Quicker than the eye

■ Magician, comedian, and showman Josh Staley returns to the Melbourne Magic Festival from July 4-8 at The Cardini Cabaret, 488 Swanston St, Carlton.

Quicker than the Eye showcases Josh's high energy, modern magic that has taken him across the globe.

Is the hand quicker than the eye? Is magic just smoke and mirrors?

Josh combines storytelling, showmanship and sleight of hand to entertain audiences.

Dates: 8pm nightly from Tuesday, July 4, to Saturday, July 8

Cost: $24 - $29 plus fee

Venue: Arrow on Swanston: The Cardini Cabaret. 488 Swanston St, Carlton

Tickets: https://melbournemagicfestival. com/josh-staley-quicker-than-the-eye/ - Cheryl Threadgold

New commissions

■ Malthouse Theatre has announced Wendy Mocke and Vivian Nguyen as recipients of the 2023 Malcolm Robertson Foundation Commissions, and Joe Paradise Lui as the Artist in Residence.

Papua New Guinean interdisciplinary storyteller and a NIDA acting graduate, Wendy Mocke will develop Kirk's Backyard (My First Caucasian Play) as a Malcolm Robertson Foundation Commission, while Asian Australian playwright and actor, Vivian Nguyen will develop Cocaine Bust.

Named in honour of the late great Malcolm Robertson —an actor, director and former Playbox Theatre Company literary manager, who worked tirelessly throughout his career to encourage and develop Australian playwrights— the Malcolm Robertson Writers Program allows Malthouse to commission two early career playwrights each year to write a fulllength play.

Past recipients have included Nazaree Dickerson, Carly Sheppard, Keziah Warner, Aran Thangaratnam, Claire Coleman, Vidya Rajan, Tom Ballard, Louris van de Geer, Kit Lazaroo, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Osamah Sami and Janice Muller, Jada Alberts, Emilie Collyer, Michele Lee, Zoë Coombs Marr, Nakkiah Lui, Peta Brady, Richard Frankland, Declan Greene and Lally Katz.

Carrillo Gantner, Chairman, the Malcolm Robertson Foundation said: “Since 2005, the Malcolm Robertson Foundation has been proud to support 29 commissions in collaboration with Malthouse Theatre through the Malcolm Robertson Writers Program.

“We are very pleased to be supporting Wendy and Vivian as they bring these exciting and essential stories to life.”

Multidisciplinary artist, Joe Paradise Lui is Malthouse’s 2023 Artist in Residence, participating in a program that offers professional development opportunity.

A founding member of Renegade Productions, Lui creates, writes, directs, designs and composes theatre and performance works.

- Cheryl Threadgold

All Shook Up

■ Babirra Music Theatre's vibrant, high-energy production of the jukebox musical All Shook Up at the Karralyka Theatre transported audiences back to the colourful rock 'n roll world of 1950s United States.

Written by Joe Dipietro and featuring twentyfour of Elvis Presley's most popular songs cleverly entwined with a love-themed narrative, All Shook Up is not only a tribute to Elvis's 29 fullfeature films, but is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Dipietro’s endearing characters were in the best of hands under the expert direction of Alan Burrows, who assembled a top-notch cast with slick staging to ensure seamless scene transitions.

Fabulous toe-tapping music from Vicki Quinn’s orchestra was complemented by cho- www.babirra.org.au

● ● ● ● Melbourne magician Josh Staley in Quicker than the Eye. reographer Di Morgan’s high-spirited dance routines, beautifully nuanced, acknowledging every musical beat.

The terrific performers included delightfully natural Grace Goodwin as love-struck Natalie, charismatic Lachlan Glennie as roustabout Chad and mega-talented Vikaye Sithole (Sylvia). Elliott Shute presented a quirky, sincere portrayal of smitten Dennis, and Cassie Pennicuik (Lorraine) and Daniel Nieborski (Dean) made a charming romantic duo.

Emily McKenzie excelled as glamorous Miss Sandra, while Samantha Du Rennes as dogooder Mayor Matilda commanded the stage with her presence. Tim Murphy (Natalie’s dad Jim), Brad Blair (Sherriff Earl) and the strong ensemble completed a wonderful cast with firstclass vocal, dance/movement and acting skills.

