JOE CALLERI REVIEWS - NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE – INTO THE ICY REALMS: ON ASSIGNMENT WITH PAUL NICKLEN.

What – NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE – INTO THE ICY REALMS: ON ASSIGNMENT WITH PAUL NICKLEN

Where and When – ARTS CENTRE, MELBOURNE, FAIRFAX STUDIO; SUNDAY 28 July, 2013, 3PM AND 6PM

Reviewer - Joe Calleri.
Stars - 4.

Full Disclosure - I attended this presentation on a complimentary ticket provided to me by the event publicist.

During this entertaining, thought-provoking, 75-minute presentation titled Into The Icy Realms, Canadian marine biologist and award winning, National Geographic photojournalist, Paul Nicklen, provides some fascinating insights into his “get the shot at all costs” philosophy that goes into capturing beautiful, often breath-taking nature images.

For readers unfamiliar with the National Geographic Live series of presentations, they involve prominent National Geographic photojournalists presenting, and discussing how some of their most iconic images were captured. The images are shown on a large projection screen.

Nicklen, who specialises in capturing endangered marine life on our polar regions, and who has had more than 16 photo stories published by the iconic, US-based, 125-year-old National Geographic magazine, is an enthusiastic, passionate, often humorous raconteur. His passion intensifies when he discusses the many real and present dangers - including global warming, and rampant hunting - that face our polar regions and its vulnerable, animal inhabitants.

Lest you believe being on assignment for the world-famous National Geographic magazine is some type of Martini-sipping, romantic fantasy, Nicklen provides his audience with the harsh truth of this dangerous profession in graphic detail: living in a tent for months at a time on ice and enduring sub-zero conditions; only having between 1 and 2 hours of shooting during a one-month period, and failing 95% of the time to take any usable images; crash-landing ultra-light planes in the Canadian Arctic while travelling to remote locations to photograph the elusive, long-toothed Narwhal whales; falling through ice into freezing water, only to be saved in the nick of time by a laconic, Inuit hunter; almost being killed by a bull seal. Tales straight out of a Boys Own Adventure annual by a man whose philosophy on image-taking includes “get as close as possible to your subject and if you get scared, suck it up.”

But, when Nicklen does capture his award-winning images, they are, as you would expect, wondrous to behold especially when shown as giant projections. Beautifully lit and composed, in-your face, close-up images of polar bears, emperor penguins, and leopard seals brought spontaneous gasps, cheers and universal applause from an entranced audience.

IMAGE OF A WALRUS BY PAUL NICKLEN: SUPPLIED.

IMAGE OF EMPEROR PENGUINS BY PAUL NICKLEN: SUPPLIED.

Weaving throughout Nicklen’s presentation is a very serious conservationist sub-text that describes a fragile, disappearing, polar ice eco-system that will potentially cause the extinction of polar bears during our life-time.

In generations to come, I believe Nicklen’s photos may be used by historians to reveal a time when beautiful creatures inhabited our planet’s icy, polar regions.

These presentations will appeal not only to amateur and professional photographers alike, but, to those with an adventurous spirit, and those with a conscience regarding the future of our planet and its increasingly vulnerable animal inhabitants.

This is the first time that, National Geographic Live has been to Melbourne. I sincerely hope that such presentations will become a regular fixture for the National Geographic.

The next National Geographic presentation, enticingly titled “Grizzlies, Piranhas and Man-Eating Pigs”, will be by explorer, Joel Sartore, and you will be able to catch it at The Arts Centre, on 01 September 2013.

- ENDS -

 

Cavalia - Review and Photos by Joe Calleri.

What – Cavalia

Where and When – Big Top at Docklands, 473-507 Docklands Drive, Docklands, from July 24, 2013 until August 18, 2013.

Reviewer + Photographer - Joe Calleri.
Stars - 5.

Full Disclosure - I attended the opening night of this production on a complimentary ticket as the guest of a media invitee.

Beautiful, talented human performers meet even more beautiful, and talented equine performers on a series of grand, magical, and often mystical landscapes, during the remarkable, high concept theatrical production, Cavalia.

This is an often breath-taking, jaw-dropping, heart in your mouth, and very sophisticated fusion of music, sound, lights, circus performances, and those exquisitely trained, 48 horses from 11 separate breeds.    

Make no mistake, Cavalia will play with your emotions. So, you will find yourself embarking on gentle, quiet meditations during “The Discovery”, where a beautiful girl steps into an on-stage pool to quench the thirst of her horse, and “Le Miroir” where two of the female riders, dressed as medieval princesses on their white chargers literally mirror each other’s movements as they canter across the stage, and the “Grand Liberte” during which the pony-tailed horse whisperer, Keith Dupont, commands his 5 chargers with the briefest of words and smallest of gestures.

But, be sure to check your heart-rates during the performances of Roman Riding, and the powerhouse, hooping and hollering finale, Trick Riding (featuring the ever-exuberant, flame-haired, Fairland Ferguson), where the horses gallop at unbelievable, break-neck speed while their riders perform a series of stunts that would not have been out of place in one of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West extravaganzas.

When you add some muscular, ebullient acrobats (including the cheeky Anchoune brothers, Lahcen and Mohamed, from Morocco), graceful high wire and trapeze performers, a wonderful four piece live band, cellist (Anne-Louise-Gilbert), and some truly mesmerising lighting design by Alain Lortie (look out for the holographic stallions as they emerge from a rain fall), and evocative scene design (Marc Labelle), you have a tightly directed (Erick Villeneuve), highly detailed and cohesive world-class production that has to date been enjoyed by more than 3 million people.

Cavalia, created by one of Cirque du Soleil’s co-founders, Normand Latourelle, is a wonderful night’s entertainment for the whole family, and easily deserves my highest praises and, consequently, highest star score.

After the parade of horses, and during the first media call.

French rider, Julien Beaugnon.

The fearless, Fairland Ferguson, from the USA.

The fearless, Fairland Ferguson

-Ends -

 

BOOZE CITY (WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY MALCOLM HILL) - Review by Joe Calleri.

What – BOOZE CITY (WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY MALCOLM HILL)

Where and When – THE BUTTERFLY CLUB (5 Carson Place, Melbourne, off Little Collins Street), July 11-14 and July 18-21, 2013, at 7pm.

Reviewer - Joe Calleri.
Stars - One Star.

Each night it seems, our news bulletins are drenched with ever-more graphic stories regarding ever-increasing incidences, and financial and societal impacts of, alcohol-fuelled violence. If the consequences of such violence were not often so deadly and far-reaching, they would risk becoming a cliché.

So, when I read the promotional blurb for writer and director Malcolm Hill’s satirical play, Booze City, which purports to highlight “Australia's thorough addiction to alcohol and its consequences in a thought provoking & funny political satire”, I thought it would be worth reviewing.

Sadly for me, and the other three audience members at last night’s opening, Booze City is not thought-provoking, not funny, and certainly not satirical.

Instead, it’s a ham-fisted, head-scratchingly embarrassing, cliché-riddled, farcical mess that was supposed to run for an hour, but ran to a turgid, patience-draining, 73 minutes.

Summarising the play’s narrative is a difficult exercise, not because it’s complex, but, because – and please forgive the reference – it lurches about like a drunken sailor on a shore-leave bender.

Barking mad ex-drug squad copper, and now best-selling author, and owner of Jack’s Bar, Jack Korvat (an over-acting Richard Keenan, channelling Chopper Read channelling wrestler, Killer Kawolski), is planning to open his open all hours mega-bar, a three storey shrine to booze, babes and mixed martial arts in, I assume, Melbourne’s CBD.  

Korvat’s having problems obtaining his liquor licence, as unsurprisingly, he’s deemed by the authorities to be an unfit person to run a bar.

Enter the current Minister, but ex-Premier, and ex-alcoholic, Tim Balcome (Greg Waterston), who seems well acquainted with Korvat, and who can help Korvat with his legal stalemate.

But, when the now sober Balcome needs persuading, the conniving Korvat unleashes his secret weapon – the contorting, seductive, part-time stripper, part-time Arts and Women’s Studies scholar, and feminist, Misty (Jeni Bezuidenhout).

Balcome becomes the moth to Misty’s flame, and as quick as you can say “put this on my tab, bar-tender”, Balcome falls off his three-year sobriety wagon and sexually assaults Misty. All while being recorded on CCTV. Leverage is what Korvat wanted over Balcome. Misty was merely the bait.

Meanwhile, Balcome’s son, the garishly attired, dim-witted, Chifley (Ezel Doruk), who is studying fashion design, is on a “Mad Monday” drunken binge after finishing his exams.

Chifley (who extols the virtues of bar-hopping, and views clubs as a “wonderland”) not only drunkenly crash lands into Jack’s Bar where he meets Misty, but also the press-conference where his Father is giving his acceptance speech after being re-elected Premier.

