Here’s the latest news in the Weekly Wrap!
CURRENT SHOWS
NEW SOUTH WALES
Capitol Theatre: Charlie and the Choco
Sydney Lyric Theatre: The Book of Mormon
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QUEENSLAND
Brisbane Powerhouse, Visy Theatre: Sweet Charity
QPAC Lyric Theatre: Jersey Boys
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VICTORIA
Arts Centre Melbourne- State Theatre: Evita
Comedy Theatre: Calamity Jane
Her Majesty’s Theatre: School of Rock
Princess Theatre: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
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NEW ZEALAND
The Civic Theatre, Auckland: Aladdin
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AROUND AUSTRALIAN THEATRES
Cast Announcement: A Little Night Music
Joining theatre icons Ali McGregor, Nancye Hayes and Simon Gleeson for Victorian Opera’s production of A Little Night Music are Alinta Chidzey (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, Jesus Christ Superstar) as Petra, Elisa Colla (My Fair Lady, Les Miserables) as Anne Egerman, Verity Hunt- Ballard (Mary Poppins, Sweet Charity) as Countess Charlotte Malcolm and Mat Verevis (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) as Henrik Egerman.
The show is directed by Stuart Maunder AM.
Based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night, this bittersweet musical comedy about a romantically entangled group of worldly characters remains one of Sondheim’s most mature works. It speaks of the follies of human nature with heartbreaking accuracy.
Victorian Opera presents A Little Night Music at Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse from 27 June – 6 July. Tickets are on sale via victorianopera.com.au
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Cast Announcement: Kansley and Lidert Songbook Series
The cast for Kansley and Lidert’s Songbook Series was announced on Thursday, January 31st ahead of the performance at Melbourne’s Chapel off Chapel on Monday, February 25th.
Samantha Dodemaide (Evita, Wizard of Oz), Alinta Chidzey (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, Jesus Christ Superstar), Michael Falzon (Evita, Swing On This), Paulo Szot (Evita, South Pacific), Rebecca Mendoza (Miss Saigon, FAME), Zoy Frangos (Evita, Les Miserables), Elisa Colla (My Fair Lady, Les Miserables), Cessalee Stovall (Book of Mormon Australia, Book of Mormon US Tour), Rachel Cole (Matilda, WICKED), Christopher Scalzo (Evita, RENT), Kala Gare (Masterclass, Planet Earth 2), Georgina Hopson (My Fair Lady, Evita), Alexis Van Maanen (Evita), Baylie Carson (Dusty, Hello, Dolly!) and Imogen Spendlove (Our Christmas Gift).
Tickets for the one night only event can be found at https://chapeloffchapel.com.
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Cast Announcement: MAD WORLD
Promoted as a mad and twisted cabaret, MAD WORLD promises showgoers a fully immersive performance that is not to be missed. The brain child of executive producer, musical director and co-conceiver, David Butler, creative director and co-conceiver, James Cutler, director, Lauren McKenna, choreographer and co-conceiver, Madison Lee and book writer Melissa David, MAD WORLD runs at Vau d’Vile Drag Cabaret, Fitzroy from Sunday, February 3rd until Wednesday, February 20th.
The cast includes Anthony Craig (Romeo & Juliet), Bianca Bruce (In The Heights), Chloe Towan (Twelfth Night), David Butler (Falsettos), Juan Gomez (Vivid White), Meg Hickey (Chicago), Melissa Gan (The Four Note Opera), Quin Kelly (Bare), Rhys Velasquez (Paw Patrol), Rosalie Neumair (The Wild Party), Sean Paisley Collins (A Noble Cause), Sophie Perkins (The Wild Party) and Teagan Nowicki (Bring It On).
Tickets are on sale now via www.trybooking.com/ZQVC
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Cast Announcement: Saturday Night Fever
This weekend saw the cast announced for the exclusively Sydney production of Saturday Night Fever. Joining the previously announced Marcia Hines, Paulini, Natalie Conway and Nana Matapule are Euan Doidge (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) as Tony, Melanie Hawkins (The Boy From Oz) as Stephanie, Timomatic as Monty, Bobby Fox (Assassins) as Star Vocalist, Stephen Mahy (Mamma Mia!), Angelique Cassimatis (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) as Annette, Ryan Morgan (A Town Named War Boy) as Bobby, Justin Anderson (WICKED) as Ensemble/ Dance Captain, Guiliana Carniato (Professional Debut) as Swing, Lachlan Dearing (Professional Debut) as Ensemble, Lauren Elton (Dance Academy) as Ensemble, Mitchell Fistrovic (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) as Swing, Gaynor Hicks (Professional Debut), Elysha Manik (Dirty Dancing) as Ensemble/ Assistant Dance Captain, Kiara McGowan (Annie) as Ensemble, Coby Njorage (Professional Debut) as Ensemble, Maddie Peat (Dirty Dancing) as Ensemble, Stephen Perez (Professional Debut) as Ensemble, Erica Stubbs (Carmen), Lola Thompson (Professional Debut) as Ensemble, Benjamin Turland (Professional Debut) as Ensemble and Chris Van Doren (The Bodyguard) as Ensemble.
