Author: Mallory

My Favourite Five: Ewan McGregor Movies

This idea has been one that Tara and I have been discussing for a while now and I’m happy that it’s finally here! We’ve decided on listing five of our favourite movies, television shows, segments, songs etc from whichever artist, program or random thing we see fit. Let us know what you think of the idea in the comments below as I’m hoping this’ll be weekly thing – at least during reality television hiatus anyway.

I watched I Love You Phillip Morris a couple of weeks ago so I felt like Ewan is a good place to start. The movie was not list-worthy as I found it to be a little boring and Ewan reminded me of Peter Helliar after his horrid dye job. Seriously, did anyone notice that? The movie is also so far fetched that I was very surprised to hear that it’s actually based on a true story, which actually, upon hearing this made me like it a lot more. Go figure.

But alas, here goes.

My favourite five Ewan McGregor movies for your viewing/reading pleasure.

Continue reading “My Favourite Five: Ewan McGregor Movies”

Normie Rowe’s FRENZY! Album Launch

DSC01750

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending Normie Rowe’s FRENZY! Album Launch at Memo Music Hall at the St Kilda RSL. It was such an incredible night and I wanted to share some details with you all and encourage you to all go see him if you ever get the chance.

Continue reading “Normie Rowe’s FRENZY! Album Launch”

An Interview with Normie Rowe

normierowe1To celebrate fifty years since the release of It Ain’t Necessarily So, Normie Rowe brings FRENZY! – The 50th Anniversary Collection. The new album features 30 of his hits from 1965-1968 remastered for 2015. I attended his album launch yesterday – but before I get to that – here’s the interview I did with him last week.

Let’s start with the new album FRENZY! – The 50th Anniversary Collection …

We decided to go back and revisit songs we recorded in the 60s as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of my first record It Ain’t Necessarily So. To point out the fact that in those times the pop music world was incredibly frenetic. The kids were more enthusiastic about the music than hither to been seen. Much more enthusiastic than I guess the Rock ‘n’ Roll period or the Bobby Socks’ period of the early Frank Sinatra times. The kids were just like maniacs! To get out of a venue with some article of clothing in tact or some part of your hair still on your head was quite a miracle. So we chose the songs that were pretty reminiscent of the sort of things we were singing and playing in those days.

Continue reading “An Interview with Normie Rowe”

An Interview With CHESS director Ryan Fogwell and lead Tavis Cunningham

Tavis+Steph Chess hero mediumIt’s hard to describe Chess, the musical composed by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus from ABBA with lyrics by Tim Rice, with its intricate plot, complex characters and multitudinous themes of love, politics and war – one really has to see it to appreciate it. With such well known songs as Anthem and One Night in Bangkok, this production has won countless fans all over the world and its original London production, starring Elaine Page and Murray Head, ran for three years on the West End. I spoke with Director Ryan Fogwell and lead Tavis Cunningham, who plays Anatoly Sergievsky, about the new production coming to Manly, NSW for a limited run this May.

Let’s talk about Chess. For people who haven’t heard of nor seen the musical before – what is Chess about?

Tavis: It’s set in the middle of the Cold War in 1979-1980 – a bit more into the later of the Cold War I guess, – and it’s really about how people are controlled by their countries and the political machinations that are going on between members of the US and the Soviet Union. It’s all taking place during two chess tournaments – one in Italy and one in Thailand. It follows the Russian chess player [Anatoly] and one of the members of the American team [Florence] who they get together during the first chess match and then various complications happen.

Continue reading “An Interview With CHESS director Ryan Fogwell and lead Tavis Cunningham”