Melbourne

Final Tickets For Sydney Season Of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical Released

Feature-A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL

Producers Paul Dainty AO and TEG Dainty, Ken Davenport and Bob Gaudio are thrilled to announce the final release of tickets for the smash-hit Broadway musical A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL. Due to overwhelming demand, the season has been extended by five weeks through to Sunday 14 February 2027, with ticket presales commencing today and tickets to the general public going on sale Friday 25 September from ticketmaster.com.au.

The musical is currently playing at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre and has received extraordinary praise from critics and audiences alike.

“Full of spectacle and humour, emotion and nostalgia, and of course, the music.” – The Age
“An abundance of rich, memorable songs, and energy to burn.” – The Guardian
“A Brilliant Show” – The Today Show (Richard Wilkins)
“This is a dazzling blockbuster of a show that honours the singer-songwriter’s career and legacy.” – Time Out
“A thrilling, nostalgic and deeply moving celebration of the man behind the music.” – Stage Whispers

The Australian cast of A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is led by Broadway star Will Swenson in the titular role Neil Diamond – Then, bringing his acclaimed, award-winning performance to Australia for the very first time. Joining Swenson is an exceptional company of Australian talent, featuring principal cast members Terence Crawford (Neil Diamond – Now), Ashleigh Rubenach (Marcia Murphey), Monica Sayers (Doctor), Alana Tranter (Jaye Posner), Tim Wright (Fred Weintraub / Tommy O’Rourke), Paul Hanlon (Bert Berns / Kieve Diamond), Hannah Fredericksen (Ellie Greenwich / Rose Diamond), with Rob Mallett (Standby Neil Diamond – Then), and Mark Owen Taylor (Standby Neil Diamond – Now, Fred Weintraub / Tommy O’Rourke, Bert Berns / Kieve Diamond).

Rounding out the company as “The Beautiful Noise” ensemble are Katrina Bickerton, Cameron Davey, Paul Leandre Escorrido, Matt Hourigan, Alana Iannace, Jerome Javier (Swing), Joshua Kobeck, Etuate Lutui (Shilo soloist), Anna Mallows (Swing), Jordan Malone, James Maxfield (Swing), Isabella Roberts, Sophie Tzioumis, Emma Wilby (Swing), and Erica Wild (Swing).

Created in collaboration with Neil Diamond himself, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is the uplifting true story of how a kid from Brooklyn became a chartbusting, show-stopping American rock icon. With 140 million albums sold, a catalogue of classics like “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “Forever in Blue Jeans,” and “Sweet Caroline,” an induction into the Songwriters and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and sold-out concerts around the world that made him bigger than Elvis, Neil Diamond’s story was made to shine on Broadway – and the world.

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Like Jersey Boys and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical before it, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL — from the Australian producers of TINA – The Tina Turner Musical — is an inspiring, exhilarating, energy-filled musical memoir, that tells the untold true story of how America’s greatest hitmaker became a star, set to the songs that defined his career.

Neil Diamond’s connection with Australia spans nearly half a century of music and memories. He has toured here seven times with promoter Paul Dainty AO, from the landmark Thank You Australia tour in 1976 through to 2015, with his music resonating deeply with audiences. His iconic 1972 live album Hot August Night spent 29 weeks at number one and 65 weeks on the chart, making it the third-longest-charting album of its era in Australian music history.

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), choreographed by Olivier Award winner Steven Hoggett (Once, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), and written by four-time Academy Award nominee Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Two Popes). The design team for A BEAUTIFUL NOISE features Tony Award winner David Rockwell (Scenic Design), Tony Award nominee Emilio Sosa (Costume Design), four-time Tony Award winner Kevin Adams (Lighting Design), Tony Award winner Jessica Paz (Sound Design), and Luc Verschueren (Hair, Wig and Make Up Design). The production has Music Supervision and Arrangements by Sonny Paladino, Incidental Music and Dance Music Arrangements by Brian Usifer, Vocal Design by AnnMarie Milazzo, and Orchestrations by Bob Gaudio, Sonny Paladino, and Brian Usifer.

Final tickets for the Sydney season of A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL, through to Sunday 14 February at the Sydney Lyric, go on sale this week.

