Performing Arts
Featured Stories
BirndiWirndi
July 28, 2010The old Victoria Hotel in Roebourne will be brought to life on Thursday night in the spotlight of some very special art.... more >
Video: Tango Inferno
July 27, 2010Now to something very different to politics, election campaigns and promises - the dance of love, the Tango. The Tango Fire Company of Buenos Aires are back in Australia for their third tour, with their brand new show Tango Inferno - The Fire Within. It's... more >
Latest Performing Arts across the ABC
When the Wheels Fall Off the World
Far North playwright, Avril Duck's new play delves into contemporary issues such as the environment and race relations in a 'dystopic' Far North Queensland town in 2045.... more >
Kaz Cooke, Julian Fellowes and Sir Cameron Mackintosh
Mary Poppins comes to Melbourne... more >
Mary Poppins the musical arrives in Australia
The Australian production of Mary Poppins opens in Melbourne tonight after an extensive search to find Australia's very own Mary Poppins. The producers auditioned more than 400 women until they found Adelaide performer Verity Hunt-Ballard to fill the role... more >
SIW 28 July - The early plays of Patrick White
Listen to this week's lesson about the early plays of Patrick White, then take the online quiz.... more >
Australian soprano Lisa Gasteen took the title of 'Singer of the World' in Cardiff in 1991 as a virtual unknown. After her startling debut at Covent Garden, she became a regular on the stages of the world's best opera houses.... more >
Adam Zwar, John Wood and Anna Brownfield
Theatre, film and political docos... more >
Gladiator Crowe joins Ben Hur cast
Actor Russell Crowe to don sword and sandals again as narrator for the Sydney stadium show of Ben Hur.... more >
Now to something very different to politics, election campaigns and promises - the dance of love, the Tango. The Tango Fire Company of Buenos Aires are back in Australia for their third tour, with their brand new show Tango Inferno - The Fire Within. It's... more >
As you could imagine, the life of the travelling showman has its ups and downs. There's obviously the exhilaration of performing to captivated audiences. However in between there's countless hours of practice and the monotonous days of travel to and from ... more >
Do you remember a couple of years ago how people on the Greek island of Lesbos went to court, to try to reclaim for themselves the word Lesbian: to get an injunction against its use as a term to describe female homosexuality? They lost the court case, per... more >
Glorious John - Remembering Barbirolli. Part 1: The Great Orchestra Builder
With the death of Sir John Barbirolli on July 29, 1970, a unique artistic relationship between an orchestra and its Music Director, became legendary history. The first program of this two-part series traces how a young prodigy cellist had his heart set o... more >
Eddie Perfect and his suburban "song cycle".
Songs from the Middle- 13 songs written by Eddie Perfect, commissioned by the Australian National Academy of Music, a collaboration of the Brodsky Quartet, ANAM, Eddie Perfect, Butterfly Club- with musical director Iain Grandage is about to premiere in Me... more >
The Dean of the Victorian College of the Arts and Music, Sharman Pretty, has quit amid an overhaul of the institution's future direction.... more >
Food writer and arts festival director Leo Schofield AM has brought huge orchestras, opera and dance companies to Australia from all over the world.... more >
The show goes on for Deckchair
The State Government has had to bail out one of Perth's leading theatre companies after it ran out of money and was forced to lay off most of its staff.... more >
Kids in motion at Southern Edge Arts
In a world where young peoples' social lives seem to be increasingly dominated by technology, an innovative youth performing arts company is marching to the beat of a different drum.... more >
'Doctor Zhivago' takes to the stage
Sydney has secured the world premiere of the new musical Doctor Zhivago.... more >
Darlene Love is an American music legend who's performed with Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, The Beach Boys, Tom Jones, Sonny and Cher, Aretha Franklin and Bruce Springsteen. ... more >
Historic theatre pitched for new arts space
The Bega Valley Shire Council in South East New South Wales is being urged to consider an historic theatre on Bega's main street as a new performing arts space for the region.... more >
Marcel Proust, the French novelist, was a sickly, asthmatic child of well-to-do parents and he spent the last three years of his life confined to his cork-lined bedroom, sleeping during the day and working on his novel at night - a story which tracks his ... more >
Sir Mark Elder - Hallé's Comet!
