Art Smitten - The Podcast

Hosts Beth and Will were joined in the studio with SIMON ABRAHAMS, CEO of Melbourne Fringe. Simon spoke about a new initiative to reach out to culturally diverse artists ahead of the opening for registrations for this year’s Fringe.  Melbourne Fringe applications are open from Monday 4 April – Monday 23 May. The Fringe will take place in Melbourne from 15 September – 2 October. Photo sourced from Melbourne Fringe website.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Super low-budget and full of charm, the Melbourne-made film Pawno, released in 2015 at the Melbourne International Film Festival to sell-out crowds, is the first feature from director John Ireland and scriptwriter Damian Hill, who also stars in the film. Pawno takes place over one whole day, and is largely centred around a Footscray pawn shop, referenced in the title. The shop is inhabited by Les, the kind-hearted grouch of an owner (played by John Brumpton) and his youthful dogsbody assistant Danny (played by Hill). As well as these two characters, the film is populated by an assortment of locals who add an offbeat vibrancy to the day's proceedings. There's two women who work in a bookstore, one of whom Danny has a crush on, there's a pair of smart-arse layabouts, there's a violent thug, there's a woman whose son is missing, there’s a trans woman whose visits to the shop are a form of solace from the harsh outside world, there's an Indian taxi driver who was a dentist in his home country... t

Hosts Christian and Andrew were joined in the studio with cast members Paul Knox, Hannah Vanderheide and producer Jorge Tsipos from Unnatural Selection Entertainment’s latest production –PURGATORIO.  PURGATORIO is playing at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute, 13th-16th & 20th – 23rd April at 7.30pm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Curator of the Next Gen program, THOMAS CALDWELL joined hosts Beth and Talisse on the line to talk about the Next Gen program and where it fits within the Melbourne International Film Festival.  Next Gen and the Melbourne International Film Festival runs 28th July – 14th August. Photo: Still from Next Gen feature film - The Magic BrushSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Beth and Talisse were joined in the studio with SCOTT HOLLINGSWORTH & JOSHUA FIELDING from Performance Management - In Cabaret. Scott shares how Performance Management - In Cabaret captures the truth that the everyday office is madder than the circus!  Performance Management - In Cabaret is being performed at the Wonderland Spiegeltent, 101 Waterfront Way, Docklands, Melbourne for 1 NIGHT ONLY – 9th July, 8-9.30pm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Beth and Talisse were joined on the phone with GABI BARTON from Retro Futurismus - a colossal future-focussed vaudeville featuring zero gravity circus acts, siren songs, boutique burlesque, and breathtaking performance art.  Retro Futurismus is being performed at fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane Melbourne from the 6th to 31st July.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Talisse gave a live review of The Wheeler Centre’s election one-night special event - Stand Up...and be Counted.  Comedians at the event included: Toby Halligan (MC), Denise Scott, Zoe Coombs-Marr, Sammy J, Aamer Rahman, Mathew Kenneally, Claire Hooper, and Gerard McCulloch.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Beth and Talisse were joined in the studio with Producer Lauren to discuss female body modification/body art. Has it become more socially acceptable? Or is there still a stigma associated with the practice? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Albert Einstein is the latest scientific genius to have lured a scriptwriter into the trap of biography. Jess Newman was clearly intrigued by the mind of the famous theoretical physicist when she started to write the sung-through musical Einstein: Master of the Universe. Watching it, you can feel her yearning to see the world as he saw it, if even for a moment, and to understand what he saw. Her audience, I’m sure, is after the same thing, but it quickly becomes apparent that this is something she either cannot, will not or has lost interest in delivering. This is one of those biopics that gravitates more towards the “man behind the science” than the work itself. The bulk of the story is taken up by Einstein’s younger years at university, starting just after the turn of the century, until he travelled to America in the early 30s. His two marriages are used as a frame for his journey from patent office clerk to Nobel-prize-winning physicist. Mileva Marić, his long-suffering first wife,

On Thursday the 23rd of June, I went to see Melbourne Playback perform 'On Ours Shores' at the Footscray Arts Centre. The troupe are a many things, or rather, become many different things over the course of one night, being one of Melbourne's leading improvisation theatre companies. The team consists of actors, organisers and musicians, with the roles interchangeable between the variously skilled artists. As with improv, you can expect that an evening with Melbourne Playback will direct the spotlight from the stage and into the audience at times. However, the theatre group conspires to engage audience participation to a degree I have never before experienced. You might encounter any selection of their actors on a given night. On Thursday, Ernie Gruner and Karen Berger provided a two piece band. Throughout the show they accompanied the actors with violin, percussion and xylophone. The core cast consisted of Alex Sangster, Allen Laverty, Diana Nguyen, Mike Mc Kevoy, Michelle Hussey and Ananth Gopal, who all con

