one day this blog will win something

It’s true. I believe it. It will happen. Our thoughts make our world and all that stuff. 

To show your support for the conversations we have here, for the growth of the arts industry, for the vibrant, talented artists who inform and inspire this blog,

VOTE

for us in the Best Australian Blogs 2012 Competition: People’s Choice Award.

VOTING CLOSES ON THURSDAY 9TH MAY AT 5:00pm

Over 940 blogs were nominated in this section of the competition! We are one of the few arts industry blogs and we are the only one under ‘X’ so it’s easy to find us and vote for us. You can vote for as many blogs as you like but you can only submit your voting form ONCE. I included in our own submission, votes for some of the other fabulous blogs we love (and look, we do like to share the love). You’ll notice that these are not entertainment blogs at all – oh no – these are the downtime blogs; the gorgeous random ramblings of writers who we don’t tend to see in foyers of theatres across Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast!

a beach cottage. life by the sea.

woogsworld. making the most out of the mundane.

alli and genine. real, raw and honest.

autisic-ally beautiful. a journey through the autism spectrum.

Remember, voting will close Wednesday 9th May at 5.00 pm.

All winners will be announced on Thursday 10 May at 10.00 am. The winner of the People’s Choice Award will receive $1000 worth of courses (online or face-to-face) at the Sydney Writers’ Centre in Milsons Point. Fantastic!

Winner of the Best Australian Blogs Competition 2011, our amazing friend and professional blogger, Styling You’s Nikki Parkinson, spoke about her win.

I love what Nikki has to say about QUALITY and CREDIBILITY. Nikki is an inspiration.

The official Twitter hashtag for the 2012 competition is #bestblogs2012. You can follow the Sydney Writers’ Centre at @SydneyWriters for the Best Australian Blogs Competition announcements.

Ireland-Ghana Children’s Project: get ready

Nuala Quinn is one amazing woman.

Her friend and mine (stylist extraordinaire), Maria Faulder, has been keeping me up to speed on the progress of an incredible little project of Nuala’s, in Ghana, which is totally Nuala’s initiative and one that we’ve jumped on board to support.

The Ireland-Ghana Children’s Project is a non-profit, volunteer organisation between Ireland and Ashaiman, a township outside Tema, Ghana. It aims to build a new school, church and children’s clinic (the building has begun!)

You can help!

On the Sunshine Coast, Maria is organising a Mt Coolum Climb for July 1st. She wants to raise $3000. How can you help? You can climb with us or sponsor the climb. You can tell all your friends and use social media to share the Facebook page and the details of the event to help us build momentum.

If you’re anywhere else, you can jump on the website and donate a brick or volunteer to work ON SITE in Ghana!

It’s often a person or a personal reason that motivates us to help somebody outside of our own community. If this sounds like a cause that touches your heart, please join Nuala, Maria and a host of cross-continental friends to help raise funds that will go directly to supporting the development of infrastructure in Tema, for the benefit of the children and their community there.

For more info check out the Facebook page and Nuala’s blog

What we do.

Heads up: we’re live-tweeting stuff again!

QTC’s The Greenhouse opens on Thursday!

Preceding the official opening event is a fascinating forum:

What Does the State Theatre of the Future Look Like?

This event is

But you don’t have to miss it! We’ll be live-tweeting from the inside…

Follow us on Twitter

and tweet us if you have any questions or comments.

The future of THEATRE: where are we headed and how do we get there? Is it sustainable? Is it relevant?

The forum will feature a series of guests and provocateurs who will offer us insights and invitations to discuss the future directions and relevance of the theatre. Get involved and take advantage of this opportunity to make connections and project positively to the future of our industry and our artists.

Guest speakers include:

Angharad Wynne-Jones (Tipping Point and Arts House Melbourne), Rob Pekin (Foodconnect), Steven Mitchell Wright (Danger Ensemble) and Emma Bennison (Access Arts).

In the meantime, I’m pretty intrigued by my invitation from !Metro Arts to tomorrow night’s (late) performance of THE RAVEN, which requests I leave my partner and my gorgeous shoes behind! Now, I love Poe but can I sit through dinner with him?!

Poe Through The Glass Prism. Released 1969.

Floating Land 2013: Nature’s Dialogue

Meanwhile, I think it’s important to note that I’m really pleased with our expression of interest for Floating Land 2013. While I can’t give anything away, I can tell you that, should our submission be successful, we’ll be needing incredible dancers and multi-disciplinary performers for a show like no other. We’ll also be inviting interested peeps from the community to get involved in the creative process. We enjoyed so much, working with local actors and non-actors to create Floating Words last year and we’re looking forward to being involved again, in any capacity, really; Floating Land is a very different festival for the Sunshine Coast. It’s growing biannually and gaining a reputation internationally. If you want to get in on the next one (31st May – 9th June 2013), stick with us, kids!

