THIS MOMENT IN TIME

■ Conductor Vicky Jacobs firmly believes that everyone has the right to sing.

It is that thought many years ago, that led her to establish Melbourne’s own Glee Club, operating out of iconic cabaret venue The Butterfly Club.

Glee Club is a choir with a difference, without auditions and with a relaxed attitude to the weekly sessions.

“Our famous singalongs are like being in a choir, without having to commit to being in a choir,” Vicky explained.

“We don’t mind if your voice is fit, rusty or never-brought-out-in-public-before – we just love getting together for a big group sing of the world’s greatest pop songs.”

The emphasis at Glee Club is always on fun, and it’s normal practice to grab yourself a glass of something at the bar and bring it to rehearsal with you.

The Glee Club program for 2023 looks terrific, with a new chapter of Glee Club opening in Hawthorn on Monday, February 27, at 7 pm.

It will launch with an ever-popular Abba singalong. There’s also a special Beatles singalong happening at Sorrento on Sunday, March 5.

In fact, Glee Club seems to be taking over Melbourne, with a Glee for Kids group, Glee West, and for those who fancy a more serious approach, there is Glee Plus that has regular rehearsals leading up to a prestigious gig.

So if you have every fancied singing but thought you couldn’t do it, Vicky Jacobs is keen to get you on board.

A busy freelance musician, Vicky adjudicated the classical junior vocal section at the historic Royal South St reet Eisteddfod in Ballarat last year, and is currently conducting the orchestra for the Adelaide season of the musical Hairspray.

To find out all the different locations of Glee Club, go to gleeclubsinging.com – there is sure to be a pub near you hosting a regular Glee Club session.

- Julie Houghton

The Ladykillers

■ It’s something we have all experienced – a delayed flight to either a destination of hope and excitement, or on the other hand, a return to the mundane.

In the case of This Moment in Time, the wait brings an unlikely chance meeting that has unexpected consequences.

The play, performed at the Butterfly Club, portrays an intimate encounter between two strangers waiting at Melbourne’s international airport terminal – Sam (Ruby Vadiveloo) reluctantly returning to life in her adopted hometown New York (while hard to imagine life in New York would be mundane – she has lived there for 10 years) and Theo (AlistairWard), looking for adventure and re-invention following a devastating relationship breakup.

What begins as an awkward exchange between strangers eventually develops into a series of conversations that are both honest and soul-baring.

Ward also wrote the play, inspired by real conversations in airport terminals, and has crafted a realistic dialogue between two characters with very different stories. They may have little in common on the surface, but each is in search of their own truth and meaning.

Vadiveloo was marvellous as the cynical Sam, initially a little too self-absorbed in her own world to appreciate Theo.

Ward is exceptional as the self-conscious Theo desperately trying to be the person he wants to be but really isn’t.

It was the wonderfully underplayed interactions that made this so genuine. The soliloquy may be a cliched theatre technique, but as intended, they provided insight into Sam and Theo’s thoughts and feelings.

Sound (including airport announcements) and lighting (Jasmine Tolentino) were effective and the evident restraint of the production a credit to director Mashaka Gunnulson.

This Moment in Time was well-crafted and packs a lot into the 45-minute run time.

Pansy Productions is a relatively new company, launched in 2021, and while the company’s three productions have all been written byArtistic Director Ward, they aim to produce works by emerging writers in the future.

Review by Beth Klein

■ Heidelberg Theatre Company presents the classic thriller farce The Ladykillers from February 17 to March 4 at Heidelberg Theatre, 36 Turnham Avenue, Rosanna.

Written by Graham Linehan and directed by Chris McLean, The Ladykillers is set in 1950s London, England, where a sweet little old lady, alone in her house, is pitted against a gang of criminal misfits.

Posing as amateur musicians, Professor Marcus and his gang rent a ‘rehearsal room’ in the lopsided house of sweet but strict Mrs Wilberforce. The villains plot to involve her, unwittingly, in Marcus’ brilliantly conceived heist job. But, when Mrs Wilberforce becomes wise to their ruse, Marcus concludes there’s only one way to keep the old lady quiet. With only her parrot, General Gordon, to help her, Mrs Wilberforce is alone with five desperate men. Who will be forced to face the music?

Performance Dates: February 17 - March

4. Venue: 36 Turnham Ave., Rosanna. Bookings: 9457 4117 or email boxoffice@