Preview: Songs for Nobodies
Songs for Nobodies shares five life-changing encounters between five everyday women whose lives have been touched in some way by five legendary divas – Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Maria Callas.The show includes songs such as Patsy Cline’s Crazy, Judy Garland’s Come Rain or Come Shine and Edith Piaf’s Non, Je Ne […]
Review: The Don
Lust, Murder and Revenge. The Don is a bastardization of Don Giovanni, and I mean that in a very good way. One man, accompanied by a musician, several films, and a puppet, aims to recreate the entirety of Mozart’s Don Giovanni in just under an hour and thoroughly succeeds. This show is an hour of glorious manicism, of many, many accents, and of […]
Preview: The Loneliest Whale in the World
This isn’t a break up show. It’s about marine science. So begins the blurb for this production coming up at Bats Theatre from July 10-14. A play about whales seems to be very very timely for Wellington right now, but this one has been in the making for a long time. “Four years ago, my friend […]
Graze at the Portlander
A couple of weeks ago I was invited by the lovely people at the Portlander to head in one freezing evening, along with a number of Instagrammers, to feast on their new grazing concept. From our signature long bone OP rib-eye presented at your table, to our on the bone grass fed Sirloin dry aged in house […]
Review: STOA
A stoa, in Greek architecture, is a portico used as a promenade or meeting place. For the NZ School of Dance, it’s a place to bring people together for exploring new ideas and challenges. Well, technically two places. We returned to our seats after intermission only to be lured into a new space. (pro tip: […]
Five questions with Wanda Harland
Full disclosure: the Wellingtonista is all about nepotism. So we thought it was about jolly time we sat down (well, emailed) our Martha, who has been a very important part of the ‘ista since like 2006 at least (although she is much less of a bad influence on us now than she used to be), […]
Review: TRASH GLAM DRAG SLAM
Long Cloud Youth Theatre ensemble, under the direction of Brett Adam, present an entertaining show about power and gender. The script was created from their honest discussions about their responses to current world events and interviews with family, friends, and people on the street. Various scenarios discussing sexism, slut shaming, gender stereotypes, peer pressure and […]
Review: Meremere
Simply put, Meremere is a memoir come to life. I don’t feel qualified to ‘review’ the piece and the rich layers of culture, history, identity, and art contained within. It’s not quite dance, nor a film or a play – there’s a rawness that will appeal to those well-versed in the performing arts as much […]
Review: The Elixir of Love
Friends, ploughmen and countrymen, you’re invited to the Elixir of Love, NZ Opera’s utterly madcap new creation. Though my companion and I were likely the youngest and the poorest in the audience (opera continues to be an art form seemingly granted to those above a certain age), it was a show that could be enjoyed […]
Preview: Meremere
Meremere is a powerful and moving performance in which dancer Rodney Bell (Ngāti Maniapoto) brings to life his incredible journey; ranging from the highs of an international performance career to the lows of homelessness in America to redemption in the form of a return to Aotearoa and reconnection with his Māori and artistic heritage. It […]