THE OPERA AUSTRALIA GALA CONCERT - Canberra Theatre Centre

Sian Sharp performing the Seguidilla from Bizet's "Carmen"

 

THE OPERA AUSTRALIA GALA CONCERT – Canberra Theatre

Directed by Claudia Osborne – Conducted by Tahu Matheson

Canberra Theatre October 9^th, 2025 – Reviewed by BILL STEPHENS 

The Opera Australia Orchestra and Chorus with Tahu Matheson on the podium. 

 

Directed by Claudia Osbourne and hosted by Laura Tingle, the impressive Gala featured Opera Australia’s full orchestra under the baton of Tahu Matheson, its acclaimed 32-member chorus, and six of the company’s leading soloists.

They included Canberra soprano, Lorina Gore, tenor Diego Torre, soprano Jennifer Black, mezzo soprano Sian Sharp, baritone Luke Gabbedy and bass David Parkin who performed popular selections from the great opera composers.

Impressively arranged on the Canberra Theatre stage, which had been decorated with fresh flowers for the occasion, the full Opera Australia Orchestra and chorus commenced the evening with a stirring performance of the Overture and third act chorus for Wagner’s Der Meistersinger von Nurnberg.

Host, Laura Tingle set a convivial tone with her wry and informative introductions, especially when introducing Jennifer Black, Sian Sharp and David Parkin who delighted with their rendition of the trio from the Mozart opera, Cosi fan tutte.

Then followed a succession of glorious aria’s, duets and choruses performed by ladies in gorgeous gowns and gentlemen in elegant formal wear, selected from the most popular operas in the repertoire.

Sian Sharp offered a sensuous rendition of the “Seguidilla” from Bizet’s Carmen, followed by a rousing “Toreador’s Song” from the same opera from Luke Gabbedy.

Lorina Gore had the audience on the edge of their seats with her dramatic rendition of the poison aria for Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, contrasting this later with a glittering “Jewel Song” from Gounod’s Faust.  

Lorina Gore performing the poison aria from Gounod's "Romeo and Juliet" 

Diego Torre joined Luke Gabbedy for a thrilling rendition of the famous duet from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers matched later in the program by Lorina Gore and Sian Sharp with their luscious version of the “Flower Duet” from Delibes, Lakme.

Torre won hearts with several stunning solos during the evening but most particularly with his matchless rendition of the magnificent “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s opera Turandot, which brought the audience to its feet.

Teije Hylkema’s glowing cello introduction heralded David Parkin’s pensive King Philip’s aria from Verdi’s Don Carlos. Parkin later thrilled with his rendition of Banquo’s aria from another Verdi opera, Macbeth.

Jennifer Black brought tears to many eyes with her “Vissi d’arte” from Puccini’ s Tosca.  

Luke Gabbedy performing the Toreador's song from Bizet's "Carmen"

Highlights scattered through-out the program were superb renditions by the Opera Australia Chorus of “Va, Pensiero”, the Hebrew slaves lament for a lost homeland from Verdi’s Nabucco, which struck a surprisingly relevant note, and “The Anvil Chorus” from Verdi’s Il Trovatore.

A non-vocal highlight was the superb violin solo by Concert master Matthieu Arama of the “Grand Adagio” from Glazunov’s ballet, Raymonda.

Room here to mention only a few of the many highlights of a memorable evening notable for its succession of brilliant performances, the magnificence of the sound achieved, and perhaps a preview of future opera performances by Opera Australia in Canberra with the completion of the new lyric theatre.

Although staged as a key event among a year of celebrations of the 60^th Anniversary of the Canberra Theatre Centre, this Opera Australia Gala Concert also served as a fitting acknowledgement of the work of Alex Budd, who today relinquishes his role as Director of the Canberra Theatre Centre to take on his dream job as CEO of Opera Australia.

                                                     Images by Ben Appleton - Photox

      This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au

Resonance

James Batchelor and collaborators

Courtyard Theatre. Until 11 October.

Reviewed by SAMARA PURNELL.

Resonance is defined as when a vibrating object causes another to vibrate at a similar amplitude. Or if words are powerful and meaningful, they have resonance. 

When James Batchelor was approached by the Tanja Liedtke Foundation three years ago to create a work that honoured her legacy, it sent him on a  journey that would span continents, generations and time, eventually becoming “Resonance”.

