Tony Award Winners

Sorry folks, I would have posted these results sooner, but I was running a senior Drama night at school last night, hence the day's delay on publishing the winners at this year's Tony Awards.

My personal triumph was seeing the fabulous August: Osage County win Best Play and Deanna Dunagan win Best Performance by a Leading Actress for her role as the matriarch in the same play. August definitely seemed the season standout for dramatic plays, capturing five Tony's on the night and its win, in my opinion, was thoroughly deserved.

Best Play
August: Osage County
Author: Tracy Letts
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler, Jerry Frankel, Ostar Productions, Jennifer Manocherian, The Weinstein Company, Debra Black/Daryl Roth, Ronald & Marc Frankel/Barbara Freitag, Rick Steiner/Staton Bell Group, The Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Best Musical
In The Heights
Producers: Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller, Jill Furman, Sander Jacobs, Goodman/Grossman, Peter Fine, Everett/Skipper

Best Book of a Musical
Passing Strange - Stew

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
In The Heights - Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Best Revival of a Play
Boeing-Boeing
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Bob Boyett, Act Productions, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert G. Bartner, The Weinstein Company, Susan Gallin/Mary Lu Roffe, Broadway Across America, Tulchin/Jenkins/DSM, The Araca Group

Best Revival of a Musical
South Pacific
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, Bob Boyett

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Paulo Szot, South Pacific

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Patti LuPone, Gypsy

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Jim Norton, The Seafarer

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Rondi Reed, August: Osage County

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Laura Benanti, Gypsy

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Michael Yeargan, South Pacific

Best Costume Design of a Play
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Catherine Zuber, South Pacific

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Donald Holder, South Pacific

Best Sound Design of a Play
Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Scott Lehrer, South Pacific

Best Direction of a Play
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County

Best Direction of a Musical
Bartlett Sher, South Pacific

Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, In The Heights

Best Orchestrations
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman, In The Heights

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Special Tony Award
Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981), in recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by South Pacific.

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Stephen Sondheim

Theatrica New York January 2009

If you're a regular reader of The Drama Teacher, you'll know I'm more than happy to promote a product or service relevant to Drama teachers or students if it is a worthwhile one.

After recently going on a trip to New York and Los Angeles with a group of my own students, I was more than impressed with every aspect of this tour, organised by Charles Slucki from Theatrica. If you visit the menu of archived posts on the right sidebar of this blog from 23/3/08 to 5/4/08, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. It was a fabulous performing arts tour that I highly recommend for Drama teachers and their students in Melbourne, Australia.

So, in the upcoming January summer holidays, the Theatrica group is running a teachers-only tour of New York, visiting many of the Broadway shows and sights that I recently saw back in March of this year. If you'd love to visit New York and see what all those Broadway shows have to offer, but are hesitant to take the students along and make it a school tour, then this teachers-only trip is just for you!

The tour leaves Melbourne on 7th January and returns on 19th January 2009. Below is a link to Theatrica's website, where more information can be obtained and where all queries regarding the tour should be directed to. I have also posted a pdf of the tour brochure below, for your reading.

Theatrica_New_York_January_2009_Teachers_Tour_Brochure.pdf
Theatrica Website

TrendErtainment

Ever wanted to know what the next big trend will be in musicals or rock concerts? Ever wished you could get a sneak peek behind the scenes to get an understanding of how the entertainment really industry works?

Here's a great new blog, TrendErtainment, with regular musings about "the art of understanding how trends influence the development and management of live entertainment production".

Author Michael Cedar is an American company and project manager for live entertainment events. His blog keeps a finger on the pulse of new and emerging trends in the industry, including theatre, dance, musicals, rock concerts and more ... and how issues and changing trends in technology, leadership, audience needs and wants, management, marketing and others are changing what we produce and see in the entertainment world, now and in the future.

Enjoy!

TrendErtainment

2008 Tony Award Nominations

Hot off the press only minutes after being announced in New York, here are the 2008 Tony Award nominations for the best productions on Broadway. The winners will be announced on 15th June.

