THE METAVERSE - Ausdance ACT 2026 Youth Dance Festival.

                 THE METERVERSE - Ausdance ACT 2026 Youth Dance Festival.

                    Performance on 29th October reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Trinity Catholic College, Goulburn, performing "lost in the Signal

For more than 40 years, Ausdance ACT has staged the annual Youth Dance Festival. In that time the event has become one of the ACT’s longest running and most significant arts programs.

This year the non-competitive event was staged in the Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse, where over three night more than 700 secondary students from across Canberra and the ACT participated in the non-competitive event.   

Attending the final night, the immediate impression was how much the overall quality of the presentations had improved, no doubt due to dance being included in the curriculum of the participating schools and colleges.

Participating on this night were troupes representing Trinity Catholic College in Goulburn, Kingsford Smith School, Hawker College and Narrabundah College. Some institutions fielded more than one troupe including Amaroo School, St John Paul 11 College, Gungahlin College and Erindale College, all offering works responding to this year’s theme, “The Metaverse”.

The variation of interpretations of the theme was fascinating, but in all cases obvious thought and much rehearsal had gone into preparing each offering for an impressively presented program in which twelve widely varying works were presented in a little over an hour.

Trinity Catholic College, Goulburn, performing "Lost in the Signal"

Commencing the program, Trinity College Goulburn set a high bar with their work for which all the dancers were costumed in chic black and white leotards. Danced on a black-draped stage, their cleverly choreographed work was notable for its well-rehearsed presentation and effective use of hand-held lights.

The first of two works from Gungahlin College followed. “Infiltrated”, performed by 10 dancers from Year 12, costumed in white shorts and painted tops, featured striking use of shadows. The second, “The Disconnect”, performed by Year 11 students, wearing short, beaded skirts, closed the program. Both were notable for the originality of the demanding, well-danced choreography.

Amaroo School also offered two works.  “Back in My Day” was performed by a large troupe of Year 8 dancers costumed in blue shorts, white shirts and black ties, offered a light-hearted look back at dance styles through the years. Their second item, performed later in the program by another large contingent of years 9 & 10 students wearing black pants and various shades of pink tops, was entitled “Dress to Impress”.

Erindale College performing "Reconnected". 

The first of two items by Erindale College, a cleverly choreographed, scrupulously rehearsed work entitled “Reconnected” was performed by year 10-11-12 girls in black costumes highlighted with glimpses of bright colour. Their second offering “Piece of Me” performed by year 11-12 students costumed in black and white, commented on the influence of technology, through inventive choreography featuring impressive unison floor work.  

Kingsford Smith School performing "System Override"

Kingsford Smith School chose playful, multi-coloured costumes for its dancers to interpret the possibility of being trapped in virtual reality. Entitled “System Override”, the team included four male rap-dancers and ended with a cleverly integrated tableau.

Perhaps the most moving work of the night was performed by eight final year students from St John Paul 11 College, entitled “Archive: Class of 2026”.  For the duration of the work the students sat on stage watching a filmed montage of their experiences and achievements during their school years, ending with the students departing the stage to commence new lives.

St John Paul 11 College performing "Finding My Frequency"

A second work from St John Paul 11 College, entitled “Finding My Frequency” was performed by years 7 – 12 students.  A light-hearted look at diverse dance styles over the years, this work featured well danced examples of various dance genres, among them ballet and tap dance.

Hawker College performing "Unmasked"

Hawker College contribution, “Unmasked”, performed by dancers wearing gold masks over sequined tops and black pants, encouraged viewers to discard their masks and reveal their real selves.

Narrabundah College performing "Escape the Metaverse"

Narrabundah College offered “Escape the Metaverse” performed by 8 girls in shiny white costumes with a lone male desperately trying to find his place.

As the multitude of dancers who had performed in this night’s program filed on to the stage for their final bows, it was impossible not to be impressed by the realisation of the amount of time, skill and commitment that had been poured into staging this performance.

Not only by the indefatigable team at Ausdance ACT, but also the choreographers, teachers, costumiers, creatives and of course the young dancers themselves who, for the privilege of representing their school or college, had spent long hours perfecting the impressive ensemble works presented over the three nights of the festival.

                                                    Photos by Andrew Sikorsky

 

GYPSY - A Musical Fable - Queanbeyan Players - The Q.

