Flying in my gondola

Written by  Gordana Andjelic-Davila      Friday, 27 March 2015 16:22 Laughter, it's said, is the best medicine. Research has concluded that laughter reduces pain, brings down blood sugar levels and relieves stress. If this is true, then last night’s performances by comedian Russell Peters  and opening act  Gregg Rogell , cured all sorts of ailments, with the exception being sore cheeks. Canadian-Indian comedian  Russell Peters  was born and raised in Toronto, and, according to his recanting, he was clueless as to what career path he should pursue, until one day, he was thinking out loud to a friend, saying that he needed a job which would allow him to sleep all day, and work only a couple of hours in the evening. His friend suggested he become a comedian, so he went for it. Fast forward 26 years,  Peters  has been entertaining packed houses internationally longer than, some of his audience members have been walking the Earth, as he...

The Brunswick Music Festival , nearly three decades old and still one of Australia's most diverse and colourful festivals, has come to town, with many free and ticketed concerts and events, which are sure to impress even the most seasoned festival goer. I was fortunate to experience three (actually four, including Radical Son ) very different shows, which form part of the rich tapestry of the Brunswick Music Festival . Margaret Leng Tan Margaret Leng Tan caught my attention, because of the most unusual musical instrument(s) which she features in her repertoire.  Classically trained, Tan is revered as one of the most formidable pianists in modern music. In 1971 Tan became the first woman to earn a Doctorate in Musical Arts from New York’s Juilliard School. In 1981 Tan met John Cage, an American composer and pioneer of non-standard use of musical instruments, who influenced Tan ’s musical style, and can be credited for her consequent exploration and eventual p...

Photos – Belinda Strodder www.dancephotography.net.au After its huge success as a Disney animated film,  The Lion King  was reintroduced to audiences in 1997 as a musical, with music by  Elton John  and lyrics by  Tim Rice , along with  Hans Zimmer’s  musical score and choral arrangements by  Lebo M . Today,  The Lion King  musical is Broadway’s fourth longest-running show in history, and by grossing more than $1 billion, it is also the highest grossing Broadway production of all time. The Lion King  musical is similar to the original animated feature but it is not a verbatim interpretation, although this does not in any way hinder the storyline. Instead, the live performance is embellished by shadow south-east Asian puppetry, African-inspired intricate masks and costumes, nature details donned by actors, and elaborate mobile scenery. It all comes together so seamlessly, and might even look simple at times, but it is a display of ...

As if they stepped out of a fashion catalogue, the quartet who compose  Band of Magicians  – Justin Flom, Justin Willman, Nate Staniforth  and  James Galea  – look, talk and act completely different than any other visual illusionists out there. With the exception of the intro, the show was devoid of stereotypical laser, smoke and half naked magician’s assistants, it was obvious that  Band of Magicians  was going to take an alternate route to entertaining an eagerly awaiting Melbourne audience at the Crown’s Palms theatre. Sharing some magic secrets and showcasing an array of familiar tricks, gave the audience the illusion (yes, pun intended) of a somewhat predictable show – this of course was intentional so that the performance could experience a crescendo of sorts, and gradually increase its ooh-ah factor to a full-on awe level, causing the attendees to burst out in cheer. Besides performing as a team, each one of the magicians also dazzled with...

Left – Lilikoi Kaos and Circus-Oz band. Cover – Spenser Inwood. Photos – Rob Blackburn Locally grown and internationally recognised  Circus Oz are not known for their intimate shows, but since the recent move into their new permanent home in Collingwood, they have pitched a gorgeous old Spiegeltent and launched their latest show,  Close to the Bone .  With  Close to the Bone , the  Circus Oz  crew have deconstructed their large-scale production, squeezed it into The Melba Spiegeltent and are now performing something which is very much ‘in-your-face’ both in space as well as in style. With performers leaping off the minute stage nearly into the laps of audience members, and occasionally flashing body parts which would normally be neatly tucked away,  Close to the Bone  is a joy to experience. It’s like a condensed and intensified  Circus Oz  in one neat little morsel-like serving. Although the whole production was whipped up in just a few...

Left – Claudio Sgura and Martina Serafin. Cover – Claudio Sgura and Diego Torre. Photos –  Jeff Busby Giacomo Puccini’s  Tosca , based on the 1887 French-language dramatic play by Victorien Sardou, was originally set in the summer of 1800, in Rome, when the Kingdom of Naples was threatened by Napoleon’s invasion of Italy; a very turbulent and violent time. Opera Australia’s  latest rendition of  Tosca , is directed by one of Australia’s  most acclaimed theatre personalities, John Bell , who has set the opera, which some critics have referred to as ‘over-familiar’ even ‘old’, in an equally dangerous and brutal period in Italy, the German occupations of Rome of 1943. Martina Serafin  embodying  Tosca , and  Diego Torre  as her artist lover,  Cavaradossi , radiate a special chemistry, which is laden by jealousy as well as great affection. Their performance was thoroughly moving. “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore,” (I lived for art; I live...

If you are a child of the 80s you will recognize Rock the Casbah as a popular song by the English punk rock band, The Clash. And that’s where the similarity ends... or so it seems. The song, Rock the Casbah , gives an account of a ban on rock music, by a king who is being defied by his kingdom’s population. The king orders jet fighters to bomb anyone who violates the ban, but the pilots ignore the orders. The Clash based their 1982 top 40 songs on the ban of Western music in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The film Rock the Casbah is not about Iran, nor is it about its Islamic Revolution, but it does have a so-to-speak king, and his “population” does indeed revolt against his rules. In this case, the “king,” Moulay Hassan ( Omar Sharif ) is a respected entrepreneur and the patriarch of an affluent Moroccan family. Hassan unexpectedly suffers a cardiac arrest and dies, leaving behind his grieving wife Aicha ( Hiam Abbass ), three daughters and a brother to tend to h...