In 2007, Tanja Liedtke had just been appointed as the new artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company, to take over from Graeme Murphy. At the age of 29, in the early hours of the morning in August 2007, she was killed in a road accident. 

Batchelor gathered information and inspiration with and from several dancers that had worked or collaborated directly with Leidtke and knew her personally - Amelia McQueen, Anton, Kristina Chan, Theo Clinkard. Performing with Chloe Chignell, Leah Marojevic and Emma Batchelor, the Canberra performances also include a few of the senior local dancers from QL2. (Local dancers from each touring location will be included in performances).  

Chloe Chignell, Leah Marojevic and James Batchelor.
Photo by Olivia Wikner

“Resonance” opened with spoken word - descriptions of Leidtke’s creative process, style, physical nature. Her choreography was theatrical in design. The dancers described her movement as “balletic, precise, frantic…” and a creator who was “playful and serious”, painting a vivid picture of a woman who had already garnered kudos and attention throughout the dance scene both here and abroad and was about to take the next giant step in a blossoming career. 

The dancers ask “What is a legacy?” and Batchelor wondered “Is this Tanja or is it just…..us??” The end result of his offering clearly has his dance DNA all over it - the slow, considered, meditative movements at the start of the performance, but the idea of legacy being embodied in dancers and shared and passed on to each other and down through generations is depicted. So too are direct passages of dance and movement from Leidtke’s work "Twelfth Floor”, including costume. 

The contents of a letter from Leidtke to Clinkard, that he reads from, gave goosebumps with its fortuitous nature and casual philosophising about contentment and living in the moment. It was a beautiful element to include in the production. 

To open and close the show, dancers wore shimmering translucent fabric in a poncho style over casual tops, jeans and sneakers. This gave the segments an almost ghostly appearance. Audience members were asked to carefully hold the costumes, which created another small element of connection and passing things on to each other. 

Emma Batchelor. Photo by Olivia Wikner

Trios were regularly formed by the dancers. The group choreography largely consisted of balletic arms, small, contained jumps and chasses, pointed toes. The individual passages offered various interpretations of memories and impressions from working with Leidtke. Anton depicts the awkwardness of remembering. Dancers question the earnestness of contemporary dance and looking back, wonder was it all a bit hilarious. 

Photo by Olivia Wikner

The circles eventually lead to embraces, a heartbeat is heard, hands touch and physical connection is made. This felt like an eventual connection, a coming together, a transmission of energy and information. It also depicted comfort in sadness - a goodbye - a funeral.  

A clever, funny and entertaining duet between Chignall and Marojevic in the form of a stream of consciousness and precise, graphic poses analysed their thoughts and contradictions and offered the opportunity to contemplate what is and who creates a legacy, including the critics with their pens…

Leah Marojevic and Chloe Chignell.
Photo by Olivia Wikner

Music composed by Morgan Hickinbotham was performed live, beginning with electronica and sounds like a chopper going overhead and culminating in drums that filled the room and built to an almost deafening crescendo as the dancers filled the floorspace, running across and around each other, almost to the point of exhaustion, but with joy, freedom and fleeting moments of interaction. They created the dance version of a mosh pit.   

The changing light outside the windows from afternoon light to dusk and dark added another layer of transition symbolism and the light turned white like moonlight upon the dancers. 

As the performance unfolds, it's hard not to wonder what the Sydney Dance Company would have looked like had Leidtke lived to fulfil her role there. 

“Resonance” is an emotional work, no doubt for those involved but also for those observing, who didn’t know Tanja Leidtke. Described as a “celebration”, it was clearly approached by the dancers and creators with reverence, responsibility and a desire to inform. It is an engaging, poignant, multilayered and informative work, beautifully realised, and portraying humour, exactitude, joy. Whilst the dance itself is ephemeral, the memory and legacy of Leidtke continues.

How lucky young dancers and choreographers are to have the opportunity to work with Batchelor and his contemporaries, to honour Leidtke and to learn, share and pass on their own body of work with those who come after them. 

from the Canberra performance of Resonance.
Photo by Olivia Wikner

A documentary about Tanja Leidtke, “Life in Movement”, was made not long after her death.

RESONANCE

 

Resonance. James Batchelor and Collaborators.