 

Emma White (Rose) - Elodie Sweett (Little Louise) - Matilda Hutchinson (Baby June) - "Gypsy"

Book by Arthur Laurents - Music by Jule Styne - Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Directed by Jude Colquhoun – Musical Direction by Brigid Cummins

Set Designed by Jude Colquhoun – Costumes designed by Suzan Cooper

Lighting designed by Zac Harvey – Sound Design by Telia Jansen

The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre -October 30^th to November 8, 2026

Opening night performance on 30^th October reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Emma White as Rose in Queanbeyan Players production of "Gypsy"

 The role of Rose in the musical Gypsy is considered the Holy Grail for most musical theatre leading ladies.

Written specifically for Ethel Merman, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the storyline for Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoir of striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee.

The musical however focusses on Lee’s mother, Rose, and her efforts to live her life through her two daughters, June and Louise. The character of Louise is based on Lee, while June is based on Lee’s sister, actress June Havoc.

When Gypsy premiered on Broadway in 1959, American theatre critic Frank Rich described the musical as “nothing if not Broadway’s own brassy, unlikely answer to King Lear”, while Clive Barnes described Rose as “one of the few truly complex characters in the American musical”.

In Queanbeyan Player’s production, directed and designed by Jude Colquhoun, with costumes by Suzan Cooper, Rose is played by Emma White, who certainly has the clarion voice of a Merman, and is a formidable actress who manages to make the audience care about Rose despite her “take no prisoners” determination to make her daughters theatrical “stars” whatever the cost.

Steven Galinec (Herbie) - Emma White (Rose) 

However, White’s propensity to drop her voice suddenly during important speeches, therefore denying her audience significant information, along with an unsettling tendency to shout into her microphone during tense moments, weakened the impact of her otherwise excellent performance.

Paris Ellis (Dainty June) - Emily Pogson (Louise/Gypsy)

Emily Pogson makes Louise’s transition from talentless ‘spare’ to sophisticated burlesque queen, believable, while Paris Ellis, faced with the formidable challenge of following diminutive Matilda Hutchinson as Baby June, still managed to charm with her portrayal of the maturing Dainty June, the favoured daughter who escapes her mother’s clutches.

Steven Galinec brought a natural charm and fine singing voice to his performance as the ever-reliable, Herbie, while Alissa Pearson, offered a scene-stealing double-act in contrasting roles, first as the efficient Miss Cratchet, before lighting up the stage as stripper Electra when she joined Aleisha Croxford as Tessie Tura, and Sarah Hull as Mazeppa to enlighten the audience to the key to success as a stripper with “You Gotta Get A Gimmick”.

Allisa Pearson (Electra) -Aleisha Croxford (Tessie Tura) - Sara Hull (Mazeppa)

To do justice to the show’s superb score, which contains such classics as Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Small World, Together Wherever We Go, and Let Me Entertain You, Queanbeyan Players has mounted an excellent 22-piece orchestra, under the baton of Brigid Cummins.

But the decision to place the orchestra onstage, visible throughout the entire show, provided a series of visual impediments which compromised the success of the production.

Apart from making nonsense of Rose’s instructions to the orchestra, delivered to the orchestra pit in front of her, with the orchestra clearly behind her, it gave the show the appearance of being a concert version, rather than a full theatrical presentation.

Scenic elements were bundled on and off, in full view of the audience, lessening their impact, continually interrupting the pace of the show, and despite everyone’s best efforts, providing the show with an overall scrappy appearance, despite the spectacular lighting design by Zac Harvey.

Also, although the orchestra sounded magnificent once it settled on opening night, it was a shame that the celebrated overture got off to a shaky start, sounding under-rehearsed with significant sound balance issues.

A shame, given that the overture is the first thing the audience hears and therefore provides the all-important first impression of what is to follow.

Nevertheless, Queanbeyan Players is to be applauded for taking on the challenges and providing a welcome opportunity to experience one of Broadway’s most celebrated musicals.

 

                                               Photos by Janelle McMenamin

 

  This review first published in the digital edition of City News on 30.10.2026. Link Here

 

  

GYPSY A MUSICAL FABLE

 

 

 Gypsy A Musical Fable. Book by Arthur Laurents. Music by Jules Styne. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Directed by Jude Colquhoun. Choreography by Belinda Hassall. Musical Director Brigid Cummins. Assistant Director Christina Philipp. Production Managers Inge Kent and May Kent. Repetiteur Brigid Cummins. Stage Manager Justine Ramsay. Costume Designer Suzan Cooper. Properties Master Pip Russell Brown. Lighting Designer Zac Harvey (Eclipse). Sound Designer Telia Jansen (Eclipse) Queanbeyan Players. The Q Theatre. October 30 – November 8. Bookings: www.theq.net.au 

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins.