I sure hope August: Osage County wins Best Play. It's one of the best damn plays I have ever seen and will most likely go down as a classic in American playwriting, destined to be studied at universities for years to come. I'd like to to thank the Pulitzer Board for recently awarding the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama to this wonderful play by Tracy Letts. You just made my signed play script and poster by the playwright and Broadway cast a bit of a collectors item :)

Best Play

August: Osage County
Author: Tracy Letts
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler, Jerry Frankel, Ostar Productions, Jennifer Manocherian, The Weinstein Company, Debra Black/Daryl Roth, Ronald & Marc Frankel/Barbara Freitag, Rick Steiner/Staton Bell Group, The Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Rock ‘n’ Roll
Author: Tom Stoppard
Producers: Bob Boyett & Sonia Friedman Productions, Ostar Productions, Roger Berlind, Tulchin/Bartner, Douglas G. Smith, Dancap Productions, Jam Theatricals, The Weinstein Company, Lincoln Center Theater, The Royal Court Theatre London

The Seafarer
Author: Conor McPherson
Producers: Ostar Productions, Bob Boyett, Roy Furman, Lawrence Horowitz, Jam Theatricals, Bill Rollnick/Nancy Ellison Rollnick, James D’Orta, Thomas S. Murphy, Ralph Guild/Jon Avnet, Philip Geier/Keough Partners, Eric Falkenstein/Max OnStage, The National Theatre of Great Britain

The 39 Steps
Author: Patrick Barlow
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Bob Boyett, Harriet Newman Leve/Ron Nicynski, Stewart F. Lane/Bonnie Comley, Manocherian Golden Prods., Olympus Theatricals/Douglas Denoff, Marek J. Cantor/Pat Addiss, Huntington Theatre Company/Nicholas Martin/Michael Maso, Edward Snape for Fiery Angel Ltd.

Best Musical

Cry-Baby
Producer: Adam Epstein, Allan S. Gordon, Élan V. McAllister, Brian Grazer, James P. MacGilvray, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Anne Caruso, Adam S. Gordon, Latitude Link, The Pelican Group, Philip Morgaman, Andrew Farber/Richard Mishaan

In The Heights
Producers: Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller, Jill Furman, Sander Jacobs, Goodman/Grossman, Peter Fine, Everett/Skipper

Passing Strange
Producers: The Shubert Organization, Elizabeth Ireland McCann LLC, Bill Kenwright, Chase Mishkin, Barbara & Buddy Freitag, Broadway Across America, Emily Fisher Landau, Peter May, Boyett Ostar, Larry Hirschhorn, Janet Pailet/Steve Klein, Elie Hirschfeld/Jed Bernstein, Spring Sirkin/Ruth Hendel, Vasi Laurence/Pat Flicker Addiss, Wendy Federman/Jackie Barlia Florin, Joey Parnes, The Public Theater, The Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Xanadu
Producers: Robert Ahrens, Dan Vickery, Tara Smith/B. Swibel, Sarah Murchison/Dale Smith

Best Book of a Musical

Cry-Baby
Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan

In The Heights
Quiara Alegría Hudes

Passing Strange
Stew

Xanadu
Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Cry-Baby
Music & Lyrics: David Javerbaum & Adam Schlesinger

In The Heights
Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda

The Little Mermaid
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater

Passing Strange
Music: Stew and Heidi Rodewald
Lyrics: Stew

Best Revival of a Play

Boeing-Boeing
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Bob Boyett, Act Productions, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert G. Bartner, The Weinstein Company, Susan Gallin/Mary Lu Roffe, Broadway Across America, Tulchin/Jenkins/DSM, The Araca Group

The Homecoming
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Jam Theatricals, Ergo Entertainment, Barbara & Buddy Freitag, Michael Gardner, Herbert Goldsmith Productions, Terry E. Schnuck, Harold Thau, Michael Filerman/Lynne Peyser, Ronald Frankel/David Jaroslawicz, Love Bunny Entertainment

Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

Macbeth
Producers: Duncan C. Weldon & Paul Elliott, Jeffrey Archer, Bill Ballard, Terri & Timothy Childs, Rodger Hess, David Mirvish, Adriana Mnuchin, Emanuel Azenberg, BAM, The Chichester Festival Theatre

Best Revival of a Musical

Grease
Producers: Paul Nicholas and David Ian, Nederlander Presentations Inc., Terry Allen Kramer, Robert Stigwood

Gypsy
Producers: Roger Berlind, The Routh-Frankel-Baruch-Viertel Group, Roy Furman, Debra Black, Ted Hartley, Roger Horchow, David Ian, Scott Rudin, Jack Viertel

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, Bob Boyett

Sunday in the Park with George
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Bob Boyett, Debra Black, Jam Theatricals, Stephanie P. McClelland, Stewart F. Lane/Bonnie Comley, Barbara Manocherian/Jennifer Manocherian, Ostar Productions, The Menier Chocolate Factory/David Babani

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Rufus Sewell, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Eve Best, The Homecoming
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County
Kate Fleetwood, Macbeth
S. Epatha Merkerson, Come Back, Little Sheba
Amy Morton, August: Osage County

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park with George
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights
Stew, Passing Strange
Paulo Szot, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kelli O’Hara, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Faith Prince, A Catered Affair
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park with George

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

Bobby Cannavale, Mauritius
Raúl Esparza, The Homecoming
Conleth Hill, The Seafarer
Jim Norton, The Seafarer
David Pittu, Is He Dead?

