Latest news with #TheNutcracker
NZ Herald
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Kerikeri's world-class events facility, the Turner Centre, turns 20
'I remember driving into Kerikeri, what I thought was a reasonably small town, and seeing this massive events centre. And I was like, 'Wow, these guys are lucky'. Little did I know a few years later I'd be up here running the place. Careful what you wish for, eh?' While that initial surprise may have worn off after three years in the job – following a stint running Wellington's popular CubaDupa festival – Paul said he still found it remarkable. 'For a town under 10,000 people, to have a 400-seat theatre and an event centre that can accommodate 1000 people is just amazing. It's probably one of the very few towns around the world that [has] a facility of this size for the population.' With the Turner Centre widely regarded as the best performing arts venue north of Auckland, many touring groups bypassed Whangārei and headed straight for little Kerikeri instead. 'It's meant that we've had access to performances that you would never otherwise get in a small town. The capability of the stage and the capacity of the fly tower and the rigging system means we can bring up the likes of the Royal New Zealand Ballet or the [New Zealand] Symphony Orchestra.' The Kerikeri-based Northern Dance Academy perform The Nutcracker in 2015. Photo / Peter de Graaf The other thing that made the Turner Centre unusual was that it was planned and paid for by locals, not by the council or Government. 'That's a big part of the Turner Centre story. The whole building was built and fundraised by the community. So there's a real investment in the place, and that's why we see it so well attended.' The dream began in the 1970s when arts enthusiasts John Dalton and Doug Turner were putting on shows in the Memorial Hall, a possum-infested former fruit-packing shed. As the population and interest in the arts grew in the 1980s, they decided something bigger and better was needed. Doug Turner in 2011. Photo / Peter de Graaf Aided by fellow volunteers, they spent the next two decades planning, lobbying, cajoling and fundraising. What was initially known as The Centre at Kerikeri was opened on August 5, 2005, by Prime Minister at the time, Helen Clark. Its bold design, by local architect Martyn Evans, included a distinctive swooping roof to create space for stage machinery. The roof also gave the centre its early nickname, 'the ski ramp'. John Dalton died in 2012, followed by Doug Turner just late last year. The venue was renamed the Turner Centre in 2011; the main auditorium had already been named after Dalton. The centre's distinctive roof led to its nickname, "the ski ramp". Photo / Peter de Graaf, RNZ Turner's daughter, Susan Corbett, said her father would have loved to see this weekend's 20th anniversary show. 'He would have thought it was absolutely wonderful. And he'd be very pleased to see that everything that he and John dreamt about all those years ago has come to fruition, and is still happening – and in very exciting ways with Gerry keeping things moving on.' Corbett said her parents owned Kerikeri's Cathay Cinema for 35 years. They would host art exhibitions and plays at the cinema before joining Dalton organising shows in the Memorial Hall. Corbett said their legacy showed the value of dreaming big. 'Why not dream big? And it's just as well they did, because we probably wouldn't be able to afford it today. Their dream has happened, and the community has got this wonderful asset because of it.' A scene from Kerikeri Theatre Company's The Sound of Music in 2021. Photo / Peter de Graaf In total, building the two stages of the Turner Centre – The Plaza event centre was completed in 2012 – cost around $20 million. Gerry Paul said a commercial building expert had told him building the same venue today would cost more than $100m. Operating a large venue in a small town was not without its problems, however. In 2024, with rising maintenance costs and the after-effects of the Covid pandemic threatening to overwhelm the Kerikeri Civic Trust, the Far North District Council took over ownership of the building. The trust was still responsible for equipment, staff and programming. In the past year, Paul said the centre had been used by 43,000 people, had 558 bookings and given away 5000 free event tickets to youth. A shift since 2022 towards greater inclusion had included a series of 'pay what you can' events and initiatives such as community kapa haka. Bay of Islands College cultural group Te Roopu o Pewhairangi perform at the Turner Centre's 10th anniversary celebration in 2015. Photo / Peter de Graaf John Oszajca, a US-born actor and singer-songwriter who now lived in Kerikeri, said the town was 'incredible lucky' to have a venue like the Turner Centre. Now the president of Kerikeri Theatre Company, Oszajca said he had performed at the centre as a musician and actor, as well as bringing plays to life on the stage. One of his personal highlights was co-producing the musical Little Shop of Horrors in 2024. He said the venue had become a second home to him. 