Not an official review per se but more the happy ramblings of a grateful audience member finally given the chance to see a show they have adored (on cd) for seven years.
I have appeared in about 40 productions over the past forty years. Favourite roles include Eugene Fodor and Junior in (separate productions of) Crazy for You, Mr Fox in Mack and Mabel, Max in The Sound of Music, Freddy in My Fair Lady, Julio in Paint Your Wagon, Marcellus in The Music Man and Grantaire in Les Miserables.
I have directed several school productions. I choreographed Urinetown and Little Shop of Horrors, then went on to direct Hot Mikado and the Australian premiere of 13. I have since gone on to direct/choreograph The Music Man Jr and Thoroughly Modern Millie Jr.
At my next school, I was Head of Productions, overseeing up to a dozen productions each year and directing another seven musicals, including The Music Man, Brigadoon and How To Succeed in Business Without really Trying.
I reviewed music theatre and opera for Theatre People and the Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne). I served on the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria Committee for five years as Treasurer and was on the Board of The Opera Studio Melbourne.
I am a keen audience member, having seen 58 shows in six weeks in a 2012 trip to New York, as well as 57 shows during 6 weeks in London/Europe earlier the same year.
I hope you enjoy reading the news and reviews at Man in Chair. I would love to hear your thoughts on the shows covered here so please feel free to leave your comments.
Not an official review per se but more the happy ramblings of a grateful audience member finally given the chance to see a show they have adored (on cd) for seven years.
Pure, unadulterated music theatre bliss, Legally Blonde is a roller coaster ride of musical pleasure that captures your heart from the first minutes and just doesn’t let go. A giddy delight, Legally […]
While Matt Hetherington delivers a winning performance in the starring role of this eagerly anticipated production, the show itself and several creative aspects are somewhat below standard.
Promises, Promises opens tonight at Melbourne’s State Theatre. Matt Hetherington stars as rising young executive Chuck Baxter
Poor “little” Natalie Portly. All she wants is to play the coveted dual role of White Pig and Black Pig in Swine Lake but her monstrous mother, coldhearted choreographer and cunning co-star […]
Distinctly Melbourne in flavour, the affection, scope and gentle cheek of Barassi The Stage Show combine for an enjoyable, even inspirational, trip down memory lane. Author Tee O’Neill has crafted a pacy, […]
Artistic Director David McAllister’s vision to mount a new-yet-traditional staging of perennial favourite Swan Lake has been lovingly and expertly realised in this wondrous production that puts the focus squarely on the […]
Fresh from its record-breaking Sydney season, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific has landed in Melbourne in glorious shape. Tight, humorous, energetic and rapturously melodious, this artistic triumph is brimming with life, romance […]
You’ve heard these songs before, but never sung as beautifully as this. Marina Prior, leading lady of the Australian musical stage, has veered away from the music theatre catalogue of her previous […]
I remember when growing up, before the era of mega musicals Cats, Phantom and Les Miz, a standard question to someone returning from London was “Did you see The Mousetrap?” To have […]