SEASON DETAILS SYDNEY
Venue: Sydney Lyric, Pyrmont
Season: Previews commence on Saturday 14 November
Performance Times: Wed-Sat 7.30pm, Wed/Thu/Sun 1pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 6.30pm
Prices: From $69 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: Visit ticketmaster.com.au or phone 02 9509 3600
Groups 10+: Visit ticketmaster.com.au or phone 1300 558 878 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm
Groups 10+: Email groups@ticketmaster.com..au

SEASON DETAILS MELBOURNE
Venue: Princess Theatre
Season: Playing now through to Saturday 7 November
Performance Times: Wed-Sat 7.30pm, Wed/Thu/Sun 1pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 6.30pm
Prices: From $69 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: Visit ticketek.com.au or phone 1300 665 915
Groups 10+: Visit ticketek.com.au or phone 03 9299 9873 Mon-Fri 9am-4pm
Groups 10+: Email groups@marrinergroup.com.au

SEASON DETAILS BRISBANE
Venue: Lyric Theatre, QPAC
Season: Previews commence on Saturday 20 March, 7:30pm
Performance Times: Wed-Sat 7.30pm, Wed/Thu/Sun 1pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 6.30pm
Prices: From $69 (Transaction fees apply)
Tickets: Visit qpac.com.au or phone 136 246
Groups 10+: Contact QPAC Groups Department qpac.com.au or phone 07 3840 7466
Groups 10+: Email groups@qtix.com.au

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Monty Python’s Spamalot

Monty Python's Spamalot

Monty Python’s Spamalot Rating

★★★★★

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This Saturday, I was able to attend the opening night of Monty Python’s Spamalot at the Atheneum Theatre in Melbourne.

The production advertises itself as “a new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and the atmosphere inside the theatre stayed true to this sentiment, with audience members being welcomed in to lively music and clips from the original Monty Python films. Once everyone was seated, the audience was treated to a lively animated opening credits sequence, introducing the cast and setting the tone for the rest of the evening.

For myself, and for many other Australian acting fanatics, one of the major draws of this production of Spamalot, is the opportunity to see Stephen Curry in the lead role of King Arthur. Curry is one of Australia’s most beloved character actors, who many will recognise from his role as Dale Kerrigan in The Castle, and he steps into the role of King Arthur with the grace and expertise expected of him. He truly embraced the chaos and tongue in cheek humour that flows through Spamalot, giving it his own touch of comedic disdain and aloofness.

Monty Python's Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot

 

While Curry may be the biggest name on the call sheet, he is, by no means, the only star of the show. Flowers must also be given to (the aptly named) Jaz Flowers who played the featured role of the Lady Of The Lake. This self proclaimed diva showcased some powerhouse vocals and well executed comedic timing as well as a consistent stage presence that, alongside Curry, provided a grounding contrast amongst a cast of many changing characters.

Credit must also be given to the ensemble dancers, Grace Williams, Danielle Gibson, Jacinda Tsakalos, Emily Huynh, Will Basson and Ethan Churchill, captained by Dominique Hamilton and choreographed by Suzi and Jamie Rolton. From tap to cancan, from showgirls to cheerleaders, these dancers embraced a variety of characters and styles to fill out the performance.

Monty Python’s Spamalot is a very specific brand of humour. It may have been opening night emotions, however the energy and enthusiasm showcased by the entire cast (and, in occasional moments, the crew) infected the whole audience. There were many laughs, cheers and occasional gasps throughout the entire show. The use of animated backdrops (sourced from Aquixel Studios) provided opportunities for fast paced jokes that would otherwise be impossible onstage and the show’s self awareness of its own limitations (smaller set pieces, no horses) turned those elements from shoddy to funny.

To book tickets to Monty Python’s Spamalot, please visit https://www.athenaeumtheatre.com.au/.

Photographer: Ben Fon

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Real, Unreal, And Impossible To Look Away From

The Homecoming

The Homecoming Rating

★★★★★

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Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming is playing at the Athenaeum until 3 October, and it is about as Pinteresque as Pinter gets. If you know his work, you know the terrain: the power plays, the disillusionment, and dialogue that always feels like it is missing something,. You find yourself hunting for meaning inside the words because what is being said rarely lines up with what is actually happening. This production, directed and designed by Greg Carroll, plays with Pinter in a way that feels fresh. Lines are blurred and you are never sure whether you are watching someone’s internal world, something unfolding in the room, or a subtext that is treated as the truth.

If you want a night of theatre that leaves you thinking and feeling, rather than absorbing and walking away, this is the one for you.

