Broadway composer Jeanine Tesori on why musical theatre is the slowest to recognise it has a gender problem by Elissa Blake

Of all the theatrical forms, musical theatre is slowest to recognise it has a gender problem, says the multi-award-winning Broadway composer Jeanine Tesori​ ahead of the Australian premier…

Full Monty taken off after on-stage punch-up

The Paris stage version of the hit film The Full Monty - one of the biggest draws on the city's theatre scene - has closed early because of a punch-up between two actors in mid-performance, the France-Soir newspaper reports.
Thanks to Amanda on All That Chat for the link!

Two dreamers reach for the stars

Ten years ago two students fresh from university started writing a musical. Now their show is bound for Broadway.

Even the bedroom scene must go by Emily Dunn

The show must go on, was the call, but the cast of Company, the new musical theatre production from the Kookaburra theatre company, was left fuming on Wednesday after scenes from the Stephen…

If you're a critic on the internet, everyone can hear you scream by Cameron Woodhead

A FEW years ago, there was a post on Theatre Notes, a blog kept by Alison Croggon, now Melbourne theatre critic for The Australian: "If we didn't have a Cameron Woodhead to hate, we'd have t…

Send off the clowns by Emily Dunn

"THE clashing sounds and pulsing rhythms of New York City," trumpets the description on the website for Company, the latest production from the Kookaburra theatre company. But the only clash…

Mad about the Boy

Word of mouth and Hugh Jackman's stunning performance defy negative reviews, writes Phillip McCarthy in New York.
Gannon says the producers are looking at replacement possibilities but admits duplicating Jackman's star wattage will be a challenge.

Minister for Arts should have told us about relationship, official says by Sean Nicholls

The Minister for the Arts, Virginia Judge, probably should have disclosed a conflict of interest regarding her relationship with a playwright and close friend, Kosta Nikas, the Director-Gene…

The Yankee Doodle Dandy from Oz

An Australian musical has to be airbrushed to play the Great White Way. Phillip McCarthy reports.
Thanks to Katie on All That Chat for the link!

A calming figure in a showy business: Matthew Dalco, 1962-2009

Dalco worked with companies in Australia and London and helped produce many of the world's most popular modern musicals, including Oliver!, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, Phantom Of The Opera, …

Secret life of a frock star

Barry Humphries is about to launch a second volume of his autobiography. He talks to Caroline Overington about drinking, marriage, and his love for Australia.
Thanks to Amanda on All That Chat for the link!

Bringing the boy home by Bryce Hallett

Hugh Jackman has returned to the stage as Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz, but he is destined to call the Sydney Theatre Company home one day.

Rapid-fire media satire pillories the panel shows by Jason Blake

Tot Mom's unflinching focus on the ghoulish Grace can just as easily leave you with the feeling you've been watching too much junk TV and not enough drama.

They're playing our edgy songs

John Kander and Fred Ebb have been turning out droll, sexy, caustic musicals for close to five decades. They always found an audience but, in the often kitschy world of musical theatre, their cynicism was probably ahead of its time.
It looks like The Sydney Morning Herald needs a fact checker in Oz, from the looks of this sentence:

"They've [Kander & Ebb] done three musicals with playwright Terrence McNally and the late Hal Prince and Bob Fosse directed their shows on stage and screen."

Freudian script is an engrossing encounter by Jason Blake

When the dying Sigmund Freud moved into 20 Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead in 1938, after escaping Nazi-occupied Vienna, London's notables were keen to pay their respects. Salvador Dali droppe…

Audience magnet Freud drives sell-out show by Linda Morris

It is Freud's audience magnetism that St. Germain attributes to the longevity of his one-act play, FREUD'S LAST SESSION, which is an imagined meeting between Freud and the author, Oxford don…

Smashing theatre's glass ceiling by Elissa Blake

Despite the gloomy statistics, female directors and playwrights are staking out new ground on stage.

Fix State Theatre or watch big musicals exit stage left by Julian Meyrick

The premiere of An Officer and a Gentleman appears to cement Sydney as the new mecca of the home-grown musical. No longer middle managers of the syndicated variety, Australian producers are …

Michael Jackson wanted Phantom of the Opera role

Theatre impresario Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber considered casting Michael Jackson in a film version of his classic musical The Phantom of the Opera.