Lead artist, choreographer and producer James Batchelor. Dramaturg, producer Bek  Berger. Composer Morgan Hickinbotham. Lighting designer Katie Sfetkidis. Lighting associate Lara Gabor. Costume designer Theo Clinkard. Costume maker Alice Orfona Coles. Youth Dance Partner QL2 Dance.

The Courtyard Studio.Canberra Theatre Centre. October 9-10 2025. Bookings: 62752700. www.canberratheatrecentre.org.au

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

James Batchelor

The audience enters a large open space. The Courtyard Studio of the Canberra Theatre Centre has been stripped bare. A single row of chairs lines the walls of the space. Seated on the floor a group of wdancers wait.  It is as though we have entered a studio rehearsal room, preparing to witness the birth of a new work. In the centre of the room a dancer stands with a microphone in her hand. She begins to move, tracing patterns across the floor and describing the video angles as the camera tracks her measured movements through space. It is not easy to understand her entire narration but I imagine that she is describing what I later discover is the video of Life in Movement about choreographer Tanja Liedtke.

The microphone passes to choreographer and lead dancer James Batchelor. Seated on the floor his voice is clear as he describes the influence and inspiration that Tanja Liedke had on his work and the dancers who worked with her on her projects 12^th Floor and Construct. IT is the story of a life cut tragically short when she was killed while jogging along the road in Sydney in the dark hours of the morning and was struck by a passing garbage truck. There is spiritual sobriety in Batchelor’s honouring of Liedtke’s legacy. Even while seated his voice echoes with the admiration for a dancer he never met, but whose influence has informed his creative expression. Liedtke shines as the Muse of Time’s transgression and  transformation.

Finally the microphone passes to Theo who reads a letter he received from Liedtke shortly before her death. It is heartbreaking, oblivious to the cruel twist of fate before she was due to assume artistic directorship of the Sydney Dance Company from founding director Graeme Murphy. It is a letter full of joy and optimism and hopeful vision. It is a vision that Batchelor and the dancers who worked with Liedtke create as a living archive, joined by those whom Batchelor has selected from local and national dancers. As the dancers put on a transparent top it appears as though their meditative ritual has assumed the spirit of their Muse. . Through space they weave a pattern of ethereal dance akin to the images on a Grecian frieze or the fluid grace of figures in a Matisse picture. Morgan Hickinbotham’s composition punctuates gesture and impulse with a percussive beat that gradually builds in momentum in a performance that builds in intensity before reverting to stillness before transforming into a collaboration of Liedtke’s inventiveness and Batchelor’s pensive expressiveness. Gesture in motion, expression through space and time create a fusion of style that shares the cornucopia of human emotion. A dancer describes being overwhelmed by Liedtke’s prepossession with detail in gesture, in precise action and in transforming the inanimate into a living embodiment. Batchelor weaves Liedtke’s dance background in physical theatre and dramatic narrative through movement with his own immediately expressive use of the body as a living archive. Resonance is a dance work of shifting moments of solo work, such as Anton’s leaping embrace of the space or working in pairs or groups in relating to the human need for community and support, friendship and trust.

Batchelor’s work resonates with a shared humanity. It transports us to flashing images of experience. There is humour in moments of whimsy and frivolity. There is contemplation in moments of reflection and empathy. There is collaborative power in the dedication to Liedtke’s legacy and sadness at the dreams unfulfilled and visions unrealized. And yet, there is hope and there is jubilation in the belief that Liedtke s brief oeuvre will have a lasting influence across the generations and inspire future artists to incorporate her inspiration in the shared passion for contemporary dance. It is what Batchelor has achieved with Resonance to stunning effect.

Hickinbotham’s score reaches a fever pitch as dancers, once more donned in the transparent tops whirl in spirals of sheer jubilation. Bacchanalian in its devotion, Batchelor and collaborators pay a final homage to a Muse who inspired their art. Resonance ultimately resounds with optimism. Liedtke’s spirit is her gift to contemporary dance and James Batchelor and his collaboraators are the shining custodians of her legacy.   

THE TALLIS SCHOLARS - Canberra Theatre.

The Canberra Theatre – 7^th October 2025. Reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Founded in 1973 by their director, Peter Phillips, The Tallis Scholars have become world renowned as supreme exponents of the Renaissance repertoire. Frequently described as one of the finest choirs in the world, The Tallis Scholars are renowned for the power and beauty of their sound.