 

 

Floating Land is an ongoing conversation about creativity, culture and the environment pivoting on a dynamic ten-day event in the UNESCO listed Biosphere of Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. Conceived in 2001 as an outdoor sculpture exhibition, Floating Land is now solidified one of Australia’s most significant green art events sparking the imagination of artists, scientists, politicians and conservationists globally. Leah Barclay was engaged as the guest curator in 2011 and successfully delivered a dynamic program on the theme ‘Water Culture’, expanding the traditional elements of Floating Land to include works engaging ephemeral projections, light and sound in the natural environment.

The biannual project is framed around a thematic site-specific artist residency and offers a platform for creative responses, provocations and interactive experiences that can underpin new ways of thinking and inspire change. The diverse creative responses of Floating Land become embedded in a rich program of community workshops, forums and interactive labs designed to confront and challenge a spectrum of environmental issues across disciplines. The intention is not just to deliver engaging experiences for the local community, but also to harness the energy of these conversations, ideas and visions across virtual platforms exploring new paradigms for our collective future. Visit www.floatingland.org.au for further information. Source: leahbarclay.com

 

 

Sunshine Coast Theatre Alliance Inaugural Soiree

It happened! It happened last Saturday actually, and we’ve been flat out since then so here it is, a little late; a little wrap up of the Sunshine Coast Theatre Alliance’s Inaugural Season Launch and Soiree.

Wendy's Flowers and Event Hire www.wendysflowers.com.au

The evening was a great success. Hailing the beginning of a new era in local theatre, invited guests and media were offered a sneak peak at what’s coming up on our Sunshine Coast stages at the Season Launch and Soiree, hosted by Rosanna Natoli of Seven Sunshine Coast News, at the Buderim Tavern. The event successfully brought together rival theatre groups from across the Sunshine Coast, for the first time since the defunct STA (STAR) Awards, to celebrate in style and to launch their 2012 season programs for an audience of media representatives and special guests, including Style Director for the Sunshine Coast Fashion Festival, Zoe Champion and Members of Parliament, Fiona Simpson and Steve Dickson.

Rosanna Natoli, Sam Coward, Steve Dickson. Image by Anjie Greve.

Sam Coward, President of the Alliance, praised the initiative and hard work of the Alliance in “raising standards”, for hosting the Soiree and for continuously raising the profile of theatre as the first choice in local entertainment. Sam challenged members to get along to each other’s shows this year, which include Coolum Theatre Players’ Flying Feathers, Lind Lane’s A Bad Year For Tomatoes and That Scottish Play, Caloundra’s Sherlock Holmes and Noosa Arts Theatre’s production of David Williamson’s (George Negus speaks to David here) heartwarming play about a twilight love affair, Travelling North, directed by guest director, Steven Tandy (read Kate Foy’s fascinating interview with Steven here).

“Such is the magic of theatre where the audience witnesses the wonderful creative cocktail that has brought everyone together, to share their talents and wholly entertain,” said Sam.

In the past 12 months, some 50 productions have been staged by Alliance member groups, equating to more than 500 performances with attendances exceeding 50 000, equating to a conservative one million dollars being injected into the local economy. In return, the theatre companies are giving local and visiting audiences affordable entertainment; something for everyone, from musicals, dramas, comedies, one-act plays, pantomimes, workshops and the presentation of the finalists in two playwriting competitions.

Zoe Champion & Sam Coward. Image by Anjie Greve.

Zoe Champion, Style Director for the Sunshine Coast Fashion Festival, deemed local actress, Marilyn Davies Best Dressed and “the epitome of elegance and style.” Marilyn was presented with tickets and limousine transfers to The Escapist’s award-winning production of boy girl wall, starring Helpman Award nominated Brisbane actor, Lucas Stibbard, at Nambour Civic Centre in June.

Marilyn Davies (Best Dressed) & Patricia Waterson. Image by Anjie Greve.

A great success and the beginning of a new era for Sunshine Coast theatre, the inaugural Sunshine Coast Theatre Alliance Soiree, brought together the theatre makers and theatre lovers of the Sunshine Coast, for an evening of celebration without the usual competition.

Carly Partridge & Alli Pope. Image by Anjie Greve.