'I think having high-calibre performing arts, which you couldn't have without a venue like this, makes the quality of life notably better. It's one thing to live in a beautiful town. It's another thing to live in a beautiful town that has amenities, and it's another thing again to live in a town that offers inspiration to the people that live there, both as artists and as patrons.' The centre had also served as a springboard for young performers who had gone on to forge careers in the arts. One of those hoping to follow in their footsteps is 17-year-old Jack Laird, a Year 13 student at Kerikeri High. Laird had just played the part of Scuttle the Seagull in The Little Mermaid; this Saturday he would be one of more than 100 performers taking part in the centre's 20th anniversary show. On this occasion he would be playing drums for hard rock band Bandwidth Riot, winners of the recent Far North Smokefreerockquest. Having a venue like the Turner Centre meant a lot to Kerikeri youth, he said. 'It's so nice to have that venue, that outlet, to be creative and just give us a voice. I don't know what we'd do without the Turner Centre.' Also performing in Saturday night's anniversary show would be the Bay of Islands Singers, Kerikeri Theatre Company, Taylah Barker from Fly My Pretties, a duo from Americana folk band T Bone, local rocker Merv Pinny and Ngāti Rehia Community Kapa Haka, with local legend Troy Kingi the headline act. - RNZ
Los Angeles Times
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The 11 most monstrous moments from Lady Gaga's Mayhem Ball at the Forum
Three months after her headlining appearance at this year's Coachella festival, Lady Gaga is on the road with an expanded version of the haunted-opera-house spectacular she brought to the desert just after the release of her latest album, 'Mayhem.' I caught Monday's show at Inglewood's Kia Forum, the first of four through Saturday for the 39-year-old pop superstar, and though I can't say I have any firmer of a grasp on the story she's telling — something about the two halves of a vicious yet empathetic queen? — her commitment to the beauty and the gore of the bit remains steadfast. Here are 11 of the most memorable moments from Night 1 of Mother Monster's stay in L.A. 1. As she did at Coachella, Lady Gaga opened Monday's gig with the one-two punch of 'Bloody Mary' into 'Abracadabra' while stationed in an enormous red hoop skirt that turned out (à la Mother Ginger from 'The Nutcracker') to conceal a troupe of dancers beneath its folds. It says something about Gaga's creative gumption that such an enthusiastic mover would opt to start this production with use of only the upper half of her body; it says something about her expressive ability — as both a singer and a puller of faces — that she didn't seem particularly constrained by the costume. 2. Ditto the thrashing electro-punk 'Perfect Celebrity,' which she performed as she lay on her back, half-buried in a sandbox and dry-humping a skeleton. 3. As far as I could tell, no one from California's congressional delegation took in the festivities at the Forum as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi did last week — from a floor seat, no less — when Gaga played San Francisco's Chase Center. ('The most fun I've had in a long time,' Pelosi wrote on X in response to a Pop Crave post noting her attendance.) In their place, though, were a handful of admiring pop stars, including Olivia Rodrigo, Matty Healy of the 1975 and Chappell Roan, the last of whom was seen in the house belting along to 'Born This Way.' 4. For 'Paparazzi,' Gaga wore a chrome helmet and hobbled down a long runway using a pair of chrome crutches, the train of her dress billowing heroically behind her. In a show full of detailed tableaux, this was perhaps the most striking. 5. Say this for Lady Gaga: Even as her pop ambitions have grown, she's never made much of an attempt to retcon her beginnings as a horny New York City theater kid. Among the songs she's added to the Mayhem Ball since Coachella are the endearingly goofy 'LoveGame,' with its single-entendre lyric about wanting to ride somebody's disco stick, and her breakout single, 'Just Dance,' which she's still introducing — 16 years after it shimmied to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 — with a shout-out to her former producer RedOne. 6. When the singer announced this tour in March, she framed her decision to play arenas instead of stadiums as an artistic decision — the product of her desire to do something 'more intimate' than the 2022 Chromatica Ball that stopped at Dodger Stadium. Often, the 'I' word is a pop star's way of managing expectations. Yet here she actually did attain a sweaty sense of connection in another oldie, 'Summerboy,' which she sang while slashing at an electric guitar as half-dressed dancers writhed around her under a bank of clubby red lights. 7. 'Mayhem's' sweet spot comes in the middle of the album with a string of funky '80s-throwback jams — 'Killah' into 'Zombieboy' into 'LoveDrug' — that Gaga delivered onstage in an ornate Cruella de Vil getup. A nagging question, though: Why hasn't she released one of these tunes as a single? Sure, 'Abracadabra' (which dropped in February) still turns up pretty frequently on the radio. And Gaga and Bruno Mars' 'Die With A Smile' will probably never leave the airwaves. But the lack of a big push for any of 'Mayhem's' remaining Top 40 candidates feels like a weird choice for an LP as stacked as this one. 8. Gaga's country power ballad 'Million Reasons' remade as a creepy church-organ processional? Yes, please. 9. That long runway became a short river for 'Shallow,' which Gaga performed (in a moody new electro-goth arrangement) as a swooning damsel on a gondola cutting through foggy waters. Big Christine Daaé energy. 