All stories by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore on BroadwayStars

Monday, September 2, 2019

Avalanche: A Love Story review – Maxine Peake traverses the rocky terrain of IVF by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Roslyn Packer Theatre, SydneyPeake skilfully navigates the painful, raw experience of struggling to conceive in this stage adaptation of Julia Leigh’s memoir In Avalanche: A Love Story, Ju…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:03AM
Friday, May 10, 2019

Yael Stone Is Identified as ‘Witness X’ in Geoffrey Rush Defamation Case by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Evidence from Ms. Stone, who has accused Mr. Rush, the actor, of inappropriate behavior, was kept out of the trial of his defamation suit against an Australian news outlet.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:54AM
Thursday, April 11, 2019

Geoffrey Rush Wins Defamation Case Against Australian Newspaper Publisher by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

The actor said two front-page articles in 2017 wrongly accused him of sexually harassing a female co-star during a Sydney theater production.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:17AM
Monday, September 3, 2018

Is the Way Australia Funds the Arts a Recipe for Mediocrity? by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

The country’s performing arts funding model favors a group of established organizations at the expense of newcomers. Critics say this stifles innovation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:18AM
Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Dark Emu the dance show: a chance to 'look at Australia with fresh eyes' by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Bruce Pascoe and Stephen Page tell how a joking remark led to Bangarra’s latest productionFifteen thousand years before the Egyptians, Aboriginal Australians were grinding grain – making…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36PM
Monday, March 26, 2018

What musical theatre can teach us about how we respond to cancer by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

The female experience of disease is at the heart of an extraordinary and moving showWhen Lara Veitch walks on stage in A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer – until then, a giddy, scat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:26PM
Monday, March 19, 2018

Tim Minchin's homecoming show: 'I will make you cry' by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Hota, Gold CoastAustralia’s funniest national treasure utterly unafraid to take the piss out of everyoneFor his first proper concert on home soil in three years, Tim Minchin had two runnin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:00PM
Thursday, February 22, 2018

The Nose review – Shostakovich's outrageous opera will divide opinion by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Director Barrie Kosky’s wild, grotesque, frenzied production resembles a cross between Mr Bean and the Hunger Games dystopiaEarly on in The Nose, two men in the audience stand up and strid…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00PM
Monday, December 11, 2017

The Nutcracker review – Mao's last dancer returns in ballet close to his heart by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Lyric Theatre, QPACQueensland Ballet artistic director Li Cunxin takes the stage for first time in 18 years in pleasing yet predictable balletWhen Li Cunxin – better known as Mao’s Last …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:33AM
Sunday, November 19, 2017

Muriel's Wedding: the Musical review – gutsy and brash sendup of all things Australiana by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Abba is everywhere in PJ Hogan’s musical adaptation, which pulsates with high-spirited fun but eschews the film’s feminist endingWhen PJ Hogan first approached Abba in the 1990s to ask i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18AM
Friday, June 30, 2017

Bangarra's Bennelong review – Aboriginal warrior's conflict portrayed in dramatic suspense by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Sydney Opera HouseIt’s a dance that hits hard, and offers a whirlwind tour of Bennelong’s troubled life and deathIn 1793, the Aboriginal warrior Bennelong – taken to London to be shown…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48PM
Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Orb review – Sydney Dance Company's double bill a turbulent, otherworldly journey by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Roslyn Packer Theatre, SydneyThe world premiere of Taiwanese choreographer Cheng Tsung-lung’s Full Moon opens an uneven but ultimately uplifting showIn folklore, a full moon can lead to ma…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Friday, April 28, 2017

The Bodyguard review – a shallow, shaky love story with all the thrills of a wet sock by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Sydney Lyric Theatre, SydneyEven Australian Idol Paulini’s stellar voice can’t rescue this musical, which turns the Whitney Houston film into a glitzy but baffling spectacle for the stag…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18PM
Monday, March 6, 2017

Chimerica review – electrifying thriller traverses Tiananmen Square and modern New York by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company People power drives new energy into Australian premiere of Lucy Kirkwood’s drama exploring US-China relations and the famous ‘Tank Man’ ph…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42PM
Thursday, March 2, 2017

Mark Colvin’s Kidney review – despite strong performances, play never quite satisfies by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Though it has a storyline you couldn’t make up, this play about a transplant and friendship has a jumpy and unfocused frameworkOn opening night of Mark Colvin’s Kidney – in a tense, fu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42PM
Friday, January 13, 2017

