Bloom and grow forever [by James Wenley] If you’re not completely won over by the time the Von Trapp children are skipping along to Do-Re-Me, you should see a doctor immediately to check for a heart condition. The template for the New Zealand touring production is Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 2006 production at the London Palladium (for which he cast Maria […]
Age of Illusion [by James Wenley] The Avengers of Magic are back in Auckland, and they’re changing their line-up faster than the continuity of a Marvel comic book. Charming trickster and watch thief Jeff Hobson is the sole returnee from The Illusionists’ original line-up. This time he’s joined by magicians with names like ‘The Unusualist’, ‘The Deceptionist’, and ‘The Illusionist’ […]
We got Annie! [by James Wenley] Did the Global Financial Crisis lead to an increase in Annie revivals? Set in 1933, four years after the stock market crash, the tale of the 11-year-old red-headed orphan has as its backdrop the haves and have-nots of the Great Depression era. Six years after the 2008 crisis, the Broadway Musical is now playing […]
Musical Theatre’s favourite red-haired orphan is visiting Auckland’s Civic Theatre this month. “Inspired by Harold Gray’s famous comic strip Little Orphan Annie which first ran in the New York News in 1924, ANNIE is set in Depression Era New York City at a time when the economy looked bleak, government seemed ineffective and the average citizen was desperate and frustrated. With its […]
Out of the Shadows [by James Wenley] My immediate response to Shadowland is an eerie chill: disembodied clothes – two dresses and a suit – dangle from The Civic stage, giving the feeling that I’d walked in on a hanging in which the bodies had decomposed long ago. This grim reading was not something I’d expected from the “enchanting tale” […]
Here I go again [by James Wenley] You should have a fairly good idea by now if you are inclined to enjoy Mamma Mia! Here’s a simple test: Do you like Musicals? Do you sing along every time ABBA comes on The Breeze? Do you have your own flared lycra jumpsuit in your wardrobe? If you answered yes to either of […]
Ships in the Night? [by Sharu Delilkan] Not having seen a Wagner Opera before I was intrigued to discover what all the fuss was about. The stage curtain represented an old sailing clipper sail, which gave nothing much away as to what we were about to experience, as we were treated to The Flying Dutchman‘s Overture, which unfortunately did seem […]
The Emerald City in Auckland City [by James Wenley] Theatre Scenes Reviewers Sharu Delilkan and James Wenley both went to opening night of Wicked. This was James’s fourth time at Wicked. He saw the Australian Cast in Sydney twice in late 2009, thrashed the Broadway cast recording, and saw the London West End production in June this year. He writes […]
A Wicked Night Out [by Sharu Delilkan] Theatre Scenes Reviewers Sharu Delilkan and James Wenley both went to opening night of Wicked. This was the first time Sharu has seen Wicked, and she writes as a Wicked first-timer, a girl from Kansas on her first trip to Oz. We knew we were in for an awesome spectacle as we approached […]
The Avengers of Magic [by James Wenley] Magic is back? Believe it. By mixing Vegas spectacle with the romanticism of the turn of the 20th Century magic show and packaging it with an ultra-modern sensibility and pizzazz, The Illusionists is a heart-thumping feast for the eyes and trip for the mind – of a type that many Aucklanders (myself included) have […]
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