1Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Queensland Ballet Unite to Perform Tchaikovsky’s March of the Toys from the Nutcracker
Let’s start things off with something quick and straightforward to bring a smile to your face. Usually, around this time of year, my relatives from the United Kingdom would travel Down Under during the British school holidays and enjoy Christmas in July with my family. With COVID-19 making travel impossible, the faux-Christmas joy and splendour is lacking in my household this year.
Thankfully just a little bit of Christmas magic is flowing through my house today. Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Queensland Ballet (Two of Queensland’s major state performing arts companies) recently released this joint recording of them performing Tchaikovsky’s March of the Toys from the Nutcracker. It is only two and a half minutes long, but who cannot smile at this iconic song?
2Let’s Go On With The Show with Simon Burke AO
In terms of offering a comprehensive selection of digital offerings to their patrons during the pandemic, very few can best what Sydney Opera House has to offer. Through the ‘From Our House to Yours’ initiative, there is a stellar line-up of digital content available on a weekly and sometimes daily basis, in partnership with many New South Wales and Australian producers. While I would recommend you visit their website for the full event listing, there is one stream I would like to highlight.
If you couldn’t guess already, I am a massive fan of musical theatre. So, I was very excited to hear that on 11 July 2020, the Sydney Opera House enlisted Simon Burke AO to host ‘Let’s Go On With the Show‘. This was a 1 hour 20 minute extravaganza in support of the Actors Benevolent Fund of New South Wales, which featured excerpts from independent and major musicals performed in Australia. Furthermore, the special guest line-up was a whose-who of musical theatre leads in recent years, including Ainsley Melham (Aladdin – Aladdin), Callum Francis (Kinky Boots – Lola), Amy Lehpamer (The Sound of Music – Maria) and Lara Mulcahy (Les Miserables – Madame Thernadier).
Many recordings featured in the show come from the annual Helpmann Awards, which I highly recommend watching on Youtube if you want a sneak peek at other musicals and shows from past years. I, for one, recommend checking out the 2017 performance of Velvet.
3Matilda Listening Party
The sheer creativity of late British children’s novelist Roald Dahl has seen his writings continue to be popular with children today. I remember being introduced to his work in Grade 3, when my class had whole term-long English units based around Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda and The BFG.
But if you are like me and in your 20s, you may prefer to turn to the slightly more mature musical adaptations of this work. The most notable is Matilda the Musical, first premiering on London’s West End in 2011 and continuing to amaze audiences even today.
Complementing a fantastic book written by Dennis Kelly, Tim Minchin made the show incredibly unique with the music and lyrics he wrote for the show. There is no shortage of footage available of Minchin talking about his work, but if you want something much more recent – Tim Minchin joined host Robbie Rozelle from Broadway Records for this one-off Matilda the Musical listening party. During this session, they listened to sections from Matilda, discussed the stories, experiences, and themes around many of the show’s songs.
4Play It On
Earlier this month, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and a number of other figures in the Australian performing arts industry joined together to host Play It On, billed as a “a unique online concert in support of Australian artists who have lost income as a result of the nationwide shutdown of the live entertainment industry”.
The stream was held on 9 July 2020. Running for just over half-an-hour, viewers were treated to a smorgasbord of music all recorded from the comfort of everyone’s home.
The all-star line-up included David Campbell, Kate Miller-Heidke, Hayden Tee, Elise McCann, Tim Minchin, Katie Noonan, Eddie Perfect, Casey Donovan and others.
5Dear Australia – Postcards to the Nation
But not all videos necessarily need to follow a standard definition of “fun”. While playwrights may be the ones who craft the stories we see on-stage, it is refreshing to hear from them, and their thoughts on a recent event, directly.
In conjunction with 25 theatre organisations across Australia (whom each nominated two artists), Playwriting Australia invited 50 playwrights to “respond to questions that get to the heart of where our nation is and where it might go”.
The idea was that these stories are postcards addressed to “Dear Australia”, and provide a “unique account of these times”.