Loving Lloyd Webber; concert review

Adelaide's Swamp Fairy is an innovative theatre production company, staging musical and cabaret entertainment throughout South Australia.

'Loving Lloyd Webber' is Swamp Fairy's latest offering and following successful performances in regional South Australia, 'Loving Lloyd Webber' comes to Adelaide with Rosanne Hosking, Nic Lock and Rachel McCall providing all the favourites from Andrew Lloyd Webber's best musicals.

Fairy's Musical Magic by Linh

'Loving Lloyd Webber' is definitely for those who love musicals, particulary Andrew Lloyd Webber musical productions.

Staged in the intimate theatrette of The Annex at the Queen's Arms Hotel, 'Loving Lloyd Webber' showcases all the best and favourite musical songs from 'Phantom Of The Opera', 'Sunset Boulevard', 'Cats', 'Jesus Christ Superstar', 'Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat', 'Evita' and 'Song And Dance'.

The cast of three talented Adelaide performers, provides an aural treat as they cover a spectrum of love songs, famous hits and popular duets, trios and solo performances.

Vocal tutor, producer and singer Rosanne Hosking is stunning in a sparkling red evening dress as she sways onstage and is in brilliant voice throughtout. Rosanne is moving and alluring with With One Look, is persuasive and emotional in Don't Cry For Me Argentina. Her heart wrenching performance of Tell Me On A Sunday is stirring.

Rachel McCall is glamourous in glittering white attire as she dances with Nic Lock in Music Of The Night, and provides wonderful backing vocals for Rosanne in Take That Look Off Your Face and Another Suitcase In Another Hall. Her duet with Nic Lock in All I Ask of You is a crowd favourite and her rendition of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again displays her vocal versatility.

Singer Nic Lock shows diversity and vocal flexibility as he combines some comedy to his performance. The magnificence of his voice is evident in his vocal range tackling all the high notes in Music Of The Night with ease, he displays charm in Any Dream Will Do and adds some cheekiness to Sunset Boulevard.

Set as a mini-concert with recorded music backing, the trio of performers seem comfortable yet underprepared at times. It may be due to clothing mishaps, sound/technical inadequacies or the concert starting fifteen minutes late.

Despite the minor hitches, 'Loving Lloyd Webber' was enjoyable and encouraged audience members to sing along. With so many familiar songs, it was a feel good night of fun entertainment for lovers of musical theatre.

Doubt - theatre review

COMPELLING: Jennifer Flowers and Christopher Gabardi in a scene from Doubt. Photo: Shane Reid.


Vice and Virtue by Linh

The State Theatre Company of South Australia presents a Sydney Theatre Company production of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play Doubt. Set in the Bronx during 1964 in St. Nicholas Catholic Church and School, the four character play deals with a nun's case against a priest she suspects of abusing a child's trust, and her personal conflict between faith and doubt.

The controversial undertones of child abuse and molestation within the church as a subject matter, makes Doubt thought provokingly powerful and leaves the audience doubtful as to who's guilty of anything.

The small ensemble cast superbly handles the text with sophistication and every character shines in this brilliantly crafted play.

Adelaide actress Kate Box portrays the angelic voiced Sister James with much innocence and a trusting nature. She adds passion to Sister James who wishes to connect with her students and convey an enthusiasm in teaching History.

Stage, film and television actor Christopher Gabardi plays the handsome and charming priest, Father Flynn with much charisma and is consistently suave throughout. He delivers Father Flynn's parabolic sermons with some seriousness yet at times is tongue in cheek. His character's personal interest in the Catholic School's only Negro child, Donald Muller, provides the play's catalyst of doubts and allegations.

A graduate of London's Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Pamela Jikiemi gives a strong and assured performance as Donald's mother. The only character who doesn't harbour any doubts about anyone or anything, Mrs Muller seems unconcerned about Father Flynn's involvement with her son when questioned by Sister Aloysius.

Actor, director and multi-award winner Jennifer Flowers delivers a stunning performance as Sister Aloysius, the Principle of St. Nicholas Catholic School.
Jennifer shows Sister Aloysius' faith and dedication to her Church, while revealing a sharp wit and humour. It's a fascinating creation of how one woman's tiny seed of doubt can blossom into mistrust and hurt upon others, as well as herself.

John Patrick Shanley's script engages the audience without providing any concrete answers and Director Julian Meyrick helps glide the characters smoothly from one scene to another. Doubt leaves the audience wondering if blind faith is enough to bring someone to justice if moral certainty is lacking.

30th Anniversary of Maria Callas' Death

The Callas Legend Lives On by Linh

On September 16, 1977 opera soprano Maria Callas passed away due to heart failure, in her Paris apartment with her maid and butler by her bedside, aged 53.

Thirty years after her death, Maria Callas' influence remains and her albums continue to sell worldwide.

Maria Callas' appeal lies in her enigmatic presence onstage during her opera career, as well as her extraordinary contribution to the dramatic interpretation of opera. Callas was credited with bringing back the numerous roles in neglected operas such as Norma, Medea, Il Pirata, Anna Bolena and La Sonnambula due to her musical influence and artistic capabilites.

We are fortunate to have many of Maria Callas' recordings, where her phenomenal gift of acting with her voice is clearly evident. However, many of the recordings don't do Callas full justice with standards of past audio technology failing to capture the boundless qualities of her voice.