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Sinead Cusack, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Mary McCormack, Boeing-Boeing
Laurie Metcalf, November
Martha Plimpton, Top Girls
Rondi Reed, August: Osage County

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Danny Burstein, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Robin De Jesús, In The Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

de’Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Andrea Martin, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Olga Merediz, In The Heights
Loretta Ables Sayre, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps
Scott Pask, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County
Anthony Ward, Macbeth

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network, Sunday in the Park with George
Anna Louizos, In The Heights
Robin Wagner, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Michael Yeargan, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Costume Design of a Play

Gregory Gale, Cyrano de Bergerac
Rob Howell, Boeing-Boeing
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps

Best Costume Design of a Musical

David Farley, Sunday in the Park with George
Martin Pakledinaz, Gypsy
Paul Tazewell, In The Heights
Catherine Zuber, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps
Howard Harrison, Macbeth
Donald Holder, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Ann G. Wrightson, August: Osage County

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Ken Billington, Sunday in the Park with George
Howell Binkley, In The Heights
Donald Holder, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Natasha Katz, The Little Mermaid

Best Sound Design of a Play

Simon Baker, Boeing-Boeing
Adam Cork, Macbeth
Ian Dickson, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Acme Sound Partners, In The Heights
Sebastian Frost, Sunday in the Park with George
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Dan Moses Schreier, Gypsy

Best Direction of a Play

Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps
Conor McPherson, The Seafarer
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County
Matthew Warchus, Boeing-Boeing

Best Direction of a Musical

Sam Buntrock, Sunday in the Park with George
Thomas Kail, In The Heights
Arthur Laurents, Gypsy
Bartlett Sher, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Choreography

Rob Ashford, Cry-Baby
Andy Blankenbuehler, In The Heights
Christopher Gattelli, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Dan Knechtges, Xanadu

Best Orchestrations

Jason Carr, Sunday in the Park with George
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman, In The Heights
Stew & Heidi Rodewald, Passing Strange
Jonathan Tunick, A Catered Affair

Regional Theatre Tony Award

Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Special Tony Award

Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981), in recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific.

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Stephen Sondheim

Tony Nominations by Production

In The Heights – 13
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific – 11
Sunday in the Park with George – 9
August: Osage County – 7
Gypsy - 7
Passing Strange – 7
Boeing-Boeing – 6
Macbeth – 6
The 39 Steps - 6
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - 5
Cry-Baby – 4
Rock ‘n’ Roll - 4
The Seafarer – 4
Xanadu – 4
A Catered Affair – 3
The Homecoming – 3
The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein – 3
The Little Mermaid – 2
Come Back, Little Sheba – 1
Cyrano de Bergerac – 1
Grease – 1
Is He Dead? – 1
Mauritius – 1
November – 1
Thurgood – 1
Top Girls – 1

A couple of excellent New York Times articles:

A Season With An Unpredictable Plot

This Year's Tony List Is Filled With Unusual Suspects

(Note: registration may be required with NY Times articles)

Whoopi Goldberg To Host Tony's

Actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg will present the upcoming Tony Awards ceremony, to be held at New York's Radio City Music Hall on June 15th.

Nominations for the most coveted awards on Broadway will be officially announced Tuesday morning in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at the Lincoln Center. 

It remains to be seen just how many nominations hot favourite August: Osage County receives. 

Nominations will be posted on TheDramaTeacher.com as soon as they are announced.

Australian Drama

Here's a shopping list or two that may help anyone teaching Australian Drama in their courses.

Notable Australian Playwrights

Ray Lawler

Jack Davis

Louis Nowra

David Williamson

Nick Enright

Andrew Bovell

Michael Gow

Stephen Sewell

Debra Oswald
Alan Seymour

Joanna Murray-Smith

Hannie Rayson

Jack Hibberd

Michael Gurr

John Romeril

Alex Buzo

Peter Kenna

Katherine Thomson

Patrick White

Dorothy Hewett

Alan Hopgood

Matt Cameron

Notable Australian Plays

Gary's House (Oswald)

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (Lawler)

Chilling and Killing My Annabel Lee (Aidan Fenessey)

Speaking In Tongues - adapted screenplay became the film Lantana - (Bovell)

Stolen (Jane Harrison)

Summer of the Aliens (Nowra)

Away (Gow)
The One Day of the Year (Seymour)

Blackrock (Enright)

The Club (Williamson)

No Sugar (Davis)

Meat Party (Duong Le Quy)

