The Global Mail opened its coverage of Australian arts on Monday with a curious piece from Stephen Crittenden about theatre blogging. Online writers haven’t stopped talking about it since.
Culture / The Arts / Stage
theatre reviews 
A Chorus Line — Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne
Almost four decades after it began its 15 year run, A Chorus Line is still a strikingly ambitious work. Glee has bred familiarity (and perhaps contempt) of this show, a master template for crafting contemporary musical theatre, writes Jason Whittaker.
theatre reviews Critic v critic on Yes, Prime Minister — Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Sir Humphrey and co. are back, in an entirely different format. Can the magic of Yes, Prime Minister be captured in Australian theatre? Critics Jason Whittaker and Luke Buckmaster, who were there at opening night, duke it out.
theatre reviews ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore — Sydney Theatre (Sydney Festival)
It’s not often a going-on-400-year-old play can make you squirm. In terms of sheer in-your-face confrontation, John Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore comes on strong, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
theatre reviews Summer of the Seventeenth Doll — Playhouse, Melbourne
Ray Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is a play at once deceivingly complex and disarmingly simplistic, a steady drip-drip-drip of social commentary and kitchen sink drama, writes Luke Buckmaster.
theatre reviews Radio Muezzin — Everest Theatre (Sydney Festival)
Throughout his career Stefan Kaegi has crossed visual and performing arts borders and has specialised in the arse end of avant garde. Radio Muezzin explores Islamist themes but leaves an odorous after taste, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.
theatre reviews Never Did Me Any Harm — Warf 1 (Sydney Festival)
The Sydney Theatre Company’s latest dance production, based on Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap, is sophisticated, highly original and amusing, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.
The economy of comedy: does less money = more laughs?
A stand-up comedy club entrepreneur in Chicago is using the American economic recession not to scale back his business but to expand it, writes Gary Strauss.
theatre reviews Sydney Festival: Babel (Words) — Sydney Theatre
Ensemble dance production Babel (Words) presents a refreshing problem for a critic to have: a work so extraordinary one worries if one can even begin to do it justice in acclaiming it, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
theatre reviews The Taming of the Shrew — Bicentennial Park, Sydney
The Sydney Shakespeare Company returns for another summer season to bring us this late 17th-century entertainment which pits Mars against Venus in a definitive replay of the battle of the sexes, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
theatre reviews The Magic Flute — Opera Theatre, Sydney
It might sound like the name of a porn flick backed by the likes of Larry Flynt, but Mozart’s The Magic Flute is a children’s opera. Its enchanting and magical realm is as potent now as ever, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
theatre reviews Annie — Lyric Theatre at The Star, Sydney
It spawned a record breaking run and productions in 22 countries. But Annie needs to no introduction and it’s a great relief that Karen Johnson Mortimer’s new adaptation is virtually flawless, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
The 2011 Crikeys: the best in film, music, books, TV and stage
We went searching for the most page-turning books, the funniest TV, the smartest theatre, the best books and music and film. After naming the best in politics, policy, media and business, we present the 2011 Cultural Crikeys.
theatre reviews Nothing Personal — Ensemble Theatre, Sydney
With each new and passing play, David Williamson seems to confirm his best work is well behind him. The same old themes rear their tedious heads in Nothing Personal, which is based in the world of publishing, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
travel Visiting Japan’s tsunami-devastated towns eight months on
During the One Day on Earth project — held on 11.11.11 — Paul Johannessen headed into Ishinomaki, eight months since Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Romeo and Juliet — Opera Theatre, Sydney
The genius of dance artists ‘Team Murphy’ — Graeme Murphy and collaborators — is employed to full impact in this triumphant rehash of Romeo and Juliet, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
My Cup Of Tea: Putting bums on seats: new ways to sell old arts
The ultimate aim of arts companies is to put bums on seats. But the multi-media, multi-faceted strategy is an inexact science. Crikey speaks to arts marketers about the challenges of their jobs.
theatre reviews Story of a Rabbit — Playhouse, Sydney
Hugh Hughes’s Story of a Rabbit was a hit at Edinburgh Fringe and Barbican, and there’s little wonder why. It’s charming, magical and unique theatre, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
theatre reviews The Ugly One — Griffin Theatre, Sydney
Marius Von Mayenburg’s The Ugly One makes its Sydney debut under the auspices of Arts Radar and directed by Sarah Giles. It makes a serious but obsession with skin-deep beauty but is an over-rated play, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
theatre reviews La Traviata — State Theatre, Melbourne
There is nothing uniquely contemporary about director Elijah Moshinsky’s 17-year-old production of a 158-year-old opera, but it is adoringly faithful and recreates late-1800s Paris in all its opulence, writes Jason Whittaker.
theatre reviews The Importance Of Being Earnest — Sumner Theatre, Melbourne
AFI/BAFTA/SAG/Emmy/Tony/Globe/Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush radiates as Lady Bracknell in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s new production of The Importance of Being Earnest, writes Jason Whittaker.
My Cup Of Tea: Nowhere to pee, but music fans keep rocking on
Music festivals have the problems other arts sectors would die for. The logistics are a nightmare — like the recent Harvest Festival — but the fans keep coming.
theatre reviews The Merry Widow — Opera Theatre, Sydney
The Australian Ballet’s revival of its 1975 production of The Merry Widow loses nothing at all to the sands of time. It is flawless and resplendent in every detail, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
How lipgloss-smeared Albo got Dolly’s motor running
Dolly was busting out. Her bus was too big, our roads were too small, her tour was at risk of deflating. Now Parton will meet the man who made it happen — transport minister Anthony Albanese, writes Harrison Polites.
Nothing changes in opera — and nobody seems to care
The reason opera is a “heritage” artform is that its audiences don’t want to see new operas. Time to abandon the fiction that it deserves more public funding than anything else.