"An orchestra that can't sing can't really communicate the soul of the music!" Sir Mark's first love was opera. For 14 years he was Music Director of English National Opera, creating the so-called 'powerhouse' era with David Poutney and Peter Jonas. Cur... more >
Rock star Pink was rushed to hospital after an on-stage stunt in Germany went horribly wrong. ... more >
PREVIEW Art Nation - Festival of Voices
Take a sneak peak as Namila Benson visits Hobart's Festival of Voices. See the full story on Sunday from 5.30pm on ABC1 and 7pm on ABC2.... more >
Building a musical of biblical proportions
Before anyone treads a board on stage, a major part of a musical involves holding hammers, not notes.... more >
Matthew Barney's mythical macrocosm
The Cremaster Cycle by American artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney is a five part art-film and spectacular exploration of the process of creation - symbolic, indulgent and nine years in the making. Last week I embarked on an eight hour carnival of visual... more >
From silent films to talkies to 3D movies. Grafton's Saraton Theatre is reborn.... more >
Fringe looks to Asia and interstate for growth
There are hopes that further interstate and Asian region marketing can help the Adelaide Fringe festival grow.... more >
Creative Generation: the student showcase
Today 1500 students from around Queensland are working together to mount a first class stadium show at Brisbane's Convention Centre - the sixth 'Creative Generation: State School Students Onstage' spectacular.... more >
George McEncroe, Theresa Borg, Amanda Gordon
George McEncroe, Theresa Borg, Amanda Gordon... more >
Deborah Cheetham, Joy Murphy Wandin, Daniel Browning
Deborah Cheetham, Joy Murphy Wandin, Daniel Browning... more >
Moves to improve safety for pedestrians at the Sydney Opera House have begun.... more >
One of the Australian Ballet's most lavish performances in years has its swan song this week in Adelaide.... more >
Esperance rural youth frock up for inaugural ball
The Esperance region hosted its inaugural rural youth ball over the weekend, with 170 young farmers travelling some big distances to take part. After almost 20 years without a rural youth club, a committee was formed late last year, to cater for the inc... more >
Art Nation - Bangarra's new choreographer
Art Nation follows Bangarra Dance Theatre's Daniel Riley McKinley as he moves from being a dancer to making his debut as choreographer with Riley, double bill earth & sky.... more >
Time now for a trip to the Central Victorian town of Castlemaine where you are about to be let in to a very special place called Lot 19. Up the road off the highway that leads to the tip -- past the sewage works, is a block of industrial land that has bee... more >
John Wegner - Opera's Bad Boy!
John Wegner could have been a professional AFL footballer; instead his vocal gifts and natural physical charisma have taken him to the world's opera stages. Hear him in conversation with Mairi Nicolson. During a career spanning twenty five years, John W... more >
Composer, pianist and conductor Marvin Hamlisch is good with figures: three Oscars in one night, four Emmys, four Grammys, over 40 film scores -- most recently for Steven Soderbergh's The Informant -- and a proud 'pops conductor' of numerous American o... more >
Over the past 20 years a group of committed and hard-working people including some leading theatre practitioners have managed to keep the dream of Indigenous theatre alive. A new exhibition documents the history and unfinished story of the Melbourne-based... more >
The Alice Springs Beanie Festival has inspired a new theatre production to be previewed at the Darwin Festival.... more >
Teen prodigy Benji Riggs will join the ranks of world greats when he plays at London's Royal Albert Hall.... more >
Greg Tucker: Traditional corroboree dancer and an unsung hero
Greg is visiting from Tom Price to take part in the NAIDOC celebrations at the Old Reserve in Roebourne this Sunday, demonstrating traditional Corroboree dancing.... more >
Join DJ Lance Rock and four friendly monsters in a land of music, dance, cartoons and simple life lessons.... more >
Video artist chronicles frontline Afghanistan
A multimedia artist whose ancestors fought in the First and Second World Wars has become Australia's latest official war artist.... more >
Queensland Ballet's dancer Tamara Zurvas inspires many young girls to believe that they too can come from a regional township and make it as a professional dancer.... more >
Bananas in Pyjamas, B1 and B2, are mischievous twins who cannot resist playing tricks on their Teddy Bear friends.... more >
Meet Gold Coast sisters Sarah and Mia Thompson. Both will dance in Queensland Ballet's final performance of Swan Lake in their hometown this weekend.... more >
Rabble's Cageling a rousing reworking
The Rabble's Cageling, a reinvention of Federico Garcia Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, is a sometimes puzzling curiosity which requires diligence to unravel, writes Jenny Blain.... more >
An indigenous dance group is giving young people an appreciation of their culture and a good dose of confidence.... more >
Heavens, Mary MacKillop musical planned
Casting call issued for a budding actress and singer to play the soon-to-be canonised nun Mary MacKillop.... more >
Maybe Forever charts end of affair
Contemporary dancers Meg Stuart and Philipp Gehmacher are at first an unlikely and implausible team, but their chemistry on stage makes them a powerhouse, writes Prue Bentley.... more >
Melbourne gets taste of first Indigenous opera
It has been years in the making but Australia's first Aboriginal opera is about to be performed. ... more >