 

Emily Pogson is Gypsy Rose Lee

 

Vaudeville is dying. America is hit with the Great depression. The Talkies are the new rage. It is against this backdrop that Mama Rose (Emma White) battles to make her youngest daughter Baby June (Matilda Hutchinson) a star on the vaudeville circuit. Rose is the archetypal stage mother and White plays her with all the passion, perseverance and interfering tenacity of a bull terrier pushing daughters Little Louise (Elodie Sweett) and Baby June under the noses of producers across the country. Rose has a dream and it’s gonna come true baby. The years go by and Mama Rose keeps pushing Louise (Emily Pogson) and Dainty June (Paris Ellis) with the same old spiel of Let Me Entertain You.  But as her practical admirer Herbie (Steve Galinec) keeps reminding her the times are changing. But Rose has a dream and no candy selling man or producer will stop her from making sure that Everything’s Coming up Roses, even if Louise’s stardom must be found as a last resort in the emerging showbiz world of burlesque.

Elodie Sweett is Little Louise. Matilda Hutchinson as Baby June

 

 Gypsy has been hailed as the Mother of All Musicals and Queanbeyan Players’ production, directed effectively by Jude Colquhoun, choreographed faithfully by Belinda Hassall and musically directed with affection for the era by Brigid Cummins have preserved the spirit and flavour of a bygone era. Gypsy is the original American bio-musical, telling the true-life story of Queen of the Burlesque Gypsy Rose Lee. Since then musical creators such as Lloyd-Weber and Rice, Shoenberg and Boubil and Sondheim have drawn on historical characters and events to create their work.  Queanbeyan Players’ creative team have been faithful to Jerome Robbins’s original 1956 production.

Steven Galinec as Herbie. Emma White as Rose, Emily Pogson as Louise 

 

From the moment the plush red curtain slowly rises on the orchestra in full view at the back of the Q Theatre stage we are reminded of the big band era of the Twenties and Thirties and under Brigid Cummins’s musical direction the outstanding orchestra does the era and Jules Syne’s composition full justice. The whizz bang technical wizardry of many of today’s big stage musicals is replaced by simple placards or roll in roll out settings to denote the action of the musical. To some it may appear dated. To me it appeared endearing and genuine, allowing the performances and Styne’s music and Sondheim’s lyrics to entertain us. Only the use of miking gave a nod to the modern musical. It certainly allows White to belt out Everything’s Coming Up Roses with full throttled feeling and vocal dynamism, but there are moments where I would have liked to hear a natural, heartfelt rendition of the musical’s fabulous melodies. It does achieve that sensitivity in Pogson’s Litle Lamb, White’s Small World and Some People. Hassall’s choreography also captures the essential simplicity and charm of Gypsy’s natural vitality of the Toreadorables number or endearing rustic comedy of Dainty June and her Farmboys.

Rose's Toreadorables in Gypsy

 

 In Queanbeyan Player’s production, every number is a hit from a showstopping Rose’s Turn to the farcical Mr Goldstone or Dainty June and Louise’s desperate plea If Mama Was Married and the stripper’s number You Gotta Get A Gimmick with Aleisha Croxford, Alissa Pearson and Sarah Hull. Hassall’s choreography lends whimsy and longing to Tulsa’s dance routine, performed by Ash Syme with Pogson.

Paris Ellis as Dainty June. Emily Pogson as Louise in Gypsy

 

There are fine performances from the cast, including Galinec’s forlorn suitor Herbie, who brings certain pathos to the story as he confronts rejection of his marriage proposal. White captures the blind stubbornness of Rose’s blinkered ambition, risking the loss of an audience’s sympathy which is given to Herbie. But Rose is a survivor, a battler of the era and ironically responsible for Louise’s eventual career. 

Emma White as Rose

 

There is excellent support from an irritatingly precocious and puppeteered Hutchinson as Baby June and her manipulated older self Dainty June, played by Ellis. But it is Pogson’s performance as Louise that is utterly galvanizing. As the gawky, insecure second banana to sister June, apple of her mother’s eye, Pogson exudes an air of low self esteem. There is pathos in her routine with Tulsa as she is forced to realize her mother’s dream after June’s departure. It is played with enormous sensitivity by Pogson. However it is her transition from wallflower to glittering queen of the burlesque that makes Gipsy Rose Lee’s ugly duckling story such a powerful metaphor for the American Dream. Pogson bewitches not only in the art of burlesque but as a symbol of hope for any dreamer. The irony is palpable and in Queanbeyan Players’ production of the classic musical and forerunner of a new generation of inspired musicals looks back and may well ask what dreams lie ahead for an AI generation of musicals.

