Whatson Notices

Beaumaris Theatre Inc. 19-Jun-2009 to 04-Jul-2009

Parramatta Girls Agent: Alana Valentine RGM Artist Group Author: Alana Valentine Director: Robyn Morris Theatre: 82 Wells Rd Beaumaris 3193 Melways Reference: 86 G6 Performances: Fri 19/6, Sat 20/6, Fri 26/6, Sat 27/6, Thu 2/7, Fri 3/7, Sat 4/7, All 8 pm. Prices: $18 adults; members, concessions, children, groups of 10+ $15. Opening night all tickets $2 extra - includes gala supper. Bookings: 9583 6896 Contact Email: beaumaristheatre@optusnet.com.au Website: http://www.beaumaristheatre.com.au Synopsis: Parramatta Girls encompasses the portrayal of eight women who have come back to a reunion at the Parramatta Girls Home, a "home for delinquents", some 40 years after they were first incarcerated. Conditions at the home were widely recognized as being even harsher than those adult prisoners endured. The play is a dramatization of the reunion and includes song and storytelling and shows the determination of the women who survived in the face of hardship and inequality. Other Information: Suitable for those over 18 years.

The Mount Players 19-Jun-2009 to 12-Jul-2009 Click to Enlarge

The Wedding Singer Agent: Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd Author: Book by Chad Beguelin & Tim Herlihy Lyrics by Chad Beguelin Music by Matthew Sklar Director: Frances & Olivia Kelly Muscial Director - Peter Weerts Theatre: The Mountview Theatre 56 Smith Street Macedon Performances: Gala Opening Night Friday 19th June Thurs, Fri, Sat performances 8pm Sunday Matinees 2pm Prices: Gala Opening includes supper & refreshments $30.00 (No Concession Available) Prices Adult - $25.00 Concession - $22.00 Bookings: 0403 834 759 Contact Email: secmountplayers@hotmail.com Website: http://www.themountplayers.com Synopsis: The lead singer in Simply Wed, a band specializing in playing wedding receptions in and around Ridgefield New Jersey, is stood up at the altar for his own wedding. A waitress who also works these gigs tries to cheer him up. She's engaged to be married and wants him to work her wedding reception. But they fall for each other and he has to find a way to keep her from making the mistake of marrying the wrong man so she'll be free to marry him.

Malvern Theatre Company Inc. 26-Jun-2009 to 11-Jul-2009 Click to Enlarge

THE ELEPHANT MAN Agent: Dominie Pty. Ltd. Author: Bernard Pomerance Director: Chris Baldock Theatre: 29a Burke Road, East Malvern Performances: 26th June to 11th July, 2009 Tuesdays to Saturdays at 8:15 pm Gala Night: Saturday 4th July at 8:15 pm. Matinees: Saturday 27th June at 2:00 pm and Sunday 5th July at 2:00 pm. Prices: $18.00 (Concession $16.00). Groups (10 or more) $15.00 per person. Gala Night: $5.00 extra per person. Bookings: 1300 131 552 Contact Email: home@malverntheatre.com.au Website: http://www.malverntheatre.com.au Synopsis: This Tony Award-winning drama is based on the true story of Joseph Carey Merrick, erroneously referred to by the name of John Merrick, a hideously deformed man who finds hope for a more dignified life after a youth spent as a freak-show attraction in Victorian London. ‘Discovered’ by a brilliant young doctor, Merrick became the toast of society, patronized by lords, ladies, clergymen and celebrities who admired his gentleness, intelligence and deep faith. Stunningly theatrical, this modern classic, laced with humour and pathos, explores the nature of courage, heroism and inner beauty.

Mordialloc Theatre Co. Inc. 26-Jun-2009 to 11-Jul-2009

MURDERED TO DEATH Agent: Hal Leonard (Australia ) Pty. Ltd. Author: Peter Gordon Director: Eric Heyes Theatre: 64 Parkers Road, Parkdale. Melways Reference: 87C9 Performances: Nightly at 8.15pm. Sunday matinee 2.30pm. Prices: Adults $18.00 Concessions $16.00 Groups of 20 or more $14.00 Bookings: 9587.5141 Website: http://www.mordialloctheatre.com Synopsis: Miss Marple meets Inspector Clouseau in this hilarious spoof of the best Agatha Christie traditions. Set in a country manor house in the 1930's, with an assembled cast of wonderfully odd ball characters, a murder is committed. The inept bungling, accident prone Inspector Pratt arrives to solve the mystery. It soon becomes apparent that the murderer isn't finished yet. But will the villain be unmasked before everyone else has met their doom or will the audience die laughing first?