Dancenorth Artistic Director, KYLE PAGE, joined hosts Michaela and Erin on the line to talk about the Melbourne premiere of IF_WAS – a double bill choreographed by Stephanie Lake & Ross McCormack.  IF_WAS will be performed at The Substation, 1 Market Street Newport, Melbourne, from the 29th June to 2nd July.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Erin and Michaela were joined on the mics with Producer Lauren to share stories about their parents (trying) to use technology. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Thursday I went to see The Addams Family Musical, a performance by Federation University’s 2016 graduating Musical Theatre class. The musical comedy was written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and based on Charles Addams’ iconic characters in his comic strip The Addams Family. It was performed at Theatre Works on Acland St in St Kilda and its closing night was on Saturday. As soon as the orchestra began playing the overture you knew this play would be a crowd pleaser. Rainer Pollard conducted a talented group of musicians, who were both expressive and controlled, and their performance suggested a strong connection between the conductor and musicians. The play then began with the Addams family gathered around the family tree in the graveyard, a yearly ritual to celebrate life and death, and honour their ancestors. The ensemble of ancestors, portraying figures like Marie Antoinette, a WW1 soldier and a suffragette, were summoned out of their graves for t

Hosts Erin and Michaela had the chance to chat to designer and visual artist, CALLUM MORTON from Ranters Theatre Company to discuss Come Away with Me to the End of the World. Come Away with Me to the End of the World is being performed at Malthouse Theatre – the Beckett Theatre from the 5th – 24th July.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Friday night I danced to the rhythmic genius of Quarter Street, one of Melbourne’s hottest Salsa bands, as they performed in the first of three “House Parties” at the heritage-listed Kew Court House. Spoilt with a dance floor rather than a seated concert, the audience took full advantage of the space in the former courthouse and police station. Quarter Street champion the gritty sounds typical of the Salsa Dura, a style developed in 1970s New York by the Puerto Rican migrants. Unlike its brother, Salsa Romántica, the Salsa Dura is less polished and demands a more darling sound, especially from its brass section. Quarter Street did not disappoint in that respect. Lazaro Pompa, on trumpet, along with Ben Gillespie and Jimmy Bowman, on trombones, commanded the stage with their explosive fanfare. They jolted the party to life with quick bursts of notes, bending them around the beat. The boys melted these vibrant melodies with their dynamic rhythms, charming the audience into swaying al

Rachel reviews Nic Green's Trilogy at Arts House in Melbourne. Triology was performed for a limited season at Arts House in Melbourne. Trilogy was presented across the UK to wide acclaim.  "Trilogy begins by celebrating women in today’s world – with all their complexities, in their skins and as they are. Honest and adventurous, Trilogy deftly weaves performance, participation, discussion, music and archival material; carving out new space for feminism and rallying the power and strength in women together." - City of Melbourne.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emma reviews the Malthouse Theatre’s production of The Events  ***DISCLAIMER*** The Events was written as a response to the 2011 massacre in Norway. Devastatingly, this story is still as relevant today as it was five years ago. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the victims of the recent 2016 attack in Orlando, USA. The Events is being performed at Malthouse Theatre, Merlyn Theatre until July 10th.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

*Note to listeners: this review contains gun shot sound effects* This year, the Scandinavian Film Festival is leading with what might sound like just another World War 2 movie, but is one that actually turns the tables the tables on a lot of its predecessors. The Danish film Under Sandet (literally Under the Sand), is a drama set in post-war landmine-ridden Denmark and is being released internationally with the English title Land of Mine, a rather unfortunate, hopefully accidental pun on an obviously serious issue. It's easy to see why the second world war is still a cinematic staple. The Third Reich, and its soldiers, remain the definitive example of what hateful extremism can lead to, and what we all want to avoid becoming. No film has ever had to work especially hard to characterise Nazi soldiers as villains. It is curious, then, that in Land of Mine, these supposedly evil men appear in the form of scared, defeated young boys who just want to go home. Of course, as prisoners of war from the losing side, so

Rachel & Jim were fortunate to attend the exclusive media preview of NGV International’s newest winter masterpiece exhibition – DEGAS: A New Vision. Rachel and Jim were also lucky to get a few words with Ted Gott, the senior curator of European Art at the NGV. DEGAS: A New Vision is on at the NGV International in Melbourne until the 18th of September. Pictured: one of the works showing at DEGAS: A New Vision, NGV International. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christian, Emma and Lauren share their thoughts about the upcoming Australian election. They also try to disect the reasons why young people feel disengaged with politics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.