Emma White as Rose. Emily Pogson as Gypsy Rose Lee

 

Baby June asks nothing more than Let Me Entertain You. Let Me Make You Smile. You will leave this production entertained, smiling and humming such classic numbers as Together We Go after an old fashioned evening of great entertainment.

Photos by Janelle McMenamin.

 

 

GYPSY: A MUSICAL FABLE

Book by Arthur Laurents

Music by Jule Styne

Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Directed by Jude Colquhoun

Queanbeyan Players production

The Q, Queanbeyan to 8 November

 

Reviewed by Len Power 30 October 2026

 

Considered one of the best musicals of all time, Gypsy opened on Broadway in 1959 and has had numerous revivals ever since.

A fiercely determined stage mother struggles to make stars of her children in vaudeville in the 1930s at a time when vaudeville was giving way to talking pictures. In real life, one daughter, June, had a long career on stage and in movies as June Havoc. The other daughter, Louise, became a star in burlesque as the stripper, Gypsy Rose Lee. The musical was suggested by her 1957 published memoirs.

The focus of the show is squarely on the mother, Mama Rose, providing one of the dream roles in musicals. To quote from the prologue of Gypsy’s memoir, “Mama had been many things, but she had never been nice. She was, in her words, a jungle mother”.

In this production, Emma White as Rose was too much the warm mother when she needed to be a formidable presence getting her way with family as well as others. Only in an argument about a whether to accept a stage contract, did the real Rose come through. A more than capable singer, White performed her songs well, but her final cathartic song, Rose’s Turn, would have been more enlightening about her character if she had been hard as nails throughout the show.

Emma White as Rose

A highlight of the show was the staging of the vaudeville numbers by Baby June and her Newsboys and the growing Dainty June and Her Farmboys. Young Matilda Hutchinson was a standout with her performance of Baby June and Paris Ellis was also delightful as the older Dainty June.  Belinda Hassall’s choreography for these songs captured the essence of vaudeville.

Matilda Hutchinson as Baby June

Emily Pogson as Louise and, later, Gypsy, was particularly effective with her singing of Little Lamb and in her transition to Gypsy, the stripper. Her performance showed a deep understanding of her role.

Emily Pogson as Gypsy Rose Lee

There were also good performances by Steven Galinec as Herbie, Ash Syme as Tulsa, Alissa Pearson as the harried Miss Cratchet and Aleisha Croxford in her very funny characterisation of the stripper, Tessie Tura.

Croxford, Pearson and Sarah Hull brought the house down with their courageous and hilarious performances as the strippers in You Gotta Get A Gimmick.

The large orchestra, conducted by Brigid Cummins had a bit of a wobbly start with the Overture but played well thereafter. The decision to have the orchestra seen through much of the show behind the performers was often distracting.

The sound design by Telia Jansen was well-balanced and Zac Harvey provided some impressive lighting effects. Suzan Cooper designed the many colourful and dazzling costumes.

While more attention needed to be given by the director to the pace and energy of the show, it was a rare and entertaining opportunity to see this famous musical.

 

Photos by Janelle McMenamin

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.

 

  

AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS

 

Around The World In Eighty Days.

Adapted from the novel by Jules Verne by Mark Brown. 

Directed by James Scott. Puppeteer Deni Dominguez. Costumes Ange Fewtrell. Technical Operators Lucy Yang-Tobler and Caspian Scott. Program Design JC Alavazo. Indian Dialect Coach Srsethsa Banerjee. Honest Puck Productions.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Brendan Kelly as Phileas Fogg. Pema Yogini Yuphel as Aouda
Jack Morton as Passepartout in Around The World in Eighty Days

Leo Amadeus in one of his 13 roles

As a child I devoured the novels of Jules Verne and none more so than Around The World in Eighty Days. Later I was utterly engrossed in Mike Todd’s Todd-AO masterpiece on the wide screen. I was delighted then to find that I was as enchanted by Mark Brown’s adaptation of Phileas Fogg’s journey in Honest Puck’s simple and yet absolutely captivating stage production of Jules Verne’s adventure story. As a child it was the adventure that kept me enthralled as Fogg and his companion Passepartout faced the risks and challenges of completing the journey in order to win a wager of 20000pounds from his fellow members of London’s prestigious and progressive Reform Club. It was the thrill of the bet, the suspense of the race against the clock, the pursuit by the ridiculous Detective Fix, the heroic rescue of the Indian princess Aoda and the twist at the end that brought the adventure to a happy ending.

