Curtains backstage and professional pictures

Curtains, the musical (BTS)

A little plug for the upcoming musical I'm in.

Curtains is a musical send-up of backstage murder mystery plots. Set in the 1950s in Boston, when the (supremely untalented) leading lady drops dead on opening night the whole company is at the mercy of a police detective who must save the show, solve the case, and maybe even find love before the show reopens- all without getting killed himself.

Written by lyric and songwriting team Kander and Ebb who brought you the hits Cabaret and Chicago, the show is funny, witty and just a whole lot of fun!

I play one of the principals/leads, Niki Harris, who is the understudy of the now-dead leading lady and love interest of the charming detective. I'll add a pic when I get one.

EDIT: This pic will suffice for now:

If you've got some time, check the show out.

EDIT: In preparation for an interview with the local paper I answered these questions which may help fill a few of you in on more details about the show.

1. About my role
"I play Niki Harris who is the understudy of the actress who gets murdered at the start of the play within the play. She becomes the love interest of the detective who is brought in to solve the murder. Niki is very bright-eyed and innocent, she is thrilled to be working in a big musical and fights for the musical to continue its run in Boston in the hopes it'll get to Broadway."

2. What I'm enjoying about being in the show
"I love musical theatre and this show is very much a homage to musicals and why we do them. We are just like the main character, Cioffi, in the show; we both go around doing our day jobs but really long to be performing on stage. The whole cast is also great fun to be around and work with so the past three months have been a ball!"

3. Why should people come see the show

"First of all, the show is funny. It covers all types of humor (from dry to slap-stick to wit) and is bound to have you laughing at some stage, if not all the time. Secondly, the show was written by songwriting and lyricist pair Kander and Ebb who wrote the much loved musicals, Chicago and Cabaret, so its music is beautiful. Finally, because the cast is full of talented people on and off stage who just want to provide people with an entertaining night out at the theatre."

4. What is the show about

"Curtains is a musical who-dunnit comedy which somewhat parodies backstage murder mystery plots. When the leading lady is murdered on opening night, the cast are thrown into turmoil trying to deal with what they will do to keep the show running while also having a detective closely following their every move as he tries to solve the murder. Eventually the detective finds himself intricately involved in the mystery and the musical in more ways than one."

5. What is my previous stage experience
"I have sung for over 10 years and over the past few years have performed in shows like Fame as Serena (Stagetek productions) and Cosi as Julie (Liverpool Performing Arts Ensemble). At the moment I'm studying a Bachelor of Arts in media and communications at the University of Sydney and am majoring in performance studies which allows me to set myself up with a career path but also indulge my love of the arts at the same time."

EDIT: Here's a publicity pic we took. Hair and make-up not done but should have some proper dress rehearsal photos soon.
Rehearsal pic:
A gallery of professional shots can be found in a later blog post.

Full details:

BANKSTOWN THEATRICAL SOCIETY
presents
THE SMASH HIT BROADWAY MUSICAL
(from the creators of Cabaret and Chicago)

...CURTAINS

Book by Rupert Holmes
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Original Book and Concept by Peter Stone
Additional Lyrics by John Kander and Rupert Holmes

BANKSTOWN TOWN HALL THEATRE
OCTOBER 2010
BOOKINGS (02) 9676 1191

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ORiGiN THEATRICAL
ON BEHALF OF THEATRICAL RIGHTS WORLDWIDE NEW YORK

ABOUT:
What happens when the star of a new Broadway show, Robbin' Hood of the Old West is murdered during her opening night curtain call?

Can a police detective who moonlights as a musical theatre fan save the show, solve the case, and maybe even find love before the show reopens, without getting killed himself?

Full of toe-tapping broadway style numbers.. this broadway smash hit from the creators of ‘Chicago’ and ‘Cabaret’ is a show not to be missed.

Directed by
JAMES WORNER

Musical Direction by
KANE WHEATLEY

Choreography by
CAMERON LEWIS

Cast Featuring
Detective Frank Cioffi MICHAEL LEWIS
Carmen Bernstein JULIA BROVEDANI
Aaron Fox BRAD CLARKE
Georgia Hendricks CHAPIN AYRES
Christopher Belling GRAHAM EGAN
Bobby Pepper STE CASIMIRO
Niki Harris MARYANN WRIGHT
Bambi Bernet NICOLE HUNT
Daryl Grady RAY BASHA
Johnny Harmon JAWAD BEEDAR
Jessica Cranshaw/ Monica Page KATIE YOUNG
Oscar Shapiro CHRISTOPHER GRIFFITHS
Randy Dextor DAVID CHOI
Harv Fremont JOHN WILLIS RICHARD
Roberta Wooster HAYANAH PICKERING
Marjorie Cook RENEE BECHARA
Arlene Barucca GRACE LIZZIO
Jane Setler JOY PENNOCK
Connie Subbotin REBECCA KENSEY
Peg Prentice COURTNEY WILLIAMS
Det. O'Farrell/ Ronnis Driscoll BEN DODD

LIMITED SEASON
FRIDAY OCTOBER 8TH @ 8PM
SATURDAY OCTOBER 9TH @ 2PM & 8PM
SUNDAY OCTOBER 10TH @ 2PM
FRIDAY OCTOBER 15TH @ 8PM
SATURDAY OCTOBER 16TH @ 2PM & 8PM

BANKSTOWN TOWN HALL THEATRE
(Cnr Rickard & Chapel Roads Bankstown – on site secure parking available)

Tickets Prices:
Adults $35; Concessions & Groups 10+ $30

BOOKINGS (02) 9676 1191
btstickets@hotmail.com
www.btsinc.org

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Some shameless self promotion...

When I am not writing, working or studying, I sing, dance and act. Hooray!

This is my performance of the song, "The Fire Within Me," from the beautiful musical, Little Women (lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, music by Jason Howland).

At this point in the musical, Jo March (the protagonist) is grieving the death of her sister (Beth) and is trying to figure out what to make of her life and decide where to go from here.

Update

It has been so long since my last update, mainly because I have now started uni and need to keep a distinction average (NOTE: it's a requirement for me to keep my scholarship, and is proving more challenging than I originally imagined). I am also doing a play (Julie in Louis Nowra's Cosi) with a local theatre company.

The articles I just posted in a "mass post" are a combination of work I did at the Liverpool Leader (some things for their youth blog) and some little uni assignments.

At the moment I am enjoying getting into the whole 'journo thing'- ie. actually interviewing people and creating 'news' in a more professional sense.

I have just started co-hosting a radio sports show, Koori Radio sport. Koori Radio is Sydney's Indigenous Radio station, and although I am not Indigenous they have welcomed me into their community very warmly. It is proving challenging (as is waking up early to be in the city by 9am for a 10am-12noon time slot); radio and sports are two elements that don't come naturally, but my wonderful co-host Dan is a great support. :)

There is still hope that I will post reasonably regularly but sporadic clumps of posts are more probable.

Right now I want a part time job, in the media industry would be a triple treat, but regular and set hours would do wonders for my sanity in the time being!