Geelong Repertory Theatre Co. 26-Jun-2009 to 11-Jul-2009 Click to Enlarge

The Popular Mechanicals - A Funny (Old) New Play Author: Keith Robinson, Tony Taylor & William Shakespeare Director: Peter Jukes Theatre: 15 Coronation Street, Geelong West, 3218 Melways Reference: 401 C3 Performances: Evening Performances - 8pm Sunday Matinee - 2pm Prices: Adults - $22 Concession - $20 Student - $15 Bookings: 52 25 1200 Contact Email: info@geelongrep.com.au Website: http://www.geelongrep.com.au Synopsis: Remember those “rude mechanicals” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Nick Bottom, Peter Quince, et al? Well, here they are again in the sensational behind the scenes story of their preparations for the play they hope to perform at the “Royal Wedding” – and boy are they rude this time around! In what turns out to be a sort of ‘Shakespearean Vaudeville’ we are entertained with a series of songs, sketches and dances (often bawdy, even vulgar, and always very, very silly!) that celebrate the long and glorious tradition of theatre clowning. But what is also celebrated here is the love of theatre for its own sake, for its capacity to expand and refine the human spirit. As the story of this naïve, hopelessly and hilariously incompetent band of players unfolds we can’t help but bask in the glow of their fellowship, or admire their extraordinary bravura in the face of inevitable ridicule. Even as all their efforts collapse spectacularly into disaster our merry band emerge triumphant - not with fame or fortune, but with that ennobling communal bond that inspires and revitalises theatricals the world over. That’s what it’s really all about!

Williamstown Little Theatre Inc. 02-Jul-2009 to 18-Jul-2009

Rough Crossing Author: Tom Stoppard Director: Peter Newling Theatre: 2-4 Albert Street, Williamstown 3016 Melways Reference: 56 B7 Performances: 8:00pm Tuesday - Saturday 5:00pm Sunday Prices: Adults $20.00 Concession $17.00 Bookings: 03 9885-9678 Website: http://www.wlt.org.au/ Synopsis: Sandor and Alex Gal are the Gilbert & Sullivan of their day. We find them on board the SS Italian Castle, sailing between Southampton and New York, where their new musical comedy, 'The Cruise of the Dodo' will be performed - if they ever finish writing it. Will the washed matinee idol, Ivor Fish steal the leading lady from the up and coming composer, Adam Adam? Will the ships steward, Dvornichek ever find his sea legs? Will Sandor ever get his cognac? If you love Tom Stoppard or fast moving comedy, this is the play for you.

Heidelberg Theatre Co. 09-Jul-2009 to 25-Jul-2009 Click to Enlarge

A Skull in Connemara Author: Martin McDonagh Director: Justin Stephens Theatre: 36 Turnham Avenue Rosanna Melways Reference: 32 A1 Performances: Thursday to Saturday 8pm Sunday matinees 12th and 19th July at 2pm Prices: Adults $20 Concession $17 Groups 10+ $16 Bookings: 9457 4117 Contact Email: htc@htc.org.au Website: http://www.htc.org.au Synopsis: This play is a funny, yet terrifying and wildly unpredictable tale full of Irish wit and black humour set in Connemara, a rugged and isolated region of Ireland's west coast. Mick Dowd, the local gravedigger, must disinter old bones for one week every autumn to make way for new arrivals. Are Mick's late wife's bones buried there? How did she die? And are the rumours true? Come and watch the mystery unravel. Other Information: This play contains smoking Visit www.htc.org.au for more details

Eltham Little Theatre Inc. 10-Jul-2009 to 19-Jul-2009

Youth Production - Gumshoe Agent: Maverick Musicals Pty Ltd Author: Simon Denver and Donald Woodward Director: Gayle Poor & Lois Fleming Theatre: Eltham Performing Arts Centre 1603 Main Road, Research Melways Reference: 22 H1 Performances: Friday 10 Saturday 11 Sunday 12*** Friday 17 Saturday 18 Sunday 19*** ***Matinees at 2pm Doors open at 7.30pm Curtain up at 8.00pm Prices: Adults $20 Family $65 (2 adults/ 2 kids) Concession $16 (student/pensioner/healthcare card) Bookings: 9437 1574 Contact Email: webmistress@elthamlittletheatre.org.au Website: http://www.elthamlittletheatre.org.au Synopsis: A spy musical: meet Hunter, a shabby, down on his luck P.I. Enter Peta Steele, street-wiser and wiser-cracking journalist. Only by joining forces can they outwit their growing number of adversaries as they trip around the globe. This show takes a look at the sleazy side of a P.I.’s life, with action, danger a-plenty, slapstick, dames, crooked cops and corny gags. Gumshoe is a spectacular show that makes an impact.

Frankston Theatre Group Inc. 10-Jul-2009 to 19-Jul-2009 Click to Enlarge

TAKING STEPS a comedy by Alan Ayckbourn Agent: by arrangement with Dominie Pty. Ltd. Author: Alan Ayckbourn Director: Dan Ellis Theatre: George Jenkins Theatre Monash University McMahon's Road, Frankston Melways Reference: 102 F4 Map 476 Building A Performances: 10th July - 18th July @ 8pm Sunday 19th July @ 2pm Prices: Adults $26.50, PSSU $24.40, Groups 10+ $24.50 Bookings: 03 9905 1111 Contact Email: secretary@frankstontheatregroup.org.au Website: http://www.frankstontheatregroup.org.au Synopsis: Roland is considering buying an old Victorian house. In the house are his solicitor and the vendor; Roland's wife (who is considering leaving him); her brother; and later the brother's fiancee. In the course of one hectic night and morning, with continual running up and down stairs, these characters try to sort themselves out. All this takes place in a highly ingenious and original setting, in which all the rooms, passages and stairs are on a single level.