As an adult, swept along by Honest Puck’s tightly directed and well energetically performed production, I was aware of  Verne’s keen perception of human behaviour. It is money that drives men’s motives and money that buys solutions. Fogg’s perseverance against all odds inspired by a sense of duty, honour and punctuality wins the day. Director James Scott capitalizes on every opportunity to demonstrate Verne’s mockery of the British, the French, the law, religion and arranged marriage. What Scott and his company achieve is a show that is fun for the entire family.

Leo Amadeus in one of his 13 roles in
Around The World In Eighty Days

In Honest Puck’s new premises, surprisingly tucked away in a corner between a group of shops in Reed Street Tuggeranong, Scott cleverly manages to capture the obsession with time, the  moments of suspense and danger with Deni Dominguez’s shadow puppetry and an elephant head and trunk. The versatile cast of five also play multiple roles as well as narrating the action at times, so as to keep the action moving quickly from scene to scene. Actor Leo Amadeus gives a mercurial performance as he slips into a host of different characters. It is a performance brimming with chameleon surprise. There are fine performances from the entire cast. Brendan Kelly is every bit the reserved, conservative but dutiful British gentleman, calm and controlled in every situation. Only his bleak black costume and long hair tended to belie his aristocratic manner. Jack Morton’s Passepartout is a tour de force clownish performance, capturing the foolishness of the bumbling servant with the devotion to his master and his duty. His performance was a joy to watch. Pema Yogini Yuphei gave an enchanting performance as the sweet and innocent Indian Princess rescued by Passepeartout from her awful predicament. Vocally her delivery could have been stronger. Director Scott also plays the bumbling woebegone Detective Fix, hot on the heels of his suspected bank robber. It is a cleverly underplayed performance, lending a touch of pathos to Fix’s unlucky pursuit.

James Scott as Detective Fix. Jack Morton as Jean Passepartout

Honest Puck’s Around The World In Eighty Days marks a welcome return by this company to Canberra theatre after an absence of a couple of years . The production of Mark Brown’s adaptation  is true to the novel that I read so voraciously and the company extracts every moment of suspenseful adventure and hilarity in a performance that will delight every member of the family. This is a production that is simple, honest and entertaining from beginning to end.

 

FRENCH BAROQUE CANTATAS

 

Limestone Consort

St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Manuka, October 25

 

Reviewed by Len Power

 

There may have been a storm raging outside, but the calming program of secular works by Nicolas Bernier and André Campra proved to be the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Limestone Consort’s program consisted of four baroque era works with love as a dominant theme. Greta Claringbould, soprano, Maartje Sevenster, alto, and Andrew Fysh, bass, were accompanied by Aaron Reichelt, oboe, Lauren Davis, violin, Clara Teniswood, cello, Sean Ng, theorbo, and Ariana Odermatt, harpsichord. The three singers each introduced the works they were about to sing.

The first work, Coffee, showed an unexpectedly lighter side of composer, Nicolas Bernier (born 1664). His cantata extravagantly praised coffee as if it was a divine and seductive potion that even the Gods favoured. Greta Claringbould sang it delightfully with a nicely humorous edge.

Greta Claringbould, Maartje Sevenster and Andrew Fysh

André Campra (born 1660) composed the amusing cantata, The Quarrel Between Cupid and Hymen. Almost a mini-opera, this argument between Cupid, God of Love, and Hymen, God of Marriage, was given a colourful and dramatic performance by alto, Maartje Sevenster.

Maartje Sevenster and the musicians

Andrew Fysh, bass, then presented Campra’s cantata, The Women, which detailed his exasperation with women and the wiles they employ to snare the opposite sex. Fysh gave it a fine, world-weary performance. His reflective singing of the passage, Ah, how wretched is a heart entangled in your chains, was particularly memorable.

The final work on the program was the Chorus of Mariners by Jean-Philippe Rameau (born 1683). Together, the three singers gave this invitation to dance and sing a sparkling performance.

The musical accompaniment throughout was excellent. It was a well-chosen and enjoyable program of cantatas with unexpected looks at love.

 

Photos by Peter Hislop

This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 26 October 2026.

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.

Len Power also presents the weekly Concert Hall program on Artsound FM, playing recordings of some of the best concerts from in and around Canberra. Concert Hall can be heard on Sundays at 8pm and is repeated on Wednesdays at 2pm.