Forget glass slippers and pumpkins. “Think hot rock ‘n’ roll, blues and show tunes,” says Australia’s goddess of rock and ex-Machine Gun Fellatio front woman Christa Hughes about The Stroke of Midnight.
Midnight variety spectacular
A lonely Jewish drag queen from the Big Apple goes in search for love and family in this award-winning production by Harvey Fierstein.
The play premiered in 1981 as gay and lesbian groups continued to fight for civil rights.
While it’s an ideal time to perform it as part of the Sydney Mardi Gras Festival, director Stephen Colyer says, “it’s a timely play 30 years on as the fight continues for the legal recognition of same-sex marriage”.
“A lot of the issues essential to the story are such hot topics today in terms of marriage equality and parenting children. It’s also about a man discovering his self-worth which sends a positive message to anyone who feels different.”
Torch Song Trilogy is the combination of three plays, The International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First, marking important points in drag queen Arnold Beckoff’s life from 1971 to 1980.
“It was a real journey delving into the character of Arnold,” says up-and-coming hot new talent Simon Corfield, who plays the pivotal figure.
“Arnold uses his sharp-witted and self-deprecating humour to deflect attention away from his intense emotional depth and vulnerability. The inherent truth and comedy of Fierstein’s writing makes these plays just as relevant today,” continues Corfield.
Feb 6-Mar 3, Theatre 19, (formerly Darlinghurst Theatre), 19 Greenknowe Ave, Potts Point, $35-40, 8356 9987, darlinghursttheatre.com
This preview originally appeared in the City Hub where I am a regular contributor to the Arts & Entertainment section.
In an age of slick, computer-generated imagery in movies, and auto-tuned vocals in disposable pop songs, Spiegelworld presents Empire is a welcome immersion into the vaudevillian world of comedy, circus, variety and burlesque.
“We scoured the planet to find the most awe-inspiring acts,” says Australian theatre producer and Spiegelworld Impresario, Ross Mollison.
Fanny, one of half of Empire’s outrageous MCs Oscar & Fanny.
One of the biggest issues facing remote communities in Scotland is the global energy crisis.
Petrol prices are on average 10% higher in the highlands and islands and people living in those areas are more reliant on private transport.
As the rocketing oil prices hits these communities they are preparing to become energy self-sufficient within three years.
The last wildernesses in Britain