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Perfect. A Triumph For Easter Weekend

06/04/2026 Mark Hobgood🥉

St John Passion Rating

★★★★★

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75 years ago, the director and Chief Conductor of Sydney Symphony Orchestra was the renowned Eugene Goossens.

Goossens conducted concerts in the Sydney Town Hall, but he had a loftier goal: a grand concert hall at the heart of the city. Goossens lobbied relentlessly, campaigning for a world-class venue. It was his vision that led directly to the creation of the Sydney Opera House.

I imagined the ghost of Goossens, looking down from the gods, in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, as Brett Weymark conducted Sydney Philharmonia’s Symphony Chorus and Baroque Orchestra in Bach’s St John Passion.

Brett Weymark championed classical music in Australia long before he was appointed Artistic & Musical Director of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. His devotion was honoured in 2021, when he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the performing arts through music.

You may have heard Weymark’s work but never known it. He was the conductor for the movie scores of ‘Happy Feet’ and ‘Mad Max: Fury Road.’

Eugene Goossens fled Australia, mired in a sex and occult scandal that ruined his reputation and destroyed is career. Thankfully, Brett Weymark’s reputation as one of Australia’s foremost conductors continues to grow from strength to strength. This year’s Bach’s St John Passion is his latest triumph.

One of the great joys of life is connecting with others through music. Singing in a choir, surrounded by other voices is a magnificent visceral experience.

Do you sing bass or tenor? Sydney Philharmonia Choirs are currently looking for more basses and tenors.

The Acknowledgement of Country was ‘Tarimi Nulay: Long Time Living Here’ by Yorta Yorta composer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, translated into Gadigal by Matthew Doyle. This work is hauntingly beautiful.

Language is important, and fortunately for those who speak neither Gadigal nor German, programmes were available online and in hard copy. Following the dialogue is key to fully understanding St John Passion. It highlights the callousness of Jesus’s persecutors, and the genius of Bach, hearing the music bouncing with glee as the chorus humiliates Him on the journey to the crucifixion.

The soloists within this oratorio played their respective roles to perfection.

Timothy Reynolds tenor rang through the concert hall as he narrated the action as the Evangelist. Christopher Richardson took the baritone role of Jesus with reverence. Andrew O’Connor portrayed the stress of Pilate dealing with the enraged mob.

Penelope Mills (soprano), Ashlyn Tymms (mezzo-soprano) and Michael Petruccelli’s (tenor) arias shone.

Bach wove together passages from the Gospel of John, extracts from the Gospel of Matthew, Lutheran Chorales, and his own arias based on poetry from contemporary Passion librettos.

Hearing the Sydney Philharmonia’s Symphony Chorus sing Bach’s Passion is a wondrous experience. Every member of the choirs and each player in the Baroque Orchestra is to be commended and congratulated.

A public service announcement: addressed to the lady that stomped in late during Part 1, in what sounded like wooden clogs. She was roundly shushed and hissed for disturbing the audience as she clumped to Box C. If you are delayed and running late, the least you can do is take off your heels / tap shoes / boots and tiptoe quietly to your seat.

St John Passion was a beautiful, liminal performance, created by world-class artists.

To book tickets to St John Passion, please visit https://www.sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/events/bachs-st-john-passion/.

Photographer: Keith Saunders

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Umm…What Else? Mitch Dale Entertains Everyone at The Comedy Store Too

07/04/202606/04/2026 Linda Lokhee🏆🥇🦉

Umm…What Else? Rating

★★★★★

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I imagine that being a comedian would be quite a challenging job. Some people are naturally funny, but that doesn’t necessarily make them a “born comedian”, as one may think. To do this for a living, comedians need to be multitalented – they are both specialty writers and actors (cue the timing and the delivery of a joke) with a certain amount of bravery to be up onstage with a microphone. They need to have a quick wit and response time when interacting with an unpredictable audience. I watched Mitch Dale at The Comedy Store Too at Moore Park in Sydney, and he had all of these talents! His one hour set for Umm…What Else? was a hilarious!

Mitch’s comedy style for this show varied from quick quips/ play on words/ short funny interactions with the audience, to delivering longer amusing tales about growing up in Australia. He is a talented storyteller who captured my attention from the beginning. For example, when he talked about casseroles and how after being slow cooked by the end of day, everything has turned to mush, yet the potatoes still have some crunch! And rugby. The interesting thing about Mitch’s delivery of his material was that he did it in a very understated manner where he cleverly picked a point and wove it into his story. It was like a dropped hot chip surrounded by seagulls – there’s a small beat as the audience listened to his words, and then once we realised his point, we jumped on the joke, laughing! “I played rugby, because I’m from Queensland, and I have a dad.”