After Dinner (Bovell)

Cloudstreet (Enright/Mojo)

Cosi (Nowra)

Hotel Sorrento (Rayson)

A Stretch of the Imagination (Hibberd)

Ruby Moon (Cameron)

Children of the Black Skirt (Angela Betzien)

Honour (Murray-Smith)

Holy Day (Bovell)

Notable Australian Theatre Companies (past and present)

Melbourne Theatre Company (oldest in Australia)

Sydney Theatre Company (largest number of subscribers)

The Pram Factory (Melbourne)
Nimrod Street Theatre (Sydney)
Australian Performing Group (Melbourne)

La Mama / Carlton Courthouse (Melbourne)

Belvoir St Theatre/Company B (Sydney)

Black Swan Theatre Company (Western Australia)

Queensland Theatre Company

State Theatre Company of South Australia

Arena Theatre Company (Melbourne)

Bell Shakespeare Company (National)

Malthouse Theatre Company (Melbourne)

Notable Australian Theatre Venues

Sydney Opera House

Victorian Arts Centre

Queensland Performing Arts Centre

State Theatre (Sydney)

La Mama (Melbourne)

The Pram Factory (Melbourne)

Adelaide Festival Centre

Princess Theatre (Melbourne)

Regent Theatre (Melbourne)

Spring Awakening

If you're a regular visitor to The Drama Teacher, you'll be aware on a recent Broadway tour I saw an amazing musical Spring Awakening, a show nominated for 11 Tony Awards in 2007 and winner of 8, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score.

Currently performed on Broadway by a cast mostly aged between 16 and 26, Spring Awakening has been dubbed the new Rent. It is a show based on an 1891 German play of the same name (banned at the time) and has been on Broadway since December 2006.

Spring Awakening follows a group of teenagers' coming of age from adolescence to adulthood and the plot is supported by a fantastic rock score by Duncan Sheik. It covers many teenage themes, a few not so pleasant, but while some consider Spring Awakening controversial, it is certainly honest and raw, and one of the most energetic musicals I've seen in years.

For those readers in the US, you are no doubt already familiar with this show, but this is not the case for many of us back home in Australia. Hopefully, we will see Spring Awakening in Australia soon, but in the meantime, check out the behind-the-scenes video below (dating back to its original Broadway cast) and purchase the awesome CD soundtrack (may require a little searching in Australia).

Theatrica Tour Posts

Over the next few weeks, in between other posts, I'll throw up additional resources on this blog about various aspects of the recent Theatrica tour by a group of Melbourne Drama/Theatre/Performing Arts students and their teachers to New York and L.A. that I was fortunate to be a part of.

Meanwhile, if you wish to follow the tour retrospectively, use the right margin on this blog and follow the archived posts starting at 24/3/08 and finishing at 5/4/08.

Los Angeles: Wednesday 2nd March

Well it has come to the final day of this amazing Theatrica tour of New York and Los Angeles!

Today was spent in Los Angeles visiting two film and television production houses. Our first stop was at the premises of Todd AO. It is here that sound is designed and added to major television shows and motion pictures. We received a tour of the building that included a recording studio used for voice-overs, a sound engineer's workspace used for television sound effects and a private cinema. The biggest buzz was watching the work of a sound effects engineer who showed us a 2 minute scene from CSI: New York, discussing how he added all the sound effects to the scene in preparation for its screening on American television.

In the afternoon we visited New Wave Entertainment, a production house that encompasses many aspects of the Hollywood film industry, from creative design, DVD extra features, talent agency, graphic design on screen and in print etc. We saw television producers arrive back from 'pitching' new shows to major US networks and people at work in various sections of the building on a whole range of creative television projects. It was very interesting to see how the industry operates behind the scenes.

Both of these tours were only possible because of the contacts Charles Slucki from Theatrica has made doing these tours over the years. We were very fortunate to have major industry professionals giving so freely of their time for our tour group.

Finally we spent a couple of hours at a large shopping centre before heading off to the airport for the 14 and a half hour flight home to Melbourne that ended up being 16 hours after delays!

Make no doubt about it, the last two weeks has been an incredible journey for us all. We have seen some fantastic theatre including five musicals and five plays, from the major Broadway spectaculars of Wicked and Chicago to the Off Broadway gems from Edward Albee. We saw brilliant acting in August: Osage County and From Up Here and lived the raw energy of a sensational musical Spring Awakening, performed by a cast of mostly teenagers. We have visited all the icons of New York City, from the Rockefeller Center to Radio City Music Hall. We have had industry professionals talk to us about marketing and producing on Broadway and we even met the lead actress from Wicked! Add to this the inspiration of receiving a special tour and talk in the most prestigious performing arts academy in the world, The Juilliard School in New York. And we learnt a great deal behind the scenes in the film and television industry over our two days in Hollywood.