The Season review – family comedy gives wing to some spirited performances by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Pakana writer Nathan Maynard’s impressive debut play is about moonbird people but is rooted in the everyday, with an ability to laugh about itself - hard Once a year in Tasmania, Aborigina…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:42AM
Monday, November 14, 2016

A lukewarm Romeo and Juliet and a tedious Othello – can Bell Shakespeare still deliver? by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Theatre companies have no reason to be jealous of Bell Shakespeare’s Othello, but artistic director Peter Evans may just be finding his feetWatching Othello once again in Sydney, my first …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:31PM
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Viewers become participants as theatre – and sex – take over Gold Coast hotels by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

When performers take over a five-star hotel, how much is authentic and how much is PR? And does it matter?Sprawled on the immaculate, crisp white sheets of room 1107 is a man. He lies spread…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18PM
Thursday, October 27, 2016

Faith Healer review – Judy Davis directs Colin Friels in near-perfect production by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Belvoir St theatre, SydneyIn a series of equally impressive and moving monologues, Brian Friel’s play asks the audience whether anyone’s memory can ever truly be trustedOn a small intima…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42PM

E-baby review – an endearing but haphazard romp into the complex world of surrogacy by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Ensemble theatre, SydneyWritten by a former Fairfax journalist, Jane Cafarella, the play mixes laugh-out-loud one-liners with flashes of true grief – but it only skims the surfaceE-baby pr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18AM
Monday, September 26, 2016

Jump First, Ask Later review: parkour stage show fails to get airborne by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Western Sydney street acrobatics troupe Dauntless Movement Crew delivers an earnest but underwhelming productionJump first, ask later. That’s the motto of the Fairfield-based Dauntless Mov…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:56AM
Friday, September 16, 2016

Tale of Snow White returns to its gory roots at Brisbane festival by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore and Steph Harmon

The classic Brothers Grimm fairytale turns to the darker side of its source material in new stage productions at this year’s Brisbane FestivalEveryone knows that Snow White – paragon of …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:20PM
Friday, September 9, 2016

My Fair Lady review – Julie Andrews re-creates classic original with a show that truly sings by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Joan Sutherland theatre, Sydney Opera HouseOpera Australia puts on a 60th anniversary crowd-pleaser with a risky attempt to re-create a bygone golden era that succeeds with verveWhenever I f…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:44AM
Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Australian Ballet: Swan Lake review – savage and beautiful to watch by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Capitol theatre, SydneyInspired by another royal love story, Graeme Murphy’s bold and daring update of the Russian classic tells a deeply human story, swans or no swans“There were three …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18PM
Friday, June 17, 2016

OUR land people stories review – triple bill delivers powerful messages in dance form by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Near operatic storytelling and inspiring music take Bangarra’s brilliant effort on a journey from loss and pain to more hopeful themes such as kinship and artOUR land people stories – Ba…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:44PM
Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Indigenous dancer Damian Smith returns to Australia for final pas de deux by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

He was bullied as a teen, trained until he bled, and triumphed. Now Smith bids farewell to his globally acclaimed career on the stage that launched itIn 1989 Damian Smith, then a 16-year-old…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:16AM
Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Adelaide fringe 2016: five acts that prove in theatre, bigger isn’t always better by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Adelaide’s fringe festival impresses with the mind-reading Colin Cloud and a relationship drama in which total number of audience members max out at two Related: Everything happens in Adel…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24PM
Tuesday, March 1, 2016

CounterMove review – Sydney Dance Company double bill brings laughs and light by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Roslyn Packer Theatre, SydneyA lively satire of the pomposity of the dance world is well paired with a new work that buys into all the cliches of modern dance – to mesmerising effectIn Cac…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18PM
Tuesday, February 9, 2016

The Secret River review – a masterful portrayal of Australia's dark past by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Roslyn Packer Theatre, STC, SydneyNeil Armfield’s inventive, evocative and cinematic adaptation exudes a painful political resonance that never feels didacticAt the heart of The Secret Riv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:16PM
Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Shibari: pushing boundaries in the ancient Japanese practice of knot tying by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Daniel Kok and Luke George explore the delicate rules of submission and domination in shibari while binding each other, and audience members, in ropeDark lighting combines with booming music…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:56PM
Sunday, November 29, 2015

The Sleeping Beauty review – as sweet and indulgent as a chocolate box by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

His choreography does not stray so far from Petipa but with unapologetic attention to detail, David McAllister’s seasonal update is hard to resist • The Sleeping Beauty: a lavish baroque…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:56PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards