One for the Aussie fans..
Seriously, a cabaret that reinvents the songs of Pet Shop Boys, is one of the headlining events during Melbourne's Midsumma Festival (Jan 25-Feb 12). Produced by David Knox, who was behind the acclaimed Kylie musical from 2003, Seriously features ARIA award winner & Bachelor Girl Tania Doko, Paul Ross from the Australian cast of Mamma Mia and Maria Mercedes from Sunset Boulevard.
Tickets for the event at Chapel Off Chapel can be booked on (03) 8290 2000. Publicity appeared in today's MX paper. More details to appear in the Midsumma Festival Guide out Dec 8.
New PSB Cabaret by Kylie musical producer
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joe stalin
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lucienchardon
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Here's another article about Seriously....
BERWICK PAKENHAM LEADER
January 11, 2006 Wednesday
Pg. 17
His dream run continues
by Dimity Barber
GLOBETROTTING performer Anthony Costanzo is glad to have his feet firmly on the ground again.
After four years touring the world with shows such as Cats, We Will Rock You and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anthony said he was thrilled to be home again for the Midsumma Festival run of Pet Shop Boys tribute show Seriously.
The Hallam entertainer said the show was a collation of Pet Shop Boys music put together as a concert to celebrate the group's 21st anniversary.
Conceived by David Knox, creator of the hit Kylie musical I Should Be So Lucky, and arranged by musical director Dean Lotherington, he said Seriously would reinvent the songs of the Pet Shop Boys.
''It's actually a lot of their less well known songs set to a four-piece string quartet. The songs have been arranged in a way to make the piece open to interpretation. It will challenge the audience,'' he said. ''And because we are all fundamentally actors as well as singers, the audience can expect a level of performance, rather than just a pop show,'' he said.
Mr Costanzo said the ensemble cast included well known musical theatre performers Maria Mercedes, Paul Ross and Aria award winning Batchelor Girls lead singer Tania Doko.
''I get to work with my close friends again. It's great. You can feel the energy of close friendship in this show,'' he said.
Seriously would be the latest show in a dream run for the 25-year-old, who had enjoyed a career blessed by full-time employment.
''I've been really lucky. After I did How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, I haven't stopped. I've never been out of work. It can be pretty exhausting particularly touring. That's why it's great to be doing this show, in one place, in my home with my close friends,'' he said.
The Midsumma Festival and will run from January 25 to February 12.
BERWICK PAKENHAM LEADER
January 11, 2006 Wednesday
Pg. 17
His dream run continues
by Dimity Barber
GLOBETROTTING performer Anthony Costanzo is glad to have his feet firmly on the ground again.
After four years touring the world with shows such as Cats, We Will Rock You and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anthony said he was thrilled to be home again for the Midsumma Festival run of Pet Shop Boys tribute show Seriously.
The Hallam entertainer said the show was a collation of Pet Shop Boys music put together as a concert to celebrate the group's 21st anniversary.
Conceived by David Knox, creator of the hit Kylie musical I Should Be So Lucky, and arranged by musical director Dean Lotherington, he said Seriously would reinvent the songs of the Pet Shop Boys.
''It's actually a lot of their less well known songs set to a four-piece string quartet. The songs have been arranged in a way to make the piece open to interpretation. It will challenge the audience,'' he said. ''And because we are all fundamentally actors as well as singers, the audience can expect a level of performance, rather than just a pop show,'' he said.
Mr Costanzo said the ensemble cast included well known musical theatre performers Maria Mercedes, Paul Ross and Aria award winning Batchelor Girls lead singer Tania Doko.
''I get to work with my close friends again. It's great. You can feel the energy of close friendship in this show,'' he said.
Seriously would be the latest show in a dream run for the 25-year-old, who had enjoyed a career blessed by full-time employment.
''I've been really lucky. After I did How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, I haven't stopped. I've never been out of work. It can be pretty exhausting particularly touring. That's why it's great to be doing this show, in one place, in my home with my close friends,'' he said.
The Midsumma Festival and will run from January 25 to February 12.
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lucienchardon
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Yet another article about Seriously....
SUNDAY HERALD SUN
January 15, 2006 Sunday
Serious pet project
BYLINE: CATHERINE LAMBERT
Tania Doko's mission is to make people feel good, CATHERINE LAMBERT discovers
FORMER Bachelor Girl Tania Doko is hooked on the 1980s.
It is no coincidence that the 31-year-old pop star is recording a new album of '80s-style electro music at the same time as she is preparing to star in a new play about the Pet Shop Boys.
''With Bachelor Girl we were an emotional band and portrayed strong, independent women and while I'm still like that I also just want to make people feel light and good,'' Doko said.
''I'm introducing more of a chill-out element in my life and my work.''
She is also adding acting to her repertoire. The Pet Shop Boys show, Seriously, is a series of vignettes about romance told through lyrics.
There may not be any dialogue, but emotions and scenarios are conveyed through song in this concert-style show, featuring five singers and a string quartet.
''The songs I have in the show convey life as a flamboyant, kept woman who is looking for fame and success and would do anything to get it,'' she said.
''It's amazing how the lyrics link and it may be a happy accident, but all of the lyrics are so satirical and sharp that it seems to happen naturally.''
Creator and director David Knox began working on the piece with musical director Dean Loverington two years ago.
They scoured the Pet Shop Boys catalogue to isolate the most romantic themes and began weaving them into a show.
Word travelled fast. Knox was already becoming known for creating the 2002 Midsumma hit Kylie musical, I Should Be So Lucky, and major producers became involved, with the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Symphony Orchestra expressing interest.
Just as quickly, the momentum died down and Knox left the project for some time.
''I felt dejected, but Dean and I kept talking about it,'' he said.
''Now, two years on, we have found a way to make it happen and it's as it was originally intended -- an intimate presentation with five amazing singers performing poetic and stimulating lyrics.''
The Pet Shop Boys, celebrating their 21st anniversary this year, may be best known for club beats and great melodies, but their insightful lyrics were the greatest attraction for Knox and Doko.
''They actually wrote a lot of anti-pop songs and the lyrics are like poems, commenting on all the different stages of relationships and love with boldness and truth,'' he said.
Doko is drawn to the darkness and depth of the lyrics, coupled with up-beat melodies.
Doko said: ''The songs are filled with paradox and irony and are really quite deep and full on.
''They really speak to me. It's funny that 10 years ago I was so concerned about notes and perfection, but now I'm fully into what I'm singing and how the emotion is conveyed.''
Seriously is part of the Midsumma Festival at Chapel Off Chapel and runs from January 25-February 12. Bookings: 8290 7000.
SUNDAY HERALD SUN
January 15, 2006 Sunday
Serious pet project
BYLINE: CATHERINE LAMBERT
Tania Doko's mission is to make people feel good, CATHERINE LAMBERT discovers
FORMER Bachelor Girl Tania Doko is hooked on the 1980s.
It is no coincidence that the 31-year-old pop star is recording a new album of '80s-style electro music at the same time as she is preparing to star in a new play about the Pet Shop Boys.
''With Bachelor Girl we were an emotional band and portrayed strong, independent women and while I'm still like that I also just want to make people feel light and good,'' Doko said.
''I'm introducing more of a chill-out element in my life and my work.''
She is also adding acting to her repertoire. The Pet Shop Boys show, Seriously, is a series of vignettes about romance told through lyrics.
There may not be any dialogue, but emotions and scenarios are conveyed through song in this concert-style show, featuring five singers and a string quartet.
''The songs I have in the show convey life as a flamboyant, kept woman who is looking for fame and success and would do anything to get it,'' she said.
''It's amazing how the lyrics link and it may be a happy accident, but all of the lyrics are so satirical and sharp that it seems to happen naturally.''
Creator and director David Knox began working on the piece with musical director Dean Loverington two years ago.
They scoured the Pet Shop Boys catalogue to isolate the most romantic themes and began weaving them into a show.
Word travelled fast. Knox was already becoming known for creating the 2002 Midsumma hit Kylie musical, I Should Be So Lucky, and major producers became involved, with the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Symphony Orchestra expressing interest.
Just as quickly, the momentum died down and Knox left the project for some time.
''I felt dejected, but Dean and I kept talking about it,'' he said.
''Now, two years on, we have found a way to make it happen and it's as it was originally intended -- an intimate presentation with five amazing singers performing poetic and stimulating lyrics.''
The Pet Shop Boys, celebrating their 21st anniversary this year, may be best known for club beats and great melodies, but their insightful lyrics were the greatest attraction for Knox and Doko.
''They actually wrote a lot of anti-pop songs and the lyrics are like poems, commenting on all the different stages of relationships and love with boldness and truth,'' he said.
Doko is drawn to the darkness and depth of the lyrics, coupled with up-beat melodies.
Doko said: ''The songs are filled with paradox and irony and are really quite deep and full on.
''They really speak to me. It's funny that 10 years ago I was so concerned about notes and perfection, but now I'm fully into what I'm singing and how the emotion is conveyed.''
Seriously is part of the Midsumma Festival at Chapel Off Chapel and runs from January 25-February 12. Bookings: 8290 7000.
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Rusty
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What amazes me about the above article is that this show almost had much bigger legs, and might well have been on at the Opera House with the SSO! How bloody amazing would that have been! Let's hope the Melbourne show is a huge critical success and it moves on to bigger and better things. It would be an enormous compliment to the boys song writing abilities if it did.lucienchardon wrote: and major producers became involved, with the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Symphony Orchestra expressing interest.
Anyway, I would SO love to go to Melbourne to see this show, but still haven't decided if I can afford the time or the money at the moment. Any Melbourne-ites here planning on attending? Between this and the Dusty show, Melbourne is the place to be right now!
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Rusty
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lucienchardon
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HERALD SUN
January 25, 2006 Wednesday
Boys take it seriously
As soon as news of Seriously, the new mini-musical of songs by the Pet Shop Boys, was out, the emails began.
From France, Spain, Japan and Britain they came, mostly with a single plea: ''When can we see it? Will you bring it here?'' director Dean Lotherington says.
''We announced the show for the Midsumma festival and it was immediately posted on the Pet Shop Boys' website; by who, I have no idea. Even though they are this gay, iconic '80s pop group, they have a very wide audience.''
On Friday came the ultimate benediction: an email from Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant in London, wishing Seriously's cast and crew the best for tonight's world premiere.
''We were stoked. He says he can't wait to hear our arrangements,'' says music theatre star Maria Mercedes, one of five singers who will perform the Boys' droll technopop poetry in duets, trios and choruses.
The Boys first made the Australian charts in 1985 with West End Girls. Lotherington has stripped away their dance beats, leaving lyrics and melodies -- and emotions normally concealed by synthesised slickness.
''Neil Tennant has quite an aloofness about him; he doesn't emote,'' Lotherington says. ''Yet his lyrics are full of emotion. So you give them to Maria Mercedes, and suddenly you hear it.''
January 25, 2006 Wednesday
Boys take it seriously
As soon as news of Seriously, the new mini-musical of songs by the Pet Shop Boys, was out, the emails began.
From France, Spain, Japan and Britain they came, mostly with a single plea: ''When can we see it? Will you bring it here?'' director Dean Lotherington says.
''We announced the show for the Midsumma festival and it was immediately posted on the Pet Shop Boys' website; by who, I have no idea. Even though they are this gay, iconic '80s pop group, they have a very wide audience.''
On Friday came the ultimate benediction: an email from Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant in London, wishing Seriously's cast and crew the best for tonight's world premiere.
''We were stoked. He says he can't wait to hear our arrangements,'' says music theatre star Maria Mercedes, one of five singers who will perform the Boys' droll technopop poetry in duets, trios and choruses.
The Boys first made the Australian charts in 1985 with West End Girls. Lotherington has stripped away their dance beats, leaving lyrics and melodies -- and emotions normally concealed by synthesised slickness.
''Neil Tennant has quite an aloofness about him; he doesn't emote,'' Lotherington says. ''Yet his lyrics are full of emotion. So you give them to Maria Mercedes, and suddenly you hear it.''
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lucienchardon
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Sounds good.....
