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The Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra’s Spirited Away: A Musical Masterpiece Into The Movie And Gaming Worlds

01/09/202601/09/2026 Linda Lokhee🏆💎🦉🎭😂

Spirited Away Rating

★★★★★

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For a relaxing Sunday afternoon, being immersed in the sounds of film and gaming music scores performed by the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra (KPO) was perfection. The choice of songs was varied, from the widely known “Star Wars Suite” composed by the legendary John Williams to other songs that I was not familiar with, such as Jeremy Soule’s “Song of the Dragonborn”.

The KPO’s deliberate choice of song order was clever, which took the audience on an emotional musical journey with ups and downs like a wave. The KPO alternated playing intense songs, then moved next to a quieter song, then back to a powerful piece.

A standout song was the meditative beauty “Benjamin”, originally from the ABC/ International film and television series, “The Hymns of the Forefathers”. Listening to this song live was quite special, as we were fortunate to witness the composer conduct his own piece. The song “Benjamin” was named after his three year old son. KPO’s Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Paul Terracini used his baton, signalling tempo and guiding the orchestra in all of the song performances, except this one. Instead, it was beautiful to see the love and depth of feeling he had for his own piece. He did not use his baton, he conducted with his whole body and arms, swaying to the tempo, and it was mesmerising to watch.

Before each performance, Terracini introduced each song with some background information on each composer and some information on the song. The KPO’s first song was the “Star Wars Suite”, and from the very first opening note, the power and precision of the orchestra created an exciting start. The “Imperial March” was played with perfect precision, with the sharpness of the trumpets, bassoons, trombones and tuba intermingled with the frenetic violins and full orchestration to create the menacing Darth Vader theme. This Suite arrangement displayed an example of the alternating powerful and gentle song format, with sweet and regal “Princess Leia’s Theme” following the boisterous main theme. The different tempo and soft beauty of “Yoda’s Theme” with the harp, and the grandiosity of the “Throne Room and End Title” contrasted with each other and conjured up scenes from this classic movie into my mind.

The magic of the KPO’s music continued with “Spirited Away Suite”. Joe Hisaishi composed for Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films from Studio Ghibli. I had seen the 2001 anime “Spirited Away” a long time ago and did not remember the music, so it was with curiosity that I began to listen to this suite. The piano infused a gentle and curious beginning with “One Summer’s Day” and as this song progressed, it shone of innocent wonder. The harp plucking represented the moon to me, in “Night Time Coming”, with a lovely lullaby. This was followed by “The Gods”, which had a dramatic element, with the percussion leading the effects in some parts. This suite featured lovely solos by harpist Kaela Phillips and Concertmaster Violin Lead Anne Marie Braid. The effect of a solo, and then the orchestra joining in was effective in creating a musically flowing journey for the audience.

After the interval, the KPO performed the soundtracks and music from “Song of the Dragonborn”, “The Elden Ring 2022”, “Spartacus”, “Benjamin” and ended with “Fellowship of the Ring Suite”.

Japanese Composer Yuka Kitamura’s “Elden Ring 2022” theme was arranged by Jonathan Shaw and was a very strong and powerful piece. Beginning gently, the quick metamorphosis into a highly dramatic theme, with the brass, wind instruments, violins, percussion and metallic percussion gong’s calling was impressive.

“Spartacus”, was composed by Aram Khachaturian. This song was written for a ballet in 1954, and the retelling of a Thracian gladiator reuniting with his wife after she was captured, was romantic. The middle part of the song hinted at a shadowed darker time, and the echo of a call and response of the orchestra was instrumental in building the dramatic intensity to a crescendo. The ending of the song relayed the couple’s tender love, as the tempo calmed and the lead violinist brought the story to a peaceful end.

Jeremy Soule’s “Song of the Dragonborn” played next and began in the Dragonborn’s ‘tongue’ – shouts which are heard alongside the horns and violins and were an effective way to introduce the mood. This was an uplifting and courageous song and in some parts it lifted my imagination skyward. This was a very regal song utilising strong brass and percussion to create a mediaeval themed mood.

“The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Symphonic Suite”, arranged by John Whitney, was the last piece the KPO performed and was a wonderful piece to end on. Composer, conductor and orchestrator Howard Shore’s film scores have earned Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Grammy Awards and this suite, beautifully played by the KPO, showcased his talent. The LotR suite included distinct sweeping movements for different character themes. Most notably, the heavier colours during one part came through with sharp precision with the brass and percussion, and then was contrasted with the piccolo, flutes and strings for lighter moments.

The talented musicians from the the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra, led by conductor Paul Terracini created a magical afternoon. This was an encompassing musical journey into the imaginative world of make believe worlds of film, animation and gaming. If you are a music lover, you must listen to a live KPO performance in the future. There is a free community concert called Nothing is Forever, on September 20 2026 at the Turramurra Uniting Church.

Spirited Away Movie and Gaming Music was performed at The Concourse Concert Hall in Chatswood.
Time: 2 hours with a 20 minute interval.

www.kpo.org.au/current

To book tickets to Spirited Away, please visit https://www.kpo.org.au/current/.

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Les Femmes – A Powerful Love Letter To Music

11/08/202610/08/2026 Linda Lokhee🏆💎🦉🎭😂

Les Femmes Rating

★★★★★

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Les Femmes’ tagline says it all – “Iconic Male Songs – Powerhouse Female Voices”. Indeed, it is their powerful voices and so much more that made their performance at The Grand Electric truly electrifying. The rich soulful voices of the Les Femmes trio are accompanied by the rhythmic twist of hips and sharply succinct dance choreography.

Emma Mylott, Tia Gigliotti and Jacinta Gulisano opened with a strong rendition of Sinatra’s That’s Life, which had the audience immediately cheering. With almost a full house for Sunday’s gig, The Grand Electric was the perfect home for a cabaret style performance. The space inside was not too large, and the stage jutting out with a small runway brought the singers closer to the audience at different times.

Les Femmes continued with iconic songs from the past bearing a Romantic theme. Singing the famous line “You’re just too good to be true”, they sang Frankie Valli’s Can’t Take My Eyes Off You with heart and heavenly harmony. They continued with a medley of beautiful songs such as How Deep is Your Love, When a Man Loves a Woman and Feeling Good (“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me, oooh, and I’m feeling good” – you know you want to sing along!) These songs highlighted their rich and sensual voices singing in harmony. The high notes were delivered powerfully and sustained with apparent effortless skill but which must have taken countless hours of rehearsal.

There was a touching dedication to Les Femmes’ fathers acknowledging the musical influence on them growing up, with Elton John’s Your Song, The Temptations’ My Girl and Cat Stevens’ Wild World being sung. For this part of the show, the women sat on stools and reminisced, and Jacinta’s dedication of Piano Man to her Grandfather was very sweet. One of my favourite songs was featured during this set, Toto’s Africa. Encouraging audience participation, we sang along and even did a ‘Mexican Wave’ from one side of the theatre to the other and back.

The next segment were songs dedicated to ‘The Players/ The Charmers’ and the mood became funkier, featuring a medley of songs such as My Pony, Justin Timberlake’s Señorita, Stevie Wonder’s Part Time Lover, Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) James Brown’s Get Up, I Feel Like a Sex Machine. The room’s energy changed with the theme and I found myself marvelling at these ladies’ talent from switching from swing and R & B’s soulful songs, to the more modern and funkier songs. The audience witnessed the change and were vocally showing their support, clapping and dancing in their seats.

Les Femmes combined their themes with audience participation. The three singers held a “fun quiz”, asking some male audience members questions to see which category of ‘Good Guy or Charmer’ they fit into. Fortunately they were good sports about this. The women were great hosts, and in-between singing they infused humour throughout their show at the right moments.

After a short interval, Les Femmes returned to the stage and performed their next set, dedicating this part to ‘The Good Guys’ and kicking it off with a fantastic version of Black Box’s Fantasy. I was very happy to hear this one, because my first ever CD was Black Box’s Dreamland! Of course, Barry White’s Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Babe, Bee Gee’s Night Fever and Staying Alive were part of the medley for this theme.

By now, it was astounding hearing how versatile Gulisano, Mylott and Gigliotti’s voice ranges were. There was a mix of songs spanning decades, and the spin they put on these well known and loved songs was impressive.

When one performer took the lead for part of one song, the other two performers supported them with angelic harmony. The three singers had their opportunities to shine and one such highlight was during James Brown’s It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World, and listening to their reaction of cheering and whistling, the audience thought so too.

To end their 2 hour show, the choice of Australian well known songs had everyone standing, dancing and singing. The medley included Daddy Cool’s Eagle Rock, INXS’s Never Tear Me Apart, Darryl Braithwaite’s The Horses, John Farnham’s You’re the Voice and one of my absolute favourite songs, Dragon’s April Sun in Cuba.

At this point, I found myself wondering if there was anything these three singers couldn’t do. They had showcased every genre of music, performed countless iconic male songs spanning decades, and danced with incredible energy and passion. Their performances were an everlasting love letter from them, to the beauty of music. Everyone would have left the theatre singing different songs. Les Femmes is not to be missed!

Duration: 120 minutes
Location: The Grand Electric, 199 Cleveland St Sydney
Tickets: www.bit.ly/3UlHCq4

To book tickets to Les Femmes, please visit https://feverup.com/m/648769.

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Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall – Carefully Constructed Chaos!