The cast is thoughtfully assembled. The household is three sons, their father, and their uncle, all packed into the same house, and the production draws out every fault line running between them. You watch the rivalries between the brothers, the manoeuvring between fathers and sons, and the strange sideways tension between each member of the house, and it never lands any where safe. Richard Piper’s Max presides over the chaos, with David Field as his brother Sam, and Ben Geurens, Eddie Orton and Peter Houghton as the three sons circling one another for position.

The Homecoming
The Homecoming
The Homecoming

 

Then there is the woman we never see. The dead mother is spoken about so constantly that you build a whole picture of her, an idealised feminine presence hovering over the house. When Teddy comes home from America and brings his wife, Kate Kendall’s Ruth, you meet another idealised feminine figure, except she arrives as the inverse of the mother, an idealised whore rather than a Madonna. The Madonna and whore split runs right through the piece.

Ruth is the one and only female character on stage, and by the end of the play she has become the figure around whom the entire family’s plans for the future turn. Watching that progression of power unfold is one of the real pleasures of the production, because it opens up a genuinely interesting look at what gets counted as feminine power. It felt dated and contemporary at the same time, which says as much about the tangled worlds we live in now as it does about the play. Kendall gives Ruth a mysterious presence and a commanding hold over every room she enters, and she is perfect for the role.

The set is all dark, heavy, Victorian Gothic furniture, and it does a lot of the storytelling. It feels oppressive and confined, which is exactly right for a group of people this trapped with one another. The lighting stays mostly flat until a handful of pointed moments break the action open and make you question whether what you just saw was real at all.
It is a heavy play and it gives you a great deal to think about, which is precisely the point.

To book tickets to The Homecoming, please visit https://tickets.shakespeareaustralia.com.au/sales/performances/studio/the-homecoming.

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SLUGS: A Perfect Show About Nothing to Smooth-Brain You

Feature-SLUGS

Making a show about nothing sounds simple enough. For SKINT, it raised a few awkward questions about what we’re actually leaving at the door when we go out for a laugh. Ahead of SLUGS at Melbourne Fringe, the team talks puppets, plastic shirts and whether switching off is ever quite that straightforward.

About The Show – SLUGS

What is this show about?

It’s about nothing! Completely and utterly nothing! A perfect nothing of a show to smooth-brain you for one whole hour. An hour where no one has to think about anything political or existential or anxiety-inducing. What could possibly go wrong?

How would you describe this show to someone who has never seen anything like it before?

It’s part comedy, part techno-concert, part gross-out freak show, with puppets!

How did this show come together? What was the creative starting point?

For many years, we had been talking about making a band called SLUGS, or maybe a puppet band, or maybe a show with puppets and music and high energy comedy. We would often joke, while working on other shows, “oh well, that idea is far too much, but it’d be perfect for SLUGS” but had no real unifying idea for this supposed show. It was a bucket where we’d dump all those “too much” ideas. Then after we began touring the international Fringe circuit for a couple years, we began to notice a tendency present in many “comedy” shows (though by no means was it exclusive to this genre) – shows that asked us to leave the world at the door and be free and laugh for an hour. We felt (and feel) somewhat complicated feelings about this. We began to wonder what if we tried to make a true show about nothing. Could we? Should we? What makes something a “nothing”? What makes it a “something”? What would it reveal about the act of trying to not think about the political nature of our lives?

Creepy Boys

What is the element of the show that is hardest to explain but unmissable in person?

The sweat. We cannot reiterate enough how much this is a high energy show. We actively have to fuel ourselves with electrolytes after. Our plastic shirts will never smell clean, no matter how much we wash them.
That and the live feed camera puppets, they really transform the space in a surprising and delightfully simple way.

Who is this show for? Who is going to have the time of their life?

SLUGS is for everyone burnt out from scrolling, exhausted from headlines, and suspects their best days are behind them. It’s the perfect cocktail of genre-less chaos for that part of our mind that sees a killer meme and can’t decide whether to cry out of laughter or tears.

What is going to genuinely shock or delight people?

We think we look very cute in our plastic-blow-up-chairs-turned-cunty-tops and feel it is the perfect intersection of our desire to look cute and stupid.

What do you want the audience to feel in the final moment?

Joy! Laughter! A reprieve from despair! It has been an increasingly pessimistic few years and finding the energy and drive to keep going is hard. It’s brutal. It’s been on our Sluggie minds quite a lot.

Thanks to the SLUGS team for chatting with us. To book tickets to SLUGS, you can find session details and tickets on the Melbourne Fringe website.

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