Vivienne Garrett, Brooke Satchwell, Sarah McNeill, Hugh Parker, Carol Burns.... more >
Indigenous opera launches singing careers
Little more than a year ago, John Parsons had never performed opera. Now he's in Australia's first Indigenous opera production. The creator of 'Pecan Summer' is hoping the production will encourage more Indigenous people to get involved in opera.... more >
Art Nation follows two Melbourne choreographer teams as they undergo the challenge of making an art work in just 24 hours.... more >
Rough Draft is the name given to the Sydney Theatre Company's creative development program. It's their research and development wing, where they do all sorts of experimenting and every couple of months the company shows the results of this process to the ... more >
One of the most difficult processes for a playwright is handing over their writing to the collaborative process of staging it. And in many ways, the earlier this happens the more chance the work has of reaching a full production. Glenn Shea is an actor a... more >
Liquid Architecture and Lionel Marchetti
Is listening our most unsung sense? That's the premise of the Liquid Architecture sound festival which runs for four weeks and goes to seven cities around Australia. The idea is, in an age dominated by the visual, that the act of listening needs to be pri... more >
Ruined pianos of Ross Bolleter
Ruined, neglected and devastated pianos are all taken under the wing of West Australian composer, performer Ross Bolleter. They come from sheds, paddocks, abandoned theatres and shearing sheds all to be given new life and sound by this unique musician.... more >
The story of an early civil rights protest has become the subject of Australia's first aboriginal opera... more >
Festival of sound art & installations
Sound artists from around Australia inhabit Heide's beautiful gardens as part of Seven Thousand Oaks Festival. Festival director Miyuki Jokiranta and sound arts curator Ben Byrne (Electrofringe, Liquid Architecture) reflect on the vision of the festival a... more >
Pigram brothers Friday night concert in Dampier!
Its all about celebrating the culture of indigenous Australians, and NAIDOC week in the North West has been a week long celebration with good food, live music, friends and lots of cultural activities.... more >
All the world's a stage for Jillian Fitzgerald
Jillian Fitzgerald has made the stage her life, and is now using her experience to help others as a dance adjudicator... more >
Kym Lardner knows how to work a tough crowd - the five to 12 year old set... more >
The Winanjjikari Music Centre has become a vibrant hub for aboriginal musicians in the Tennant Creek area, representing a variety of different indigenous languages across the Barkly Region and presenting their diverse stories and background with original ... more >
The defining work of Australia's best-known playwright, David Williamson, is the latest play featured by Cairns Little Theatre.... more >
Vanessa Redgrave on road back to Broadway
Vanessa Redgrave is returning to Broadway this coming October opposite James Earl Jones in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Driving Miss Daisy.... more >
Lisa McCune, Adam Zwar and Matthew Peacock
Lisa McCune, Adam Zwar and Matthew Peacock... more >
The walk, the accents, jug ears and skull caps are just some of challenges facing the cast and crew of the Encore Theatre's production of Are You being Served ? We caught up with veteran makeup artist David Barratt (who also plays young Mr Grace), Ross M... more >
Fenella Kernebone meets Paschal Daantos Berry, a new voice in Australian theatre. Berry's multimedia production, The Folding Wife, was staged recently as part of the 2010 Next Wave Festival in Melbourne.... more >
Art Nation - Chinatown Cabaret
Fenella Kernebone checks out the Chinatown music hall in Shanghai, the only cabaret venue of its kind in China.... more >
Conductor Paul Kildea in conversation with Brett Kelly
Conductor, author and Britten specialist, Paul Kildea, has enjoyed a career which has taken him from Australia to Europe and England, from conducting opera to being appointed Head of Music to the Alderburgh Festival, to becoming Artistic Director of the W... more >
Young dancers from the remote Indigenous community of Lajamanu made their way to Melbourne last week for the Australian Dance Awards, where they performed in front of a crowd of thousands.... more >
Blanchett launches theatre green energy project
Cate Blanchett donned a hard hat, commando boots and a smart grey jacket to spruik the green credentials of the Sydney Theatre Company.... more >
Wicked to stage Adelaide season
The Adelaide Festival Centre's CEO says news that the hit musical Wicked will be staged in Adelaide next year is great for the local arts scene.... more >
SIW 23 June - Benjamin Britten's opera The Turn Of The Screw
Listen to this week's lesson about Benjamin Britten's opera "The Turn Of The Screw", then take the online quiz.... more >
What may be one of the hardest stigmas of autism, has become one of its strongest allies... more >
Bangarra triumphs at Australian Dance Awards
The 2010 Australian Dance Awards were held last night in Melbourne, with the Bangarra Dance Theatre picking up two awards. The company won best outstanding performance for Fire: a retrospective and its long-time artistic director Stephen Page was recognis... more >
Namila Benson talks to young Perth artist Bennett Miller about his latest work, Dachshund UN, featuring 47 live dogs recreating a meeting of the United Nations.... more >
Artworks Feature: Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present
