Curtains
A note from the Director
Curtains is part of a long tradition of "backstage" musicals – 42nd Street and Kiss Me Kate are others. I’m not sure any has depicted with such witty accuracy the topsy turvy backstage life of a company trying out a new musical out of town, as was the practice for Broadway musicals until recently. In many cases, of course, the show never made it to Broadway and ‘Robbin Hood’, the show being rehearsed and performed in Curtains is in danger of suffering that fate. Then a murder occurs and Lt Frank Cioffi, a stage-struck detective, arrives to solve the murder, fix the show and find love.
Kander and Ebb wrote many musicals – the most famous being the iconic Cabaret and Chicago. Curtains was their last full collaboration. Ebb died before it finally opened on Broadway and Kander, uncharacteristically, wrote the lyrics for one number, 'I Miss The Music'. He was half-way through it before he realised he was writing about his grief at the loss of his long term collaborator.
The show didn’t quite take off on Broadway although it ran for a year. Some critics were concerned by the variety of elements and styles – big production numbers, satire, farce, love stories and a mystery story among them. Since then, it has become something of a cult piece – much loved by devotees of musical theatre.
The piece is set in a traditional theatre with a front curtain, flying system, orchestra pit, trapdoors etc. This has made enormous demands on the ingenuity of our design team. I think they have risen to the challenge brilliantly.
Our costume designer described the piece as "a love letter to musical theatre" and that has guided our efforts. Some of it is hilariously silly but there are other very moving stories embedded in the story.
We have had fun in rehearsals, reveling in the beautiful score, excited by the wonderful music and big production numbers with their big dance component, moved by several touching scenes and songs and enjoying the off the wall comedy of much of the story - driven by Cioffi who sets out to solve the murder, fix the troubled show and find love….
- Roger Hodgman, Director
Cast
Lieutenant Frank Cioffi
Nathan Stafford
Georgia Hendricks
Brittany Biles
Niki Harris
Alexandra Cashmere
Carmen Bernstein
Amber Langman
Aaron Fox
Alex Mulcahy
Bobby Pepper
Jack Reason
Christopher Belling
Luke London
Bambi Bernét
Madison Russo
Daryl Grady/Featured Ensemble
Demby McKenzie
Johnny Harmon/Featured Ensemble
Freya Boltman
Oscar Shapiro
Finn Woodlock
Sidney Bernstein/Featured Ensemble
Tarrant Edwards
Jessica Cranshaw/Detective O'Farrell/Featured Ensemble
Emily Robinson
Randy Dexter/Dance Captain
Felix Star
Harv Fermont
Max MacDonald
Featured Ensemble/Dance Captain
Hannah Underwood
Featured Ensemble
Morag Hamilton, Paris Leveque, Imogen Rabbitte and Meg Williams
Second Year Ensemble
Callan Barclay, Chloe Caffari, Chelsea Dean, Brendan Godwin, Georgia Goodrick, Sophia Kouknas, Marina Lee, Jack Madigan, Heidi Milne, James-Paul Mountstevens, Elizabeth Pardallis, Callum Rigg, Laila Salloum, Mia Paris Scalise, Will Skarpona, Rebekah Sison, Zoe Stragalinos, Sarah Wood, James Ydreos and Rufaro Zimbudzi
Creative Team
Director
Roger Hodgman
Choreographer
Dana Jolly
Musical Director
Paul White
Costume Designer
Miriam Clare Robinson*
Associate Costume Designer
Ella Barrett*
Set Designer
Jodi Hope+
Lighting Designer
Sophie Louise Ness*
Sound Designer and Programmer
Declan Acton*
Assistant Director
Carly Watson^
Voice and Dialect Coach
Matt Furlani
Fight Coordinator
Colin Sneesby
Intimacy Coordinator
Jayde Kirchert
Production Team
Production Stage Manager
Sunday Bowes*
Deputy Stage Manager
Morgan Clyne*
Assistant Stage Managers
Ivy Miller
Jackson Passlow
Georgette Tetaz
Workshop Head of Department (Scenic)
Willow Argus*
Workshop Head of Department (Staging)
Nellie Summerfield*
Workshop Head of Department (Props)
Lokan Woerz*
Workshop Assistants
Georgia Formosa
Natalie Wing Hei Lau
Helen Zhang
Costume Manager
Madison Lu
Costume Assistants
Lindsay Gerhardt
Alex van den Bergen
Technical Manager
Georgie Donnelly*
Head Electrician
Karin Chen
Lighting Programmer and Operator/Deputy Head Electrician
Samantha Martin
Lighting Crew
Madelaine Garwood
Andrew Thompson
Sound Technicians
Lachlan Jones
Isobel Long
*Third year Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) student
+ Second year Master of Production Design (Stage) student
^First Year Master of Theatre (Directing) student
Band
Keyboard
Kath Gillon
Bass
Nathan Post
Drums/aux. Percussion
Kieran Rafferty
Acoustic and Electric Guitar/Banjo
Gerard Assi
Percussion
Anna Camara
French Horn 1
Ella Moulton
French Horn 2
Katie Pryce
Trombone 1
Joe O'Callaghan
Bass Trombone 2/Tuba
Simon Scerri
Trumpet 1/Flugel Horn
Paddy McMullin
Trumpet 2/Flugel Horn
Tristan Rebien
Flute/Piccolo/Clarinet/Alto Sax
Tony Hicks
Flute/Piccolo/Clarinet/Alto Sax
Melissa Edwards
Clarinet/Alto Sax/Soprano Sax
Tim Wilson
Bassoon/Bass Clarinet/Clarinet/Flute/Baritone Sax
Stuart Byrne
Professional Staff
Artistic Operations Manager
Abe Watson
Producer
Alex Duffy
Production Coordinator
Andy Turner
Workshop Supervisor
Morgan Jones
Stagecraft Project Coordinator
Alan (Alby) Logan
Scenic Artist
Morgan Jones
Props Master
El Lyons-Dawson
Set Construction
Taylor Chen
Workshop/Stage Technicians
Al Brill
Charlie Craft
Mungo Mckenzie
Sasha Vulling
Costume Supervisor
Sophie Woodward
Professional Costumiers
Emily Lewis
Tessa Cleary Moore
Chloe Simcox
Sound and Radio Mic Technician
Sidney Millar
Photographer
Ben Fon
Videographer
Latitude Video Production
Academic Staff
Head of Music Theatre
Tyran Parke
Head of Design and Production
Richard Roberts
Design and Production Academic Consultants
Jacob Battista, Kris Bird, Michael Carr, Marco Cher-Gibard, Martyn Coutts, Peter Darby, Jo Evans, Dale Ferguson, John Ford, Amanda Hitten, Dani Kinn, Jen Langford, Lisa Mibus, Leon Salom, Matt Scott, Erin Shepherd, Jethro Woodward
Music Theatre Academic Staff
Lyndall Dawson, Heather Fletcher, Ross Hannaford, Rosie Harris, Jayde Kirchert, Bert LaBonte, Tyran Parke, Peter Rutherford
Design and Production Academic Staff
Kris Bird, Jo Briscoe, Marco Cher-Gibard, Dr Emily Collett, Anna Cordingley, Martyn Coutts, Jo Evans, Dale Ferguson, John Ford, Nell Hanson, Amanda Hitten, Lisa Mibus, Lisa Osborn, Richard Roberts, Leon Salom, Christina Smith , Jethro Woodward