A journey back in time - tribute to Cat Stevens
Recently playing to standing ovations in prestigious venues such as The Sydney Opera House, two time Golden Guitar winner Darren Coggan is returning to amaze Brisbane audiences with a tribute to Cat Stevens from 17 September at QUT Gardens Theatre.
Learning the guitar at age six, Coggan started out as a professional country singer who released several albums including War Stories - a moving salute to the ANZACS. During this time he received compliments for his vocal resemblance to Cat Stevens which prompted him to explore the wonderful story of Stevens' personal journey
Back in the 70s Stevens was the ultimate rock star; talented, charismatic, with a seemingly endless succession of beautiful melodies streaming from his imagination. He sold more than 60 million albums worldwide and earned enough money to last several lifetimes but Stevens was discontent with fame and fortune, he wanted more out of life so at the height of his career he shocked the world by taking his last bow.
Peace Train - The Cat Stevens Story is a night of music and story-telling which will strike a chord deep inside the heart of anyone who longs for something more; a journey back in time, recreating the sights and sounds, seeking out the man in the music and telling the story behind the songs.
Hear twenty-three hits sung with remarkable authenticity by one of Australia's most exciting young artists, backed by a high-energy band. From Moonshadow, to Remember The Days Of The Old School Yard, Lady D'Arbanville, Sad Lisa, Father & Son and Peace Train.
This Cat Stevens' tribute traces the path of a man who never stopped wondering how to make the world a better place and Coggan does a remarkable job of taking us on a full theatrical experience with a positive and passionate narrative.
"Cat's timeless songs and his message of peace, tolerance and understanding are just as important in our world today as when they were first written, perhaps even more so" Darren says.
Presented by QUT Gardens Theatre and Peace Train Entertainment
Download "A journey back in time - tribute to Cat Stevens" Media Release
Family secrets and the nature of love and friendship
First McDonald and Szeps reunion since Mother and Son.
Mother and Son's Garry McDonald and Henri Szeps reunite in Lionel Goldstein's acclaimed drama Halpern and Johnson, a production about memories, love and finding the truth, playing at QUT Gardens Theatre from 9 September.
A sell-out production on its last tour reflects the chemistry McDonald and Szep's have shared has not waned since their Mother and Son days, however the actors must tackle more intense characters in Halpern and Johnson than the long-suffering son and materialistic dentist they played in the 1980s hit television show.
Halpern and Johnson begins with the classic grumpy old man, Joseph Halpern (Szeps) in emotional pain as he stands by the grave of his dearly loved and just deceased wife when he is approached by a stranger, Dennis Johnson (McDonald). As the two men talk, Johnson reveals an affection for Florence that is more than that for a dear, departed friend and in so doing uncovers more than just the secret of their relationship.
Szeps and McDonald are enjoying the "click" still there between them and Szeps likens their relationship to a pair of acrobats.
"When you are working with someone else, you prepare for the jump and then you do it and you have to trust the other person that they will catch you. This is how I feel when we work together. I know that if I take a risk, do a spin, Gaz will be there to see me land and vice versa," Szeps says.
A study of human relationships, Halpern and Johnson is an affectionate look at the roles we unwittingly play in life and the way we choose to reveal or disguise ourselves from our nearest and dearest.
This production is presented by Ensemble Theatre and is touring nationally.
Download Halpern & Johnson Media Release
Making a real difference to people's lives
One in five Australians will directly experience a mental illness in their lifetime, an experience which is deeply personal and often misunderstood. The award winning production Inside Out plays at QUT Gardens Theatre from 21 August and is a sensitive exploration of the vital issues surrounding mental illness.
Inside Out is a powerful story of love and insight into a young man's mind and his mother's struggle to understand and somehow find a way to help. Realities collide and lives are transformed in this compelling and touching drama of one family's experiences with mental illness.
Industry veteran Valerie Bader (East of Everything, All Saints) plays Sue, Simon's mother, and is joined by newcomer Benn Welford (a recent NIDA graduate) who plays Simon, the nineteen-year-old son.