Marina Abramovic is often called the grandmother of performance art. At 63 she has just had a huge 40-year retrospective at MoMA, New York's Museum of Modern art, where re-creations of her work dating back to the early 1970s have been performed. It is a s... more >
Shakespeare tragedy comes to Perth
John Bell, founder of the renowned Bell Shakespeare Company joins Stateline to discuss his role as lead in Shakespeare's famous tragedy 'King Lear'.... more >
Darwin dancer Matt Cornell is about to embark on the trip of a lifetime to attend an exclusive training school in Vienna.... more >
Sisters of Gelam is a deeply personal autobiographical and poetic journey into the heart of a prominent Australian clan widely known in Indigenous arts circles - the Maza family.... more >
The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is in full swing - one of the star performers is Robyn Archer.... more >
Live entertainment bigger than footy
Australia's live performance industry generates almost $2 billion a year, making it bigger than the football codes, horse racing and film and video production, a report has revealed.... more >
Justice prevails on Australia's Got Talent
Dance troupe Justice Crew win Australia's Got Talent and take home $250,000 for their efforts.... more >
Master of musicals teaching his craft
The creative brain behind the musicals Wicked and Godspell, Stephen Schwartz, is in Australia to teach others about the craft.... more >
Wilbur Wilde, Pamela Rabe, Keith Potger
All kinds of artists, and the psychology behind them... more >
For all of its admirable polemic of religious tolerance, the strong message in Peter Brook's play 11 and 12 is that man's natural condition defaults to conflict, often fuelled by prejudice and passion, writes Jenny Blain.... more >
Brisbane's historic Regent screens last flick
The screens have gone dark for the last time at the Regent in Brisbane's CBD, despite an hard-fought campaign to save the iconic cinemas. ... more >
Screen star Scarlett wins Tony
Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has won a Tony award for her Broadway debut.... more >
From Geelong to the World: Peter Coleman-Wright in Conversation
Admired all over the world for his onstage charisma, natural acting ability and burnished baritone voice, Australian baritone Peter Coleman-Wright talks to Mairi Nicolson about his career which began in Panto and G&S in Geelong, and now takes him to the M... more >
John Waters re-creates his stage exploration of the songs of Jacques Brel for a tour that includes dates at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. And he does some of it for us on The Music Show today. Live performances in this segment: Ne me quitte pas Marie... more >
Australian first for Youth Circus
They hail from a regional town, they're as young as 13, and they're set to become the first Australians to perform at the prestigious international Youth Circus in London. Spagetti Circus is a not-for-profit community group from the northern New South Wal... more >
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts is one of Australia's top tertiary musical institutions, training the future star performers of the stage and screen.... more >
PREVIEW: Art Nation China Special
Fenella Kernebone and the Art Nation team visit the Shanghai World Expo, a major architectural and cultural showcase for Australia and the world.... more >
Michael Gurr, Michele Williams, Tim Jackson
Climate Change expert talks happiness and theatre... more >
Broadway musical heavyweight, Stephen Schwartz, is in Hobart as part of a week-long musical theatre festival. ... more >
Red, La Cage lead tight race for Tony Awards
The play Red and a revival of campy musical La Cage aux Folles are among the top contenders heading into US theatre's top honours for Broadway, the Tony Awards, that will be handed out on Monday, Australian time.... more >
West Side Story comes to Australia
The ABC's Adrian Raschella takes a look at the final rehearsals for the latest Broadway production of West Side Story. ... more >
Melbourne Ballet Company members take us behind the scenes as they rehearse their latest production, Project Seven: Infinite Space.... more >
Put on your kilt and point your toes
The 61st Annual Mount Gambier Highland Dancing Festival is being held this weekend as dancers compete in the Southern States Championships.... more >
Ricky Martin livin' Evita loca on Broadway
Latin pop star Ricky Martin will return to Broadway in 2012 to star in a revival of Evita.... more >
Bolshoi prima ballerina Marina Semyonova dies
Marina Semyonova, one of the first great Soviet prima ballerinas who made her debut in the 1920s, has died at the age of 102.... more >
Kate Kendell, Waleed Aly and Shigeyuki Khiara
Dance, Religion and women's bodies on stage... more >
Artists At Work - Australian Dance Theatre
Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) is renowned internationally as a gutsy, explosive and highly original contemporary dance group.... more >
Neil LaBute is one of those contemporary playwrights whose work is both compelling and disturbing. This American, and former Mormon, is blessed with an uncanny talent for cutting right to the core of what it is to be alive in contemporary Western cultur... more >
He's been celebrated for 300 years, but the documentary discoveries about Shakespeare have been few and far between.... more >
Councillor Rohan Fitzgerald will have one more shot at trying to get a new performing arts centre for Traralgon, over the line.... more >
David Campbell to host the Helpmanns
David Campbell will host the 2010 Helpmann Awards at the Sydney Opera House later this year.... more >