Effective set design (Chris Anderson), Deryk Hartwick’s atmospheric lighting, Ely Tapp’s era-authentic costumes and Maren Holm’s hair styling, all added to the mix of a memorable show with a capital ‘E’ for entertainment.

Thanks to the combined talents of all involved with Babirra Music Theatre’s All Shook Up, it was great to see audiences leave the theatre in a happy frame of mind, interacting with smiles and positivity. A highly enjoyable theatrical treat.

Next year, Babirra Music Theatre return to Nunawading for their June, 2024 show Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the City of Whitehorse’s new theatre, The Round.

- Review by Cheryl Threadgold

Pooh at Comedy

■ Disney’s Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation is coming to Melbourne in September as part of its 2023 Australian tour.

Disney’s iconic Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robinson and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Owl (and don’t forget Tigger) have come to life in a beautifully crafted stage musical adaptation featuring stunning life-size puppetry for audiences of all ages.

Inspired by the beloved books by A.A.Milne and the classic Disney featurettes, Disney's Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation has garnered rave reviews while being called “Enchanting” (Time Out) and "A whimsical delight with brilliant puppetry" (Entertainment Weekly). The London premiere in March 2023 smashed UK. box office records, being deemed “a show that truly spans the generations” (WhatsOnStage).

Disney's Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation was written/directed by Jonathan Rockefeller (The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Sesame Street the Musical), whose acclaimed puppet designs and direction have made this adaptation a multi-generational phenomenon.

The music, the spectacular life-size puppets, and the charming performances are the perfect way to introduce (or re-introduce) audiences to live theatre, and this is a must-see show for Winnie the Pooh fans.

- Contributed

■ When the elements of one of Australia’s most popular children’s television program are mixed with a great story for kids, there are the makings of a great way to introduce children to opera.

With this in mind, Victorian Opera is restaging The Grumpiest Boy in the World on Friday-Saturday, June 23-24.

What’s the connection between TV, story and opera?

The story is by popular children’s author Finnegan Kruckemeyer and it is set to music by Joe Twist, whose claim to fame for the Under 12s is the music he created for the blockbuster children’s TV show Bluey

The story follows our hero, Zachary, who questions his own ordinariness as he discovers an imaginary world of giants, hairy creatures and flying things in this eye-opening opera for children.

While Zachary prized his self-imposed status as the grumpiest boy in the world, he soon finds out that perhaps he isn’t as unusual as he thought he was.

A cast of young adult professional opera singers brings the story to life, led by tenor Daniel Sziong Todd, who shares the title role with Josh Morton-Galea.

Daniel is passionate about the importance of opera and music in education and is delighted to be centre stage in an opera he believes sends a great message to children and entertains them at the same time – a winning combination.

Victorian Opera is keen to make the work accessible to all families, so it has scheduled a relaxed performance suitable for children who may find a dark theatre too confronting.

The relaxed performance is on Friday (June 23) at 1 pm and the theatre will have low lighting rather than the usual blackout.

There is also a performance being live streamed on Saturday (June 24). The other performances are at 11 am and 5 pm. For all the details and to book tickets, visit victorianopera.com.au

Julie Houghton

This Is Living

■ Malthouse Theatre presents Ash Flanders's new work This Is Living, a semi autobiographical play that will transform The Malthouse into a Hepburn Springs getaway from July 7-30.

Hugh has organised a fabulous weekend away for his partner and their best girlfriends in Hepburn’s finest to escape a year from hell. But even deli meats, medicinal hydroponics and soaking in spring water can’t fix everything. Try as you might to float on the surface, life has a funny way of bubbling up— and over.

This Is Living is written by Ash Flanders, directed by Malthouse Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Lutton, and stars Marcus McKenzie, Wil King (In Our Blood), Belinda McClory (Because The Night), Maria Theodorakis (Because The Night) and Michelle Perera.

Performance Details: July 7 - 30

Venue: Merlyn Theatre, The Malthouse, 113 Sturt St., Southbank

Opening Night: July 12 at 7.30pm www.malthousetheatre.com.au