Sunday Arts Magazine

 

During the current Covid-19 restriction, the arts community has been compelled to move their creativity online due to the inability of people to attend theatre productions. Now comes the first season of a stage musical reimagined to be performed online – WHO’S YOUR BAGDADDY (OR HOW I STARTED THE IRAQ WAR) will be performed online from 24 to 28 June for five performances only. 

 

Presented as a support group for people who started the Iraq War, this dark, boisterous and irreverent story follows a handful of mid-level spies whose vanity and office politics contributed to the worst intelligence blunder in modern history. The Australian Premiere of this 2017 hit Off-Broadway musical will be presented by Curveball Creative and directed by Neil Gooding. It stars Blake Erickson (Shrek), Phillip Lowe (Georgy Girl), Laura Murphy (Muriel’s Wedding), Matthew Predny(Kinky Boots), Adam Rennie (The Rocky Horror Show), Katrina Retallick (Come From Away),Justin Smith (Billy Elliot) and Troy Sussman (Aladdin).

 

The musical is set in an “AA-style” support group meeting for people who believe (or don’t want to believe) that their actions lead to the start of the Iraq War. The story focuses on the recruitment and eventual disgrace of an Iraqi defector, codenamed “Curveball”, and the use and misuse of his testimony by the CIA, State Department and Bush Administration. In the show, as in reality, Curveball provides Western intelligence agencies with false intelligence on Iraqi mobile weapons laboratories. This intelligence, which is later discovered to have been fabricated, was used by Secretary of State Colin Powell in his 2003 speech to the UN Security Council to justify the invasion of Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Clayton who is a regular at Joy 94.9 talks to Neil and Carla about his album of the week.

In these days of social isolation and lockdowns, award-winning artist Marco Luccio’s latest project is an effort to reach out and engage with individuals who have suddenly found themselves occupying a dramatically changed social landscape. Undertaken in collaboration with Melbourne-based company Rock Posters, you may have already seen Luccio’s poster during solitary walks around Melbourne and Sydney. Or, if on Instagram, you may have seen the poster shared by passers-by who have noted the striking image – an etching of two albatrosses lovingly touching each other’s beaks, accompanied by the words ‘LOVE’, ‘HOPE’ and ‘TRUST’

Untethered by debut author  Hayley  Katzen

Indigenous artist Lisa Waup who is taking part in NGV’s live in-studio visit series on June 3rd during Reconciliation Week.

Lisa’s practice involves weaving and printmaking and is rooted in a shared history with her Gunditjmara and Torres Islander family, who she was separated from at birth, and her adoptive Italian family. Using feathers and found objects Lisa creates woven vessels to represent her ancestral history and connection to country.

During the pandemic Lisa is adapting her role as Programs Coordinator at Mornington indigenous art centre Baluk Arts by sending out art materials kits and creating video tutorials to support the centre’s artists to continue creating work and earning a living while exhibitions and programs have been postponed.

On Wednesday 3 June at 6 pm Lisa will be going live on the NGV Instagram account for an in-studio visit with NGV Curator of Indigenous Art, Hannah Presley. Lisa’s livestream will occur during Reconciliation Week 2020, running 27 May – 3 June, celebrating the aptly named theme In This Together.

Rohan is back on the Sunday Arts Magazine with all the latest Arts gossip.

Justin Porter guest presenter on the show talks about why his favourite album is Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt.

From Jason Coleman’s epic all-human animal stage show, The Humanimals, comes the online adaptation for young children created especially for these ‘stuck at home’ times.

 

An opportunity to learn fun facts about animals through educational song and dance scenes, encased in clever choreography, with giggles galore, witty wordplay, an upbeat mix of tunes and amazing costumes, The Humanimals in Lockdown is an online experience designed especially for kindergarten, preps and grade 1 students.

 

“The Humanimals in Lockdown has been made with love by my full-time staff to assist all the parents home schooling around the country. Formulated to connect young kids to song and dance, The Humanimals in Lockdown has been recorded from our private homes and is a gift from all of us to all of you. The challenge for us going into lockdown was “what can we do?” rather than focusing on what we couldn’t do. Our full schedule of dance training is running remotely for our members but we wanted to reach out beyond this group and entertain and delight all the little ones around the country,” said Jason Coleman, CEO and Artistic Director of Ministry of Dance.

Dancer, choreographer and presenter Jason Coleman is one of Australia’s best-known personalities with over 30 years experience on stage and behind the scenes, including choreographing some of the world’s largest stadium shows such as the Sydney Olympics, the Manchester Commonwealth Games and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Regular Ali, talks about what she has been doing with David and Neil