Luke & Melissa Lanham. Image by Anjie Greve.

Susan Dearnley, Jennifer Rousset, Evie Somerville. Image by Ajie Greve.

Angel Goulter & Xanthe Coward. Image by Anjie Greve.

Taking mental notes for next year's event. Image by Anjie Greve.

For copies of images taken by Anjie Greve or to book her for your event, contact

Clever Girl Photography 0421 365 705

For further details about local productions month by month, pick up the Sunshine Coast Theatre Directory from a foyer, a café or a library near you or take a look at the website http://www.livetheatre.com.au

The Beauty House: launch event

If you’re a Sunshine Coast resident, chances are you’ve passed by a big pink sign on Sugar Road in Maroochydore, advertising a beauty academy and salon. It’s been there for years; a massive building (it’s even bigger than you think), that once had a reputation for excellence (those therapists are now working all over the world) but fell into… a rough patch. Chances are you’ve driven right by it because you’ve heard the gossip – so often based on truth – or you’ve been there yourself. Once. And not returned. Well. I’m here to tell you that THOSE DAYS ARE GONE. What was once pink is now blue and what was once lost is found, or rather, is brand new and born of a lotus flower. It’s the gift of good business and great people behind it.

But far from hiding in the background, the incredible women who run The Beauty House (and it’s sister school in Brisbane) are, appropriately,  the beautiful faces of their business. They are up-front, professional, congenial women who look gorgeous and who obviously have a passion for the beauty business. It was always Alier’s dream to  share high quality training and thus, high quality treatments, with Sunshine Coast clients. She and Jane have been welcomed with open arms. When new business women come to the Sunshine Coast it’s a bit like they’ve turned up to the sandbox. I can’t recall who said that but it’s so true. Everybody here looks up and stops what they’re doing and calls out, smiling, “Come play! Play with me!” If you’re in local business and you’ve not yet ventured into the sandbox, pop on over and say hi sometime. In the meantime, check out this month’s Profile mag for, among other interesting and inspiring reads, The Rise of the Female Entrepreneur; opinions about women in business from key Sunshine Coast business women, including our dear friend, Min Swan, of White House Celebrations.

Yvette Adams, hubmaster at awardshub.com and the Creative Collective business guru, put on a special event to launch The Beauty House and to welcome the girls to the sandbox. Kim Edwards, owner of Sea English Academy, cut the blue ribbon and those Choccy Chicks, Kim Morrison and Fleur Whelligan, as the emcees, added their own special sparkle to proceedings. The celebration involved speeches, champagne, canapes, pictures, grand tours, treatments, cupcakes, prizes and goodie bags. And we all love a goodie bag.

The new owners of The Beauty House, Jane Walters and Alier ‘Doris’ Morgan, have over 40 years combined beauty industry experience. They are passionate about the areas they feel are neglected by other training schools; demeanour and presentation, retailing and selling, hygiene and cleaning, and advanced spa treatments.

Fleur, Alier & Jane

Fleur Whelligan, Kim Edwards & Kim Morrison

“Our graduates will emerge as the complete package. Not only will they be qualified therapists, they will be trained in up-to-the-minute treatments, and will have mastered the perfect in-salon demeanour and skills making our graduates the most sought-after pool of prospective employees for Sunshine Coast beauty salons and other beauty industry employers Australia-wide.”

Courses on offer include:

• Certificate III in Beauty Services
• Certificate IV and Diploma of Beauty Therapy
• Certificate II in Makeup Services
• Diploma in Salon Management
• Vocational Graduate Certificate in Intense Pulsed Light & Laser Hair reduction
• Microdermabrasion
• Chemical Peels & Skin Needling

The girls have plans to offer much more at their Sunshine Coast campus, including makeup for theatre, television and film and special effects makeup.

On salon days, clients can select from a generous range of services that include:

• facials
• eye treatments
• manicures
• pedicures
• peels
• microdermabrasion
• waxing
• spray tan
• makeup

as well as a range of body treatments that need to be seen to be believed. Now, you might remember that I prefer to get threaded by my good friend and another awe-inspiring business woman, Liz See, but for all my waxing, I’ll be booking The Beauty House. A full leg and brazilian for $50? That’s half the industry rate! Okay! N.B. Boys, you can get your waxing done too. Just saying. I’m also looking at booking a vanilla body scrub, a vanilla nourishing wrap, a full body massage, a delicious mani/pedi, a collagen drops facial and an indian head massage. And that’s just to start! At any notable day spa I would expect to pay upwards of $500-$600 for this long list of treats but The Beauty House, charging training prices, will get less than $300 from me. Perhaps I should tip?

