Category Archives: Pepa Wolfe

Take Five With… Felicity Ward

– Pepa Wolfe
Take Five With… Felicity Ward

Felicity Ward is very honest. Painfully, brilliantly, hilariously honest.

Familiar to television audiences from her work on The Ronny Johns Half Hour and regular guest spots on the ABC’s Spicks and Specks and Channel 7’s Thank God You’re Here, the comedian is about to bring her self-depreciating, disarmingly charming self to Brisbane in her new show, Honestly.

Writing from Hong Kong, where she is currently touring with the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow, Ward gave Life Music Media a brief taste of what is to come.
Continue reading Take Five With… Felicity Ward

Take Five With… Simone Romaniuk

– Pepa Wolfe
Take Five With… Simone Romaniuk

One of David Williamson’s most celebrated plays, The Removalists, is set to make a return to the Brisbane stage as one of the QTC’s education performances. An examination of police corruption, domestic violence and sexism in 1970s Australia, this new production begs the question, “How far have we really come?”

Working to recreate the look and feel of those times is production designer Simone Romaniuk, an Affiliate Artist with the QTC this year. A graduate of both NIDA and the Queensland College of Art, and with credits that span film, television and especially theatre, including the STC, Pacific Opera and Sydney Dance Company among others, Romaniuk took a break from the slightly abstract set and retro furnishings of The Removalists to share some insight with Life Music Media.
Continue reading Take Five With… Simone Romaniuk

Take Five With… Kat Henry | Interview

By – Pepa Wolfe

Take Five With… Kat Henry

Questions of family and loyalty crushed against the palpable spectre of hate crime and social violence; the QTC production of Orphans is currently receiving rave reviews. With an award-winning script by London playwright Dennis Kelly and in the hands of an exhilarating ensemble, this intense thriller is astounding Brisbane audience’s night after night.

At the helm of this visceral piece is director Kat Henry, who recently directed The Ugly One for indie company 23rd productions at Metro Arts. From within the swell of the Orphans experience, the NIDA graduate and Artistic Director of Stella Elektrika shared her thoughts with Life Music Media.
Continue reading Take Five With… Kat Henry | Interview

Take Five With… Toby Francis | Interview

By: Pepa Wolfe
Life Music Media invites you to

Take Five With… Toby Francis

Toby Francis is making waves. Winner of the Annual Cabaret Showcase in Sydney last year and hot off the heels of an appearance at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the irrepressible young star brings his edgy rock cabaret show Bloklahoma! to Brisbane. Life Music Media takes a quick peek at the man behind the buzz.
Continue reading Take Five With… Toby Francis | Interview

Take Five With… Gillian Cosgriff | Interview

by: Pepa Wolfe
Life Music Media invites you to

Take Five With… Gillian Cosgriff

After a great reception at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, shiny WAAPA graduate and singer-songwriter with a penchant for quirky comedy, Gillian Cosgriff is excited to be returning to Brisbane with her own special brand of cabaret in Waitressing, and Other Things I Do Well. Fresh from an ash cloud-imposed cross-country tweet-fest and quite possibly about to do another, Cosgriff took the time to chat with Life Music Media.
Continue reading Take Five With… Gillian Cosgriff | Interview

Take Five With… Jason Klarwein | Interview

By: Pepa Wolfe
[Photo credit: Jonathon Oxlade]
Life Music Media invites you to

Take Five With… Jason Klarwein

Would you sell your soul for youth, fame, power and love? Michael Gow’s adaptation of the classic tale of Dr. Faustus, the man who sold his soul to the devil, is currently conjuring praise as it plays Brisbane Powerhouse. Presented by the Queensland Theatre Company, together with Bell Shakespeare, the twisted journey is imagined through a mix of live action, video and music – from German arias to death metal, and brought to torturous life by a wonderful cast.
Continue reading Take Five With… Jason Klarwein | Interview

Take Five With… Mitchell Butel

By: Pepa Wolfe
Life Music Media invites you to…
      Take Five With… Mitchell Butel

While the Adelaide Cabaret Festival is currently celebrating a stellar year, Brisbane’s not about to miss all the fun, with QPAC presenting some equally smokin’ cabaret on this side of the ash cloud. 12 Acts of Cabaret features a delicious mix of artists, with international acts, Aussie stars and some of the hottest new names in cabaret.

Saturday night will see the enchanting Mitchell Butel grace the stage at the Cremorne in his show Killing Time. With an extensive career in theatre, film and television, touring in grand scale productions like Dusty, the provocative puppetry of Avenue Q, and performing for Opera Australia, Butel is about to get intimate, as only cabaret can.

Continue reading Take Five With… Mitchell Butel

Take Five With… Kat Davidson

By: Pepa Wolfe
Take Five With… Kat Davidson

Over the next three weeks, The Sit Down Comedy Club is presenting Ladies Comedy Night, featuring some of the best stand up around, male or female! With the likes of Kat Davidson, Fiona McGary and Melinda Buttle serving up the laughs, the stage is set for rollicking good time.

