Audacious. That’s the word for this fifth edition of the Australian Musical Theatre Festival. The five-day celebration was capped by a full-blown show, basically thrown together during that time. Not only did the festival’s artistic director, Tyran Parke oversee this pressure-cooker operation, he also became its last-minute star, playing Guido…
John Shand Posts
Concert Hall, May 11 9/10 Some talented kid could mimic Audra McDonald; could maybe catch the incandescence of her soprano range and the huskiness warming the edges of her chest voice. They might even replicate the translucence of her softest high notes, and the earthiness of her lowest ones. But…
Ensemble Theatre, May 7 7.5/10 As Shakespeare did with his protagonist in Richard III, Joanna Murray-Smith plucked Patrica Highsmith from history, dropped her on a stage, and started pulling strings. Biographical drama is seldom compelling when it’s excessively reverential toward historical fact. The truth of what happens on stage counts…