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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Chopper to visit city
Heath Franklin's Chopper will once again wow audiences with his unique comic appeal. Photo: supplied A time-travelling outlaw from 2030 will ride into Dunedin when Australian comedian Heath Franklin brings his cult alter ego Chopper to town on Saturday, June 14. His latest tour The Last Hard B*stard on Earth has Chopper busting through time to stop an imagined collapse brought on by "gentle parenting, love languages and paper straws". The alter ego of Chopper as a "crude, bogany kind of person" provides an opportunity to subvert and lampoon modern anxieties. While Franklin allows a "window for the zeitgeist" he tends to avoid following topical news issues too closely. "You need to make sure you write a show that can tour for six or 12 months without people being like, 'what is he talking about again'?" After two decades on stage, Franklin still relishes the build-up to a fresh tour. "Every year I write a whole new hour of jokes." While Franklin has a plan for his shows, he makes time for unique moments to emerge at every gig. Dunedin audiences can expect a show that is not simply a carbon copy. "It is nice to know that there was something about that experience that was unique to that show, that it is not just almost a version of pressing play on a tape recorder." Franklin enjoys the enthusiastic spirit of New Zealand that tends to avoid the heckle culture more prevalent in Australia. "In New Zealand, there is a real enthusiasm where people just kind of, they are so excited they want to be part of it." "They are usually big enthusiastic audiences and everyone is pretty benevolent and all on the same page." Franklin treats Chopper like a work uniform. "There is a real on and off switch now." When the house lights go up, the tattoos come off and the handlebar moustache is tucked away. "It is a little bit like if someone worked at McDonald's. "They don't go to the bar afterwards in their uniform." Although he has inhabited Chopper for many years, a 2023 stand-up tour as himself reaffirmed his appetite for the moustached, in-your-face character. "My interest in it was reinvigorated and I knew that I actually wanted to be there, I was not just putting one foot in front of the other. "I had all these ideas and I was like, 'oh wow, this is great', I know that I really want to be here now instead of it just being a recurring habit." Heath Franklin's Chopper The Last Hard Bastard on Earth Saturday, June 14 7pm Regent Theatre
Otago Daily Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Marlon Williams concert for Dunedin
Marlon Williams will tour next month in support of his new album Te Whare Tīwekaweka. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Much-loved New Zealand musician Marlon Williams will tour the country next month in support of his first Maori language album Te Whare Tīwekaweka. Williams will visit 11 centres around the country during his tour, with his Dunedin show at the Regent Theatre on Thursday, June 26, at 7.30pm. Supported by longtime touring band The Yarra Benders, co-producer Mark Perkins (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), the He Waka Kōtuia singers and featuring a collaboration with Lorde, the album traverses William's familiar folk-country-bluegrass territory, pop and the rhythms of Māori music. The tour will feature Williams performing with The Yarra Benders, along with special appearances from some of the album's collaborators, and with opening act Kommi (Kāi Tahu, Te-Āti-Awa). @
Otago Daily Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
‘Stage on stage' performing arts venue option
The Regent Theatre Trust's proposal of an up to 350-seat "stage on a stage" venue could put an end to the vexed question of developing a performing arts centre for Dunedin, at least in the short term. It is one of four options that will be presented to Dunedin city councillors during nine-year plan deliberations on Monday. It would require borrowing $1.4 million to fund the plan, a report by Dunedin City Council creative partnerships team leader Lisa Wilkie said. Still, it would not meet "all long-term sector needs", Ms Wilkie said. "There are still some unknowns for staff to work through with the trust to better understand the operational implications of the 'stage on a stage' proposal. "This includes how quickly the initiative could be implemented, when new programming could begin, what new opportunities will be available to the wider performing arts community and what impact this may have on the existing Regent Theatre programme." If councillors opted to pursue the stage-on-a-stage idea council staff and the trust would work through those issues and report back to the council by August with a more detailed account of the "operational implications, benefits to the community and potential risks" of the proposal, she said. There would be minimal disruption to the theatre's existing programming; the concept had the backing of national theatre practitioners and touring companies; and it would provide an interim venue while "medium to long-term solutions" were pursued, she said. However, the community's use of the venue would rely on the Regent Theatre's ability to provide affordable access to it and the plan could "divert attention and funding from permanent venue solutions". Ms Wilkie's report said since 2018, the council had worked