On Centre Stage
By Douglas Kennedy
Gold Coast shows, theatre productions and concerts in November.
Here’s a look at the Gold Coast and Hinterland theatre scene for the month of November and the shows on the calendar in the build up to Christmas. For full details of dates and times check out the Gold Coast Theatre Alliance website.
How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying
The Gold Coast will be farewelling 2016 this month with a revival of the Pulitzer Prize winning musical satire on dodgy office antics, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. The show – which started life as a best-selling book by Shepherd Mead back in 1952 – and then morphed into a musical with songs by Frank Loesser, runs until December 10. Loesser, who gave the world Guys and Dolls and the hit song, Baby, It’s Cold Outside, teamed up with writers Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert to create the show which ran on Broadway for 1,417 performances. Succeed deals with the always topical world of cut throat office politics as J. Pierrepont Finch raises from being the window cleaner to chairman of the board. The musical took out seven Tonys as well as the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for drama and had major reprisals in 1995 with Matthew Broderick (548 Broadway performances) and a 50th anniversary show with Daniel Radcliffe in 2011 (473 shows). OCS still has happy memories of seeing Tom Burlinson and Georgie Parker in the Australian tour back in 1993. For the record Robert Morse – who is still going at 85 and was last seen on TV in the Mad Men series – played the original Finch on stage and in the 1967 movie version.
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The Ballina Players are taking audiences back to the ‘naughty-but-nice’ world of the big Broadway hit of 1978 with the emphasis on smart dialogue and belly laughs. The original US production ran for 1,584 performances and was made into a film in 1982 with Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. The show – which runs until December 4 at the Players Theatre – was written by Larry L King and Peter Masterson (book) and Carol Hall (lyrics and music). The story of the ‘fun-loving’ brothel and a straight-laced commentator’s bid to close it down was based on the real-life illegal brothel, known as the Chicken Ranch, which operated from 1905-1973. The business had originally started operating as early as 1844 under the watchful eye of a widow known as Mrs Swine in La Grange, Texas. That was closed down during the Civil War, but later reinvented itself at a property outside town and was tolerated for more than six decades. That because of a ‘no drunkards rule’ and the fact that the cliental included lawman and local politicians. During the Depression – when money was tight – the girls’ services were bought with chickens and eggs, which established a lucrative sideline for the then owner Jessie Williams. The police used the brothel as a source of tip-offs for pending criminal activity and at one stage the farm house had a phone line direct to the sheriff’s office. The show has been seen in several countries and boasts a catchy line of country-style tunes including Girl You’re a Woman and Doatsey Mae among others. For more information go to the gold Coast Alliance Website.
Let the Sunshine
Australia’s highest profile playwright, David Williamson, gave us his take on the Montagues and Capulets – that’s the warring families in Romeo and Juliet – back in 2009 with Let the Sunshine. This satirical look at two families who have to come to terms with their differences when their kids find romance is now the Tamborine Mountain’s latest offering until November 26. Of course, being a Williamson play it has a contemporary setting in Sydney and Noosa (where the playwright lives) and deals with very modern issues. They include the clash of life-style and aspirations between two very different couples and the generational tensions between the Baby Boomers and their maturing youngsters. The play, which premiered at the Ensemble Theatre of Sydney in 2009 and was last seen on the Coast in 2012, has been praised for its slick one-liners and ability to create characters we can all recognise. The Melbourne-born mechanical engineer turned playwright – who began writing in the late 1960s – is known for a swag of plays including The Removalists, Don’s Party and The Club as well as screenplays including Peter Weir’s 1981 film Gallipoli.
Cat’s Cradle
The Tugun Theatre has picked a 1983 British psychological thriller for its November production at the Tugun Village Community Centre. The play – by English actor and director Leslie Sands and directed by Cecile Campbell – centres on the return of a retiring detective to the scene of his biggest career failure. The idea is that 12 years before John Frost failed to solve the case of a six month-old boy who was kidnapped and murdered and now he wants closure. To quote an early review he’s as ‘welcome in the village as winter’ and just to make things more complicated there’s an unresolved love interest. The playwright Yorkshire-born Sands (1921-2001) had a high profile on British TV in the 1960s and ‘70s, often playing authoritative figures such as policeman, in shows such as Cluff, The Saint, The Avengers and Z-Cars. In the case of Z-Cars he also wrote several of the episodes. It runs until November 26.
The Smell of Money
The husband and wife team of Peter and Helen Maden will give Javeenbah audiences a whiff of The Smell of Money at Javeenbah until December 3. Peter Maden’s locally set comedy aims to produce some belly laughs and at the same time offer some insight into the world of Aussie Rules. The story tells what happens when Dennis is convicted of drunk driving and is directed to do community service at his neighbourhood footy. Peter Maden, who wrote and stars, and wife Helen, who directs, reckon it’s a timely reminder of why it’s no fun to be on a committee. In an interview to promote the production, Helen describes directing her husband’s play with him appearing on stage as ‘daunting.’
“He, of course, knows the script intimately and has his own strong opinions on how things could be said or performed, but mostly, he just gets involved like any regular cast member and leaves me to direct,” she reportedly said.
The couple main that rehearsals have been fun as the script has produced many spontaneous laughs at the one liners in the show
By Request
The Gold Coast Philharmonic Orchestra plays favourites and features the Youth Concerto Performance Opportunity at the Queensland Academies Theatre on the Coast on Saturday November 19 and Sunday November 20
Feliz Navidad
The Gold Coast City Choir will present an old, new and surprising repertoire under the title One Silent Night at the Southport Uniting Church on Sunday November 27 and Twin Towns Uniting Church on Sunday December 11. The choir will be conducted by Sue Roberts and accompanied by Marie Nicholson. Proceeds from the Twin Towns performance will go towards the chaplaincy at Coolangatta State School.