The Theatrica group really have a wonderful product here. They have so many contacts with key people in the industry, making their tours for school groups a cut above the rest. To top it off, the Theatrica tour guides were fantastic, an important factor that made the trip all the more enjoyable. My Drama students from Avila College had an absolute ball on this trip to New York and Los Angeles. Still only teenagers, for some of them this may well be their trip of a lifetime.

I hope you enjoyed my blogging on these pages over the past two weeks. For me it has been both a private and public journal of our trip. I am glad many of you have been able to share in our experiences by reading these posts and checking out the pictures of the people and places we visited along the way.

Images of Venice Beach. We were there a little too early in the day for the crowds.

Firbank teacher Jenny with Avila teacher Sue, at Venice Beach.

Firbank teacher Jerome, looking like Ray Charles on Venice Beach.

Theatrica tour boss Charles Slucki having some fun in the bus. His wife Mich, above, looks on.

Santa Monica

The famous Strasberg Theatre Institute for acting in Hollywood. Lee Strasberg was one of the first to teach Method Acting in America.

The beautiful Pacific Coast Highway

In a sound recording room for voice-over work at Todd AO.

In the foyer of Todd AO. Yep, this company's work is considered high quality in the industry. Those little fellas in the glass case above the reception desk are real. Right before our very eyes were five Oscar statues!

At Todd AO we speak with a sound effects engineer, whose job it was to add sound effects to television shows.

We are shown a 2 minute scene from the TV show CSI: New York. After playing the scene for us as it was delivered from the TV studio - raw with echoes and no sound effects, our engineer plays us back the scene after he has done his amazing work. It took him an entire day to add the sound effects for this 2 minute scene!

The boss of Todd AO talks to the Theatrica group in a specially-fitted showing room for film producers and directors etc. The mixing desks in the photograph are in front of a bunch of comfortable lounge chairs. But between the mixing desks and the cinema screen are several rows of cinema seats, enough for a closed audience of about 120 people for private film screenings.

The bus....

Andrea outside New Wave Entertainment at the start of our tour of the premises. Security procedures were tight, so no photographs were allowed inside the building.

Los Angeles: Tuesday 1st March

Today the Theatrica tour had their first of two days in Los Angeles before leaving for Melbourne. The performing arts focus of the trip shifted from the theatre of Broadway and Off Broadway in New York to film and television in Los Angeles.

First on the agenda today was a healthy breakfast, followed by a sightseeing tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Then we did the back lot tour of Universal Studios and finally five hours in the theme park to see what was on offer. After dinner Charles arranged two Australians living in Los Angeles to chat to us about the television industry here. Both guest speakers were from Melbourne - one now a TV casting director, the other started the first day of shooting on her own children's TV show today.

The Avila crew at breakfast

The teachers from Firbank and Avila at breakfast

Los Angeles freeway, 9.30am. Very busy!

We escape the freeway to enter a regular street. More of the same!

The exclusive Beverly Hills. Shopping by appointment only.

Rodeo Drive

If I quit teaching, I may be able to afford this little fellow.....

Beverly Hills city offices

Sunset Boulevard

The Roosevelt Hotel where the very first Oscars ceremony was held

Justin with Hollywood sign in the background

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Hundreds of these stars on the sidewalk outside the Kodak Theatre, where the Academy Awards are held each year

The Avila clan outside the entrance to Universal Studios

Images of Universal Studios themes park

Aeroplane fuselage from the Tom Cruise movie The War of the Worlds

Some of the teachers and tour leaders having lunch

Broadway: Monday 31st March

Today was our final day in New York City and we will miss her! She has been the most spectacular of cities to visit, with a character and charm about her loved by all on the tour. The students have embraced New York for all it had to offer. From the wonderful Broadway plays and musicals, to the bustling city streets and crowded subways. You could even tour New York just to see the beautiful architecture of the buildings, alone.

We have indeed been privileged to see some fantastic theatre shows on Broadway over the past ten days. I would say the students saw Wicked for what it really is ... a mega musical on the grandest commercial scale and thoroughly enjoyable. But probably most of the students' favourite musical was Spring Awakening, with its gritty teenage themes everyone could relate to. As for the plays, From Up Here with Tony Award winning actress Julie White was fabulous. At that point, we didn't think it would be topped, but a couple of nights later August: Osage County hit the jackpot with superb acting and a nail-biting plot.

Our industry sessions with Broadway professionals - actors, producers, marketing managers etc have all been very stimulating and highly educational for the students. Between these sessions and the theatre shows, this tour has been fantastic for the students and will both directly and indirectly impact everyone in their drama studies at school back home in Melbourne.