Callas was capable of moving freely from one vocal category to another - coloratura soprano, dramatic, lyric and in her later years, mezzo-soprano.
Her considerable and rapid weight loss and the desire to sing virtually every voice part, may have contributed to her vocal decline. Critics have believed Callas had damaged her voice by stretching it in this manner. Further controversy followed when she began a nine year love affair with Aristotle Onassis, and her alleged diva antics upsetting colleagues.

Love her or loathe her, Callas is unsurpassed as an operatic artist, musician and performer. Maestro Nicola Rescigno, who conducted many of Callas' recitals and operas, best describes her success, "I think the secret of Maria Callas was her willpower. Maria Callas was born with all sorts of disadvantages. Her voice was not of the most beautiful quality, and still, she made this instrument the most expressive, the most telling, the most true to the music that she interpreted."

Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte; opera buffa review

CHEATING PARTNERS:Desiree Frahn, Robert MacFarlane and Lisa Cannizzaro. Photo: Roy Van Der Vegt.



The University of Adelaide's Elder Conservatorium of Music, in association with the Adelaide Centre for the Arts, presents one of Mozart's most light-hearted opera buffa 'Cosi Fan Tutte (All Women Are Like That)'.

The plot revolves around a wager between a bachelor, who believes all women are the same in matters of love, and two young handsome men who believe their fiancees will remain faithful to them. The pair agree to test their maidens' love by pretending to go off to war, then posing as Latin lovers. Meanwhile, the bachelor bribes the ladies' chambermaid in urging the women to find other lovers while their men are away.

The production is directed by Juha Vanharkartano with Carl Crossin as Musical Director, sung in English and staged at the Adelaide University's Little Theatre.

Lovely Ladies Like Those by Linh

Mozart's two act comic opera 'Cosi Fan Tutte (All Women Are Like That)' is musically enchanting and Lorenzo da Ponte's elegantly poetic libretto has been translated to English without losing any of its expressive beauty.

The opera is set in 1967, with the Vietnam War as the backdrop and enhanced with the stage images and minimalistic set, designed by students from the Adelaide Centre of the Arts.

The strong and talented cast of six brings forth their characters' humour and acts of infidelity with much professionalism in an opera with plenty of songs in duets, trios and quintets.

Bass singer Lachlan Scott plays the cynical and jaded bachelor Don Alfonso, with the right amount of smarminess and sings his parts superbly in May The Wind Be Gentle with Dorabella and Fiordiligi, All Women Are Like That with Ferrando and Guglielmo, and his aria Oh, Poor Little Ones, To Wager 100 Sequins on A Woman.

Tenor Robert MacFarlane is dashing and convincing as the young Ferrando who is heart broken when his lovely Dorabella succumbs to the charms of the disguised Guglielmo. Robert is brilliant in voice throughout his arias A Loving Breath, hitting all the incredibly high notes in Ah, I See It, brings warmth and sincerity in his duet In The Embraces with Fiordiligi.

Talented soprano Lisa Cannizzaro performs the role of Fiordiligi with conviction as she portrays her character's struggles to remain faithful to Guglielmo, while enjoying the romantic overtures of the disguised Ferrando. Lisa has brilliant vocal projection, displaying a scintillating singing voice in her parts for You Take The Darker One with Dorabella and her arias Please, My Beloved, Forgive Me and Like A Rock.

Soprano Desiree Frahn is sublime as the fickle Dorabella who easily falls for her sister's fiance, the disguised Guglielmo. In a mezzo-soprano role, Desiree sings mellifluously in her aria Torments Implacable, and her duet I Give You My Heart with Guglielmo.

Baritone Jeremy Tatchell brings charm and arrogance to his character Guglielmo, as he woos the steadfast Fiordiligi while boasting of his manliness. Jeremy is alluring in voice as he sings his arias Don't Be Shy!, and My Ladies, You Do It To So Many.

Soprano Daniela Jedrzejczak provides the most quirkiest and delightful moments as the character Despina, the sisters' chambermaid. Daniela is sensational as her character appears in various diguises as the Doctor and the Marriage Celebrant, while delivering her arias with comic timing and panache in A Fifteen Year Old Woman and In Men, In Soldiers, You Hope For Faithfulness?.

The production engaged the audience with characters Don Alfonso placing his hat and his coat on unsuspecting members of the audience, and Despina passing around confetti as Dorabella and Fiordilgi prepared for the marriage celebrations.

Director Juha Vanhakartano makes the most of the Little Theatre's intimate setting, with the cast members sitting in the aisles or scaling the stairs throughout the performance.

Musical Director Carl Crossin works his magic with Mozart's stylish score as the 'Cosi Fan Tutte Ensemble' gives stellar instrumental support to the singers.

Tenor No Longer In The House

Operatic Great Departs by Linh

Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti has succumbed to pancreatic cancer in Italy today at the age of 71.

Pavarotti passed away with his wife, daughters, sister and close friends by his bedside, in his birth town of Modena in Italy.

He was one of the most enigmatic singers who enthralled and excited audiences with his high Cs and magnificent voice. Pavarotti was the most well known of the Three Tenors alongside Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, and made his final stage appearance in 2006, before undergoing surgery this year.

A funeral will be held for Pavarotti in Modena on Saturday 8, with celebrities expected to attend including U2's Bono and film director Franco Zeffirelli.


Video tribute to Luciano Pavarotti. Source:YouTube.com/Aliceangel77