HERALD SUN
January 27, 2006 Friday
Pg. 64
SERIOUSLY
Kate Herbert
Where: Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, until
February 12
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
SERIOUSLY is just what its subtitle says: a reinterpretation of songs by the Pet Shop Boys. Director David Knox, with music director Dean Lotherington, creates a compelling evening of cabaret, song, some drama and an excellent five-piece musical ensemble.
The show incorporates innumerable hits by the Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. The British duo always had a large gay following, but the romantic and passionate lyrics are always ambiguous, allowing the heterosexual fans to relate.
Lotherington's inventive arrangements are interpreted by five singers: Maria Mercedes, Tania Doko, David Gould, Paul Ross and Anthony Costanza.
The list of songs is long: How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?, Flamboyant, Domino Dancing, Jealousy, You Only Say You Love Me When You're Drunk, Miracles, Love Comes Quickly and more.
Knox cunningly provides a simple scenario for each song, letting the singers communicate an emotional intention through the lyrics rather than simply singing the song.
They play all kinds of love stories ranging from new romance to eyes across a crowded room, separations, infidelities and love lost.
The stage design (Jeremy Smith), with huge, sheer white drapes and a white chaise, gives a light, open and flexible space for various moods and interpretations, though words such as Suspicion, Reaction and Infidelity are too obviously projected on to the curtains.
The opening prologue gives each singer a short solo. The quintet then sings a passionate, cleverly arranged version of Red Letter Day that is reprised as a rousing finale.
Ross and Costanza do a charming duet of separated lovers in Send Me an Email to Say I Love You. Costanza and Mercedes warmly sing a parting friend's story in You've Got a Home Here and Mercedes gives a moving rendition of So Sorry, I Said. Costanza's bright voice is perfect for Miracles. Gould's consummate vocal skill and velvety bass baritone lend weight and style to the entire show and his I Can't Say Goodnight is a highlight. Doko's sultry version of Rent is perfectly suited to her smoky voice.
What Have I Done to Deserve This?, sung by all five, is a complex arrangement that gives a new edge to this hit song.
The show is a rich tribute to the Pet Shop Boys.
HERALD SUN
January 27, 2006 Friday
Pg. 64
SERIOUSLY
Kate Herbert
Where: Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, until
February 12
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
SERIOUSLY is just what its subtitle says: a reinterpretation of songs by the Pet Shop Boys. Director David Knox, with music director Dean Lotherington, creates a compelling evening of cabaret, song, some drama and an excellent five-piece musical ensemble.
The show incorporates innumerable hits by the Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. The British duo always had a large gay following, but the romantic and passionate lyrics are always ambiguous, allowing the heterosexual fans to relate.
Lotherington's inventive arrangements are interpreted by five singers: Maria Mercedes, Tania Doko, David Gould, Paul Ross and Anthony Costanza.
The list of songs is long: How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?, Flamboyant, Domino Dancing, Jealousy, You Only Say You Love Me When You're Drunk, Miracles, Love Comes Quickly and more.
Knox cunningly provides a simple scenario for each song, letting the singers communicate an emotional intention through the lyrics rather than simply singing the song.
They play all kinds of love stories ranging from new romance to eyes across a crowded room, separations, infidelities and love lost.
The stage design (Jeremy Smith), with huge, sheer white drapes and a white chaise, gives a light, open and flexible space for various moods and interpretations, though words such as Suspicion, Reaction and Infidelity are too obviously projected on to the curtains.
The opening prologue gives each singer a short solo. The quintet then sings a passionate, cleverly arranged version of Red Letter Day that is reprised as a rousing finale.
Ross and Costanza do a charming duet of separated lovers in Send Me an Email to Say I Love You. Costanza and Mercedes warmly sing a parting friend's story in You've Got a Home Here and Mercedes gives a moving rendition of So Sorry, I Said. Costanza's bright voice is perfect for Miracles. Gould's consummate vocal skill and velvety bass baritone lend weight and style to the entire show and his I Can't Say Goodnight is a highlight. Doko's sultry version of Rent is perfectly suited to her smoky voice.
What Have I Done to Deserve This?, sung by all five, is a complex arrangement that gives a new edge to this hit song.
The show is a rich tribute to the Pet Shop Boys.