Arts and culture – Arts industry ‘forgotten’

This article was originally published in print in the Swan Hill Guardian on October 1, 2021. SOME people in the Mallee arts industry are feeling forgotten. Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh announced at the weekend the Victorian Liberal-Nationals Opposition planned to deliver a $10 million fund to get community sport back on its feet….

Arts and culture – Theatre royalty

This article was originally published in print in the Swan Hill Guardian on March 12, 2021. IT’S not that often that you get to perform on stage with your best friend, night after night. But that’s exactly what Australian musical theatre stars Rachael Beck and Michael Cormick get to do. Together they will perform in…

Arts and culture – Actor is living his dream

This article was originally published in print in The Herbert River Express on March 28, 2018. AN INGHAM-BORN London West End performer is fulfilling his dreams working with iconic musical producer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Paul Ettore Tabone was photographed with the impresario during celebrations for the rehearsal of the 30th anniversary of Phantom of the…

Arts and culture – Dysfunctional set

This article was originally published in print in the Swan Hill Guardian on July 19, 2019. WHEN Spencer is performed on stage, the audience is left seeing their own family members within the characters of the dysfunctional family. Featuring a small all-star cast of television and stage actors, Spencer tells the story of the impending…

Arts and culture – Home’s where the heart is for Phantom star Tabone

This article was originally published in print in The Herbert River Express on December 6 2017. AN INGHAM-born performer who is a star on London’s West End is releasing a Christmas EP this season to give back to his hometown. Paul Ettore Tabone is a cast member of the world’s longest-running theatre production, Phantom of…

Arts and culture – Nerves left at the door

This article was originally published in print in the Swan Hill Guardian on May 24, 2019. AFTER six months of rehearsing their show, the cast of Broadway and Beyond left their nerves behind at their Swan Hill show on May 10. Three cast members, of 11 core performers, sat with The Guardian to talk about…

Theatre – Keeping the sercrets

This article was originally published in print in the Swan Hill Guardian on May 10, 2019. I WAS lucky enough to secure a ticket to the Harry Potter story-based play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part One and Two. Filled with anticipation to secure our tickets, a few of my Harry Potter crazed friends…

Profiles – Our stage’s rich history

This article was originally published in print in the Swan Hill Guardian on May 16, 2018. It was written for The Guardian’s Our Region, Our People that puts a spotlight on the extraordinary people of the Swan Hill and surrounding regions. SWAN HILL THEATRE GROUP About the Theatre group and its history: THE Swan Hill…

Profiles – Radio host Barry Bissell

This feature article was published in The Swan Hill Guardian’s yearly in-house lifestyle magazine Your Swan Hill. Bissell on air He is most well-known for spending 20 years counting down the hits on Fox FM with Take 40, but Barry Bissell kicked off his radio career in Swan Hill. Now living a quiet life in…

Cardwell UFO Festival – Screening for Screams

This article was originally published in print in The Herbert River Express on October 14 2017. This article was published as part of a 4-page feature on the Cardwell UFO Festival. The full feature was also published in the Innisfail Advocate. THE STAR and producer of an award-winning horror movie filmed in North Queensland will…

Theatre – Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz @ Regent Theatre Melbourne

If you’ve ever watched The Wizard of Oz and sat there wondering how Glinda became the good witch and The Wicked Witch of the West became evil, go see Wicked and all your questions will be answered. The show returned to Australia mid May this year for a second run – the first being performed…

Theatre – Post-Opera Company presents Faure Project: Fragments of Our Heart @ Gasworks Theatre Albert Park 20/06/2014

This review was published on the AU review on 21/06/2014 and can be viewed here. Some performers would be thrown off by performing to an audience as big as the cast, however this small company of performers stayed focused on the job at hand. The recently formed non-profit Melbourne-based performance company Post-Opera Company put together…

Interviews – Post-Opera Company’s artistic director Bernard Leon

This interview was published on the AU on 16/06/2014 and can be viewed here. Lillian chats with local non-profit Post-Opera Company’s artistic director Bernard Leon about his theatre company, their show Faure Project: Fragments of our Hearts, the Australian Opera scene and why opera is an important part of our cultural landscape. Tell us a…

Theatre – Grease @ Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne

Dubbed as ‘The No. 1 Party Musical,’ Grease has returned to Melbourne and it’s as sexual, humorous, energetic, colourful and 50s as ever. Having initially been released as a theatre production in Chicago in 1971, the popular sing-along musical has been remade time and time again, made even more popular by the release of the…

Reviews – King Kong @ Regent Theatre 14/11/2013

New York and London are known for Broadway and The West End, however Australia’s cultural city Melbourne was the chosen city for the world premiere of King Kong on stage. Recently celebrating its 150th show, King Kong is visually stunning with its LED screens backdrop, movable stages, colourful costumes and sets, dancers and acrobats and…