Today was our first real day of rain in NY. It clouded over and rained fairly early in the peace which was a little disappointing. We had a bus hired so we coached to the famous Brooklyn Bridge and got off and walked from one side to the other.

We then went to Macy's shopping centre for all those girls who haven't yet bought an extra suitcase full of clothes and other stuff for the trip home! Actually, I don't have a leg to stand on myself. I went a little crazy on the 'kicks' (casual Nike, Adidas and Converse shoes) while in NY ... because they were about one-third the price of those in Melbourne. After buying nine pairs of new shoes, it was off to buy a new suitcase especially for them! For those who didn't already know, Macy's is two adjoining buildings, nine storeys tall. It spans one entire block of New York City and is the largest department store in the world. Its quality is a cross between Myer and David Jones back home, leaning towards David Jones.

Finally we went to Central Park, and while overcast, by this time the rain had stopped. It was still picturesque without the sun overhead and we all enjoyed a half hour walk in the park before taking the 75 minute, 5-mile-an-hour bus ride to one of New York's three airports, JFK.

Myself on the Brooklyn Bridge with Manhattan skyscrapers in the background

View from the Brooklyn Bridge looking out over the Hudson River

Manhattan over the roadway on the Brooklyn Bridge

Manhattan from a slightly different angle

The Dakota Building on Central Park West. John Lennon was shot in front of this building in December 1980. Yoko Ono has an apartment spanning the top floor. The building borders Central Park on the opposite side of the road.

Just inside the park opposite what was Lennon's apartment is Strawberry Fields, a section of Central Park.

The Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park, comprising over 10,000 small tiles.

Theatrica tour students pay homage to the life of John Lennon

Strawberry Fields plaque, listing all the nations of the earth who were at peace at the time it was planted in the grass of Central Park, soon after John Lennon's death. Some of the nations listed are now at war.

Horse and carriage rides are popular tourist attractions in Central Park

More images of Central Park

Broadway: Sunday 30th March

Only two activities on the Theatrica calendar today - a tour of the Lincoln Center and seeing a play called August: Osage County.

A few days ago we toured the Juilliard School of Drama at the Lincoln Center, a special treat just for our tour group. But today, we went on the general tour of some of the public buildings in the complex. The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is one of the largest performing arts complexes in the world. Sitting on a 6.3 acre site in New York City, the Lincoln encompasses 7 buildings, 12 theatres and a total of 22 performing spaces.

A little secret: for nearly 20 years now, I have dreamed of one day visiting the Lincoln Center! When I first heard of it at the start of my teaching career, I knew it would be a treat to one day visit such a massive performing arts complex. I can happily report back that it was this, and much more!

The only bummer about our tour was the rule of no photographs inside the main buildings. We visited three theatres in our tour. This massive series of buildings houses such prestigious companies as The Metropolitian Opera, The New York City Ballet, The New York Philharmonic, The New York City Opera, as well as educational institutions such as The Juilliard mentioned earlier.

After sitting inside a 5-tier theatre, home to the New York City Opera and thinking 2,800 seats is impressive (at about 200 seats more than Hamer Hall in Melbourne), it was The Metropolitan Opera's theatre that blew me away! 6 tiers and a seating capacity of 3,800 seats, this theatre was unbelievably massive! Wait for it .... the stage opening (proscenium) was seven storeys tall! In all my life I have never seen a theatre this big!

In the afternoon we saw one of the hottest plays currently on Broadway. Originally from Chicago, this play has moved on to Broadway to incredible critical acclaim and commercial success. August: Osage County was a straight dramatic play. At about three and a half hours long, including two intervals, this was one of the best theatre experiences of my career!

Suitably prepped by myself in advance on the heavy themes present in this play written for adults, August: Osage County was enjoyed by our students for its production values and brilliant acting. Everyone who's anyone on Broadway is tipping this play to sweep the Tony Awards on 15th June this year, just as the show we saw a few nights ago, Spring Awakening, did last year.

August: Osage County has instantly jumped into my top three favourite performances of my life. The acting in this play by a cast of over a dozen was nothing short of superb! It was, without doubt, some of the finest acting on a stage I had ever seen. The script was solid, the characters fascinating and the plot, intense. This play was about a dysfunctional family (and that's an understatement!) and most people in the audience could see snippets of their own family life, past or present, in some of the events and characters in the show. It must have had more than a dozen twists in the plot, most of them unforeseen, yet all of them totally plausible because of the tight script and impressive acting.