The topics of the night were ones that were aimed to amuse all ages in the room. Mitch talked about personalised number plates, uber drivers and his trip to Japan – all of which was relatable to most of the audience, going by their enthusiastic responses. Mitch also catered for the older generation. It was interesting that he mentioned his childhood and how his parents had him answer the home phone as if he were in an office. It’s amusing because it’s true – back when families had landline phones, some parents made sure everyone answered in a formal manner. I remember calling my friend on their landline, and the younger five year old sibling of my friend answered the phone like this, it was very cute. I suppose there is a generation now who wouldn’t have had the experience of this, or of waiting a few weeks for a computer to be built so that it could go into it’s own special room in the house lovingly nicknamed “The Computer Room”.

Mitch also talked about how he got his name and shared some experiences with his health, and amazingly, he managed to turn even these more serious subjects into something funny. He had the knack of telling a life situation with honesty and humour.

During this set, Mitch was quick to respond to the audience. Instead of picking on that person and teasing them mercilessly, he interacted in a respectful and humorous manner. He clearly has a talent in quick thinking and response situations. In the lead up to Christmas last year, when he was working for a company, his entire job that weekend was to get busy people out of any social commitment they were trying to dodge. The company set the challenge for people to head into a particular store and Mitch will deliver an excuse for them. “He’ll make the hard call – you get the clean break and a guilt-free afternoon back.” From watching Mitch in Umm…What Else?, I am sure that he would have risen to this challenge.

Keep a lookout for this comedian Mitch Dale. Although this was a one-night show in the lead up to Sydney’s Comedy Festival, it won’t be the last you’ll hear about him. It was a sold out event at The Comedy Store Too tonight, so next time be sure to buy your tickets quickly so you don’t miss out.

To book tickets to Umm…What Else?, please visit https://www.neuralle.com/talent/mitch-dale.

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Till the Stars Come Down

04/04/2026 Linda Lokhee🏆🥇🦉

Till the Stars Come Down Rating

★★★★★

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If you’ve ever been lucky enough to have had a ‘perfect moment’ where you wanted to freeze time, to bathe in pure happiness, you will be able to relate to Sylvia in Till the Stars Come Down. In contrast, the feeling of wanting to stay, for fear of what may happen next, may also be relatable. These poles of emotion are strong, and it is in the myriad of this and everything in between, that becomes a tightrope linking a family together.

Directed by Anthony Skuse, and currently performing at KTX on Broadway, Till the Stars Come Down is a play about the complexities of family, grief, loyalties and love. Set in the deindustrialised working-class town Mansfield in the UK, the play takes place over the course of one day.

After a whirlwind romance, Sylvia (Imogen Sage) is marrying Polish immigrant Marek (Zoran Jevtik). Sylvia is one of a trio of sisters, and although each have very different personalities, they appear to be close. There’s a beautifully intimate scene where the sisters are lying on the floor, heads together and chatting, reminding me of either the innocence of making snow angels, or representative of the three of them combining to make a single star. I thought that maybe this was a subtle nod to the play’s title.

Hazel, (played with highly strung perfection by Ainsley McGlynn) is stuck in a job she finds boring, in a marriage where she feels unseen and consequently has a rather sharp tongue which seemed to be frequently aimed at her sister Maggie (Jane Angharad). Hedonistic and quadrupled married (twice to the same man, does that count as four times? “I only married him because he looked at me like I was a potato in a famine.”) lives elsewhere and had left Mansfield abruptly leading to the other sisters feeling somewhat abandoned. Angharad’s portrayal of Maggie was layered, and her lack of self-esteem as well as her desperate confusion in some parts of the play was admirable. Sage’s portrayal of bride Sylvia was sweet. She feels some guilt about moving out of home, having been a companion and career for her widowed father Tony (Peter Eyres).

The first half of the play is female led, and in the opening scene we are introduced to Sylvia’s living room by Hazel’s youngest daughter Sarah (Kira McLennon) zooming onto the stage, laughing with girlish innocence, and playing with a spacecraft. (I noted this may have been another cosmic nod to the play’s title) Hazel’s older daughter Leanne was also there, portrayed with just the right amount of teenage attitude by Amy Goedecke. Aunt Carol, (Jo Briant) arrives, a no-nonsense loveable character full of advice in the form of quick wit. On getting old, she says, “I’d like a bit more of the middle part” and speaks with the wisdom of a woman who has lived a colourful life. Briant was a standout scene stealer, particularly as she got more inebriated at the wedding and danced – the audience loved her!

During the wedding day, things start to become messy as Sylvia’s family reveal their racism and suspicion towards Marek. Hazel’s husband John (James Smithers) is unemployed and a kind offer by self-employed Marek is not received gracefully. An added layer at the table was Sylvia’s father and his estranged brother Peter (Brendan Miles). Tension built due to old resentments from past actions (disagreements during the time of the mining strikes) which billow around them.

Then, the beautiful wedding day descends into total family chaos.

Playwright Beth Steel has successfully written a script which gives a strong voice to all characters in fairly even measures; each have their own depth and inner struggles. The ensemble was cohesive, bringing their own character’s hidden raw emotions to the surface. This drew me into their lives and moved me. Although not an expert on accents, I believe all of the actors’ English East Midlands accents were flawless throughout this performance, kudos for this.