Life Music Media caught up with the super sly, super tall, super funny Kat Davidson on eve of their first show.
Continue reading Take Five With… Kat Davidson

Live Review | Bluesfest 2011 – Day Two, Featuring: Rodrigo y Gabriela, B.B. King, Fistful of Mercy, Jack Thompson & the Original Sinners and RocKwiz Live

Review By: Pepa Wolfe
Photos by: Silvana Macarone
Early birds and trivia buffs rocked up to the Jambalaya Tent on Friday to test their skill and perhaps earn a place on the panel of RocKwiz Live. Cracking the proverbial whip and vetting the various hopefuls was producer and co-host of the SBS series Brian Nankervis who after seven years with the show has it down to a fine art. Appearing across four days of the festival, Friday’s first taste had host and improv queen Julia Zemiro in top form, and featured musical guests Tim Rodgers (You Am I), Marcia Hines and Glenn Richards (Augie March), as well as a couple of impressive punters whose extensive music trivia knowledge was bested only by their brazen karaoke efforts, one contestant whipping out a harmonica and riffing with the impeccable RocKwiz Orkestra. A highly entertaining start to the afternoon, Richards, Hines and Rogers blasting Kiss’ I Wanna Rock and Roll All Nite, the icing on the cake.
Continue reading Live Review | Bluesfest 2011 – Day Two, Featuring: Rodrigo y Gabriela, B.B. King, Fistful of Mercy, Jack Thompson & the Original Sinners and RocKwiz Live

Take Five with Alinta Chidzey

By Pepa Wolfe

 
Life Music Media invites you to…

Take Five with Alinta Chidzey

:: Do you have a favourite musical? ::
I think this [West Side Story] would have to be one of the favourite ones, to be honest.

:: Is there a character that you’d give anything to play? ::
Oh. Um… (thinks) I’d love to play Velma in Chicago. That is one I would love to play, for sure.
Continue reading Take Five with Alinta Chidzey

WEST SIDE STORY @ Lyric Theatre QPAC, 7th November 2010 – Live Review

Review by: Pepa Wolfe

West Side Story, the classic piece of Musical Theatre inspired by Romeo and Juliet and conceived by Jerome Robbins, hit Brisbane this week in a flash of movement and colour.

Director Joey McKneely brings a wealth of experience to the Australian production, reimagining again as he has done around the world, this story of star-crossed lovers and feuding gangs on the streets of 1950s New York.

The rear projection of a grainy black and white still of New York City located the piece, surrounded by tiers of iron balconies, the simple scope of the design hinting at the grand scale of the drama that was about to unfold.

A vibrant production, of swirling movement, soaring vocals and rolling accents all buoyed by the full swell of the 19 piece orchestra, West Side Story maintains an intense energy during the group numbers, but wanes a little during the solo pieces. Both Josh Piterman as Tony and Julie Goodwin as Maria were in fine voice, but the outstanding choreography easily stole the show.
Continue reading WEST SIDE STORY @ Lyric Theatre QPAC, 7th November 2010 – Live Review

Dreaming Up The Vision: Interview with Leah Purcell, 11th October 2010 – LifeMusicMedia Interviews

Dreaming Up The Vision

Actor/Director Leah Purcell talks to Life Music Media about character, coming home, and the joy of performing in The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table.

In 2008 actress Leah Purcell was honoured with Australian theatre’s highest recognition the Helpmann Award (Australia’s version of the Tony Award) for her role in Wesley Enoch’s The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table. Produced in Sydney as a Hothouse Theatre/Griffin Theatre Company production and directed by Marion Potts, the play was critically acclaimed, making its mark as an important piece of contemporary Australian theatre. Now a new production, presented by QPAC and staged by Purcell’s Bungabura Productions, brings this quintessentially Queensland story home.

While deep into the plays rehearsal period, the actress, who is also directing this version, took time to answer some questions for Pepa Wolfe.

What is the play about?
Well there’re two story lines. There’s the history of the table – it was my Great-great Grandmother’s birth tree. When settlement happened on this island they cut down that birth tree and turned it into a table. As a little girl she followed the table and got a job as a cook in the house where the table ended up. And throughout the lifetimes the table has been passed down…

…To the present day story about my character Annie and her estranged son Nathan. They’ve been estranged for 25 years. She had him when she was 13 and she left because of the talk around the incident where she fell pregnant, and the lies around that. [Annie’s] mother Faith passes away, which brings Nathan and Annie back together. The surface story is to argue and discuss who gets the table, but though that discussion we learn more about each individual character.
Continue reading Dreaming Up The Vision: Interview with Leah Purcell, 11th October 2010 – LifeMusicMedia Interviews

Rock for the Regent! 2 @ The Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley – Saturday 10th July 2010 [Live Review]

Review: Pepa Wolfe
There was a great turnout at the Globe theatre on Saturday night, with Brisbane music fans coming together to support fundraising efforts to save the heritage of the Regent Theatre in the city.

While many may have come to see the headline act Wolfmother, the crowd was happy and buzzing all night, showing support for the variety of genres on display. And the outstanding Brissy line-up didn’t disappoint.

Swanky rockers Princess Rodeo were up first, and set the night off at a cracking pace. The dynamic three-piece and their charming blend of indie rock, played through a high energy set of catchy melodies and serious riffs. Their soon to be released single “Alternate Colours” makes you want to sing along, while the bassy groove of “Compelled to Crawl Under Your Thumb” and the heavier “Skeleton” pleased Wolfmother fans. They made an impressive start to the night, setting the tone for an evening of fun, dynamic, melodious rock, with soaring vocals and intricate guitars. If you didn’t get there in time to catch Princess Rodeo, be sure to check them out.
Continue reading Rock for the Regent! 2 @ The Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley – Saturday 10th July 2010 [Live Review]