Stage Chat January 2007 – Edited by Stephen Oakes Stage Chat is the official publication of Dandenong Theatre Company, Inc. Print Post approved:          PP 32699/0011 DTC is proudly supported by the City of Greater Dandenong "community grants programme".
Dandenong Theatre Company PO Box 8028, Dandenong, VIC, 3175.	www.dandenongtheatre.org.au info@dandenongtheatre.org.au	ABN: 42 707 241 939 ASN: A  0007855  Z
From the President Happy new year everybody, from all of us at DTC.  We sincerely hope that 2007 is a good year for all of our friends. It certainly looks like being an excellent one for DTC.  Before getting on to that, I would like to briefly reflect upon 2006. What a huge year it was for everybody involved!  Our play Popcorn, directed by Kym Davies and featuring a very strong cast, opened in January and was widely considered to be one of our best to date. April saw us stage the first major production in the new Drum Theatre in Dandenong.  Les Misérables was an outstanding success both critically and financially, making the many long hours, sleepless nights and hard work worthwhile!  Les Misérables has been nominated for a swag of Lyrebird awards - see www.lyrebirds.org.au for details. In September we performed West Side Story, which, despite some excellent performances, unfortunately was not successful financially for DTC. In 2007, for the first time we will perform all 3 of our productions in the Drum.  In February we will present our play Noises Off, directed by Matt Caton.  Matt and the cast have been hard at rehearsal over Summer and we have also been busy building the huge and impressive set for this demanding production.  We urge all of you to come along and see this play, as the commitment to perform such a play in such a venue is quite substantial! In April we will perform one of my favourite musicals - the very funny, yet dramatic and dark Sweeney Todd -The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.  See elsewhere in this newsletter for a synopsis and a cast list.  Tickets for both Noises Off and Sweeney Todd can be purchased on 9771 6666 from The Drum Theatre, Dandenong. We will very soon be announcing our second musical for 2007, so keep an eye on our website:  www.dandenongtheatre.org.au.  All in all, we anticipate that 2007 will be an excellent year for DTC!  See you at the Drum! Stephen Oakes, DTC President DTC's next 2 shows For the first time (at least in the memory of this editor) DTC will perform our Summer play and our first musical for the year within the space of about 2 months of each other.  For this reason, this newsletter has been sent out to both our play mailing list and our musical mailing list. Our two upcoming productions are Noises Off in February and Sweeney Todd in April.  See over the page for details!			DTC Committee, 2007 President - Stephen Oakes Vice President - Matt Caton Secretary - Elizabeth Fowler Treasurer – Anne McKay General Committee -                Andrew McCormick Cheryl Rush Robert McKay Robert Jacobson Steven Legg Chris Sargeant DTC’s Calendar of events February 2, 3, 10, 11 Performances of Noises Off. April 13 - 28 Sweeney Todd performances. April, May Auditions* September Performances* * Our second musical for 2007 Please visit DTC's website: dandenongtheatre.org.au ...for audition notices, production details, photos and more! Join our emailing list! Would you like to receive email updates?  Email updates are more frequent and timely than our newsletter, which is only published 2 or 3 times a year.  Let us know by email: info@dandenongtheatre.org.au

From our Friends

Windmill Theatre Company Drum Theatre, June 2007 www.wtc-theatre.com

BATS Theatre Company April 2007 www.batstheatre.org.au

Limelight Theatre Company March 2 - 17 0400 430 049

DTC presents Noises Off

Performance Dates Week 1 Friday Feb 2^nd, 8pm Saturday Feb 3^rd, 8pm Week 2 Friday Feb 9^th, 8pm Saturday Feb 10^th, 2pm matinee Saturday Feb 10^th, 8pm

Cast Claire Benne     Poppy Kym Davies      Belinda Joe Dias            Frederick Peter Fowler     Selsdon Laura Ireland     Brooke Sharon Maine    Dotty Colin Morley     Tim James Ness       Garry Simon Papson   Lloyd

Synopsis

With breakneck pace and a rich gallery of characters, Michael Frayn's brilliantly witty farce follows the on- and off-stage antics of a touring company as they stumble from dress rehearsal to disastrous last night of the farcical sex comedy, Nothing On.  Everything that can go wrong does, as the cast desperately try to hang on to their lines, their performances and the furniture - resulting in a terrifying descent into chaos.  As offstage jealousies motivate backstage shenanigans which cause onstage mishaps, Noises Off gives us three absolutely hilarious looks at theatre gone bad.  First we see the dress rehearsal of an awful farce at which nothing goes right.  Then we get a backstage view of a performance at which everything goes wrong.  Finally we watch a performance from out front knowing what hysterical things are going on behind the scenes.  Featuring a set with more doors than any bedroom farce should have and the oddest bunch of actors playing the wildest cast of characters ever conceived, this comedy-within-a-comedy is often called the funniest farce ever written.

The cast of Noises Off at a recent rehearsal

Production team

Matt Caton - Director

Andrew McCormick - Production coordinator

Kym Davies - Set design

Jason Bovaird - Lighting design

Tickets

• Adults: $22
• Concession (pensioner, student): $20
• Children (under 14): $20
• Groups (20+): $20

To book your seats, please contact The Drum during office hours on 9771 6666.

DTC presents Sweeney Todd

Cast Sweeney Todd Stephen Brodie Mrs Lovett Gabrielle O'Brien Judge Turpin Michael Banks Beggar woman Kirstin Morton Johanna Kirilie Blythman Beadle Cameron Waters Tobias Damien Calvert Anthony Mark Doran Pirelli Dean Snook

Ensemble Daniel Jow Colin Morley Justin Travers Kenneth Saw Christian Gillett Greg van Bergen Samuel Wright Felicity Eastwood-Tromp Anna Castle Sue Wood Erin Matheson Julia Konig Christine James Colleen Johnson Hayley Van Hees Sarah Konig Adele Smith Kim Rosenberg Elizabeth Liddle

Performance Dates Sweeney Todd will be performed at the Drum Theatre between Friday April 13th and Saturday April 28th, 2007. Week 1 Fri April 13th, 8pm Sat April 14th, 8pm Week 2 Thur April 19th, 8pm Fri April 20th, 8pm Sat April 21st, 8pm Sun April 22nd, 2pm matinee Week 3 Thur April 26th, 8pm Fri April 27th, 8pm Sat April 28th, 8pm

Tickets Ticket prices are: § $35 adults § $30 students and pensioners § $28 children under 14 § $28 groups of 20 or more For tickets to Sweeney Todd, please contact The Drum on 9771 6666 during office hours. Production team Neil Goodwin - Director Ben Hudson - Musical Director Kym Davies - Set Design Jason Bovaird - Lighting Design

Sweeney Todd A rare musical thriller, Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's chilling, suspenseful, heart-pounding masterpiece of murderous barber-ism and culinary crime tells the infamous tale of the unjustly exiled barber who returns to 19th century London seeking revenge against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife.  His thirst for blood soon expands to include his unfortunate customers, and the resourceful proprietress of the pie shop downstairs soon has the people of London lining up in droves with her mysterious new meat pie recipe! Sweeney Todd nevertheless has a great sense of fun, mixing intense drama with very funny moments of dark humour; audiences find themselves laughing hysterically one moment and gasping in surprise the next.

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd, His skin was pale and his eye was odd, He shaved the faces of gentlemen, Who never thereafter were heard of again, He trod a path that few have trod, Did Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. ... Swing your razor wide, Sweeney! Hold it to the skies! Freely flows the blood of those Who moralise!