PREVIEW Art Nation - China special
Fenella Kernebone and the Art Nation team visit the Shanghai World Expo, a major architectural and cultural showcase for Australia and the world.... more >
A curtain call for Mildura's Theatre
Mildura's Art Centre Theatre will take her final bow later this year, when she is demolished to the ground to make way for a brand new replacement. Local artist Danielle Hobbs was asked to make a photographic history of the building before it goes, but sh... more >
The dance goes on at Wintersun
Shirley and Robert Forbes are a pair of die-hard Wintersun rock 'n' rollers. The duo met while out rock 'n' roll dancing as teenagers, and little has changed; Shirley isn't worried at all about showing a bit of leg, she's 'too used to it by now', and Robe... more >
Brisbane's Regent Theatre gone
Brisbane cinema-goers have farewelled the historic Regent Theatre in the heart of the city. More than 200 people gathered last night to celebrate the life of the 81-year-old venue, which is about to be demolished to make way for a high rise office tower.... more >
Art Nation - My Secret Art Life - Lili Shi
This week's My Secret Art Life segment shows the story of Lili Shi. Lili works in a modern architect's office in Shanghai, but practices Yueju opera, a traditional form of Chinese opera.... more >
Adam Cook is the artistic director of the State Theatre Company of South Australia. He's directing a production of the Joe Orton play Entertaining Mr Sloane that will open next month at the Dunstan Playhouse in Adelaide.... more >
Parents, children and the arts
American journalist Lenore Skenazy claims that parents today are so filled with anxiety that they supervise and control every moment of their children's lives. Is that then affecting their ability to discover their own interests and creativity? Lenore S... more >
Toshi Tsuchitori, composer and multi-instrumentalist, has been collaborating with director Peter Brook for 30 years. He is currently performing in 11 and 12 in Sydney. This segment includes live performances by Toshi Tsuchitori on esraj [bowed, long neck... more >
Play celebrates father of anatomy
Vesalius: A Requiem is a show examining the life of Andreas Vesalius who lived in the 1500s and became famous for being the first person to use human bodies to draw human anatomy.... more >
A retrospective exhibition of the Wearable Arts Awards is on display at the Alice Springs Library.... more >
Video: Laughing out loud with Garry McDonald & Henri Szeps
Garry McDonald and Henri Szeps are two of Australia's finest actors. Most Australians will remember their pairing as brothers in the great Australian TV Comedy Mother and Son. Several years ago they teamed up to perform in a play - Halpern and Johnson at... more >
Mortal Engine fires on all cylinders
Chunky Move's Mortal Engine is a modern dance phenomenon which has to be seen to be believed, writes Jenny Blain.... more >
Cairns's JUTE Theatre, in collaboration with Tasmania's Mudlark Theatre in Launceston, have put together a play so ambitious it may be unprecedented.... more >
If someone asked you to go and live in an undersea colony, would you leap at it as an opportunity too good to miss?... more >
Search on for Indigenous screen gems
A nationwide search is on to find four talented young Indigenous women to play fictional girl group The Sapphires in an upcoming film.... more >
Treasurer tight-lipped on $130m Opera House boost
The NSW Govt remains tight-lipped on whether the budget contains a $130m rescue package for the Sydney Opera House.... more >
New Adelaide theatre unlikely soon
A report on the capacity of Adelaide theatres has recommended a new one be built in North Terrace.... more >
Latrobe group wants good governance
Latrobe City Council and state and federal governments have been accused of encouraging hatred and division between communities in the Latrobe Valley.... more >
Opera House says larger women yet to sing
The chief executive of the Sydney Opera House says reports that the Sydney landmark is in financial trouble and is considering closing its doors are wrong. A newspaper report today warned that radical action was needed to keep the venue open, and that bad... more >
'Humour' helps Kuranda artist win US residency
Zane Saunders is hoping his artwork takes another step forward during his time in the United States.... more >
Opera House denies facing closure
The body responsible for Sydney's Opera House has denied reports that the landmark building is in danger of closing and that performers' lives are at risk from ancient stage machinery.... more >
Two women are heading north from Victoria on a particularly social mission involving tea cosies!... more >
And today, it's Ralph Myers. At the moment he's a set designer but at the end of this year he'll be the new artistic director of Company B, Belvoir Street Theatre, in Sydney.... more >
It's now 20 years since John Bell founded the Bell Shakespeare Company, an event being celebrated with a touring production of King Lear. John Bell himself is in the title role. It is the story of an old king who decides to retire and leave his kingdom ... more >
A short piece of radiophonic fiction as part of the City Nights project (see links below). A man dances closely with the twin partners of memory and grief. Written by Abigail Lewis and adapted for radio by Gretchen Miller. The reading is by Gretchen M... more >
Ex-Pink Floyd frontman to resurrect The Wall
Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has announced plans to take his cult rock opera The Wall around Europe and the United States, three decades after it was originally staged.... more >
Interview with Ian McKellen and Roger Rees