02/08/202602/08/2026 Linda Lokhee🏆💎🦉🎭😂

Midnight Murder At Hamlington Hall Rating

★★★★★

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Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall opens onstage to the upbeat music of Olivia Newton John’s melodious voice singing her famous song “Physical”. Phillipa Chidley, played by Emily Newberry, is warming up for an upcoming play. She is moving in that wonderfully uninhibited and free way that people dance to an 80’s song, when they think they’re alone. Newberry elicits giggles in her pink leotard as she channels Olivia, and it is a great introduction to this wacky, witty, and original play!

It is the opening night of a murder mystery play put on by an amateur theatre group named the Middling Cove Players. The writer / director / actor Shane Tweed (Michael Mulvenna) and the cast and crew are in the last hours of rehearsal when they receive news that the dreaded lurgy has hit several cast members. After a brief discussion about perhaps postponing the play’s opening night, Shane confidently declares that “The show must go on!” The hitch of this? The remaining cast will need to take on two-or-more character roles in their upcoming play. This includes roping in the tough stage manager Karen, played by Kate Kelly (involved in the Middling Cove Players because of ‘community service’ for an unknown but possibly violent crime) as well as her niece, played by Ciara Briggs.

Under the tutorage of Murray Fane’s character, they are instructed that each of their characters should speak with a different accent to differentiate the characters to the audience of the play. Thus begins the “play within a play” where the cast, donning some hilarious stereotypical costumes and accents, and moving with exaggerated bluster, begin to perform the murder mystery play. It isn’t easy acting ‘like a bad actor’ but the cast throw themselves into it and achieve their goal! Exaggerated accents appear, limps manifest and many other things add a touch of ridiculous to the play.

Mishaps, big and little, continue to plague the play – from the purposely mistimed lighting and sound effects to the outrageously long sound effect at the end (no spoilers – you’ll know what I am referring to when you see this).

Joy Sweeney’s costume design added depth to the Middling Cove Players’ onstage characters, which included a psychic named Madame Esmerelda (Kate Kelly), a movie star, a Seafarer and an elderly Lady Smythe, all three characters played by Emily Newberry. Sweeney’s clever design of Murray Fane’s costumes were spot on for Colonel Munster, Farmer Giles and the Scottsman and the audience were laughing heartily as Fane races to portray all his characters and their associated costumes, sometimes one after another. This was performed with enormous energy by Fane!

As I had previously seen and loved the work of co-writer Jamie Oxenbould’s comedy Chicken in a Biscuit and the high standard performances by Pymble Players, I had hoped that Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall was going to be an interesting and funny night of theatre. The play was also co-written by Mark Kilmurry. I wondered if the name Hamlington was a deliberate play on words – a bit of a hidden meaning within the title – as in, they were going to “ham things up”. (They certainly did!) After the performance, I looked back on sound designer Casey Moon-Watten’s opening song “Physical” and thought what a great choice this was. Director Declan Moore’s cast was full of movement, each character portraying their own physical comedy onstage which made the audience laugh, especially throughout the second act. This ranged from a quiet nuanced eye raise, notably by Karen Sharp (played by Kate Kelly), the long, long, long descent from standing to sitting because of ‘old dodgy knees’ (Newberry’s Lady Smythe) to the full on madcap purposeful exaggerated movements of Harry Moorby’s character Doctor Freddie Ermington, as he tries to stand after slipping on water, recovering, only to keep repeatedly slipping and sliding. It was like the audience was watching one of those cartoons where a character keeps tripping and slipping, with hands flailing and legs going every which way! It was a sight to see, and the audience loved it! Mulvenna’s Detective Earnest Black’s comedic intensity as he searches for the murderer, steers the play successfully to its conclusion.

In other standout scenes, the whole cast is seen changing the set and moving props under darkened lighting. Kudos to lighting designer Sean Clarke for this, a scene where the cast are moving quickly around the stage, dodging furniture and moving to music not dis-similar to a loony tunes song. The cast toss props to each other in what looked like a mess, but was, I imagine, a very co-ordinated and polished display of physical comedic timing. If you’ve ever seen a silent movie, Charlie Chaplin style, then you can imagine the zany tone of these scenes.

This could have been a disaster, because the play was ‘full of mishaps’. Instead, Pymble Players were magicians, having produced a carefully constructed chaotic comedy with the illusion of catastrophe! The only trouble I had with this play within a play was picking a favourite character.

Don’t miss watching Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall!

This play is dedicated to Mr Tom Sweeney OAM, director of over 40 musicals and a long-term member and Vice President of Pymble Players. Declan Moore, the director of Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall, hopes that “this one brings a smile, Tom!”.

Season run: 31 July – 9 August 2026 at The Zenith Theatre, Chatswood.
Run time: 2 hours and 25 minutes, including a 20-minute interval
Tickets: www.pymbleplayers.com.au

To book tickets to Midnight Murder At Hamlington Hall, please visit https://pymbleplayers.com.au/tickets.