Sue and Simon have always been close. Simon is talented, smart and loving - the perfect son, but creeping up on Sue is the realisation that something is wrong. The play traces the journey from the onset of Simon's symptoms, through to treatment and hope for the future.
Winner of the 2008 Rodney Seaborn Playwright's Award, Inside Out is an honest portrayal of mental illness which has the potential to assist in affecting attitudes towards those with health issues and producer Christine Dunstan claims that Inside Out is a testament to how good theatre can make a real difference to people's lives.
The 2009 Sydney premiere of Inside Out attracted acclaim from a diverse range of figures including Mental Health and Education leaders. One of the supporters included NSW Governor Marie Bashir who believes that productions like Inside Out help societies understand and change pre-conceived attitudes towards mental illness.
" ... Inside Out is an honest and meticulously researched depiction of mental illness and can assist in effecting change in attitude towards those with serious mental health problems," Bashir said.
Inside Out is a touring production and is presented by Christine Dunstan Productions.
Download Inside Out Media Release
Do you know a Lying Cheating Bastard?
Returning home from international success, James Galea plays the role of consummate card shark and magician in the one man show Lying Cheating Bastard, from 20 July at QUT Gardens Theatre.
Awarded Australia’s Best Close-Up Magician at the young age of 19, Galea went on to become a professional performer and was later awarded the prestigious Australian Magician of the Year award.
A smashing success in its sell out season in Sydney, Lying Cheating Bastard is an extraordinary induction into the murky world of gambling, gangsters and grift. Part mystery, part coming-of-age story, part demonstration of the finer arts of trickery this production showcases Galea’s astonishing feats of skill with cards and sleight of hand.
Inspired by actual events, Lying Cheating Bastard tells the tale of Jimmy Garcia aka ‘The Cricket’ and his rapid rise to the most successful con man in Australia by the tender age of 27. The story begins when Garcia encounters a veteran con man, renowned for cheating in poker games who later becomes Garcia’s greatest mentor and betrayer.
Featuring fascinating close-up projections of card scams live on stage, Galea presents the art of magic with a wicked sense of humour disarming audiences with his youthful charm and astonishing them with his talent.
Galea recently made his US TV debut on The Ellen Degeneres Show and has showcased his talents at the Flamingo Las Vegas and Hollywood’s Magic Castle. In Australia he continues to astound audiences with regular appearances on The Footy Show and Mornings with Kerri-Anne Kennerley.
Galea breathes new life into the dying art of magic, he has the same techniques as a professional card shark but uses them for entertainment rather than for real.
“I’m a magician, musician, actor, writer and pick-pocket and there aren’t many roles that utilise my various talents - so I created one. When I met Nicholas Hammond whilst working on a cruise ship, we got to talking about how I got started in my field, and nine months later, my story became the play” said Galea.
Lying Cheating Bastard is touring nationally and is presented by Soft Tread Enterprises.
Download Lying Cheating Bastard Media Release
Brissie boy Craig Ilott returns to direct Shakespeare Classic
Brisbane’s Craig Ilott returns home to direct the award winning reproduction of Shakespeare R&J, a fascinating and beautifully crafted interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, starting from 12 July at QUT Gardens Theatre.
Ilott, a QUT graduate is making a name for himself in Sydney theatre circles as one to watch; he was recently awarded Best Director at The Green Room Awards for Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Created in the spirit of The Dead Poet’s Society, Shakespeare’s R&J is passionate, violent, thrilling and theatrical, according to playwright Joe Calarco.
“By cutting the cast to four guys we’ve been able to explore the way men interact and how they view women, sex and masculinity. The concept of students in a private school was created in order to mirror Shakespeare’s Verona and the stifling, repressive, forbidden world that Romeo and Juliet inhabit” continued Joe Calarco.
The play is set in the repressive atmosphere of a Catholic boys boarding school where Shakespeare’s Romeo and
Juliet has been banned and four students sneak out at night to secretly explore the play for their own enjoyment. At first it’s just for laughs, but as the young men discover the themes of secret and forbidden love, they gradually immerse themselves in the roles.
Winner of the prestigious Lucille Lortel Award, R&J ran for 400 performances in New York City, the longest run of any production of Romeo and Juliet.
