Inside ‘Boys of Sondheim,’ part of the MELT festival in BRISBANE Feb 2-4
As part of their mandate to offer Brisbane audiences an alternative to mainstream musical theatre, Alex Woodward and Understudy Productions are once more set to thrill with Boys of Sondheim.
A cabaret-concert weaving the works of celebrated composer Stephen Sondheim with monologues capturing the essence of what it is to be a gay man in today’s Australia, written by Anthony Nocera, Boys of Sondheim seeks to add a different voice to the stories of gay Australia in partnership with the annual MELT Festival run by the Brisbane Powerhouse.
Sondheim has always been linked with the messiness of human interaction. His works live in liminal spaces –between decisions, between states of being, and between identities. It is this core mysticism about identity which has fuelled the fires of LGBTQ debate in this country, and also, the necessity of artistic exploration of just what these questions mean.
This will be Understudy Productions’ second public offering following their debut in July of 2016 with Edges: a Song Cycle, and they have gone with a similar casting philosophy featuring an ensemble of 5 emerging Brisbane artists.
The cast includes: Kurt Phelan (Dirty Dancing Australian tour as Johnny Castle), Sean Andrews (Phantom of The Opera the International Asian tour), Tim Carroll (Grease The Arena Experience with Harvest Rain), Alexander Woodward (Grease The Arena Experience with Harvest Rain), and Stephen Hirst (Into The Woods).
With the rising emergence of independent and cooperative theatre models in Australia, Understudy productions are a little company with a very large goal. They, and far too few others, are seeking to establish an off-broadway vibe that has slowly begun to infiltrate the nations’ consciousness over the last 5 years.
With a well trained and dynamic group of performers, some of the most celebrated musical theatre songs written in our generation, and stories inspired directly by real-life testimony of Gay Australian men, Boys of Sondheim seems to have all of the elements required for a great night out at the theatre.
Show Details:
Where: Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington St, New Farm QLD 4005
When: February 2 – 4, 2016
Tickets: Adults $39 / Concession $34 (plus booking fees)
brisbanepowerhouse.org
For more ticketing info head to Facebook: Facebook.com/understudyproductions