Actors Sir Ian McKellen and Roger Rees join Stateline to discuss life, career, and their latest roles in 'Waiting for Godot', at His Majesty's Theatre in Perth.... more >
Vivid festival takes over Opera House
American rock veteran Lou Reed and his performance artist wife, Laurie Anderson, are hoping to introduce Sydney-siders to some of their favourite acts with the Vivid Sydney festival, which opened Thursday night.... more >
Jerry Hall seduced by WA for Graduate return
Supermodel-turned-actress Jerry Hall has chosen Perth to reprise her famous stage role as Mrs Robinson in The Graduate.... more >
Ringtones: 20th Anniversary Bell Shakespeare Season
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary Bell Shakespeare Season we bring you six downloadable Shakespeare ringtones - read by John Bell himself!... more >
Sir Ian McKellen on acting, blogging and celebrating his birthday in style.... more >
Sir Ian McKellen on Afternoons
Sir Ian McKellen spoke about acting, blogging and celebrating his birthday in style on 720 ABC Perth Afternoons.... more >
Opera tenor Siphiwo Ntshebe, who had been asked by Nelson Mandela to sing at the opening of the World Cup, has died aged 34.... more >
Michael Leslie is the winner of the 2010 Red Ochre Award for his outstanding lifelong contribution to the recognition of Indigenous Arts in Australia and around the world.... more >
Michael Veitch will host a forum into the state of our state's theatre industry.... more >
Teenagers sing the praises of opera
The closest most teenagers come to opera is a soap opera, but WotOpera aims to change that by giving students a starring role in their own productions.... more >
River of Art runs through South East
A 10 day celebration of the arts has kicked off in South East New South Wales, with the River of Art Festival.... more >
Sean Hayes, best known for his award-winning role in the television series Will And Grace, will host the 64th annual Tony Awards.... more >
The proposed Horsham Town Hall redevelopment has got a lot of people talking.... more >
Two of America's most influential artists, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, talk about their live program for Sydney's Vivid Festival, which opens on Thursday May 27.... more >
Ian Wilding wins playwright's award
Forever Seven playwright Ian Wilding has taken out the 2009 Patrick White Playwright's Award.... more >
A damning report into Tasmania's theatre scene has sparked an angry response from thespians.... more >
A report has emerged that claims Tasmania's theatre scene is starting to flounder.... more >
Four Melbourne choreographers were given just 24 hours to create four new dances. See what happened when Shelley Lasica created hers for the event 24 Hours.... more >
Watch this stunning preview of ReelDance Festival's innovative dance on screen program, a thrilling celebration of creative practice that will leave you spellbound!... more >
With his latest effort, The Power of Yes, playwright David Hare takes a new tack, writes ABC Arts blogger Jenny Blain.... more >
Mike Daisey - Master Storyteller
Mike Daisey can tell a story like no other. But don't expect a comfy armchair kind of tale. Seeing and hearing Mike perform one of his monologues is a full-on experience; by turns riotously funny and darkly confronting. Mike is in town with the Sydney Wri... more >
Celebrity spotting: Watch the artists walk the red carpet at the 2010 World Music Awards. ... more >
SuBo will go bang, says Dame Kiri
Opera legend Dame Kiri Te Kanawa says Susan Boyle's "whiz bang" success will eventually fizzle.... more >
Opera is normally associated with expensive tickets, overdressed patrons and foreign languages. So when you give a group of teenagers 15 hours and a bunch of pens and paper, the last thing you'd expect is for them to write and compose their own opera.... more >
Who hasn't got happy childhood memories of going to the circus or the local rodeo? But some councils such as Cairns have banned circuses with exotic animals. Others are considering following suit. Elsewhere there are increasing calls to ban rodeos from lo... more >
A new film released in Australia tomorrow could make many of us think twice about the food we eat. Food Inc is a documentary showing the ugly side of food production and how a handful of huge corporations control food supply putting profit ahead of the e... more >
Michael Edwards and Mike Daisey
Michael Edwards is known internationally as 'the perfume expert's expert'. Mike Daisey is a master storyteller from New York who tells stories about his life on stage. ... more >
Fenella Kernebone puts her best foot forward on the dance floor at Wrong Prom, a mass class for over 18s in which professional instructors teach moves from classic dance films.... more >
Deborah Cheetham performs Summertime for Wordstorm
Indigenous soprano Deborah Cheetham had a strong presence at this year's Wordstorm and treated the audience to a powerful rendition of one of the 20th century's most famous pieces of music, Summertime.... more >
Michael Gow is the artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company. He's also a playwright and his plays include Toy Symphony and the ever-popular Away. He steps down from the QTC job in August, after eleven years.... more >
The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill
Richard Gill and Judi Connelli discuss, and give us a taste of, Kurt Weill's masterpiece The Threepenny Opera ahead of its Victorian Opera/Malthouse Theatre season in Melbourne. This segment includes a live performance of The Ballad of Sexual Obsession C... more >
Ute Lemper: Cabaret performer and actor and the pull of German cabaret.