Balcome’s ex-wife, the strait-laced, grabby, power-suited, Adele (Melina Wylie), conveniently surfaces after Balcome’s re-appointment as Premier. Rather than express any concerns regarding her son’s disgraceful display of public-drunkenness, or her ex-husband’s growing attraction to the bottle, she focuses on the décor in her ex-husband’s office.

Speaking of offices, the Premier’s office appears to be as easy to access as your local Coles store. Misty arrives with a threat to release the CCTV footage of the Premier’s drunken attack to the news networks unless the Premier agrees to shut down Korvat’s activities. The Premier responds to this threat as all good politicians do – by setting up a Committee to examine the connection between alcohol and violence in the CBD.

Amazingly, the Committee finds no such link.

Still more amazingly, the Premier declares a freeze on the opening of new drinking venues.

Korvat is pissed off! Something must be done.

And the play stumbles on, and on, and on … to its silly, contrived, conclusion that has Chifley bashed while bar-hopping; the Premier standing down after his drunken indiscretion with Misty is revealed, but still remaining a Minister; Korvat kidnapping and hog-tying, Adele; Korvat (dressed as Bacchus, complete with grapes on his head and a toga) finally opening his den of iniquity with the aid of the Minister, and the newly-converted (by the persuasive stripper/student/feminist, Misty) feminist, Adele, being installed as Premier. Oh, brother!

Booze City, replete with a confusing, ill-conceived, and poorly drafted script, slack, amateurish direction, over-acting, and fluffed lines, fails in every conceivable way to explore, illuminate or even toy with, the very serious questions that surround the issues of alcohol addiction and associated violence.

Hill has with this feeble effort, merely managed to trivialise those critical issues, while at the same time insulting his audience’s intelligence and testing their patience.

Can you help with this Crowd Funding to assist PNG artist, Pax Jakupa, get to Vancouver?

http://www.pozible.com/project/28362#.UdpA32thiSM

Hi everyone,

The link above is to a Crowd Funding initiative that's been started by my wife's cousin, Tony Sowersby, to assist his friend Pax Jakupa, a wonderful PNG artist and lovely bloke, get to Vancouver.

Pax has been asked to present at the Pacific Arts Conference there in August. His paintings are also on display at the UBC Museum of Anthropology.

Please check out the site and watch the short video. It's a great story. Feel free to share it.

Thank you for your support.

Joe Calleri - 08 July 2013.

Wicked - 08 July 2013 - Media Call Photos and Preview Article by Joe Calleri.

Melbourne, Monday, 8 July 2013

On a delightfully sunny, Monday afternoon, Melbourne’s Spring Street magically glowed a bright, emerald green, as the principal cast members of the mega-hit stage musical, Wicked, stepped off a specially liveried green tram, much to the delight of a large throng of awaiting media representatives and onlookers alike.

Wicked returns in May 2014 to Melbourne’s Regent Theatre as part of its tenth anniversary world tour for a strictly limited season, before touring to Sydney and Brisbane.

If you didn’t see Wicked when it debuted in Melbourne in 2008, this spectacular musical tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz – Glinda the Good (Lucy Durack) is blonde, and beautiful, while the green skinned Elphaba (Jemma Rix) is smart, fiery and misunderstood.

Durack and Rix will be supported by a talented cast that includes Edward Grey as Boq, Steve Danielsen as Fiyero, Maggie Kirkpatrick as Madame Morrible, Glen Hogstrom as Doctor Dillamond, and Emily Cascarino in the role of Nessarose.

Wicked, based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, boasts some highly impressive numbers – winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy, three Tony Awards and six Helpmann Awards; a total of 350 costumes worth in excess of US$3 million; 69 wigs; 54 scenes; 34 cast members; enjoyed by more than 36 million people worldwide, with a gross box office take exceeding US $2.9 billion.

 

This show thrilled me when I saw it in Melbourne in 2008, and after seeing the cast members this afternoon, I eagerly anticipate its 2014 return.

The special green liveried tram carries the cast member of Wicked

Cast members of Wicked make quite an entrance as they parade along Spring Street

Lucy Durack (as Glinda the Good) (L), with Jemma Rix (as Elphaba) (R)

Supporting cast members - and that green smoke!

Cast members pose with Producer, John Frost, OAM.

Victorian Arts Minister, Heidi Victoria, MLA, poses with the cast.

Some lucky tourists had their photo taken with Glinda!

 

Left to Right - Edward Grey (as Boq) Maggie Kirkpatrick (as Madame Morrible), Lucy Durack (Glinda), Jemma Rix (Elphaba), Steve Danielsen (Fiyero), Glen Hogstrom (Doctor Dillamond).