Meet King Kong (the new kid on the music theatre block)

He is large, he is black, he is muscular, and he is the new kid on the music theatre block.

Early on Monday morning, as bleary-eyed office workers were beginning the working week, the long-awaited King Kong was revealed at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne.

Five years in the making, Melbourne-made King Kong is a creation of Global Creatures (Walking with Dinosaurs and How to Train Your Dragon). Standing six metres tall the part marionette, animatronic and puppet, weighs in at 1.1 tonnes of steel, aluminium, lycra and latex. 

Read the full article and view photo gallery on Stage Whispers here.

Watch footage of Lucy's interviews with cast and production team at the Media Call here. 

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Cranked Up and Ready to Party (Circus Oz)

They're amazing, they're talented and they're having a birthday.

Circus Oz are 'Cranked Up' for their 35th year, and the show in The Big Top on Birrarung Marr in Melbourne promises to be fun, funky and irreverent.

What else would we expect from this iconic Australian juggernaut?

Find out more about the winter performances and how you can score free tickets by braving it in your favourite leotard here.

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Autumn 'Road Trip' - By Foot

We are so obsessed with wheels these days that we risk missing the everyday wonders in the world around us. There are so many great things that can't be seen in a drive-by, or if you're pounding the footpath in your sneakers.

So why not consider a different kind of 'road trip'. The kind that lets you dawdle and take time to (literally and figuratively) smell the roses.

My suggestions for a late Autumn walk, accompanied by original photos, are now published by Weekend Notes. Continue reading here.


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Pop Song Writing Bootcamp

Wanna write a pop song and then perform your song in a live recording concert?

Of course you do. 

And thanks to an initiative by the School of Contemporary Music at the Victorian College of the Arts, you can do just that this coming school holidays. Oh yeah!

Pop Song Writing Boot Camp (Monday 1^st July – Friday 5^th July) is a five-day course where participants will be introduced to a range of songwriting techniques, lyrics, hooks and melodies while creating their own songs. 

Discussion about the business of writing will be of particular interest to those considering entering the music industry. On the final day you will perform your work in a live recording concert. Continue reading here.

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Review: Flowerchildren (Comedy Theatre, Melbourne)

Let your hair down, pull out the crocheted vest, and be sure to wear some flowers in your hair!

Flowerchildren is a triumph with glorious singing, wonderful writing, and eye-catching visuals. Peter Fitzpatrick’s musical about 1960’s musical sensation The Mamas and The Papas, is an original delight. Read my review on Stage Whispers here.

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Review: A Storm in a D Cup

Amelia Ryan is all ringlets and sparkle as she presents her one-woman show ahead of a Melbourne season, and then New York City appearances on 42^nd Street.

Ryan, the 2012 Australian Cabaret Showcase Prize Winner, is a generous performer who invests great energy and passion into this performance. The show begins with the childhood discovery that her father is gay, and his relationship with a transgender step-mother, before we are led through a litany of personal mishaps, parking fines, driving debacles, pole dancing injuries, romantic exploits and physical ailments.

Continue reading this review on Stage Whispers here.

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Magnormos: Taking 'Flowerchildren' to the Comedy

'Flowerchildren' cast in full flight

Listening to the voice bubbling through the phone receiver, it’s clear Margaret Fisk is an enthusiast. And why wouldn’t she be? As producer at Magnormos’, she has been with Flower Children since its workshop phase, and for its world premiere season at Theatre Works in August 2011. Now the show is set to reopen in Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre.

Written by AFI award winner Peter Fitzpatrick, Flower Children is a musical about late sixties band sensation The Mamas and The Papas. As a child Margaret Fisk was a fan, but she knew nothing of their turbulent off-stage lives, the group’s debilitating love-triangle, or the drugs, sex, deceit, alcoholism, and chronic over-eating which plagued the stars. Continue reading the full article published by Stage Whispers here.

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How to Host a 'Super Moon' Party

What a great excuse for a Full Moon Party!

If weather permits the night sky in the Earth’s Southern Hemisphere will be bathed in brighter than usual light when a ‘Super Moon’ makes its presence felt on Sunday 23^rd June, 2013. In Melbourne the full moon will rise at around 9.33pm.

The phenomenon known as the Super Full Moon occurs when the distance between Earth and its moon are at their closest, and the moon may appear 14% larger, and also brighter than usual. In 2013 the 9.30pm rising is a more family-friendly prospect that it may be in other years. You can calculate the moon rising in other locations here

So what might a Super Moon Party, or a Full Moon Party, look like? Inspiration for a gathering or party at yours are now published by Weekend Notes. Read the full article.

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