The set was a two-storey house and completely naturalistic with the finest of details accounted for. The lighting was fantastic and the acting, out of this world! While the events in the plot of this play may not have been everyone's cup of tea, there is no doubt the acting alone made this show one of the most worthwhile events on the tour. To have seen such a strong theatre performance in the busiest theatre district on the planet was indeed a privilege. Someone bring this show to Australia, please!

Because no photos were allowed inside either the Lincoln Center or the Imperial Theatre where August: Osage County was showing, there aren't many photos to enjoy today.

By the way, if my posts on this blog don't seem too intellectual at times, its because I'm writing them in a darkened hotel room on a laptop at around 1.00am each morning after a 15-hour day. Would love to go into a bit more depth with discussion on some of the shows we've seen, but its not really possible, unfortunately. On more than one occasion, I've completely nodded off in the middle of writing a post on the blog!

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

The Ed Sullivan Theatre where David Letterman is shot

Trump International Tower on the edge of Central Park. Donald Trump lives on the top floor.

Broadway: Saturday 29th March

Saturday in New York City and you really can’t tell it’s the weekend. The Big Apple is still a bustling metropolis of people, cars, sights and sounds.

After seeing the mega musical Wicked a few days ago, this morning was our opportunity to be a part of a backstage tour of the production - Wicked: Behind The Emerald Curtain.

The day began with a 6.45am start and a brisk walk in a very chilly air to the local Westway Diner a few blocks away, then off to an empty Gershwin Theatre. A mezzanine level foyer became a Wicked museum of various parts of the show, from costumes and props to wigs and model sets. An information session was very professionally delivered to us by two of the cast members of the show who told us all about life in Oz in this amazing Wicked production. It was fascinating.

We were then escorted into the theatre proper, where we viewed a promotional video starring key personnel, including composer Stephen Schwartz. This was all done on a darkened stage of the show. We then had a lengthy Q&A session with one of the three stage managers for the Broadway production of Wicked, which revealed interesting details about behind the scenes aspects of the production. With over 120 people backstage every night, nearly 300 lighting cues and 50 automation cues for machinery on stage, Wicked is a big show, indeed!

Later in the day we went down to Greenwich Village via the subway. It was a beautiful locale and in amongst the pretty streets was the famous Off Broadway venue The Cherry Lane Theatre. It was here that we saw two one-act Edward Albee plays in The American Dream and The Sandbox, directed by the playwright himself. Albee is arguably among the top American playwrights of the 20th century alongside Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill. He is of course, most famous for his play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

These two productions were absurdist in style, challenging many among the group in their understanding of theatre. 80 year-old Albee, a New Yorker himself, is such a guru of American theatre. I felt privileged to see two of his plays Off Broadway, particularly to witness his direction on his own works.

The day was capped off with a karaoke night at a venue in Times Square that everyone enjoyed immensely.

Theatrica boss Charles Slucki (right) and son David (Avila tour guide) outside The Gershwin

Wicked billing poster at The Gerswhin

Wicked artifacts from the show ... costumes, model sets etc. The original costume (above) worn by Kristin Chenoweth is worth $25,000!

Massive model set for Wicked. Impressive in the industry, even by Broadway standards.

The huge Wicked set in the Gershwin, used for our presentation.

The beautiful streets of Greenwich Village

In the subway....

Justin with former student Brendan Moffitt who is now one of the youngest directors at the New York City Opera. Ironically, this evening Brendan's brief was to find suitable opera entertainment for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, currently visiting New York.

Karaoke

Broadway: Friday 28th March

Today's highlight on the Theatrica tour of New York was visiting the Juilliard School at the Lincoln Center.

While we will tour the Lincoln Center itself in a couple of days, today's focus was simply Juilliard. Theatrica chief Charles Slucki has been taking performing arts students to New York for nearly two decades now. For the past ten years he has been trying to get a tour of the Juilliard school on the itinerary, which is very difficult to achieve. Today, Charles' dream came true and we toured what is definitely the most prestigious performing arts school in America, arguably the world.

The Lincoln Center is massive in size and encompasses many buildings. Once inside, the tour participants first had a question and answer session with one of the heads of the Drama school, Kathy Hood, and then Charles' ex-student currently doing the course, Vicky, also popped by to answer many more questions from the group. The students on the tour got a first-hand opportunity to hear about life in one of the toughest performing arts programs going around.

Over 1,000 hopefuls from across the world audition for the Juilliard School of Drama each year and only nine males and nine females receive a place in the program. Its an all-intensive, all-consuming life for four long years, as students at the school regularly spend 8am to 10pm, Monday to Friday at Juilliard. Saturdays are usually busy as well and sometimes even Sundays are spent rehearsing lines for plays etc. No time for a part-time job here!

