Driving Miss Daisy on Stage

June 10, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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I had a wonderful afternoon at His Majesty’s Theatre on Saturday watching five-time Tony Award winner and three-time Academy Award nominee Angela Lansbury and two-time Tony Award winner and Honorary Academy Award recipient James Earl Jones starring in Driving Miss Daisy.

The stage show also stars four-time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines.

Inspiration for the much-loved Oscar winning movie, Driving Miss Daisy is the charming, poignant and utterly compelling tale of the unlikely, long-lasting friendship that blossoms between a prickly, elderly Southern matriarch and her kind-hearted chauffeur, Hoke. As the wheels turn and the decades roll by against a backdrop of prejudice, inequality and civil unrest, the pair slowly transcend their differences and ultimately grow to rely on each other far more than either of them ever expected.

Sparklingly funny, irresistibly heart-warming and with an unmissable stellar cast, Driving Miss Daisy is the must-see show for 2013.

From the moment Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones appeared on stage it was obvious that the audience was ready for something very special. The veteran actors certainly didn’t disappoint. For the next hour and a half we were taken on a wonderful journey with the perfect mix of humour and pathos.

The set for the production is quite bare and while props change to suit the scene and the back of the set is occasionally used as a screen to project images or video, it remains remarkably simple. That means that the show rises or falls on the talents of the actors and all three put in stunning performances.

Driving Miss Daisy is a welcome departure from the massive array of highly decorated sets and technological effects that accompany many big name stage shows today. The gentle story of blossoming and enduring friendship takes centre stage and it’s such a delight to be invited into the lives of Miss Daisy Werthan and Hoke Colburn.

The show plays at Perth’s His Majesty’s Theatre until the 19th of June.

(Thanks to the RAC for the tickets.)



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WASO and the Lord of the Rings

May 30, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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Peter Jackson’s epic movie version of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is supported by some of the greatest film music of all time. Howard Shore’s Academy Award-winning score helps to capture the film’s sweeping emotion and thrilling scenery.

Next month, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra will be turning down the movie soundtrack and providing the music live through the power of a full symphony orchestra and the massed voices of the WASO Chorus and St George’s Cathedral Choristers at their Lord of the Rings performances.

Following the success of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’s concert version of The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, WASO presents film director Peter Jackson’s vision of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. This epic event features the entire film on screen accompanied live by WASO, the WASO Chorus and St George’s Cathedral Choristers.

The Academy Award-winning score by Howard Shore is instantly recognisable to film aficionados and music lovers alike; and magically captures the film’s sweeping emotion, spell-binding visuals and the danger-filled adventures of Frodo Baggins and his cohorts in their quest to end the reign of the Dark Lord and save Middle Earth.

The venue for this event, the Riverside Theatre, has been chosen, in part, to accommodate the 6 metre by 14.5 metre screen required for the projection of the film above the full orchestra on stage. This has required some adaptation by the orchestra as well – because stage lighting would interfere with the projection of the film, individual lights are attached to each music stand so the players can read the music in the otherwise dark auditorium.

Swiss-born conductor, Ludwig Wicki, is ideally suited to lead with WASO through this towering soundtrack. He and Howard Shore are long-term collaborators; and Wicki conducted the world premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring in 2008.

David Cotgreave is the Production and Technical Manager with WASO and he dropped in for a chat on my radio program today to talk about just how such a major project comes together. You can hear our chat by clicking the play button on the audio player below.



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Space Oddity

May 14, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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A revised version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station has been receiving quite a lot of attention over the last couple of days.

As a Bowie fan from way back I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy Hadfield’s version but it’s quite captivating. You can watch the video below.

A handful of words have been changed but it’s a fitting farewell from the commander as he leaves the International Space Station. It’s even received approval from David Bowie himself. On Bowie’s official Facebook page he says, “It’s possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created.”



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Jersey Boys in Perth

April 25, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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If you have young children who enjoy the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, buy them an album or DVD, but don’t take them to see Jersey Boys. If you have a friend or family member who is offended by frequent coarse language, don’t take them to Jersey Boys. (Unless you think you can convince them the cast is just saying ‘fudge’ or ‘funk’ an awful lot.)

If, however, you’re prepared for a fair bit of language and some occasional sexual themes, you’ll have a %#$&#@# good night out. The show’s website warns that it’s not recommended for children under 12 due to strong “authentic Jersey” language. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone not prepared for the strong content.

JERSEY BOYS is the story of how four boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time.

Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi, The Four Seasons, wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide – all before they were thirty.

JERSEY BOYS features their hit songs
“Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Rag Doll”, “Oh What a Night” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, among others.

Having sounded that warning, I need to say that the show is amazing. Pauline and I were at the opening night show and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. It tells the story of the band well and had me searching details online when I got home. I wanted to know even more about their rise to fame.

One of the things I found in my search is that Frankie Valli himself believes the show to be about 95% accurate. Not a bad endorsement.

The music is stunning and the band members work well together to provide the harmonies that you’d expect from a show about The Four Seasons. I’m sure that the original band members have seen a rise in royalty cheques since Jersey Boys started on Broadway back in 2005. As the show continues you hear hit after hit and you’re reminded what great songs the band produced before they called it a day.

Jersey Boys is structured as four “seasons” with each season each narrated by a different band member giving different perspectives on the group’s history and music.

Jersey Boys is playing at the Crown Theatre until the 9th of June.



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Cirque Du Soleil – OVO

April 16, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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Pauline and I were privileged to be guests at the opening night of Cirque du Soleil’s OVO on Sunday night. It’s difficult to judge the Cirque du Soleil shows against each other but I reckon that Ovo is my new favourite. I think I’ve seen about four of Cirque Du Soleil shows.

OVO is a headlong rush into a colourful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy and movement. The insects’ home is a world of biodiversity and beauty filled with noisy action and moments of quiet emotion.

When a mysterious egg appears in their midst, the insects are awestruck and intensely curious about this iconic object that represents the enigma and cycles of their lives.

It’s love at first sight when a gawky, quirky insect arrives in this bustling community and a fabulous ladybug catches his eye – and the feeling is mutual.

OVO is overflowing with contrasts. The hidden, secret world at our feet is revealed as tender and torrid, noisy and quiet, peaceful and chaotic. And as the sun rises on a bright new day the vibrant cycle of insect life begins anew.

I posted an update on Facebook during the intermission. “I’m sure that most of the performers are aliens. The thing they’re doing are not humanly possible. Incredible.” It’s hard to believe that the human body can bend into so many different shapes. I reckon that I could probably force my body to bend like that if I had my skeleton removed. The performers were absolutely amazing.

Check out this video for a sample of the amazing show.

The action is so fast that I reckon that even if you went a couple of times you’d still miss bits and pieces. We get so spoiled in this TV age don’t we? Have you ever found yourself wanting to freeze frame a real life moment or watch something you’ve just seen again in slow motion? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our brains were all fitted with hard drive recorders? I guess they are in a way … that’s where memory comes in to play … but sometimes it’d be great to see things again. I felt a bit that way watching OVO. There were times when it would have been good to be able to rewind and slow the action down a bit.

The costumes and the set were incredible and gave the performance a wonderful sense of the surreal. It all combines to transport you to another world.

If you get the chance to go and see OVO make sure you grab it with both hands.



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