Top line-up of summer shows
MELBOURNE gets into summer mood from January 6 with Jeanne Pratt’s Production Company’s concert version of The Boy from Oz starring Todd McKenney at the Victorian Arts Centre’s State Theatre.
After a sell-out season in August, McKenney reprises his starring role of Peter Allen, with support from Robyn Arthur, Fem Belling and Alex Rathgeber.
Veteran performer Nancye Hayes directs The Boy from Oz, with John Foreman as musical director.
The show, which will run until January 16, features many of Allen’s best-loved songs, including Quiet Please, There’s a Lady on Stage, Everything Old Is New Again and Tenterfield Saddler.
The Boy from Oz is also being staged at the State Theatre from February 9-13.
The premiere of David Williamson’s Don Parties On, the sequel to his acclaimed 1973 play Don’s Party, premieres as part of Melbourne Theatre Company’s new season at the Arts Centre’s Playhouse, opening on January 13.
Robyn Nevin will direct a fine cast including Diane Craig, Robert Grubb, Frankie J Holden, Tracy Mann and Garry McDonald.
Don’s Party was set on the night of the 1969 federal election (which was won by the Liberal Party); Don Parties On is set on August 21, 2010, the night of the most recent federal election and is also set at Don’s place as a group of baby boomers mix politics with alcohol.
A new play based on Arnold Zable’s popular 2001 novel, Cafe Scheherazade, will premiere in Melbourne on March 8 at Fortyfivedownstairs in Flinders Lane.
Written by Therese Radic, it is set around the iconic Acland Street cafe operated by Avam and Masha Zeleznikov from the 1960s until 2008.
The cafe became a refuge for Europeans who settled in Melbourne after World War II. Their poignant stories are brought to life in this production, directed Bagryana Popov.
The Future Music Festival returns in March with a dazzling line-up of musicians, bands and DJs, including Ke$ha, Chemical Brothers, MGMT and Dizzee Rascal.
Among the international guests are English Jewish DJ and musician Mark Ronson and his band, The Business Intl. The festival will be held at Flemington Racecourse on March 13.
Singer Neil Diamond is touring Australia for the first time in six years with concerts at Rod Laver Arena on March 11 and March 13.
With a musical career stretching almost 50 years, Diamond has sold more than 128 million albums worldwide, including hits such as Cherry Cherry, Cracklin’ Rosie, Song Sung Blue, Solitary Man and Sweet Caroline.
Orthodox hip-hop star Matisyahu is also returning, performing at the Palace Theatre, Melbourne on April 1.
His energetic stage shows are not to be missed and will feature songs from his latest CD, Light.
A new musical adaptation of the classic romance, Doctor Zhivago, starring Anthony Warlow, opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre on April 9, following its premiere season in Sydney.
Joining Warlow, who plays the young doctor, are Lucy Maunder, Taneel Van Zyl, Martin Crewes, Bartholomew John, Peter Carroll and Trisha Noble.
The musical is based on Boris Pasternak’s novel, which hit the big screen in 1965 starring Omar Sharif.
The music is by acclaimed American composer Lucy Simon with direction by Des McAnuff, who was in charge of the Broadway production of Jersey Boys.
REPORT: DANNY GOCS
Photo: Todd McKenney stars in The Boy from Oz.