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Stephen Sondheim and the Australian Connection to His Work

Peter Khoury

By way of paying tribute to the late, great Stephen Sondheim, who died in 2021 at the age of 91, PETER KHOURY takes a look at his contribution to the Australian stage and the many notable theatre practitioners and performers who have…

E.I. Cole and the Haymarket Hippodrome

Les Tod

Not to be confused with Wirth’s Hippodrome on the site of today's Capitol Theatre, the Haymarket Hippodrome, also in Hay Street, opened in Sydney in 1905 under the direction of flamboyant showman E.I. Cole. The venue for wild west dramas…

Bert Levy: Australia's first global vaudeville star

Jack Coyne

JACK COYNE, Founding Member of the Bert Levy Appreciation Society (BLAS), offers a tribute to Australian vaudevillian and illustrator, Bert Levy. Receiving wide international recognition in the entertainment industry for his original and…

Theodosia Yates and the ‘Great Yates’

Allister Hardiman

The only known photograph of Nellie Stewart’s mother, taken by Talma, and published in the Sydney Bulletin in 1904 to mark her passing, prompting photo historian ALLISTER HARDIMAN to find out more about the family’s past and discover the…

From Kiddie Stars to British (Not Very) Blondes: the Arnot sisters

Kurt Gänzl

A chance find on eBay prompted KURT GÄNZL to take another look at Jennie and Louise Arnot, two sisters who spent some time in Australia as members of Marsh’s Juvenile Comedians in the 1860s. Jennie Arnot. Photograph by Bourne & Shepherd,…

Walter Kirby: Australia’s forgotten Caruso (Part 3)

Frank Van Straten

Having returned home in 1910 after success abroad, the third instalment of FRANK VAN STRATEN’s biography of tenor Walter Kirby focuses on the years 1912 to 1926. A position of genuine eminence Walter continued to sing frequently for…

Betty Pounder: The centenary of a remarkable life (Part 4)

Kevin Coxhead

Scene from Promises, Promises, which had its Australian premiere at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne in August 1970 During the 1970s and beyond Betty Pounder moved successfully from choreography to administration, with stints in television…

Little Wunder: The story of the Palace Theatre, Sydney (Part 5)

Elisabeth Kumm

In Part 5 of the Palace Theatre story exploring the lows and highs of the little theatre’s fortunes, ELISABETH KUMM finds 1903 to be a highly successful year, with the production of some of the biggest hits of Broadway and the West End.

The Memoirs of J. Alan Kenyon or Behind the Velvet Curtain (Part 9)

J.A. Kenyon; edited by Judy Leech

In the ninth instalment of his memoirs, focusing on the period 1938 to 1944, J. ALAN KENYON demonstrates his versatility when he oversees the construction of floats for the Australian Sesquicentenary in Sydney, creates patriotic displays…

C.H. Workman in Australia (Part 5)

Robert Morrison

JCW flyer—1915. Photos by Monte Luke. State Library Victoria, Melbourne. Preparations continued for the Australian premiere of the American musical comedy High Jinks, which was scheduled to open at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney on 6…

Tribute: Gerald Taylor—‘Mr Entertainment’

Janine Barrand

Gerald Taylor, 1 September 1927-21 January 2022 Gerald Taylor, 1957. Photo by Anthony Caton Studio, Brisbane. Courtesy Kristina Forbes.Gerald Taylor devoted his life to entertainment and to the art and history of magic. When I reflect on…

Fredrikson Scholarship

Anna French

Announcing the Recipients of the 2022 Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship for Design in the Performing Arts Congratulations to Paula Levis from Victoria and Isabel Hudson from NSW. The 2022 scholarship recipients are both very successful…

Memories of the Neutral Bay Music Hall

Barry Creyton

On 29 March 2022, the S,B&W Foundation, as part of their local North Sydney Council’s Senior’s Week Program, held a special event celebrating the greatly-loved but sadly-demolished old Music Hall, Neutral Bay. An afternoon of songs,…

Australia in 50 Plays

Julian Meyrick

JULIAN MEYRICK muses on the circumstances that lead to the writing of his new book Australia in 50 Plays, his self-styled love letter to Australian drama, examining fifty outstanding plays of diverse content and style that have appeared in…

Australia in 50 Plays: Book Review

Cheryl Threadgold

BOOK REVIEW: Australia in 50 Plays by Julian Meyrick, Currency Press, 2022 Any notion that Julian Meyrick’s splendid book Australia in 50 Plays is a history of Australian drama is swiftly dispelled by Meyrick in his Introduction: ‘it is…

June 15, 2022

The Ballets Russes in Australia

Author: Judy Leech

The Ballets Russes is an immense subject celebrated in literally hundreds of books, theses and articles over the years since its birth in 1909, when the Premiere of Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes was held at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. But here is neither the time nor place to do more than… Read more