Saturday Night Fever commences previews at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre on March 27th, 2019 with tickets available from https://saturdaynightfever.
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Cast Announcement: West Side Story
The full cast of Opera Australia’s West Side Story was announced Friday, February 2nd. Joining the previously announced Julie Lea Goodwin and Alexander Lewis are as follows:
| MARIA | Julie Lea Goodwin |
| TONY | Alexander Lewis |
| RIFF | Mark Hill |
| ANITA | Karli Dinardo |
| BERNARDO | Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva |
| ACTION | John Reed |
| A–RAB | Luke Jarvis |
| BABY JOHN | Oliver Lacey |
| DIESEL | Rubin Matters |
| BIG DEAL | Tom New |
| SNOWBOY | Joe Meldrum |
| GEE–TAR | Joe Miller |
| MOUTHPIECE | Luke Haberecht |
| TIGER | Heath Keating |
| HATCHET | Benjamin Purser |
| ANYBODYS | Luca Dinardo |
| GRAZIELLA | Kristina McNamara |
| VELMA | Emma Hawthorne |
| MINNIE | Brittany Page |
| CLARICE | Cassie O’Brien |
| PAULINE | Romina Villafranca |
| CHINO | Jakob Ambrose |
| PEPE | Ben Gillespie |
| INDIO | Dayton Tavares |
| LUIS | Dion Bilios |
| ANXIOUS | Adriano Cassaniti |
| NIBBLES | Rune Nydal |
| TORO | Tom Struik |
| MOOSE | Kaya Byrne |
| DIABLO | Jamie Winbank |
| ROSALIA | Olivia Vasquez |
| CONSUELO | Angelina Thompson |
| FRANCISCA | Kimberley Hodgson |
| TERESITA | Chiara Assetta |
| ESTELLA | Georgia Anderson |
| MARGARITA | Michelle Rozario |
| DOC | David Whitney |
| LT. SCHRANK | Scott Irwin |
| OFFICER KRUPKE | Michael Beckley |
| GLAD HAND | Jay James-Moody |
| SWING | Jessica Vellucci |
| SWING | Des Flanagan |
West Side Story runs from March 22nd to April 21st on Sydney Harbour. Further information and ticket sales are available from https://opera.org.au/whatson/
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Cast Announcement: The Wizard of Oz- Arena Spectacular
Saturday, February 2nd saw the announcement of award winning performer Simon Gallaher (Pirates of Penzance, WICKED) as The Wizard in the 2019/ 20 production of The Wizard of Oz- Arena Spectacular. The show opens in Newcastle in April 2019 before touring to Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra.
Tickets are available from https://www.wizardofozarena.
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CELEBRATIONS
Gypsy Cloak
The Gypsy Cloak involves the passing of a robe to each musical featuring an ensemble. The robe is presented to the ensemble member who has the most ensemble show credits. The wardrobe department places a patch on the cloak to represent their show and a ceremony is held to acknowledge the handover of the cloak between the two shows.
This week has seen two ceremonies with Stephen Wheat from School of Rock receiving the cloak mid- week and from Lisa Sontag from Mamma Mia! and Thern Reynolds from Evita receiving the cloak on Saturday, February 2nd.
Congratulations Stephen and Thern!
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OPENING SHOWS
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Canberra Theatre: Peter Pan Goes Wrong (February 6th)
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VICTORIA
Regent Theatre: Jersey Boys (February 23rd)
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NEW ZEALAND
The Opera House, Wellington: Madiba (February 7th)
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch: Madiba (February 14th)
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CLOSING SHOWS
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Canberra Theatre: Peter Pan Goes Wrong (February 10th)
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NEW SOUTH WALES
Sydney Lyric Theatre: The Book of Mormon (February 8th)
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QUEENSLAND
Brisbane Powerhouse, Visy Theatre: Sweet Charity (February 10th)
QPAC Lyric Theatre: Jersey Boys (February 16th)
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VICTORIA
Her Majesty’s Theatre: School of Rock (February 10th)
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NEW ZEALAND
The Opera House, Wellington: Madiba (February 10th)
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch: Madiba (February 17th)
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AUSSIES ABROAD
Alex Given
Congratulations to Alex Given who will perform in front of his first audience in The Book of Mormon West End production on Monday, February 4th (early morning Tuesday, February 5th Australian time). Given will be portraying Elder Harris.
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West End Musical Brunch
Congratulations to Jessica Condon (Kinky Boots) and Daniel Downing (Kinky Boots) on their performances at the West End Musical Brunch on Saturday Night (Sunday Australian time).
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Zoy Frangos
Congratulations to Zoy Frangos on his Rising Star Award at the 2019 American Australian Arts Awards in New York this past weekend. Frangos’ singing on the evening was highly praised by fellow Australian performer Hugh Jackman.