 Under the directions of their founder, Peter Phillips, they tour widely giving around 80 concerts each year. As he commented in his charming post-concert remarks to the capacity audience, this was their 9^th concert in Canberra, all the others being given in Llewellyn Hall.  This concert was presented as part of the Canberra Theatre Centre’s 60^th Anniversary celebrations.

One didn’t have to be a devotee of Renaissance sacred music to be enchanted by the beauty of the sound produced by this ten-voice choir, but for any who weren’t, this concert would certainly have gone a long way towards achieving a conversion.

From the opening notes of 16^th century Catholic priest, Juan de Padila’s glorious vesper, Deus in adiutorium which commenced the program, the stunning accuracy of the acapella singing, the vocal textures which made it possible to identify individual voices within the sound, and the unique ethereal sound produced by the Scholars was mesmerising.   

In his program notes, Phillips explained that his reason for titling this program, “Chant” was to demonstrate the evolution of sacred music through three different ways of presenting chant, from the ancient to the modern.

To this end, threaded through the program were four compositions by 12^th century German Benedictine Abbess, Hildegard von Bingen. Others represented were 15^th   century Flemish composer Jacob Obrecht, 16^th  century French master of polyphonic vocal music, Josquin des Prez, and 17^th century Italian Catholic priest, Gregorio Allegri.

 There were also four compositions by contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, including his Da Pacem Domine written in response to the terrorist bombings in Madrid in 2004 and sung by the full choir.

Any suggestion of sameness was overcome by presenting the various compositions with different combinations of the voices of the six women and four men who make up the choir.  Three of the four Hildegard compositions were performed by a female quartet, and the fourth by a trio, and each without conductor.

As with Padilla’s opening composition, Arvo Pärt's Arvo Pärt Tridion was performed by the full choir conducted by Phillips. It included an electrifying passage in which the sopranos reached a top Bb for an impassioned prayer “that our souls may be saved”.

Gregoria Allegri’s  Misere mei, Deus was staged with Phillips conducting six of the singers onstage, with the tenor well to one side leading the chant and the other five providing the responses, with four offstage voices providing vocal decoration. Magical.

Changes in personnel were achieved elegantly when required, with no individual singer allowed featured, so that the focus remained on the music and the choir as a single entity.  

Throughout the concert it was almost possible to hear the purring from the blissed-out audience, which erupted into rapturous applause as the last notes of Josquin des Prez's  Praeter rerum faded.

Their reward, a glorious rendition in 8 parts of Robert Pearsall’s Lay Me A Garland.

                                                                        Images supplied.

      This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au

 

 

 

                                                                    

LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI - Brink Productions - Canberra Theatre

 

Chanella Macri (Josie) - Natalie Gamsu (Nonna) in "Looking for Alibrandi"

A play by Vidya Rajan based on a book by Melina Marchetta.

Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo – Set and Costume Design by Kate Davis

Lighting Design by Kate Sfetkidis - Sound Design by Daniel Nixon Canberra

Canberra Theatre 3^rd & 4^th October 2025.   

Performance on October 3rd reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

 

Natalie Gamsu (Nonna) - Amanda McGregor (Sera) - Chanella Macri (Josie)

Brink Productions is an independent Adelaide-based Theatre Company with a 30-year history of presenting innovative productions aimed at re-generating and re-centering Australian theatrical stories.  This production of Looking For Alibrandi is an excellent example of that goal.

Vidja Rajan’s theatrical adaptation of Melina Marchetta’ s popular novel set in the inner western suburbs of Sydney in the 1990’s following the travails of 17-year-old Italian/Australian, Josephine Alibrandi, who’s trying to find her place in a world while dealing with old-time family traditions and her new-world dreams, was originally commissioned and directed by Stephen Nicolazzo for seasons at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, and The Belvoir in Sydney in 2022.

Amanda McGregor (Sera) - Natalie Gamsu (Nonna) Chanella Macri (Josie)

Earlier this year Nicolazzo directed this new production of Looking For Alibrandi for a 12 venue National tour by Brink Productions, for which these performances in the Canberra Theatre were the last.

Nicolazzo’s production immediately challenges the perceptions of those whose only knowledge of the work is from the popular film in which the role of Josephine Alibrandi was famously played by Pia Miranda.   

For this production Nicolazzo has cast 29-year-old Samoan/Italian actress Chanella Macri as the 17-year-old, year-12 student.  Amanda McGregor plays both Josie’s single mother Christina, and her scatter-brain friend Sera, while Natalie Gamsu plays her domineering Nonna, Sister Bernadette and radio personality, Margaret Throsby.

Brigid Gallacher plays the viperous school captain, Ivy, as well as Josie’s tragic friend, John Barton, while Chris Asimos is Josie’s frequently absent, successful lawyer father, Michael Andretti, and Riley Warner plays the cliché Australian bogan stereotype and object of Josie’s affections, Jacob Coote.

The play is performed in an evocative setting devised by Kate Davis, in which a huge drum of steaming tomatoes, stacks of tomato filled crates, and passata-making paraphernalia, dominate the stage.

Chanella Macri (Josie) - Brigid Gallacher (John Barton)

Laughs came quickly as the establishing scenes were played as a series of comedy sketches with chairs and tables moved around to represent changing locales, and supporting roles interpreted as comic characters with funny voices and bad wigs with dialogue rich with cliché Italian/Australian cultural references.

However, as Josie’s situation deepened with the suicide of her friend, John Barton, and the reappearance of her father Michael Andretti, with the focus narrowing on her predicaments requiring more naturalist performance of the central roles, it was hard ti escape the feeling that,  despite the best efforts of the talented cast, whatever gains had been achieved by the idiosyncratic casting and clashing acting styles employed  in the search for a different perspective, had been achieved by the loss of much of the charm and purpose of the original property.

                                                                      Photos supplied

  This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com,au

   

Looking for Alibrandi by Vidya Rajan from the novel by Melina Marchetta. Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo. Brink Productions. Canberra Theatre Oct 3-4.

Chanella Macri as Josie.

It was a novel, then it was a film, now it is a stage show. Canberra only got a fleeting season but what a mesmerising look at Melina Marchetta’s powerful story of growing up Italian in Sydney in the 1990s this turned out to be. 

At its centre is Josie (Chanella Macri), in the final run up to leaving school and in the throes of dealing with her Italian heritage and the family secrets. There’s no father in evidence at first. Mother and grandmother talk a lot in Italian and the past is all a bit of a mystery. 

But Macri’s magnificent, funny and assertive Josie is forthright, smart and capable. By the end of the story she has gained some insight into the circumstances of her birth and the difficulties her mother and grandmother faced in the generations before her. 

Five other actors, Amanda McGregor, Natalie Gamsu, Ashton Malcom, Riley Warner and Chris Asimos play a raft of other characters in Josie’s life with verve. They populate the stage marvellously with school friends, fierce teaching nuns, boyfriends and a raft of little Italian nonas. Only stoical friend John, coping with a different sort of family where arid old fashioned Anglo Australian men have to follow each other into parliament, seems to find it hard to see an independent  future. 

A set rich with red velvet and crates of red tomatoes and the business of cooking becomes the central focus for traditions still adhered to and for old haunting superstitions. How Josie begins to find her own way makes for an absorbing story clearly being rediscovered by a youthful audience.

Alanna Maclean

MYSTIQUE - A JOURNEY BEYOND REALITY - Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse.

Produced, Directed and Performed by Michael Boyd

Assistant & Stage Management: Journey Malone

Lighting &Sound: Alex Fox. Dancers: Tegan Burns and Annelise Jenkins

Choreography by Matt Browning. Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse 5th October 2025.

Reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

For many years, illusionist Michael Boyd has been dazzling Canberra audiences with his glamorous extravaganzas. Particularly memorable among them being “Circus of Illusion”, “Cabaret de Paris” with Rhonda Burchmore, and last year’s “The Christmas Spectacular” with Prinnie Stevens.

All these presentations featured teams of spectacularly costumed dancers, thrilling sight acts, and of course Michael Boyd with his gasp-inducing illusions.

Nothing in the pre-publicity for “Mystique- A Journey Beyond Reality” suggested that this show would be anything less. However, as the capacity audience at the second of two Canberra performances was to discover, the full focus of “Mystique – A Journey Beyond Reality” was on Boyd himself, supported by just two hard-working dancers, Tegan Burns and Annelise Jenkins, and amiable assistant, Journey Malone, who also did double duty manning the well-stocked merchandise stall.