What we did today was something few people in the performing arts world ever get a chance to do or see. To be listening to a student and the Head of Drama at such a coveted drama institution was amazing for us all! The photos of the buildings won't tell the real story, unfortunately. That could only be expressed in feelings. As we walked the corridors of the Juilliard School in New York, some of us realised we were blessed with a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Later in the day we visited Ground Zero. Well, this is New York, so it was too busy and hectic with people and traffic to be haunting or eerie. Construction workers are currently building the winning design of two enormous pools surrounded by trees. The pools are the exact size and in the precise location of the twin towers. There will also be a museum on the site. The block will eventually be enveloped by five tall office buildings.

Reading over nearly 3,000 names on the wall at Ground Zero was a sad moment, as one remembered the event and thought of all those people who had lost their lives.

For Law and Order fans

The edge of Central Park

If you're a dancer, Alvin Ailey is one of the best!

The Lincoln Center, having renovations for the first time in its 46 year history. Not too good for my photos, though...

Too many Lincoln Center buildings to get in one frame

The Juilliard School

Tour participants entering the Juilliard School

Everyone inside the Juilliard

This year's company at the school

Theatrica boss Charles Slucki. Behind his head is Vicky (blonde), a former student of Charles' from Mount Scopus College in Melbourne, completing her final year in the Juilliard School of Drama. She is one of only two Australians presently doing the course, across four year levels.

Manhattan street ... and they're not the skyscrapers downtown, either!

Enormous office buildings are everywhere in New York

Ground Zero (where the crane is). The empty space gives you some indication of the huge area the two World Trade Center buildings once stood upon.

A gate opens to let a construction truck out and I quickly snap a shot of the building works on the Ground Zero site. Everything is behind construction fences at the present time.

Broadway: Thursday 27th March

Today's Theatrica activities involved jumping on the New York subway for the first time on our trip. Well, a train's a train, but it was sort of cool riding the subway in NYC. We went down to the Lower East Side of Manhattan to visit the Jewish Tenement Museum, where education officers took us through some of the history behind Jewish immigrants settling in the area years ago. Today, the neighborhood also includes many Chinese American families. It was a fascinating look back on some of the history of New York. The photos below should give you a feel for the neighborhood, its architecture and its people.

Next up was lunch in Katz's Deli, where the infamous scene from the film When Harry Met Sally was shot. An enormous, bustling food house, Katz's Delicatessen was a cultural experience all of its own.

Our afternoon workshops were back at a previous venue, the rehearsal rooms of the Manhattan Theatre Club. Our first speaker was the producer of a show we saw a few night's ago, possibly the most successful Off Broadway musical ever, Altar Boyz. Back home in Melbourne before the trip, students organised themsleves into small groups and were asked to prepare a concept for the story line to their own Broadway musical. Today, the Altar Boyz producer sat down before the whole class with each of these groups and went through the ideas they had prepared, finally giving them reasons why he would or wouldn't finance their show to be produced on Broadway. The most original concept I believe was from some of the Centrestage students - Coffee: The Musical, with characters like Macchiato and Latte etc.

The second afternoon session was run by the marketing manager for the Broadway musical Chicago, which we also saw a few nights ago. This was great, because Chicago probably has one of the most successful marketing campaigns in recent musical history. Of particular relevance is Chicago on Broadway. The current revival of this 1975 musical has been on Broadway since 1996 and most people in the industry believe it is now looking a little tired. It was our guest speaker's job to keep audience's (local and overseas) interested in the show. We discussed how Chicago has now been seen by an estimated 18 million people worldwide and has grossed over 1 billion dolllars across the globe. They're pretty impressive figures! On Broadway they keep adding new flavour to the show by having stars in the main roles, such as Melanie Griffith and more recently the American singer Usher. We also learnt the role of Roxy on Broadway will soon be taken over by R&B singer Mya.

After a spot of dinner at a very cool Mexican restaurant, we then went to the performance venue of where our daytime industry sessions have been, The Manhattan Theatre Club (theatre) to see a preview of a world premiere show From Up Here. This play starred Julie White, who last year won a Tony Award for her work in another Broadway play. We were privileged, because not only was this a play that was mostly naturalistic in its setting and acting (many of our students spend much of their senior drama years studying opposite styles of acting to this), but the performances were outstanding. Not a weak actor in the cast, a play in which one could identify with each of the characters (instead of just one) and a great plot to boot. It was a wonderful opportunity to see first class acting in the busiest theatre hub in the world.

Jamie, Bree, Stacey, Anastasia and Naomi on the sidewalk

Some of the Avila/Firbank crew

Images of Manhattan's Lower East Side neighbourhood