10. Having soaked up a full minute's worth of applause after 'Die With A Smile,' Gaga let the place quiet down so that she could give a little speech. 'Before the show tonight, I had a chat with everybody backstage,' she told the crowd. 'I was like, 'It's Monday — I don't know what's gonna happen.' You all f—ing showed me. You came out here blazing, ready to go. L.A. has been a real interesting place in my life, because I grew up in New York City. I grew up in New York, and I moved out here when I was like 19 years old. And it was not always easy. I just want to say thank you for everybody in this room tonight. People didn't always believe in me out here — you believed in me so much tonight. Thank you. You were always there for me. 'I come out here every night, and I always promise myself I'm gonna be really strong during this part, and I always lose it because I don't know how to say thank you in enough ways,' she continued. 'Think it always just felt easier for me to put it in a song. But community — my community, this community, our community — they're there for you even when it's tough and when you're at your lowest. That's why it's so special, 'cause you don't gotta be on top for your community to love you. They will always love you. 'I hope you know everywhere around the world that I go, I will try to give every drop of my passion to the audience. Inspired by all of you that when I come out here, and I see all that passion and all that love you have for me and for each other, it really makes me feel something so special. I hope that all year and all summer, that you feel my love. I'll see you in 20 more years. I'll just keep coming back — is that OK?' After the speech, the singer dedicated 'Vanish Into You' to two of her nieces who'd come to the show. 'They said this was their favorite song,' she said. 'I always dedicate this to the fans. Will you share it with them tonight?' 11. Gaga began her encore with what felt like a callback to that great scene in 'A Star Is Born' where she and Bradley Cooper meet for the first time in a dressing room as she's removing her electrical-tape eyebrows. Here she turned up on a giant video screen, singing 'How Bad Do U Want Me' while rubbing makeup from her face backstage before making her way through a behind-the-scenes labyrinth to appear in the flesh once more before us.
Chicago Tribune
23-07-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Chicago's Joffrey Ballet pirouettes to stability and growth
Arts organizations often have money problems and the cuts flowing from President Donald Trump's administration have only made them more acute. Dance companies typically struggle more than most. But in Chicago, there's a ballet company with an impressive record not just of creative success but financial stability. Consider. Like many ballet companies, the 70-year-old Joffrey makes its annual bones on 'The Nutcracker.' Last year, Christopher Wheeldon's adaptation, set during Chicago's 1893 World's Fair, brought in more than $7 million in ticket sales and played to more than 50,000 people. Since its debut in 2016, that annual production alone has grossed more than $30 million. This spring, the exceptionally well-managed Joffrey risked more than $3 million on a new Wheeldon production of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.' It paid off. It grossed $2.69 million in ticket sales just on this first go-around. 30,000 people bought tickets over the course of the 14-performance run. Most performances sold out; no mean feat for a venue with 3,520 seats. All of that goes someway toward explaining why the Joffrey, which is run by artistic director Ashley Wheater and President and CEO Greg Cameron, has an annual operating budget of about $29 million and employs about 300 full- and part-time people in Chicago, does not carry a deficit, or struggle with debt. Over the past 10 years, with the help of its board of directors, it has built up a total endowment of $32 million. Ten years ago it did not have any endowment at all. There's another factor too: smart consolidation, a rarity in the arts. On Wednesday, the ballet company told us it was extending its lease at the Lyric Opera House for seven more years through 2034, continuing an agreement that began in 2020 when Joffrey made the smart decision to move its main performance venue from the Auditorium Theatre. This has been a win-win situation for both the Lyric and the Joffrey, creating a dynamic combination operating within a historic building that's a pivotal cultural anchor on the western edge of Chicago's Loop. Opera audiences are not as large as they once were, so runs are not as long and thus the Lyric had empty weeks, especially during the holiday period between the fall and spring opera seasons. Joffrey got the benefit of a massive stage, a grand auditorium with a huge capacity and an aesthetically pleasing environment. The combination of ballet and opera in the same building is common in Europe (it occurs with the Royal Opera House and the Royal Ballet in London, among many others) but less so in the United States. Yet it makes perfect sense, not least because there is a big overlap between ballet and opera audiences. Not only can each company market to the other, they can share the heavy costs of live production, virtually year-round. Tough as they have been for most peers, the last five years have been phenomenally successful for the Joffrey. This Chicago company is a balletic model for the nation.
Daily Record
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Renfrewshire dance pupil and local dance school recognised in Scottish Parliament motion
Local MSP Paul O'Kane has paid tribute to "Renfrewshire's dancing queens". Renfrewshire dance pupil and her dance school have been celebrated in the Scottish Parliament. Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, commended the Dans-Scene musical theatre school and pupil Ava Morrison with a motion at Holyrood. The motion recognised Ava's impressive casting in the Scottish Ballet's production of The Nutcracker and the teaching she has received at the Johnstone-based dance school. Mr O'Kane recently met with school principal Gillian Whyte and pupil Ava to present them with a framed copy of the motion, which also marked the school's 25th anniversary. Mr O'Kane said: 'It is fantastic to see someone like Ava have her talent recognised and rewarded by being cast in such a prestigious ballet production – I'm sure the sky is the limit in terms of what she can go on and achieve in the world of dance. 'It wouldn't have been right to pay tribute to Ava without acknowledging the huge contribution Gillian Whyte has made to dancing in Renfrewshire with Dans-Scene Company. 'I'm delighted for Gillian to have her company reach the 25th anniversary milestone – she has helped nurture so many young talents and undoubtedly helped instil self-belief into many young people who want to become professional dancers.' He added: 'My motion was my way of letting Holyrood know about two of Renfrewshire's dancing queens. 'Dance schools and the volunteers who run them really add to the rich communities we live in across Renfrewshire and bring joy to young people and their families.' The motion lodged by Mr O'Kane states: 'That the parliament congratulates 10-year-old Ava Morrison on her achievement of being awarded the role of Clara in the Scottish Ballet's production of The Nutcracker; understands that in Gillian Whyte's Dans-Scene Company's 25th anniversary year, Ava and one other pupil have achieved roles within this production, which will be performed across Scotland and in parts of Newcastle; commends them for their consistent hard work and practice, which has given them this opportunity, and recognises the hard work that the dance studio has undertaken, which has been shown in its widespread successes.'
Spectator
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
A latter-day exercise in Dada: Nature Theater of Oklahoma reviewed
What to make of the Nature Theater of Oklahoma, which this week made its British debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall? The bare facts indicate that it's a 'crazy shit' performance group of some repute, the brainchild of Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper, established 19 years ago, based in New York, its weird name taken from Kafka's unfinished novel Amerika. Beyond that, it's an enigma. The title of its current show, No President, could suggest that satire of Donald Trump is intended, but if so, quite what is being implied remains obscure to me. All I can tell you is that to the accompaniment of recordings of The Nutcracker and Adele's 'Someone Like You', a deadpan narrator with a florid vocabulary relates the story of Mikey, a hapless security guard who, like Candide, undergoes a picaresque succession of trials and misadventures in search of love, happiness and success, pursued by demons and haunted by his venal lusts. This tale is enacted by a troupe of a dozen or so mute dancers in gym kit, on top of which they adopt dressing-up-box disguises. Prancing and jogging through parodied balletic manoeuvres, they convey their emotions through exaggerated cartoon gurning. Limp phallic prostheses and dry humping enhance some descents into sophomoric obscenity, and mysterious references are made as to what lies behind the red velvet curtain at the back of the stage. The show is probably best categorised as a latter-day exercise in Dada: wilfully silly, momentarily funny and rather too pleased with itself. The excessive length – two-and-a-half uninterrupted hours – may be part of the joke, but it's not a very good joke; there's so much repetition and the plot takes so many pointless shaggy-dog turns that I was on the verge of screaming for it to stop. The cast, to be fair, deliver it all with flair, and although a fair percentage of the audience walked out, those who persevered gave it an enthusiastic reception. With a sigh of relief, I turn to the less esoteric pleasures afforded by the Royal Ballet School's annual matinée at Covent Garden. This is always an important occasion: the future of classical dance is on show and at stake here, as controversy over the curriculum and teaching methods constantly agitate the profession. How can one justify putting children through a training so arduous and perilous? And what happens to the rest of their academic education? On the evidence of this performance I think we can rest assured. Nobody, at least, is wasting their time. In an exemplary programme embracing several genres, the school's 200-odd pupils between the ages of 11 and 19 did themselves proud – a tribute to expert coaching and perhaps some fresh air introduced by the new artistic director Iain Mackay. It seems invidious to pick out individuals when the overall standard is so high, but I'll be surprised if we don't hear more of Aurora Chinchilla, Tristan-Ian Massa and Wendel Vieira Teles Dos Santos. Opening the show was 'Aurora's Wedding', a conflation of the prologue and final scene of Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty. One can't expect teenagers to dazzle in this repertory, but I would mark their collective effort as cautious and scrupulous, with nice attention paid to the plastic movement of head, neck and shoulders, and the right ideas about precise footwork, clean body line and elegant partnering. Much more fun followed with Ashton's early masterpiece Les Patineurs, an adorably witty and choreographically ingenious picture of Victorian skaters, danced here with bags of charm A third section brought opportunities to let rip in five shorter works in jazz, modern and ethnic idioms, seized with style and gusto. Finally came the grand parade or défilé in which all the school's pupils assemble, year by school year, culminating in a magnificent kaleidoscopic tableau – a cue for wild cheers and moist eyes.
