RUPERT is thoroughly

entertaining … I highly

recommend it. You will

learn to appreciate

how this one man could

achieve so much. —

Broadway World, 13

March 2014

This ensemble truly is

everything you could

want to represent a col-

orful group of charac-

ters with humor,

pizzaz, and memorable

versatility.—CD Metro

Theater Arts, 13 March

2014

… the show entertains

as much as it terrifies

with its bubbling combi-

nation of myth and

reality … In fact, the

show’s delightful fusion

of fact and fiction

would make Fox News

proud. —MD Theatre

Guide, 13 March 2014

MELBOURNE THEATRE COMPANY

CIRCUS OZ

Circus Oz took From the Ground Up on a cross-

continental US tour performing in 2013. It per-

formed to over 27,000 people, with excellent

audience response and critical feedback, with

many standing ovations. With the support of

Virgin, Circus Oz returned to North America for a

tour in February and March 2014.

We were delighted by the levels of depth in the

production, and enchanted by the acts per-

formed. Hats off to the performers who make

the effort to speak the audience. It is very much

appreciated when the artists show such consid-

eration for their audience. —Montreal Review,

March 2014

Caption describing picture or graphic.

Newsletter Date

A U S T R A L I A N M A J O R P E R F O R M I N G A R T S G R O U P

INTERNATIONAL

TOURING—MEDIA

MTC was invited to present David Williamson’s

Rupert as part of World Stages: International Theater

Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for Perform-

ing Arts. It was the only Australian theatre company

participating in the Festival.

From The Ground Up …

is overflowing with

goodwill, unleashes a

thunderous energy,

and makes the whole

theatre burst into laugh-

ter with its amusing

gags. Circus Oz, dyna-

mite on stage.— Planet

Quebec Review, March

2014

Family-friendly, experi-

mental, musical, eclectic,

funny, absurd, From The

Ground Up is a complete

success. Circus Oz succeeds

in winning over circus lovers

as well as those who are

new to this exuberance, cir-

cus-style. —Le Journal de

Quebec, March 2014

Family-friendly, experi-

mental, musical, eclectic,

funny, absurd, From The

Ground Up is a complete

success. Circus Oz suc-

ceeds in winning over cir-

cus lovers as well as those

who are new to this exuber-

ance, circus-style.

—Le Journal de Quebec, March

2014

From The Ground Up, although

very physically demanding,

doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s

overflowing with goodwill, un-

leashes a thunderous energy,

and makes the whole theatre

burst into laughter with its amus-

ing gags. Circus Oz, dynamite on

stage. —Planet Quebec

Review, March 2014

CIRCUS OZ cont.

BELVOIR rock and roll theatre. De

Volkskrant, 24 June 2014

Stone measures out the tension

like a DJ, building up to the

unbearable climax. We know

what is coming. But because

of the smart, exasperating

build-up, the shock is still un-

precedented. NR Handelsblad,

24 June 2014

About The Wild Duck:

Stone’s minimalism is powerful-

ly compelling. While the glass

wall between actors and audi-

ence would, you might think,

Belvoir toured Thyestes to

Germany and The Nether-

lands in June 2014. Directed

by Simon Stone Thyestes is a

re-imagining of an ancient

tale. It was commissioned by

Malthouse Theatre.

Belvoir also toured The Wild

Duck to the Barbican’s Inter-

national Ibsen Festival in Oc-

tober 2014.

About Thyestes:

The original is distilled to its

essence. This is the height of

Page 2

INTERNATIONAL TOURING—MEDIA

Thyestes, Mark Winter, Thomas Henning & Chris Ryan

by Jeff Busby

The Melbourne Sympho-

ny Orchestra made its

debut at five series and

music festivals in August

2014 under the baton of

Chief Conductor, Sir

Andrew Davis.

The MSO performed at the: BBC Proms (London),

Edinburgh International Festival, Concertgebouw

Summer Music Series (Amsterdam), Mecklenburg-

Vorpommern Festival at Ulrichshusen (Germany)

and Tivoli Concert Hall (Copenhagen).

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra—their debut

at the Proms tonight—turned in an amazing per-

formance. Electrifying. Taut. Totally in the zone.

—Jon Jacob, Thoroughly Good

… the verve of Melbourne’s output was among

the best heard in some fifty years of concert-

going. Andrew Davis enthused the musicians while

giving full regard to the interplay of the various

sections. The brightness of brass and apposition of

mellow woodwinds were carefully gauged.

—Ian Gilmour, Edinburgh Guide

MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

be distancing, in fact it draws you in like

a glowing microscope slide.—The

Times, 28 October 2014

[Despite the soloist arriving in

Shanghai the previous day

and having only one re-

hearsal with the Orchestra],

the outcome was still unbe-

lievably good. In the concer-

to, the playing of the orches-

tra sounded like Tai Chi …

(Zhang) sounded like a wild

duck drifting on a very quiet

and beautiful lake. —

Chinese Music Weekly, critic

Rudolph Tang

The SSO toured China in

June this year—its third

tour of China in five

years, but the first for

chief conductor David

Robertson. It played

seven concerts in 12

nights—including a

sold-out performance

at the National Centre

for the Performing Arts in

Beijing.

SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

bach Hall. It also premi-

eres Ostinato at the Fall

for Dance festival at the

New York City Center.

Enough cannot be said

about the unique vis-

ceral stamp of this com-

pany: weighty and mo-

mentous movement

attack, deliriously seam-

less partnering, serious

acting chops from all.

—Orange Country

Register

This October, the Aus-

tralian Ballet returns to

east coast of North

America for the first time

in over 20 years, to

premiere an Australian

classic, Graeme Mur-

phy’s Swan Lake. The

company’s 33rd inter-

national tour will kick off

on 9 October in Los An-

geles at the Music Cen-

ter’s Dorothy Chandler

Pavilion before travel-

ling to Berkeley, open-

ing October 16 at Cal

Performances’ Zeller-

THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET

Malthouse Theatre’s

production of Bertolt

Brecht’s masterpiece

The Good Person of

Szechuan tours to China

in October this year.

It’s heading to both the

Shanghai International

Arts Festival and the Bei-

jing International Thea-

tre Festival.

Page 3

INTERNATIONAL

Reiko Hombo, The Australian Ballet 4 Times Square. Photo

by Lisa Tomasetti

MALTHOUSE

The cast is exceptional,

throwing itself into the

demands of the show

with a sense of almost

reckless courage ...

Meng’s tough and often

very funny production,

punctuated by contem-

porary songs, drags

Brecht’s imaginary

Szechuan into the 21st

century. — The Guardian

In September–October 2014 an

18-day tour included concerts in

London, Berlin, Vienna,

Amsterdam, Cologne, Birming-

ham, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and

Dublin.

In March 2014, the ACO re-

turned to Chicago’s Orchestra

Hall as part of the Chicago

Symphony’s Truth to Power festi-

val, performed in a New York

nightclub and embarked on a

new creative residency in Can-

ada.

This is one of the most pre-

cise, cutting-edge virtuoso

string ensembles to be

found anywhere in the

world.—Chicago Tribune,

2014

... the best chamber or-

chestra on earth. —Daily

Telegraph (UK), Sept 2014

... their alliance [Richard

Tognetti & ACO] has

evolved into one of the

classical music world’s en-

during success stories. —

Irish Times, Oct 2014

AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

INTERNATIONAL TOURING—MEDIA

STATE THEATRE COMPANY SA and WINDMILL THEATRE

The companies’ co-

production of Pinocchio has

been invited to perform a two-

week season at the prestigious

New Victory Theater in New

York City in March 2015.

A merry-go-round of clever

comedy, edgy music, immers-

ing animated visuals and win-

ning performances. —Sydney

Morning Herald

BANGARRA

Bangarra performed in the Netherlands

for the Holland Dance Festival in February

2014.

Bangarra Dance Theatre is a modern

dance company unlike any other…

remarkably imaginative and richly var-

ied…the stage becomes a place of mys-

tery. —New York Times

Mesmerising beauty, sheer poetry and

spiritual power —Dance Europe

Page 4

INTERNATIONAL TOURING—MEDIA

SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY

Debicki, in a deliciously vulgar

performance) after her plot has

been foiled, if not exposed,

Blanchett's Claire crumples, and

the thinness of her fortitude is

made devastatingly plain. —

Elysa Gardner, USA Today

One of the many achievements

of the Sydney Theater Compa-

ny’s terrific new version of The

Sydney Theatre Company's pro-

duction of The Maids opened in

New York as part of the prestig-

ious Lincoln Center Festival on

Friday 8 August 2014. Jean

Genet’s notorious 1947 tale of

sibling rivalry and murder was

directed by STC Artistic Director

Andrew Upton and Benedict

Andrews, with Cate Blanchett,

Isabelle Huppert and Elizabeth

Debicki.

Some real classy dames are

tearing up the joint at City Cen-

ter, where the Sydney Theater

Company is performing its rip-

roaring production of Jean

Genet’s ‘The Maids’ … I would-

n’t have missed it for the world.

—Ben Brantley, New York Times

[Blanchett] is particularly re-

sourceful, and harrowing, in

showing us Claire's desperation,

which extends to using her mis-

tress's personal items to land the

master in legal trouble. Facing

her employer (Elizabeth

Maids … is that it restores audacity

and high style to a genre that was

looking pretty threadbare, its once

mystifying metaphors now taught

in AP English, its grammar of non

sequiturs and visual puns co-opted

by comedy and commercials … a

superb production of The Maids …

this is the best we’re ever likely to

get. —Jesse Green, New York

Magazine

STC’s production of Waiting for Godot is heading

to London’s Barbican as part of the International

Beckett Season in 2015. It features Luke Mullins

(Lucky), Philip Quast (Pozzo), Richard Roxburgh

(Estragon) and Hugo Weaving (Vladimir) and is

directed by Andrew Upton.

I've seen many productions of this great play,

including one directed by Beckett himself, but

this is the best.— John McCallum, The Australian

It really does seem to encompass the whole of

life. Unforgettable.— Jo Litson, Sunday Telegraph

September 2014 Page 5