Touring Australia with her Angels over Berlin songs Ute Lemper says much of the work she performs finds its roots in the Weimar music of Kurt Weill.... more >
Into the heart of Australian opera
Join Leon Compton as he goes on an operatic journey with Koori singer Deborah Cheetham... more >
The Riverland Musical Society will soon be holding a production of the Gilbert and Sullivan play 'The Mikado'.... more >
Postpone curriculum changes at VCA: report
A review of planned curriculum changes at the VCA has recommended the reforms be postponed.... more >
Are you the next star of the stage?
The Mount Gambier Theatre Groups current show is in full swing and the director says it's not all about being extroverted.... more >
They may be heading to Venice, but before travelling overseas, the Sydney Dance Company treated local students to a preview of their latest production.... more >
The humorous and out of the ordinary author has just released his latest book.... more >
Broome's basketball and hip hop challenge
How hard is it for kids to find hidden talents and build self-esteem? Vibe3on3 gave Kimberley kids a head start recently when they came to town with the Vibe3on3 Basketball and Hip Hop Challenge.... more >
Have you ever wondered just where the cut-up technique came from? These days it's probably what's called sampling or mash-ups: disparate images and words brought together to make a sometimes cohesive, sometimes not cohesive, whole. The concept can be... more >
A diverse cast of the young and old, the able bodied and the less able, combine to present a piece which is at times humourous and entertaining and at other times challenging and thought provoking.... more >
Flash mob dance performance surprises shoppers
What would you think if your fellow shoppers broke into a synchronised dance performance outside the supermarket one Saturday morning? It does happen, it's even happening in the Kimberley.... more >
Is theatre a boys' club? This debate is an ongoing one and if you do the numbers you'll realise that Australian theatre directors and playwrights are more often than not men. It is, however, interesting that the Sydney Theatre Company at the moment, is pl... more >
Stateline SA reports on Adelaide performing arts body Cirkidz, on the eve of its 25th anniversary.... more >
For 60 years, Gold Coast Little Theatre has made audiences exclaim, laugh, and wonder.... more >
'Cooee' sounds of Australia come to Mildura
Forty of the most iconic sounds of Australia are being showcased in a cabaret show 'Cooee Mildura'. From the National Film and Sound Archive, the collection is made up of traditional songs, significant political moments and some of the oldest recordings i... more >
It may have its origins in the Bronx district of New York, but hip hop has relevance in rural Australia, according to performer, choreographer and dance teacher Michele Ripper.... more >
Virignia Trioli talks to Sir Ian McKellen about his Australian season of Waiting For Godot, the passing of his former co-star Lynn Redgrave and working with comedian Ricky Gervais.... more >
Young people want to be entertained now, but don't bore them with a play that goes for too long - that's what Alex Broun reckons.... more >
China correspondent, Tom Iggulden, reports on Kim Jong-il's opera troupe, Sea of Blood, which is performing in Beijing.... more >
Outstanding cast does Honour to Murray-Smith play
Joanna Murray-Smith's play Honour finds new relevance in a treatment that is intelligent, intelligible and beautifully nuanced, writes Jenny Blain.... more >
Supermarket singer on Turner shortlist
An artist who records herself singing folk songs in stairwells and supermarkets makes the Turner shortlist.... more >
Sir Ian McKellen remembers Lynn Redgrave
Sir Ian McKellen pays tribute to his friend and Oscar nominated actress Lynn Redgrave. ... more >
Founder of the Bell Shakespeare Company, John Bell, is performing 'King Lear' for his third time.... more >
Actress Lynn Redgrave dead at 67
Oscar-nominated actress Lynn Redgrave has died after a long battle against breast cancer.... more >
Every decade since he was 20, so the story goes, Jack Charles has spent his birthday in jail. In his youth Jack was the star of the film The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith and started Australia's first Aboriginal theatre company in the 70s. But he also led a... more >
In the final episode in our series on Vanautu's Wan Smolbag theatre company, Robyn Archer sings and performs with actors from the troupe before leaving the island nation.... more >
Artworks Feature: David Hare and the power of language
On this week's Artworks Feature - a conversation between two playwrights, about the power and the failures of language. For a number of years now the English playwright David Hare has been using the stage as a place to clarify this confusing world we liv... more >
Mark Kay is a choreologist with the Australian Ballet and he is speaking to Amanda Smith about the Benesh Movement Notation. For a long time ballets were passed down the generations of dancers—taught from memory by old dancers who'd done it before. ... more >
Tristan Whiston was a female soprano with a successful career, yet always wanted to be a man. In this intimate audio diary we follow his transition through the process of gender re-assignment. He has testosterone injections, breast re-construction surge... more >
Perth to host legendary US play
Stateline WA's Claire Nichols reports on a Perth community theatre group that has brought over the writer and star of a legendary American play, 'Second Samuel', to star in a local production.... more >
Elvis and Shakespeare inspire Mackay senior students
When Elvis walked into a room they say your heart skipped a beat as he reached for guitar and launched into the first pelvis thrust.... more >
The 7:40 Report - Friday 30.4.10
Not sure what to do with your emissions? 7:40 can help.... more >
Competitors unite for the 85th Bendigo Eisteddfod
They competed against each other on stage 50 years ago, but today Kathy, Penny and Terry have joined forces to help young performers as part of the Bendigo Competitions Society.... more >
Mad, sad and difficult to decipher is the knee-jerk reaction to the Druid Theatre's Walworth Farce.... more >
Romeo and Juliet for the new millennium?