R&J features the talents of Julian Curtis, Ben Gerrard, Garth Holcombe, and Tom Stokes playing the four young students in this inventive Shakespeare interpretation.
Julian Curtis, a NIDA graduate has acted with companies throughout Australia appearing in Embers, 25 Down and Gallipoli and television shows Rescue Special Ops and East West 101.
No stranger to Shakespeare, Ben Gerrard and Garth Holcombe have both recently played in Bell Shakespeare’s Actors at Work. Holcombe has also appeared in Seven Network’s All Saints and Home and Away.
Children’s musical theatre based on award winning book
Monkey Baa’s enchanting new musical theatre production based on the award-winning Australian children’s book FOX is playing at QUT Gardens Theatre on 3-4 June.
The original story by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks has assumed classic status as a truly memorable piece which Monkey Baa has brought to life in a stunning dreamlike production using music, dance and drama.
FOX is a story of friendship, betrayal and transformation. Though permanently grounded by a burnt wing, Magpie discovers that riding atop her friend, one-eyed Dog, as he runs through the bush, feels almost the same as flying: “FLY, DOG, FLY! I will be your missing eye, and you will be my wings.”
This extraordinary adaptation features physical theatre, puppetry, shadow and movement work, projection, as well as a haunting operatic score that is sung by Sarah Jones. The performers tell the story of the three creatures through poetic and physical imagery.
Director, Kate Gaul says one of the challenges in theatrical adaptation is retaining the extraordinary poetry of the original story and bringing the powerful and multi-layered story book into the shared space of the performers and audience.
“There’s an amazing electricity generated between the human voice, body, image and the FOX story. Music is an incredible way to access emotions, inner landscapes and associations. This adaptation of FOX has transformed the static imagery into a work for the stage that is symbolic, present and alive,” said Gaul.
The cast of FOX includes Jane Phegan (Distance, Deeply Offensive & Utterly Untrue, This Kind of Ruckus) who flies as Magpie, David Buckley (The Full Monty, Midlight the Musical, The Lotus Eaters), as the loyal Dog,
and Jay Gallagher (The Removalists, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, All Saints) who plays the lonely and
mysterious Fox.
Chat-line girls with dusters, attitude and a seniors concession!
Starring three of Australia’s favourite actresses, Maggie King, A Country Practice’s ‘Logie Winner’ Joan Sydney and Anne Phelan, Dirty Dusting is a hilarious look at sex and the over 70s! Playing at QUT Gardens Theatre from Monday 29 March, this must-see comedy broke box office records when it was first performed in the United Kingdom.
Dirty Dusting is the story of a trio of hard-working cleaners who are working part-time to supplement their pension. Their boss warns that they’re facing the axe but these
determined ladies won’t take threats of redundancy lying down.
The fun begins when these game ‘girls’ set up a phone sex service when the office is closed on weekends, known as ‘The Telephone Belles’. Their bosses don’t know about it, their
families would never guess and their very willing customers are none the wiser.
Best known for her seven year role as Matron Maggie Sloan on A Country Practice, Joan Sydney plays Gladys, a timid pom who dearly loves her husband, Billy. She isn’t keen on setting up ‘The Telephone Belles’, however it doesn’t take long for friend Elsie, played by Maggie King and Girl Guide leader, Olive, played by Anne Phelan to convince Gladys otherwise.
After working in the business for 53 years and making numerous appearances in Australian TV shows, Something in the Air, E Street, Mother and Son, Tracks of Glory, Mother and Son, All Saints and Neighbours, Sydney says that live comedy productions like Dirty Dusting are her favourite performances to be cast in.
“It’s lovely to work a live audience, to take them on a journey and leave them laughing,” Sydney said.
This trio might be past their best, beyond their sell-by date and over the hill but these cleaners show that age gets in the way of nothing. Dirty Dusting promises a night of scandal, friendship and light entertainment that will appeal to a broad range of audiences, regardless of their age and sex.
Dirty Dusting is presented by Ellis Productions and directed by Helen Ellis.