Photographer: Daniel Ferris

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Rebel and Riot with A Kingdom of Fools

21/07/202620/07/2026 Linda Lokhee🏆💎🦉🎭😂

A Kingdom of Fools Rating

★★★★★

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In the self-proclaimed ‘arse end of England’ there is a tavern in the village of Gotham (pronounced Go-tham, not Batman’s Gotham). Picture yourself in ye olden times of 1206, ruled by the King, the mystical wonder of knights and the clinking of mead in tankards. Lose yourself in an era where the lute and the medieval fiddle, the vielle, play in harmony with the gentle beat of the tabor and tambourine.

This is where A Kingdom of Fools, a one act comedic farce, directed and written by Ryan Atkins, begins with a burst of excitement. The tavern owner Mildreth (Meredith Welch) commands her workers, chef Simple Thomas (Alex Hutchison-Smith) and tavern wench Ethelfleda (Nala Davies) to prepare for the arrival oenf a knight, Sir Guy Ashcombe (Brendan Atkins) and nobleman Sir William Drakeford (Yarno Rohling). To present their best face in tavern hospitality, the tavern is rushed to be cleaned. The chamber pot “near to overflowing” is brought out ready to empty, a fixing of the floor near the door is attempted, Ethel practices her best bosomy sexy postures in the hope of snagging the knight, the welcome horn and the pouch of rose petals are at the ready. All these make their way back into the story later, serving as the accomplices to some hilariously comedic scenes.

Whilst waiting for the noblemen, Gerd (Lachlan Atkins) a sweet and simple miller, and Alfric (Ryan Atkins), a man with his head and both hands enclosed in a long wooden pillory arrive. Ryan’s Alfric unknowingly slams the wood into two characters, causing one to tumble outside and Gerd to become a temporary wall decoration which was one of my favourite scenes. It is difficult to describe this scene without giving away spoilers, but I’ll just say that it was so well timed and had the audience laughing and wondering how the set would recover.

Sir Ashcombe and Sir Drakeford also made a memorable entrance onto the stage. Sir Ashcombe tripped over and fell onto his back. Brendan’s portrayal of the knight, scrambling furiously and failing several times to get up off the ground because of the heavy armour was played to perfection, and reminded me of a cockroach with legs running askew!

The knight and the nobleman were at the inn to announce that King John was seizing it for himself. Everything, he says – including the tavern and the people, the animals and the flowers in the fields. The villagers are outraged at this greed, with Meredith’s Mildreth shooting the darkest and murderous looks at Sir Drakeford. Thus begins an outrageous plan of rebellion to convince the noblemen to leave and never return. Father Godric (Arnold Walsh) is brought in by the noblemen in attempt to temper the situation, but this fails and the audience most likely silently cheer as he flees.

The chaos that ensues from the villagers’ plan is all encompassing, involving the characters in non-stop scenes of utter hilarity and originality. One standout scene was when Sir Drakeford was reading the decree to Mildreth, unspooling it and reading it slowly line by line in a totally matter-of -fact way. Meanwhile, Ethel, Gerd and Simple Thomas are in the background, in their own world creating the most ridiculous skits, yet being one hundred percent true to their characters, which made it even funnier. This was one of the cleverest ways of involving a lot of the cast onstage, separate yet together to create one unforgettably funny scene. Ryan Atkin’s script was witty, fast paced and engaging, eliciting clever wordplay to capture the audience and tickle their funny bone.

The costumes were period perfect, especially their medieval tunics, brown soft sole boots and hanging coin pouches, as were the props and the set. The end scene was outrageously messy, and the physicality of Simple Thomas’ actions had the whole audience “laughing their head off” which is my way of giving a nod to the Ryan’s Aldric who spent the majority of the play with his head and hands trapped as well as something else.

Although I could see that there was no one ‘main character’ as such, as each character was written with their own flair, Lachlan’s portrayal of loveable ‘village idiot’ Gerd was a standout. He managed to deliver many not so hidden innuendos with the innocence of the young, which added to the comedy.

It was no coincidence that A Kingdom of Fools was at the Sydney Winterfest Medieval Fair on the weekend before the play’s opening week at The Eternity Playhouse. It was a strategic stroke of genius, because putting your head and hands into a pillory for a photo opportunity was perhaps the best advertisement for this play. A hilarious comedy of Monty Python-esque proportions, A Kingdom of Fools gathered the audience into a medieval time machine and stepped us back to where the little people overthrow the powerful. I’ll fill my tankard with mead and drink to that!

A Kingdom of Fools is playing at The Eternity Playhouse. 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst
90 minutes
Season: 16 July – 26 July 2026
Tickets: www.events.humanitix.com/a-kingdom-of-fools

To book tickets to A Kingdom of Fools, please visit https://events.humanitix.com/a-kingdom-of-fools.

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