The Empire Theatre's production of High School Musical premiers in Toowoomba tonight. Auditions began last November. Since then, the theatre has been filled with the sounds of singing and dancing, and broad American accents!... more >
A nightclub in China has been named after US President Barack Obama. The club hopes to be the largest party house in China, 'changing' the entertainment scene. ... more >
Crushed and disappointed: About 4,000 Justin Bieber fans leave Sydney's Circular Quay after police cancel his only Australian gig due to safety concerns. ... more >
The ocean provides rich pickings for poets, and for poetic dreaming. In November 2009), two duffel bags were carried by ship up the east and west coasts of Australia, where they met at Thursday Island. The duffel bags were part of the Red Room Company's... more >
An Adelaide choreographer uses her experience of the Ash Wednesday bushfires to create a dance performance.... more >
In the third episode of our series on Vanuatu's Wan Smolbag theatre company, Robyn Archer goes behind the scenes as the troupe films their TV soap opera Love Patrol.... more >
Robbie wins So You Think You Can Dance
Contemporary dancer Robbie Kmetoni has taken out this year's So You Think You Can Dance title.... more >
Michael Jackson circus coming to town
The life and times of late King of Pop Michael Jackson is still a circus thanks to Cirque du Soleil.... more >
Felicity Ward, Adam Zwar and Luke Devenish
Mischief of tabloid journalists and Ancient Romans... more >
Paul Ashcroft, Robert Coleby, Rachel Gordon, Andrea Moor, Jacki Weaver, John Wood... more >
Living the drama in the Upper Hunter
In a week where the Upper Hunter came under the national spotlight with the 4 Corners program "A Dirty Business", a playwright has started work on a new play about living in the region.... more >
No Play for NSW Premier's Literary Awards
Winners for the New South Wales Premiers Literary Awards will be announced next month in all sections but one - Best Play. The judges have decided they won't be giving the prize this year so why not? Isn't the standard high enough or does the judgin... more >
Performer - Stories East and West
Annette Shun Wah and Mary Tang came into the 702 Studios this Sunday for a chat about Performance 4a's latest production - Stories East and West.... more >
So you think you can't dance? A new session in Canberra is targeting people who feel too self-conscious to dance.... more >
Julia Zemiro, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Fiona Blair
How to write songs and Outback Shakespeare... more >
Robyn Archer travels with Vanuatu's Wan Smolbag theatre company to an island where they stage a play to educate locals about sexual health.... more >
Zulya and the children of the underground
Zulya and the Children of the Underground is a static musical performance. It is a simply staged performance with Zulya surrounded by 'The Children of the Underground'.... more >
Harry Potter star goes musical on Broadway
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will make his Broadway musical debut in a revival of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying early next year, producers say.... more >
Love Me Tender savages children's sexualisation
A Greek Chorus has taken possession of a stereotypical Aussie suburban backyard: a square of lawn, a sprinkler and, with hindsight, the suggestion of a barbecue around the corner.... more >
Ballet stars pirouette in new direction
Three of Australia's principal ballet dancers are leaping into a brave new world by setting up a new breakaway ballet company.... more >
Producers of the blockbuster Broadway hit Jersey Boys have sued a touring stage show called The Boys, labelling it a "copycat" production that competes unfairly with the original musical.... more >
Shakespeare on Twitter: All the web's a stage
The Royal Shakespeare Company has actors play out Romeo And Juliet in real time on Twitter.... more >
Alison Whyte, Garry McDonald and Brendan Cowell
Australia's finest actors join Jon Faine.... more >
Gunning artist and actor Max Cullen stages a salute to Henry Lawson at the Street Theatre with his one-man show. ... more >
Therapy through theatre at Company@
Confronting autism provides therapy for those on the spectrum... more >
Art Nation - My Secret Art Life
Eye surgeon Peter Chau reveals his hidden passion for ballet, after taking it up four years ago. ... more >
