Cassie is a theatre critic and arts writer in Sydney, and is the deputy editor of AussieTheatre. She has written for The Guardian, Time Out Sydney, Daily Review, and BroadwayWorld Australia. She is a voter for the Sydney Theatre Awards.
Cassie has written 801 articles on AussieTheatre
Follow Cassie: @cassietongue
It’s showtime! Our own Eddie Perfect (Shane Warne: The Musical) will write the score of Warner Brothers’ new musical adaptation of cult faovurite movie Beetlejuice. This new version of the show (a previous developmental reading was held last year) will, according to Playbill, be staged as a reading in New York in May. Perfect joins a… Read more.
Immersive cabaret Hidden Sydney – The Glittering Mile will return in May 2017 for a strictly limited season presented by Live Ideas and Working Management with Vivid Sydney. Celebrating Kings Cross in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s at the Nevada, an infamous former Sydney brothel which boasted the biggest bed in the world, Bec Caton… Read more.
In a world that cannot deny the current pop-culture obsession surrounding comic book superhero film adaptations, Puzzle Collective’s Superhal – advertised as a “Superhero Origin Story” – seems like a slam-dunk take on Shakespeare’s Henry IV and V plays. Director John Galea describes it in the program notes as a “fully fledged archetypal origin story”,… Read more.
Yesterday afternoon lauded creatives (between them they’ve won Helpmanns, an Emmy, and a Tony) Brian Thomson AM, Julie Lynch, and Gale Edwards released a statement regarding Opera Australia’s revival of Carmen on Sydney Harbour. Following an exposé in Daily Review revealing, among other situations of discord within the company, that Opera Australia did not invite the team… Read more.
The 30th anniversary production of Alex Harding’s Australian musical (set in Kings Cross!), Only Heaven Knows, is all set to open at Sydney’s Hayes Theatre Co in May 2017. And now the cast is complete. Ben Hall (Les Miserables) will star in the leading role of Tim. The cast also includes Matthew Backer (A Midsummer… Read more.
In tribute to the late Jon English, his rock opera passion project, PARIS: A Rock Odyssey is set to return in a Melbourne concert series for just four performances in July 2017 at Melbourne Recital Centre. Music Theatre Melbourne (MTM) will produce the concert production. Co-written by English and music producer David Mackay, English was working… Read more.
Good children’s stories usually have deeper meaning beneath the surface. Often our favourite childhood tales contain messages for bigger issues. The Harry Potter series is about learning to cope with death. The Lorax teaches kids about climate change and the environment. Roald Dahl’s catalogue nstruct on the importance of kindness, education and believing in yourself…. Read more.
We go to the theatre for the stories. We go to practise empathy and experience the lives of people whose stories are both similar and different to our own. Theatre’s mainstream sibling, cinema, is often saturated by Hollywood films, so, we rely on theatre to tell the local Australian stories that don’t find voices elsewhere…. Read more.
“Life is a cabaret, old chum!” It’s one of the most recognisable lines in the history of musical theatre. Even the title, Cabaret, rings a bell to those unfamiliar with musicals. Opening on Broadway in 1966, the musical became a cultural sensation, captured forever in the 1972 film adaptation starring Liza Minnelli. It was further… Read more.
The ‘Bonnie Lythgoe Pantomime’ is becoming something of an annual tradition. This British-import, family-style form of entertainment keeps coming back, and after last year’s Cinderella (starring Real Housewife Gina Liano) she’s back to planning next winter’s extravaganza: The Adventures of Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. And this year, beloved Aussie all-rounder Todd McKenney will take… Read more.
