The Stage Show

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The Stage Show

In-depth conversations with the world's top directors, performers and writers for the stage.

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    'I know what I'm doing' — Why Miriam Margolyes courts controversy

    In her memoir Oh Miriam!, the British-Australian actress, writer and comedian Miriam Margolyes shares hugely entertaining stories from her life with her trademark wit and disarming candour. This year she brought those stories — and more — to the stage, touring her show Oh Miriam! right across Australia. Former prime minister Paul Keating was one of the great parliamentary performers. His ruthless wit and self-confidence take centre stage in Jonathan Biggins' hugely popular tribute to Keating, The Gospel According to Paul. It's a role that Jonathan — an actor, singer, writer, director and co-creator of The Wharf Revue — has been performing, on and off, for five years.

    54 min

  2. DEC 9

    William Yang — A life in a slide show

    Legendary photographer William Yang has spent decades transforming his photography into captivating live theatre via the medium of the slide show. In his latest performance, Milestone, which is coming to the Sydney Festival and Asia TOPA, Yang shares a lifetime of stories, from his boyhood in Cairns, to his various 'coming-outs', to the freedom — and fear — of life as a gay man in Sydney in the 1970s and 80s. Also, Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera tells the duo's dazzling story of fame and tragedy, and we meet actors Brendan Cowell, Ewen Leslie and Toby Schmitz as they compare notes on playing the role of Hamlet.

    54 min

  3. DEC 2

    How an accident redefined the possibilities of dance

    In 1997, Australian dancer Marc Brew's life was changed forever by a devastating car accident that left him paralysed from the chest down. He tells his story in the deeply personal An Accident / A Life. Over the past 27 years, Brew has redefined the possibilities of dance, captivating audiences worldwide with performances and choreography that challenge the boundaries of the art form. On Top Shelf, actor Christie Whelan Browne shares the performances that shaped her, while mixed reality artist Troy Rainbow invites audiences to confront experiences of psychosis through his groundbreaking work.

    54 min

  4. NOV 25

    Can Kiss Me, Kate be tamed?

    The nine-time Tony Award nominee Bartlett Sher has this year directed Robert Downey Jr's Broadway debut and a London revival of Cole Porter's 1948 musical Kiss Me, Kate. Kiss Me, Kate is based upon Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, so how palatable is this controversial musical to a 21st century audience? Also, Wanderings is a new play that delves into the lives of a transgender son and his mother who is living with dementia, and Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning play August: Osage County comes to Belvoir St.

    54 min

  5. NOV 18

    Broadway writer Rick Elice, the theatre boy who wouldn't grow up

    Peter and the Starcatcher, by the American writer Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, Water for Elephants), is a Tony Award-winning play inspired by J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan stories. It reveals how Peter, the Lost Boys, and Captain Hook came to find themselves in Neverland, and it puts a new character named Molly at the centre of the action. Also, the big sound of a cappella Sacred Harp singing will ring out in an Australian theatre this month in a new play called The Hall, and we pay tribute to our recent guest Roz Hervey, who has died. Roz was a celebrated dancer, choreographer, director and, most recently, Creative Producer at Restless Dance Theatre.

    54 min

  6. NOV 11

    The star of Prima Facie plots the next stage of her brilliant career

    Some theatre people constantly surprise you, and their names alone can spur you to buy a ticket. Sheridan Harbridge is one such artist. She blew audiences away in Suzie Miller's Prima Facie, and she's now a writer or director on four upcoming productions: My Brilliant Career, Life in Plastic, A Model Murder and Phar Lap: The Musical. Also, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs pay tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein in Showstoppers, and more than 40 years after the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires, a community revisits the ordeal on stage in a play called Ash Wednesday. It will be read by Shane Jacobson, Pia Miranda and community members at this year's Mountain Festival.

    54 min

  7. NOV 4

    Olympic gold medallists Torvill & Dean take one last dance

    In the 40 years since their history-making perfect score that earned them a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympic Games, figure skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have toured the globe presenting ice dancing spectaculars. Now, the pair plan to hang up their skates for good, following a farewell tour they are calling Torvill & Dean: Our Last Dance. This year, one of the greatest shows on earth has been the US presidential race. The theatrics employed to shift allegiances, manipulate audiences and inspire voters call into question the line between politics and performance. The influential social and cultural thinker Richard Sennett turns his mind to these and other topics in his book, The Performer: Art, Life, Politics.

    54 min

  8. OCT 28

    Why Monty Python's Eric Idle laughs at death

    Death is not a very funny subject. Yet, comedian, writer and musician Eric Idle has spent 60 years showing us the funny side of our all-too-fleeting lives. The Monty Python member is now touring Australia with his show Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Live! He's also written a new book about the creation of his musical, Spamalot. Also, as we, as a society, adjust to the ways in which artificial intelligence will affect our everyday lives, playwright José Rivera brings us a clever new play called Your Name Means Dream, and Opera Australia is celebrating the essential role of the opera chorus in a show called Chorus!

    54 min
See All (329)

About

In-depth conversations with the world's top directors, performers and writers for the stage.

Information

  • Creator
    ABC listen
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2024
  • Episodes
    329
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Stage Show

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