Hey, I’m Chris. I live in Perth, Australia. I have a job. I’m a dad. I’ve got a big To-Do list.
But I love all things musical theatre: amazing singers and actors, tight ensemble dancing, catchy and clever music, and story-telling and humour in that unique yet far-reaching way. I’ll watch school productions, local community theatre, and large-scale professional shows. If it involves a stage and songs, I’m there.
The Pirates of Penzance with Jon English and Simon Gallaher introduced me to musicals back in the 90s. Since then I have been fortunate to enjoy many shows, mostly in London, Sydney, and Melbourne.
I don’t usually explain plot lines; you can google that. And where some reviews seem to just be a re-print of the program, I write more of my experience at the theatre. I’m not trying to get my quotes on a poster, I write for the audience, the people who pay hard-earned money for tickets. If something is good, I will praise it; if not I will respectfully say so. Not everything is a “ground-breaking must-see hit”!
Some of the productions I’ve been to so far:
- A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Canberra)
- Aladdin (Sydney)
- Alice By Heart (Limelight)
- Anastasia (Perth)
- Annie (Sydney)
- Back To The Future (London and Sydney)
- Beauty And The Beast (Melbourne)
- Blood Brothers (London)
- Book of Mormon (Sydney)
- The Bodyguard (Sydney)
- Cabaret (Melbourne, Bad Hersfeld)
- Cats (Sydney)
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London)
- Come From Away (Melbourne, Perth)
- Come From Away (Koorliny)
- Dear Evan Hansen (Melbourne)
- Fiddler On The Roof (Sydney)
- Finding Nemo Jr. (Perth)
- Footloose (Perth)
- Frozen (Perth & Mandurah)
- Godspell (Sydney)
- The Gondoliers (Perth)
- Grease (Melbourne, Munich)
- Guys and Dolls (Koorliny)
- Hairspray (HAMA)
- Hamilton (Melbourne)
- HMS Pinafore (Canberra)
- Jailhouse Rock (London)
- Jersey Boys (Sydney)
- Jesus Christ Superstar (Perth)
- Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (London)
- Kinky Boots (Stray Cats)
- Legally Blonde
- Les Miserables (London)
- The Lion King (Hamburg)
- The Little Big Things (UK National Theatre At Home)
- Lord Of The Rings (Perth)
- Mamma Mia (London, Perth)
- Man Up! (Drew Anthony Creative)
- Mary Poppins (Perth)
- Mary Poppins (Stray Cats Theatre)
- Merrily We Roll Along (WAAPA)
- The Mikado (Canberra – Essgee)
- The Mikado (Perth)
- MJ The Musical (London, Sydney, Perth)
- Mrs. Doubtfire (London)
- The Hundred and One Dalmatians (Stray Cats Theatre)
- The Phantom Of The Opera (London)
- The Pirates of Penzance (Sydney – Essgee)
- The Pirates of Penzance (Perth – WA Opera)
- The Producers (Sydney)
- The Rat Pack (London)
- Tivoli Lovely
- Rent (Perth)
- Saturday Night Fever (London)
- Siblingship (Sydney)
- Spamalot (Perth)
- Tina (Brisbane)
- Two Strangers Carry A Cake Across New York (London)
- Utopia, Limited (Perth)
- We Will Rock You (London, Sydney)
- Wicked (London, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth)