13 December 2011Dame Malvina top act for festival
Dame Malvina Major is coming home for next year's Waikato Times Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival.
The world-renowned soprano will perform on the Rhododendron Lawn at the gardens on February 25 in one of the two major acts announced today to coincide with the start of ticket sales next week.
The other major drawcard is former Little River Band lead singer Glenn Shorrock, who is teaming up with pop and soul singer Mark Williams and OpShop's Jason Kerrison. The trio will be on stage on February 24.
Tickets for the festival – which features more than 70 other performances and is one of Hamilton's must-attend events – are on sale at Ticketek from Monday.
Tickets to see Dame Malvina are $45 and for Shorrock, Williams and Kerrison it's just $30 if purchased before the end of December.
2 March 2011Bouncers and Forbidden Broadway Shows Sell Out
Two popular shows have sold out on their final performaces at the Waikato Times Hamilton Garden Arts Festival.
Bouncers Wednesday 2 March show and Forbidden Broadway's Thursday 3 March show have sold out as of this morning.
Tickets are still available (but selling fast) for the following shows:
Around the world in 80 minutes, Away, Jungle Boogie and Late Night Comedy Club.
2 March 2011As you like it show cancelled tonight
Due to rain it is with regret that we have had to cancel 'As you like it' Shakespeare tonight, Wednesday 2 March, which was scheduled to be in the Perfume Garden at 7pm.
As you like it has one final show tomorrow night, Thursday 3 March, 7pm in the Perfume Garden.
1 March 2011Final two Shakespeare performances relocated to Perfume Garden
The final two Shakespeare performances on Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 March have been relocated to the Perfume Garden due to the generator used for lighting on the Hillside Lawn being commandeered for Christchurch relief.
The new venue will still require BYO seating.
24 February 2011Joe Bennett Show Cancelled
Due to personal circumstances in Christchurch, it is with regret that we advise that Joe Bennett is unable to join us for the Festival and this show has been cancelled.
The show was to have been on Friday 25 February, 6.30pm in the Garden Terrace Restaurant.
Apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment caused.
Ticketek Refund Process for Cancelled Events:
INTERNET/TELEPHONE BOOKINGS
Patrons will receive an automatic refund back to the credit card used to make the original purchase, this will show within the next 10 working days.
BOX OFFICE/AGENCY BOOKINGS
Patrons should return their tickets to the original point of purchase to obtain a refund.
22 February 2011Richard Adams & Nigel Gavin from The Nairobi Trio plus Owen Van Larkins replace Gillian Boucher
The promoter of the Acoustic Masters Series regrets to advise that due to circumstances beyond their control Gillian Boucher will not be able to perform on Wednesday 23rd February at the Waikato Times Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival.
The great news is however, in her place, violin wizard Richard Adams and guitarist Nigel Gavin from 'The Nairobi Trio' have been confirmed to perform on the night.
Opening the show will be Owen Van Larkins, fingerstyle guitarist from Brisbane who is being compared to Tommy Emmanuel and has just been signed to the world’s number one guitar label in the states, Candyrat Records.
Although a departure from the original programme, this will be an evening of stunning musicianship and not to be missed.
Those with tickets to see Gillian who would prefer a refund will be contacted by Ticketek with details, or may make contact with Ticketek direct by emailing AustinP@ticketek.co.nz
22 February 2011Winner of the Waikato Society of Arts NZ Painting and Printmaking Award
Taranaki artist John McLean is $48,000 richer, but the money is already being spent on his passion – art.
The Urenui man won the Waikato Society of Arts NZ Painting and Printmaking Award from a field of 52 finalists on Friday.
He received $20,000 for the award and $28,000 for the artwork, which was bought by sponsors, the Philip Vela Family Trust.
He has used some of that money to buy two paintings entered in the competition by fellow artists.
"I thought it was a good way to share the largesse as well as acquire two beautiful art works. It was nice to buy work that was totally unlike my own."
He has no set plans for the rest of the money, but said like all painters, it bought him more time to make more art.
"Art is my sole income, my job. But I do have some plans for possibly building some extensions to accommodate more of my art."
That could see a gallery added to his Urenui property, which overlooks the beach and several pa sites, providing plenty of inspiration for his work.
His winning painting was called Dinghy and waka with unstable foreshore.
In a fitting twist, the work will hang in the home of the Vela family, who put up the prize money, as a nod to their fishing heritage.
The piece was a continuation of the series The Farmer's Wife and The Farmer that McLean showed at Puke Ariki last year.
"It was the final piece in that odyssey but was also inspired by the controversy about the seabed and foreshore – the partnership and commitment it symbolises."
After entering the art work, he got a phone call last week to ask if he was going to attend the award ceremony in Hamilton.
"They asked if I was coming to Hamilton and said I might find good reason to do so.
" I went there thinking `dare I hope'... I nearly fell over when they announced it."
During his acceptance speech he made special mention of his fellow artists and finalists – one of whom was his daughter, Kirsty.
22 February 2011Movies in the Roses Cancelled tonight
Due to heavy rain, the movie 'A Fist Full of Dollars' and the Shakespeare have been CANCELLED tonight, Tuesday 22 February, 2011.
Strange Resting Places will go ahead in it's wet weather venue of the Piazza.
21 February 2011The Miser of Mystery Creek Review
What: The Miser of Mystery creek
When: 18, 24, 28 Feb, 1 March
Where: Medici Court, Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival 2011
Moliere’s Miser has been colonised by this hysterical historical farce set in the swamps around Hamilton in 1867. Moliere’s play, ”L’Avare”, literally ‘the avaricious one’, was written for the court of Louis XIV in France in the 1660’s; this version was devised by Stuart Devenie and members of the cast for the Medici Court Garden theatre, especially for the Hamilton Gardens Festival in 2011.
Taking the themes of greed, love and coincidence from the French original, and transferring some of the names ( the Miser, Harpagon is now called Hansen and is a Scot) and doing away with a few minor characters, this reading has found new layers of comedy , rich and previously un-mined, in the settlement of the Waikato region: the grab for land, the great river which severs parts of the new town, the steamboat and shipping in and out of the county and colony, the swamps and above all, the range of newcomers with a wealth of accents and turns of phrase from all levels of society. There’s a generous sprinkling of geographic regionalism from the British Isles; Scots, Irish, Geordie, Scouse, Cockney, and voices educated and not.
In an hilarious twitch and tug at local history, a place name explanation is given. Hansen is a wealthy but tight land owner of several acres called Hansen’s Creek. He’s so in love with his money box he calls it his precious and his love. When mysterious events linked to the money box occur with mystery persons, Hansen’s land at Hanson’s Creek changes its name to Mystery Creek now the actual name for a local venue for huge events such as Field Days and large scale concerts- a modern gold mine!
Too mean too properly clothe his grown-up children, Hansen only allows them to live rent free with him provided they work. His son, Charlie, digs away for gum in the swamp and whether that is historically accurate or not, it suits the plot as it gives him opportunities to encounter the sweet Miss O’Sullivan, a penniless seamstress and the love of his life. The daughter, Lizzie, keeps house and lives for the few moments she can snatch with her father’s (unpaid) accountant, Walter Biscuit. Around the same time that he is arranging for Lizzie to marry a wealthy local Doctor, Hansen intercepts a letter to Miss O’Sullivan, advising that she is an heiress. He sends her a letter proposing marriage to him, thereby dashing the plans for love and happiness for both his offspring in one day’s business.
Devenie and cast brilliantly work the farce around the permanent pool set in the dusty stage in the small outdoor auditorium that is the Medici Court, just through the passageway from the sumptuous Italian Garden. Designed as if for a Shakespearean balcony love scene, with a flat concrete façade and upper gallery, one central door and two garden side wings, it is one of the most confined and elegant of the many venues used in this annual arts festival. Using site and a serviceable collection of Victorian costume rather than props and furniture, we are in turns in swamps, parlours, living rooms, kitchens, laundries and gardens. There’s even a church scene. We get one balcony love scene and one gallery bath scene, and many chases in and out of the gardens, round and around the pool. People hide behind lemon trees, rather than in cupboards, but in all the stuff of farce is richly provided as antics and obsession drive the plot to confusion.
Devenie directs the production with a madcap pace and flawless timing, then delivers the role of Dr Trevellyan (incidentally the name of a local retirement village and hospital) as ripe with ambiguity and opportunism; perfect for a threatening love rival.
In the gargantuan role of Hansen Andrew Kaye is energetic, even impish at times, but forceful. He swings between madness and obsession, alternately bullying and wheedling. He provides a huge part of the comedy with his twinkling illogical asides, especially when he appears in his patchwork kilt.