with the performing arts community to address "a long-standing gap in mid-sized theatre infrastructure". Her report traversed the history of the Charcoalblue study from 2018 to 2021, which resulted in $17.1m being set aside for a venue in the 2021-31 plan and a direction to council staff to engage further with the performing arts community. (The $17.1m funding was removed from the 2025-34 draft plan.) Three years ago, the Playhouse Theatre, the Athenaeum and the Mayfair Theatre formed the Dunedin Theatre Network elected to focus on formulating a solution. The network proposed to work with the council and others to refurbish the three venues. Then late last year an informal collective known as the "performing arts group", working with council staff, proposed a $5.79m redevelopment of The Playhouse Theatre, a $15.48m redevelopment of "the New Athenaeum" and a $28.02m new performing arts centre. Option 2 in front of councillors was to put $75,000 towards a business plan for this three-venue proposal, Ms Wilkie said. However, Ms Wilkie noted this option did not address short-term infrastructure gaps and "without a funding commitment, the Playhouse Theatre anticipates closing in two years' time". The third option in front of councillors was to allocate $3.5m in seed funding in years 2 and 3 of the plan towards the refurbishment of the Playhouse Theatre. The fourth option was for councillors to provide a different solution. "In all scenarios, staff will continue to work collaboratively, and in partnership, with the performing arts community to support their work in Ōtepoti Dunedin," she said.
Otago Daily Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Tribute highlights Jackson's talent
Garth Field makes a big entrance during the ''Michael Jackson HIStory Show'', being staged at the Regent Theatre tomorrow night. PHOTO: SUPPLIED The ''Michael Jackson HIStory Show'', on tour through New Zealand, is a musical and theatrical tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The show, which will be staged at Dunedin's Regent Theatre tomorrow night, highlights Jackson's creative genius and talent with a highly visual live performance, from his early days with the Jackson 5, to his groundbreaking stage shows in the 1980s and his continued place in pop culture into the 21st century. In a statement, show producers said lead performer Garth Field and a full live band, dancers, state-of-the-art sound, lighting and visual effects would bring the full Michael Jackson concert experience to the Regent stage. — APL
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Ipswich Regent Theatre shuts as £3.5m renovation begins
The curtains at a historical Suffolk arts venue will be pulled shut for seven months today so a multi-million pound restoration can be carried Regent Theatre, which has been an entertainment staple in the town since the 1920s, will be closed until 12 December as part of a £3.5m redevelopment changes will see a single-storey extension built at the rear of the venue, a "wall of fame" mural created at the entrance, and the toilets St Helen's Street theatre, which is the largest in the East of England, will also boast larger bar areas, while disabled access will also be improved and modified. Jane Riley, in charge of culture at Ipswich Borough Council, said: "It's going to make the whole space so much nicer and I personally am looking forward to it."One common complaint is there nowhere to sit, as there is limited seating now, but where the ladies toilets are currently, that will all become bar space and seats. "It will be a much more comfortable experience and people will notice that immediately." The proposal for the new-look auditorium was approved by Ipswich Borough Council's planning department in part of the scheme, the existing canopy will be refurbished and illuminated lettering will be installed at the theatre's Crush Hall and Circle Lounge bars will also be modernised, the council said, and the toilet facilities final performance before the closure took place on Saturday, with Give A Little Love singer Daniel O'Donnell taking to the stage. The first show after reopening is due to be the Cinderella Christmas pantomime, running from 12 to 31 December which also includes two adult performances on the 29 and 30 of the shows that would have been staged at the venue will instead take place at the nearby Corn Exchange. "It's a popular venue and it's always a shame to have to close a building but now is the time to do it as the summer is actually a relatively quiet period," added Ms Riley. "[But once the revamp is complete], it will look and feel a lot nicer to use and will help the experience." 'Looking forward' Keen theatre-goer Tracey Pearson has watched 102 shows at the Regent in the last 10 years and says she was "very excited" about the currently has one show booked at the nearby Corn Exchange "to fill the gap", but has already booked three events to attend once the theatre reopens. "We are very much excited and looking forward to returning," she told the BBC."My mum is in a wheelchair and if she has to get up to let people past the staff tell the people to give her time to get up from her seat - they are very welcoming and friendly. "The prices are good and there is something for everyone."The Grade II listed art deco theatre opened in 1929 and offered cinema viewings until the mid-1980s before being bought by the council in 1991. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
