www.MelbourneObserver.com.au
ShowBiz!
Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - Page 43
Observer Showbiz
MSO 2016 season
● Jacqueline Porter ■ Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has announced a packed 2016 season, with something to please a wide variety of musical tastes. Chief conductor of the MSO, SirAndrew Davis, is urging Melbourne music lovers to join him in the adventure that is next year's season. "The sheer breadth and variety of our concerts is amazing - we truly reflect the great diversity of cultural life in our great city and enrich it," he enthused. Kicking off the MSO season in February are concerts centred around the work of Alfred Hitchcock and the film music of Bernard Hermann, conducted by Benjamin Northey, followed the next week by a special East Meets West concert to celebrate Lunar New Year. The Sidney Myer free concerts are a Melbourne institution, and next year they will feature Dvorak, Adams, and Gershwin on February 17, with more Dvorak and Tchaikovsky added in the concert on February 20. The February 27 concert will feature the famous guitar playing Grigoryan brothers, in a Spanish-South American program with the orchestra. The final free concert, on March 4, will feature Dvorak's New World Symphony and Sibelius' Finlandia. Back inside Hamer Hall in March, the MSO will present Mahler's Symphony No 5 and Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. Thursday March 31 pays tribute to Nino Rota's music for the film The Godfather, while inApril the MSO returns to its classical roots with a concert featuring Schubert's unfinished Symphony and Faure's Requiem, featuring well-loved Melbourne soprano Jacqueline Porter. Later in April, the MSO will feature the complete Bach Orchestral Suites in one concert. May brings the Metropolis New Music Festival, featuring music that has been written through the ages around the theme of cities and streets. Brahms claims the orchestra's attention at the end of May, with a performing of Brahms' Fourth Symphony, accompanied by Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain and Rachmaninov's famous Piano Concerto No 2, well known as the music for the film Brief Encounter, and excerpts of Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet. June brings concerts featuring Mendelssohn, Straus and Stravinsky, plus Rachmaninov's loved Paganini Rhapsody, as well as a return to Brahms, with violinist Vadim Gluzman featuring in Brahms' Violin Concerto. Mahler returns to the podium at the end of June, when SirAndrew Davis conducts Mahler's Symphony No 6. In July, the MSO goes to the circus, with the orchestra playing Cirque de la Symphony, along with a host of internal circus performers. - Continued in right column
TV, Radio, Theatre Latest Melbourne show business news - without fear or favour
Meet David McLean
■ David McLean is a devotee of the stage. He can still remember how the director cut his smoking scene and first stage kiss from the script when he was cast as the romantic lead in the local church drama society. These days David says it isn’t much different. He no longer gets cast in romantic roles – he’s too old – and smoking is socially unacceptable. Between that first role and his current roles, David has performed on the amateur theatrical and drama stages around Melbourne. Amongst his credits is a best actor award from the Victorian Amateur Drama League for playing Frank in Educating Rita and a best supporting gong from the Victorian Music Guild for his portrayal of Alfred P. Doolittle. The role of a disillusioned and drunken English teacher wasn’t too much of a stretch given David’s 30 years in front of blackboards, then whiteboards, and then projector screens. He headed English departments and once chaired the heads of English in independent schools. This has given David tremendous perspective on all types of theatre both historically and stylistically. He has read, taught, directed and written about all forms of theatre. Today, David’s role is still in education and literature. He’s currently one of the hosts on 3CR’s Published or Not, where he talks to national and international authors. He has authored sev-