Boyd is a world class illusionist, and a busy entrepreneur, who has set himself a high standard with his superbly presented productions. Certainly, his illusions were as mystifying and stylishly presented as always, but the promised new Scorpion and double levitation illusions were not among them, and for many in the audience, most of the others were familiar from earlier shows.

Even so, there was pleasure to be taken from experiencing them again through the eyes of those in the audience being mystified for the first time, especially the two young audience volunteers. One dubbed “The incredible James”, who couldn’t believe what his out-of-control hands were doing, and seven-year-old Chloe, whose eyes shone with wonderment at the story of how Boyd learnt his craft from his grandfather, then again, as she was assisting him with the levitating table act his grandfather had taught him.

 

In addition to expertly performing in, and assisting Journey Malone with the illusions, particularly the beautifully staged “Ballerina in a Music Box” presentation, dancers Tegan and Annelise were kept busy with multiple costume changes and doing their best to provide colour and movement between the illusions with routines choreographed by Matt Browning for larger troupes but which tended to become tedious when performed by just two dancers, despite their expertise.

Even with an impressive light and sound presentation by Alex Fox, this edition of “Mystique – A Journey Beyond Reality”, despite the efforts of all concerned, fell below the expectations of a Michael Boyd Production.

                                                          All images supplied.

     This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au

MYSTIQUE - A JOURNEY BEYOND REALITY

 

 

Mystique – A Journey Beyond Reality

A Michael Boyd Production. The Playhouse. Canberra Theatre Centre. Sunday October 5.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Magician and illusionist extraordinaire Michael Boyd returns to Canberra for two shows only. His new show Mystique – A Journey Beyond Reality is guaranteed to dazzle and amaze. Boyd is a master of mystique, a conjurer of illusion and the maker of magic. With all the panache of a Las Vegas showman, Boyd mystifies the audience with a flourishing gesture. His timing is perfect, his magic bewildering, his illusions perplexing and his escapology a feat of sheer astonishment.

 

I have been reviewing Michael Boyd’s shows for some years now. I have watched his tricks from the simple magic that his grandfather taught him to the surprising disappearing acts or the terrifying sword in the basket acts and the breathtaking unbelievable levitation acts. So, why do I keep returning to the scene of his artistry? Is it because I believe in magic? Perhaps. Is it because I harbor hope that maybe this time I will discover Boyd’s method and expose the magician’s secret? Is it to taste the thrill of the moment as the spike appears to pierce his body. Is it the suspense as Boyd struggles against the clock to escape the Scorpion’s claws?  Is it the puzzling riddle of the random words from three different audience members that magically appear on a paper locked in a box above the stage?  Or is it to see a child’s delight as Michael welcomes the young apprentice magician to the stage?

 

Boyd’s magic is to open the door to the world of wonder. It is in the gasps of disbelief as a dancer floats into the air and in a flourish of the covering vanishes before our very eyes. Young Chloe looks with amazed eyes as a table soars into the air. A  young girl in front of me squeals with delight and holds her hand high in the excited hope of being  selected to go on to the stage. Mystique – A Journey Beyond Reality in The Playhouse is an intimate spectacle, highlighted by dancers Teagan and Annie as preludes to the coming act, a stunning lighting display and a pounding soundtrack building to a climax in the nightmare finale.

 

Mystique - A Journey Beyond Reality is such stuff as dreams are made on. “Chase your dreams” Boyd tells his applauding audience.  The magician holds his secrets safe, bewitching and seducing his audience into the wondrous world of illusion and mystery.  The show does not have the extravagant spectacle of a David Copperfield Blockbuster. What it does have is an accessibility, a mystical talent to entertain and persuade the audience to believe in magic and the reality of dreams that can come true..

 

I left the theatre as amazed as ever by Boyd’s skill and showmanship. I remain bemused and bewildered by each feat of illusion. His secret remains safe and I can only resolve to return next time and hope for discovery. But then, perhaps it is better to remain in ignorance and revel in the magician’s world of wonderment.

 

  

A CHORUS LINE FREE RAIN THEATRE

 

 

A Chorus Line. Conceived and originally directed by Michael Bennett, Music by Marvin Hamlisch. Lyrics by Edward Kleban. Book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante.

