lucked a front row seat when I booked a couple of days ago- WHY could I never do theat for PoTO??)
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Post by jazzgirl1960 on Feb 10, 2008 15:18:34 GMT 9.5
I'm so jealous Sandra... hubby wouldn't spring for tickets to see David's show *swear* I got the CD for xmas and just love 'The Promise' its my fav track - but have to admit that I really don't like his rendition of 'The Impossible Dream' at all, but the rest of the CD is lovely. Wish we could have met up while you are Sydney... I live in the Blue Mountains - about 2 hours west of Sydney. But we'll get to at Phantom I hope! Glad you had a great time!
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Post by killerbananas on Feb 10, 2008 15:56:17 GMT 9.5
Sounds fantastic Sandra- I'd love to see David in concert one day (hopefully he'll do some more things with MSO this year!)
I've heard nothing but good things about Billy Elliot, so enjoy- but remember to take tissues!
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Post by lauren on Feb 10, 2008 16:38:08 GMT 9.5
bec we should see that as well if sydney works out, tho i hear its touring anyways
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Post by killerbananas on Feb 10, 2008 20:45:05 GMT 9.5
It's touring, to Melbourne at least, plus I'm not exactly sure where we'd fit it in!
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Post by sanderella59 on Feb 10, 2008 21:38:45 GMT 9.5
Well peoples, Billy Elliot was sensational. I had three moments when tears were rolling uncontrolled down my face, especially in the Swan Lake excerpt where young Billy dances with an older version of himself. The boy who played Billy tonight, Rarmian Newton from Melbourne, is quite simply a star in the making. He is 14 and just perfect, both classical and tap dance. I found it a terribly moving portrayal. Other standouts were Landen Hale-Brown, an 11 year old from NZ who played Billy's cross dressing friend Michael (he is a natural physical comic and brilliant dancer) and Genevieve Lemon who played Mrs Wilkinson (the ballet teacher), but it would be unfair to single anyone out really as the whole cast was fantastic. Of particular interest to me were two Hobart men in the cast, John Xintavelonis, who played Mr Braithwaite the ballet school pianist, and Colin Dean, who was in the ensemble. John is a very funny Hobart man who got his big break playing Pumbaa in "The Lion King" in Melbourne and Shanghai and Colin is a late bloomer, at 46 this is his first professional production, though he has been the mainstay off Hobart amateur music theatre for ever. He is married to a nurse I trained with and played Javert in the Les Mis production I was in. So it was great to see these two men who I have vaguely known for years together on stage in such a brilliant production. The music was good, with some really gritty songs depicting the awfulness of the 1984 miner's strike and the best song was "Once We Were Kings" sung at the end a cappella by the miners as they returned to work. Really tight harmonies and powerful voices. The set was stunning with bits and pieces of Billy's house rising and spinning on hydraulics from under the stage. This has long been one of my favourite movies, mainly I think because of the theme. I was in England for 2 months in 1984 in the middle of the miner's strike and it was truly awful. Britain really was at war with itself. I vividly remember busloads of riot police streaming up the motorways to Yorkshire and Durham where a vast majority of the mines were, so this brought all of those memories flooding back. The other reason why I love it is because it depicts that spiritual change in a person when they throw themselves into an expressive artform such as dancing or singing. The quite ordinary person can be transformed into the extra-ordinary by virtue of the gift they have been given. The words given to the song Billy sings at his audition, "Electricity" were a perfect description of what it feels like: 'I suppose it's like forgetting, losing who you are, and at the same time something makes you whole'. I don't think I've ever heard that feeling described any better (and yes, I cried again) and I'm sure there are quite a few people here who will identify with those words. I feel like I'm in such a heightened state of emotion after such a wonderful few weeks of auditory and visual sensations that tears are just simmering under the surface all the time and it won't take much to set them off. I welled up quite afew times last night as well, especially when Sylvie sand "I Dreamed a Dream". Anyways, off to Brisbane tomorrow for a week of wet hot weather. I'm glad I'm going to the show with friends on Friday night, because in my heightened emotional state, I suspect I will be in a blubbering heap at the end of it!!
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Post by Marie-Cris on Feb 10, 2008 21:41:32 GMT 9.5
I've got a sneaking suspicion you're trying to make yourself emotionally strung-out, Sandy. Is this a ploy to get more time off work so you can see more shows? XD
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Post by sanderella59 on Feb 10, 2008 21:59:52 GMT 9.5
*Maybe* Can I claim for post-traumatic show disorder?