Michael Switzer and Henry Ashby as the rude mechanicals Percy and James provide many moments of slapstick and the church scene with Ashby as the drunken Irish priest who surely purchased his Bible from “Black Books”, and Switzer using the font to sneak a wash (as the miser is so mean with water) is a riot. Kimmy Muncaster’s wily voluptuary, Emily Trubshaw, provides saucy distractions for cast and audience while Charlotte Isaac’s deadpan, long suffering Lizzie seems too good for any man, let alone the rather goofy and earnest Biscuit. But Scot Hall has many reserves of timing and talent and he releases the development of this character perfectly.
James Cain and Jenna Hudson are well matched as Mary O’Sullivan and Charlie Hansen in youth and charms. With his versatile range of voice (an unexpectedly high singing voice) and expressive eyes, Cain in particular enhances this stock character for comedy.
The cast seems to have had great fun devising not just this historic parallel to the French original, but also retaining Moliere’s invention of ways to be miserly. The drink at a celebration is so watered down it is water; workers are charged for the merest misdemeanour rather than paid. Devising itself is a process demanding reserves of time, energy and imagination, and the final product here is not only hugely entertaining and fun but also a tribute to the tradition of Moliere’s’ comedy of manners and a convincing adaptation of the original.
The company formerly known as HPAT delivered the “Imaginary Invalid” to the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival a couple of years ago with great success and it’s fitting that the newly formed company Fullhouse Theatre is launched with another comedy from Moliere who knew the dangers and delights of theatre life and above all the importance of patronage. Several significant local and national bodies have invested in this company and with this professional quality of production we are in for a great season from them now and in the future. So good on you, investors and keep it up; we need a professional company in the fourth largest city in New Zealand, especially with talent like this!
9 February 2011Hamilton Festival Ready to Rock
BEN STANLEY - WAIKATO TIMES
The time for arts to take the Hamilton spotlight is drawing near with the opening of the Waikato Times Hamilton Gardens Summer Festival less than two weeks away.
More than 2500 tickets have been sold for the Waikato Times-sponsored festival, which begins on February 18 with popular Kiwi roots groups Cornerstone Roots and dDub rocking the Hamilton Gardens' Rhododendron Lawn on opening night.
The two-week festival features more the 60 individual events ranging from concerts by big-name international star Will Martin and Australian rock legends James Reyne and Mark Seymour to Hamilton Operatic's performance of Forbidden Broadway classics and a number of smaller theatre and music performances.
More than 80,000 people attended festival events last year, which festival director Sarah Bettle hoped would be replicated in 2011.
"Last year was the festival's capacity," she said, adding the festival programme had seen a slight reshuffle this year.
"Last year's main feedback was for more classical music and and easier programme calendar. We've achieved both this year."
One event has sold out already, a February 25 evening with literary personality Joe Bennett, with more sellouts likely, Ms Bettle said.
She said 'it was "far too difficult" to choose a performance or event that would shine brightest this festival, though admitted eagerness at seeing her musical heroes Reyne and Seymour take the stage on the Rhododendron Lawn on February 19.
9 February 2011Joe Bennett Sold Out
Festival favourite Joe Bennett has once again sold out his one night only event, sponsored by Poppies Bookstores on Friday 25 february at 6.30pm.
The renowned New Zealand author, columnist and media commentator returns to enchant lucky ticket holders in true Joe Bennett style with, amongst other things, his celebrity cat recipes.
9 February 2011Brian Falkner show cancelled
Due to unforeseen circumstances, it is with regret that Poppies Bookstore advise that Brian is unable to join us for the Festival and this show has been cancelled.
The show was to have been on Sunday 20 February in the Garden Terrace Restaurant.
Apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment caused.
9 February 20112 March Forbidden Broadway Show cancelled
The producers of Forbidden Broadway regret to advise that the show scheduled for Wednesday 2 March has been cancelled due to an unforeseeable casting issue.
The March 2nd show was cancelled before tickets went on sale and does not appear on the website, but does appear in the printed programme.
All other shows are unaffected and will go ahead in the American Modernist Garden.
Dates are as follows and tickets are selling fast;
Sat 19 February 2011
5:00pm
Sun 20 February 2011
5:00pm
Sat 26 February 2011
8:30pm
Thu 3 March 2011
7:00pm
"Broadway's greatest musical legends meet Broadway's funniest satirist in this hilarious, loving, and endlessly entertaining tribute to some of the theatre's greatest stars and songwriters. Presented by Hamilton Operatic Society, Written by Gerard Alessandrini and Directed by David Sidwell, Forbidden Broadway brings to the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival some of Broadways most recognisable tunes and characters with a hilarious twist."