Directed and choreographed by Michelle Heine. Musical director and conductor Craig Johnson. Acting consultant Isaac Gordon. Lighting design. Zac Harvey. Sound designer Telie Jansen. Set design. Matthew Ovenell, Coatume design Michelle Heine. Producer Anne Somes. Free Rain Theatre. The Q Theatre. September 30-October 19 2025

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

It is a rare occurrence that a musical can give me goosebumps at the opening number. And yet the vitality, exuberance and talent of A Chorus Line’s Ensemble in Free Rain Theatre’s current production at the Q Theatre brought tears to my eyes. Producer Anne Somes has never been shy of taking on a challenge in her passionate quest for excellence, but Marvin Hamlisch’s Broadway musical about the world of the professional dancer will test the best. With directo rand choreographer Michelle Heine, Musical director and conductor Craig Johnson and a superb company of cast, orchestra and creatives, Somes has gathered the best to stage  this 50 year anniversary production of A Chorus Line. Conceived and originally directed and choreographed by the amazing Michael Bennett with music by Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban and book by James Kirkwood Jr and Nicholas Dante, the ground breaking musical was at the pinnacle of the triple threat American musical. The cast was required to act, sing and dance and Free Rain’s production is no exception. 

 

Ashleigh Maynard as Diana i A Chorus Line

 

This is no ordinary musical. It comes from the heart, shining a spotlight on the lives of the characters, their dreams, their frustrations and their need to dance. Choreographer Zach (played with authoritative conviction by Michael Cooper) expects his dancers to reveal themselves in an ensemble building exercise that provides the structure for the show. It is at its simplest a series of monologues, accompanied by dance routines and performed by the troupe of hopefuls. The process is an audition that will eventually whittle down the number of successful applicants to a final eight,  

Michael Cooper (Zach) with Company Members

 

 Set designer Matthew Ovenell effectively observes the setting in an open space dance studio against a background of mirrors. It allows the stories of the dancers to take centre stage, lit by Zac Harvey’s skillfully highlighted lighting design. The scene is set for powerful storytelling as lives are revealed, fears confessed and grit and determination drive hope and ambition. Free Rain take on this daunting challenge and have produced an A Chorus Line that ranks as a Titan of the Musical Theatre genre. Director Heine, musical director Johnson with a brilliant orchestra and pit singers and Acting consultant Isaac Gordon achieve the remarkable and inspire a fiery spirit in the cast who pour sweat, tears, and heart into this awesome production of the Broadway confessional.

 

“You are all terrific” choreographer Zac tells the line up before the final selection. “I am sorry that I can’t choose you all” Free Rain’s company are all terrific and I am sorry that I can’t name them all. Every song is a story of one person’s life, as varied as the next and yet united in a desire to live the life of a dancer on Broadway, often in spite of the personal struggles. Sheila (Kay Liddiard) describes her escape into the world of ballet in At The Ballet with backing by Bebe (Ashleigh Nguyen) and Maggie (Laura Evans). Val (Emma Sollis) describes the importance of body image in Dance Ten Looks Three and Ashleigh Maynard exposes hypocrisy in Nothing. Maynard’s rendition of What I Did For Love, backed by the company offers a moving acknowledgement of sacrifice and hope in the name of love. 

 Cassie (Ylaria Rogers and Zach (Michael Cooper)

 

It is this need to dance for a living, its passion and its obsession that compels Zach’s former lover Cassie to audition for a place, any place in the Chorus Line. In an electrifying performance Cassie (Ylaria Rogers) dances for Zach in a desperate bid to convince him to employ her. Rogers is superb in the role, dancing an exhausting routine across the expanse of a vacant stage while pouring out her pleading heart with Give Me Somebody To Dance For. Rogers epitomizes the triple threat Broadway performer. 

 

Free Rain’s A Chorus Line is ensemble at its best, performed with passion, conviction and the pride born of blood sweat and tears. The production is a labour of love, evident in every routine, every song and every heartfelt story. Above all I am reminded that musical theatre is a collaborative endeavor, conceived in love and executed to the very best of one’s ability. A Chorus Line is such a case and as relevant today as it was fifty years ago. It is the timeless story of all our lives. In the finale, the traditional glitz and glamour of the gold lamé costume is replaced by the stylish black and white ensemble.

This singular sensation of a production is the thrilling combination of talent and storytelling. Don’t miss it.   

 Photographs by Janelle McMenamin