Beaumaris Theatre Inc. 16-Jul-2009 to 17-Jul-2009

An Englishman Abroad Agent: Samuel French Author: Alan Bennett Director: Rita Crispin Theatre: Beaumaris Theatre, 82 Wells Rd Beaumaris 3193 Melways Reference: 86 G6 Performances: 8pm Prices: Adults $15, Members, Concessions, Children, Groups of 10+ all $12. Bookings: 9583 6896 Contact Email: beaumaristheatre@optusnet.com.au Website: http://www.beaumaristheatre.com.au Synopsis: In the 1930's, a number of young men at Cambridge University were recruited as Soviet spies. They became known by the KGB as the 'magnificent five' but were better known in England as the Cambridge spy ring. They were not motivated by financial gain, but by the belief that capitalism was corrupt and that the Soviet Union offered a better model for society. They all managed to obtain jobs in the English civil service in very important positions, as diplomats and even, in the case of the informal leader of the ring Kim Philby, as Head of ‘anti-Communist counter espionage’ and Secretary of the British Embassy in Washington. They spent their working lives passing valuable information to the Soviet Union. They were clever men but also had the connections and class to get them into these jobs and they also had absolute belief that what they were doing, was right. However, it should not be forgotten that they were traitors and responsible for the torture and deaths of many Western agents. Alan Bennett’s play is about a chance meeting in Moscow in 1958 between the actress Coral Browne and one of the Cambridge Spies of the Cold War era, who was Guy Burgess. He was a British Diplomat/traitor who defected to Russia with one of his fellow traitors, Donald McLean in 1951. Although they did not work together and did not like each other particularly, they were forever yoked together by the Press and became infamously known as ‘Burgess and McLean’. The play is more about Burgess the exile than Burgess the Spy. Other Information: A complimentary light supper will be provided at the end of each performance. This is Beaumaris Theatre's entry in the One Act Play Festivals this year.

Boroondara Theatre Co. Inc. 18-Jul-2009 to 25-Jul-2009 Click to Enlarge

The History Boys Author: Alan Bennett Director: Bryce Ives Theatre: Cromwell Road Theatre 27a Cromwell Road South Yarra Melways Reference: Map 2M Ref B8 Performances: Sat 18th to Saturday 25th July 2009 nightly at 8pm with Matinees Sunday 19th July at 3pm and Sat 25th July at 3pm Prices: $25/$29 Bookings: 9809 1546 Contact Email: boroondaratheatre@gmail.com Website: http://www.boroondaratheatre.com Synopsis: The mid eighties, at a boys' state grammar school in Sheffield. Eight boys who have completed their 'A' Levels and are returning to study for Oxbridge entrance exams. They are subjected to petty quarrelling, staff room politics and inappropriate behaviour where loyalties are stretched and relationships tested. A film classic now on stage not to be missed. Other Information: Nine performances only with Booking details available on www.boroondaratheatre.com VDL 2009 AWARD ENTRY

Sherbrooke Theatre Co. Inc. 24-Jul-2009 to 08-Aug-2009

Pack of Lies Author: Hugh Whitemore Director: Tony Bird Theatre: Doncaster Playhouse, 679 Doncaster Road, Doncaster Melways Reference: 47 E1 Performances: 8.15pm Twilight performances July 26 and August 2nd at 5.15pm Prices: $25, $22 Bookings: 1300 650 209 Contact Email: sbamoon@tpg.com.au Website: http://www.sherbrooketc.org.au/ Synopsis: Based on the true story of the Krogers, convicted in 1961 of spying for the Russians. Whitemore has written a fictional account of the quiet, totally unsuspecting Jackson family who live opposite the Krogers and consider them their closest friends. When an MI5 official arrives suddenly to use the Jackson’s house as a surveillance post, their decent, happy life is shattered as they plunged into a sordid, alien world of deceit and intrigue.

LEO 9 PRODUCTIONS INC. 28-Jul-2009 to 01-Aug-2009 Click to Enlarge

Laughter on the 23rd Floor Agent: Dominie Pty Ltd Author: Neil Simon Director: Catherine Brain Theatre: Cromwell Rd Theatre, 27A Cromwell Rd South Yarra Performances: Preview performance: Tuesday 28/7 @ 8pm Wed 29/7 - Sat 1/8 @ 8pm Sat matinee @ 2pm Prices: Preview performance - all tickets $15 All other performances, $20/$17 Bookings: 0435 172 314 or email leo9_productions@hotmail.com Contact Email: leo9_productions@hotmail.com Website: http://www.leo9productions.org.au Synopsis: Laughter is set in the writer’s room of “The Max Prince Show” – the most successful weekly variety show of the time. In addition to the daily battles between members of the writing team, Max Prince is battling the television executives, who are pressuring him to change the show to keep the advertisers happy.