Pennies from Kevin: How K. Rudd saved us
The Wharf Revue team are celebrating their tenth year and once again bravely go to the pointy end of the comic schtick. This toe-tapping production, Pennies
from Kevin is sure to impress Brisbane audiences at QUT Gardens Theatre on 4-5 March. Fresh from its NSW tour, where the season was extended due to popular
demand, Pennies from Kevin delivers generously with wit, pace and punchiness which makes for a rude, vicious and deliciously funny performance.
Audience members will be impressed with this year’s revue, including 13 skits ranging from topics such as climate change, Indian students, the d-d-deficit and the Middle East troubles.
The Wharf Revue team have embraced the Rudd leadership and its comic potential, kick-starting the show with ‘Kevin Potter and the Lower Chamber of Secrets’, featuring Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard fighting the forces of the evil deficit at Hogwards. This sequence reminds us of the recent 2009 global financial crash, the one us Australians apparently didn’t have, because we got our Pennies From Kevin instead.
Other highlights from the show include;
• Canberra’s Got Talent
• The Democrats in Heaven
• Amanda Vanstone on her Roman Holiday - La Dolce Big-Eater
• Penny “K.D.” Wong sings Constant Cave-In
• Michelle sings why her guy Obama is the new black!
Written and created by Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott, and under Scott’s brilliant musical direction and piano work, Pennies From Kevin is a light hearted summary of a year of politics and current affairs through catchy tunes, political satire and spot on impersonations. Audiences will enjoy the Wharf Revue’s offensive, witty, and inane performance.
This tour is presented by the Sydney Theatre Company.
Gardens Theatre releases 2010 season
Gardens Theatre followed up this year’s bumper season with the release of their
2010 season shows, which were announced last night at the annual ‘Gardens Theatre Friends Party’, attended by 400 Brisbane theatre lovers.
The 2010 season is the biggest season yet and is sure to please with a mix of
comedy, music, drama and some favourite classics. The announcement of the
2010 shows proved popular with the audience who queued out the door to buy subscription packages.
Gardens Theatre subscription prices remained the same and subscribers enjoyed
VIP benefits such as discounted offers on pre-show dining at Merlo Kitchen,
free tickets to QUT Showcase productions, complimentary parking (for professional season evening and weekend performances) and
access to booking the best seats in the house.
2010’s season begins with Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf Revue: Pennies from Kevin, a must-see for your own stimulus package.
The season continues with comedy production Dirty Dusting, starring Maggie King and Joan Sydney, the story of a trio of hard-working cleaners who are facing the axe but refuse to take threats of redundancy lying down.
Craign Ilott directs the insightful and beautifully crafted Shakespeare’s R&J, a
’s classic tragedy. In 2001 this production was acclaimed in its premiere season at the Sydney Opera House Studio and set records on Broadway as the longest run of any production of Romeo and Juliet.
For intriguing entertainment it is hard to go past the autobiographical Lying Cheating Bastard, the story of infamous con-man and master magician James Galea, who is drawn into the seedy underbelly of Sydney and how he became the most successful con-man in Australia by the age of 27.
The award winning play Inside Out is the story of a mother and her struggle to understand her son, a story that any parent will empathise with.
Halpern & Johnson reunites Garry McDonald and Henri Szeps in a virtuoso piece about loyalty and betrayal that you mustn’t miss.
We celebrate the music and life of Cat Stevens in Peace Train with the extraordinary talent of Darren Coggan and a full band and the season concludes with the much-loved Driving Miss Daisy.
The eight shows on offer from next March to October during Gardens Theatre’s professional season are:
Pennies from Kevin: Wharf Revue | 4-5 March
Dirty Dusting | 29-31 March
Shakespeare’s R&J | 12-17 July
Lying Cheating Bastard | 20-21 July
Inside Out | 21-23 August
Halpern & Johnson | 9-11 September
Peace Train | 17-18 September
Driving Miss Daisy | 14-16 October
QUT Gardens Theatre’s affordable 2010 subscriptions are available in standard and matinee-only packages comprising all shows or a choice of four or more shows and range from $68 to $224.
To subscribe online click here or call GardensTix on 07 3138 4455