Composer and sound designer Layla Phillips brought the relevant era to the stage with the choice of pop songs and some original moving music throughout the play. Set designer James Smithers created a stage with minimalistic props. The wedding table and setting which appeared to have real food on the actors’ plates, along with the top bars that ran above the table was a highly effective use on the small stage. The intimate KXT Broadway was a good choice to house this play, and the casts’ clever involvement of the audience during one part added that extra bit of immersive sparkle to this production.

I loved Till the Stars Come Down! It is a hard-hitting play which explored many themes and circles back to love, life and ultimately surviving the day. It is a play which will stay with you for a long time – go see it!

Season: March 27 – April 11 2026 at the KXT Theatre Broadway
Run Time: 120 minutes with an interval
www.events.humanitix.com/til-the-stars-come-down

To book tickets to Till the Stars Come Down, please visit https://www.kingsxtheatre.com/till-the-stars-come-down.

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We Laughed, We Cried, We Grooved, We Swooned!

04/04/2026 Chantal Harrison Writer🥉

A Transgender Woman On The Internet, Crying Rating

★★★★★

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Wow. Yesterday was the International Day of Trans Visibility, and what better way to honour such an important occasion than by seeing Cassie Hamilton’s hyperpop musical, “A Transgender Woman on the Internet, Crying”.

I love the Old Fitz, not least because of the complete transformation of the set with every new show. This one was brilliantly done, with stylised graffiti and old skool speakers that pumped out the hyperpop hits. What is “hyperpop”? Thanks, Mouth_Feel, played by Rosie Rai, for answering that question. This is one of many questions raised, asked, and answered in this powerful and vulnerable piece of work; some you never thought to ask, some you should have thought to ask, and some most of us have no right to ask. All are handled with a delicate balance of truth through song, delivered with poignancy and emotion by this incredibly talented cast.

The story centres around Avis O’Hara, aka the DIY Doll, played by the epically talented writer and creator Cassie Hamilton. Avis has built an online platform by leaning into being “the right kind of trans”; with an emphasis on “right”, where those internalised self-hate pathways sometimes end up aligning. I first came across Cassie Hamilton in ATYP’s production of “Converted!” and was excited when this project was announced, eagerly awaiting a Sydney season. Even more so when two of my favourites, Blake Appelqvist (who I’ve been fangirling since Fangirls) and Teo Vergara (stole my heart in Jagged Little Pill), were announced, and it was a pleasure to make the acquaintance of the equally talented Rosie Rai. These four powerhouses bring their own unique authenticity and depth to their characters. Blake plays Corrin Verbeck, a left-tube vlogger who, along with besties Mouth_Feel and Sasha (Vergara), is sick of the toxic messaging by people like Avis and conspires to expose her.

It’s a classic frenemies-to-lovers story, but also a beautiful celebration and deeply moving collective healing and purging of complex trauma for one of the world’s most marginalised and persecuted groups of people. The foursome harmonise beautifully, with vocals (musical direction by Lillian Hearne) and choreography by Dan Ham and Riley Gill that allow each performer to shine.

Jean Tong’s direction is a real asset to the production, grounding and guiding the chaos with a deft hand. Tong allows high energy and spontaneity to flourish while maintaining a sharp pace and a strong emotional through line. There is a kind of guerrilla-theatre quality to the staging that feels entirely appropriate here, and the performers absolutely thrive within it. It is a confident, responsive directorial vision that gives the work room to be both playful and devastating.

The creative team deserves huge credit for the world they’ve built. Ruby Jenkins’ set is grungy, eye-catching, and feels like a playground for the characters to gleefully exist in. Rachel Lee and Nick Moloney’s lighting leans into cliché musical-theatre lighting state, and the work is better for it. Dan Ham’s choreography is crafted not only to capture each character’s movement, but to allow each performer to comfortably move within their abilities and fully relish the dance breaks. The lighting and sound design are engaging and responsive, with one of the most impactful moments coming when the production makes the brilliant choice of pure silence at a significant emotional peak.

The trans joy and journey are loud and proud, as they should be. But this work is also an important commentary on the fast-moving pace of online interaction, how quickly acceptance and encouragement can turn into control and isolation, and then just as easily flip into hatred and the dreaded “cancelling”. It highlights the impact of keyboard warriors and the knife’s edge of finding online belonging while surrendering freedom, autonomy, and authentic self-expression. It shines a dark light on the struggles many face when it comes to cyber culture, particularly in specific communities.

The audience was thoroughly engaged throughout. We laughed, we cried, we grooved, we swooned. This is a truly well-written, beautifully crafted show that is a must-see. I might just need to go along and see it again if I can manage to secure a ticket before they sell out.

To book tickets to A Transgender Woman On The Internet, Crying, please visit https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/a-transgender-woman-on-the-internet-crying.

Photographer: Brett Boardman

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