LaBelle

The fabulous Patti La Belle saw the show last night and whispered into each of our ears "You better work!" Will and Nick were thrilled whilst I in my paranoia thought she was telling me to go back to drama school.

Miss Lisa Howard

At last Lisa Howard has come out of the shadows. Our newest Diva officially replaced departed Diva Ashley Spencer two weeks ago but her costumes weren't ready so she's been singing most of the show in the wings. Tonight she flew high and proud for the first time. Yay!

The State Theatre

(tt)   It was renamed The Forum in the sixties but will always be The State to me. It is mainly a music venue now with its seats ripped out, a dance floor near the stage and banquettes up the back. I doubt I will see inside again so here are some grabs of the wonderful twenties decadence in all its crumbling glory

The torlerts!

Farewell Mr P

(tt) It was Simon Phillip's final final farewell to the MTC this afternoon It was held in the State Theatre on Flinders St,  I took lots of photos but they were from such a distance back that most are unusable.

Here is Jane Menelaus and Simon doing a tandem of "Prufrock"

Geoffrey paying tribute with a gentle hint of Lady B

Bert LaBonte (soon to give his Nat King Cole) and Richard Piper serenade in the last few moments of the very long and boozy proceedings.

the king out of a dress

(tt)  To coincide with Geoffrey being Lady B and also being named Victorian of the Year there is a fine display of costumes and posters in the Arts Centre Foyer . They centre round his appearances in "Exit the King" and "Diary of a Madman"

Grey Gardens

(tt)  Took this while having a coffee before the 3pm show of "Grey Gardens"

The production of "Grey Gardens" was wonderfully directed by Roger Hodgeman with a very inventive Richard Roberts set given the company's stringent budget costs. The clever feature was a huge blow up photo of the house  projected onto a scrim which was lit from behind at times to very eerie effect.

All the performances were excellent but Miss Rabe was particularly brilliant in capturing the lostness and intelligence of the trapped bird who is Little Edie. Nancye Hayes brought Big Edie to life with a humanity that balanced the manipulative monster she might have appeared to be.

  John O'May reeked of WASP venom. Bert LaBonte, Alex Rathgaber and Liz Stiles were fine support

 and James Millar very touching as Gould, the doomed lush.
Musically stunning. Kellie Dickerson led a great ensemble. I will add however that the original off-Broadway version of the piece with different songs and script was more touching and spare than the current one.

set

(tt)  This a photo of a photo of the preset for "Earnest"  I should go in and do one properly but I don't think I have time so this will have to do. Personally I like a curtain but I am prehistoric.