● David McLean eral books including Find- topical educational mating Coaby, a young adult ters including why masnovel about depression, sive theatre complexes in and the Riddle-Quest se- certain schools are anathries for adolescents where ema to how the profesevery chapter centres on sional world of theatre a riddle. actually works in real life. David is regularly in- Topping all this off, he still vited into schools to run generates educational rewriting workshops, give sources for schools that revision lectures – which are sold nationally and intend to have a bit of theat- ternationally. rical flair to them – and At the time of writing, provide professional de- David was playing the velopment for teachers. character role of Victor David has also been Velasco in Neil Simon’s known to challenge any- Barefoot in the Park. He one attending these ses- says he is thinking of sions to get up and partici- adopting one of Simon’s pate. He says this is due classic lines as his motto. both to his advocacy of “I wish I was 10 years active learning, but also to older. Dirty old men seem the fact that performance to get away with so much seems to be in his blood. more.” Education has also David will obviously be been at the forefront in part of Melbourne’s theDavid’s writing as well. atrical scene for a little There have been sev- while longer. - Staff Writer eral articles in The Age on
Hit with Hot Notes ■ Triplets Wendy, Sue and Deb studied tap dancing as youngsters, and this year put their tap shoes back on to join other tappers in Hit Me With A Hot Note, the Isabelle Academy of Tap’s annual performance on Sunday, December 6. Directed and choreographed by Isabelle Ryan and Megan Ellis, this sparkling tap smorgasbord will feature routines from absolute beginners to more seasoned tappers, strutting their stuff in two performances at the intimate Collingwood College Theatre. Performances: Sunday, December 6 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm Venue: Collingwood College Theatre, Cnr Cromwell St. and McCutcheon Way Tickets: $35 ($30 concession matinee only) Bookings: tapminx@hotmail.com or phone 9415 7157.
● Triplets Wendy Smith, Sue Scully and Deb Wadsworth rehearse Hit Me With A Hot Note in Collingwood on December 6. Photo: Megan Ellis
Review: Lady Shot
● The Girls Act Good Ensemble in A Lady Shot. Photo: Darren Gill ■ Girls Act Good can act. Each performer in their current show A Lady Shot at La Mama had something to say and said it with conviction. It is inspiring watching seven women transform themselves into various interactions as they share the stories of famous women in history and the views of women today. This original piece of theatre appeared to be a work in progress. Some performances were more polished than others. I was particularly mesmerized with the intensity of the director Jennifer Monk’s performance, she was focused and engaging throughout. The set and costuming were quite different to the photographs used in the promotional material which advertised the show looking more opulent and polished. Whether it was monetary, space or time constraints or a conscience decision to dress as an ensemble I think this show would have been more appealing if it had some semblance suggested by the flyer. Photographs of a period setting with a touch of colour looked intriguing, the costuming on the night was not as inspiring although used creatively. I would recommend doing some pre-reading on the historical figures, there is an assumed prior knowledge. Although most of the characters whose tales were told are well known, this piece moves fast and it is easy to get a bit lost. This is a highly energetic, thought provoking piece encouraging women to speak up, not play the victim and appreciate what they have to offer society as well as taking the time to celebrate who they are, and what role the man ‘prop’ plays in their life. - Review by Elizabeth Semmel ● Continued from left column
MSO 2016 season
To mark Shakespeare's 400th anniversary of death, the MSO will perform two concerts in July with music from countless composers who were inspired by the bard, while at the end of July, Beethoven's popular Fifth Symphony will be performed by the MSO in its original home of Melbourne Town Hall. August brings concerts of Elgar and Bach, plus Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, and at the end of the month, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis will feature the orchestra, vocal soloist and the MSO Chorus. September concerts bring Mozart to the fore, before a series of Beethoven & Beyond concerts, featuring Beethoven piano concerts 1-5. Respighi and Schumann are the composers of the moment in the early October concerts, before the MSO takes off into space with Holst's The Planets on October 21. November brings Dvorak's Cello Concerto, as well as a program of music from Sibelius and Shostakovich. In December, renowned expatriate Australian conductor Simone Young returns to conduct a concert of Wagner and Bruckner, before the orchestra finishes its year with two rousing performances of Handel's Messiah on December 10 and 11. www.mso.com.au - Julie Houghton