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Post by Marie-Cris on Feb 10, 2008 22:11:08 GMT 9.5
It's worth a shot; might work for PPS ((Post Performance Syndrome))
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Post by killerbananas on Feb 11, 2008 14:58:30 GMT 9.5
That sounds like an excellent ploy to see more shows- I wonder if its an approved VCE absence? XD
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Post by lauren on Feb 11, 2008 15:02:52 GMT 9.5
*dreams* renaissance history vs. musical theatre XD
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Post by killerbananas on Feb 11, 2008 15:27:28 GMT 9.5
If only their was a subject like "A History of Musical Theatre".... I'd ace it XD
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Post by Marie-Cris on Feb 11, 2008 15:29:13 GMT 9.5
I wish I'd had that than History of 20th Century Music.
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Post by killerbananas on Feb 11, 2008 15:58:54 GMT 9.5
I wish I didn't have a drama teacher who a) isn't fond of musicals/opera/ any theatre with a cast of more than 2 people and isn't non-naturalistic, and b) knows nothing about any of the above XD
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Post by windbelle on Feb 29, 2008 21:37:43 GMT 9.5
Randomly browsed the reviews on Amazon, and saw some opera snob just abused the Fledermaus DVD of Australian Opera. :-( LinkI may not know much about opera, but this production is the most entertaining one out of the three videos I've watched. The comment was just poorly written, but because it's the only customer review so far it keeps the DVD in only one-star rank. Sadly I haven't got a customer acount on it.
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Post by Marie-Cris on Feb 29, 2008 21:43:13 GMT 9.5
What does he MEAN The Australian Opera does much better? Opera Australia IS The Australian Opera, they merely changed their name in the 90s!
What a twat!
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Post by windbelle on Feb 29, 2008 22:03:30 GMT 9.5
Oops, I meant to post this in the venting thread, but mistakenly posted it here. Seems I just wrote in the wrong window. I'm sorry I must have been carried away by the annoying comment. You could move it if that's possible, Mar.
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Post by Marie-Cris on Feb 29, 2008 22:05:54 GMT 9.5
Topics I can move; individual posts I can't. :/
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Post by windbelle on Feb 29, 2008 22:54:57 GMT 9.5
Well then I guess just let it be there. -___-
Anyway, I was meaning to post a very brief review here:
The Cats touring company from Australia is currently touring in China, and I went to see an evening performance earlier this month, in the new theatre of the city. I actually saw Cats once in Beijing about three years ago, but decided to go again coz musical performances are so rare here in our city, and I used to love this musical quite a lot.
Overall I found it a more pleasant experience than last time I saw it in the Great Hall in Beijing, because the Great Hall was too big and the sound system was terrible. This time in a decent theatre, the atmosphere was much better, though my seat was on the third-storey balcony, far away from the stage.
At the beginning of the prologue there were cats come up to the balcony, perhaps startled some of the audience with their electronic flashy blinkers. Also before the beginning of act 2 those cat people would crawl and walk in the auditorium and tease with the audience. Quite an interesting scene to watch.
The cast came from Australia, but I don't have the cast list at hand. I think they did a good job in dancing and singing at the same time. I didn't like the rendition of Memory though. I remember in the program it says the Old Deuteronomy was also an singer from Opera Australia. Might be able to find his page on OA's website later.
BTW, when I was looking for the cast list on RUG's website, I just found that the production I saw in Beijing three years ago had Simon Pryce as the Old Deuteronomy! I couldn't remember the voice now, but it could be him as I recall the chap playing that old cat was quite tall.
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Post by sanderella59 on Apr 1, 2008 20:45:21 GMT 9.5
Sounds like a great night nikita. I just love whacky off-beat shows like that, and performers who are NOT so far up themselves they are almost inside out! King's Park is one of my favourite places in Perth. Ideal setting for a concert. Shame about the Teahouse. I used to like it - probably not so, now! Wondered where you had been the last few days. Welcome back! *hug*
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Post by Marie-Cris on Apr 8, 2008 22:28:40 GMT 9.5
Oh Goddess ...
HIDE THAT THOUGHT BEFORE SANDY AND UNWINDING SEES!
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Post by sanderella59 on Apr 9, 2008 9:13:38 GMT 9.5
TOO LATE!!!!!!!
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Apr 9, 2008 18:25:39 GMT 9.5
No, actually I saw that the other night. Couldn't type anything. Paralysis set in.
We've been petitioning for the wrong recording. XD
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Post by Marie-Cris on Apr 9, 2008 19:00:59 GMT 9.5
You'll just have to live with watching Anthony in Phantom.
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Apr 9, 2008 19:25:16 GMT 9.5
And afterwards we'll catch him on his way out and pump him for information.
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Post by Marie-Cris on Apr 9, 2008 19:57:28 GMT 9.5
Why have I got the feeling he's going to regret meeting us?
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