You can see that Genine Howard, editor of Profile mag, dressed for the occasion. You can see that I did not.

I wore my forgot-that-I-had-a-really-important-event-to-go-to outfit and I dressed it up at the last second with boots. As I raced out the door, I did the old pick-up-the-Louis-Vuitton-and-leave-my-Pradas-on-my-head-look. I think it worked quite well, don’t you? Lisbeth Salander meets Lara Croft meets school run mum.

Hmmm…

And what of the students, the trainees, the therapists? Well, we know they’re in training but we can be sure they are pretty good at what they do. For those of us privileged to receive a special launch evening invite, we received complimentary treatments that compare favourably with any I’ve experienced recently. In short, these girls are GOOD. They are also, unlike other salon, spa and counter staff, very well groomed and beautifully mannered. The Beauty House will certainly set a pretty little cat amongst the pigeons but my guess is that the upset will come from those who feel threatened when they realise their business is not up to scratch. This is all about raising standards across the Sunshine Coast beauty industry, which is a win for us all.

As for the building itself, there are a couple of  spaces left unfinished at this stage, which don’t affect your visit and will be completed in no time at all, if Jane and Alier’s efforts this week are anything to go by! There is still some work to be done but I can confidently say that The Beauty House has already raised the bar in the beauty industry on the Sunshine Coast. Just you wait for the awards to start rolling on in, girls.

Nothing this polished remains unrecognised for long.

OPEN DAYS:

• Saturday 4th February 12pm – 2pm
• Saturday 11th february 10am – 12pm

The academy is accepting students (from 15 years of age) for the first semester, which commences on Monday 20 February and will open for Salon Days thereafter.

For more information go to beautyacademysunshinecoast.com.au

 

a little announcement

Well, you may have heard by now that briztix.com has come to an end. I’ve enjoyed contributing content over there, including reviews of Brisbane theatre and coverage of special events on the Sunshine Coast, for just over a year. Now, with its sudden closure, we find there is one less online source for Brisbane theatre-goers (the Briz Tix site closing follows the slightly more devastating closing, given its 10 year history, of ourbrisbane.com (explained here, courtesy of brisbanetimes.com.au)

Thanks to their hard work and their support of Brisbane theatre, the Briz Tix team, for just a short period of time, has provided Brisbane theatre goers with another place in which they could find reviews of local shows, interviews with artists, information about theatre and theatre making in general as well as offering an easy ticketing system to patrons and great rates to local theatre companies looking for advertising space. Briz Tix will be missed by many.

I’m looking forward to continuing to review Brisbane and Sunshine Coast independent and professional theatre and to provide content for XS Entertainment.

While our website is under construction you’ll find all content here at xsentertainme.wordpress.com and if you don’t find what you want here, we won’t be offended; we like to share the love (and besides, we know you’ll be back)! In the meantime, if you’re looking for some different perspectives (and I hope you are, for an opinion is an opinion is an opinion), you could check out Kate Foy’s POV over at actorsgreenroom.net or Sommer Tothill’s reviews at brisbanetimes.com.au or read and view Nathanael Cooper’s opinion over at ye old couriermail.com.au

If you don’t already, follow us on Twitter because when we don’t blog we tweet.

If you’re a theatre lover or theatre maker, let us know what you’d like to see more of. Let us know what you think of the shows you see. If you disagree with a review here, tell us why! If you’ve seen something that we should see, let us know so we don’t miss it! If you’ve got a show you want reviewed, email the invitation 3-4 weeks out to xsentertainme@gmail.com

We’re a small team but we love what we do and we manage to get to a LOT.

See you in a foyer soon! x

 

 

The Mystery Bus 2011-2012

The Mystery Bus. 

You know as much as you’re supposed to. It’s a bus. And it’s a mystery.

If you’ve experienced the Mystery Bus, it’s quite likely that you’ve returned on more than one occasion and, on return visits, dragged friends and family members along with you. Sadly (luckily?) the Mystery Bus is not for children.

The MIB are not all bad

Despite the fact that we station scary Russian security guards out front (the infamous Men In Black – MIB –  the antithesis of the Woodford spirit and some of the most entertaining street theatre you’ll see) every year we get children aboard. Quite often they’ll claim to be with random hippie pseudo-parents or guardians in the queue and the adults often cooperate. When asked to confirm the relationship, they’ll LIE. I feel certain there are damaged children out there! Little kids in boardies and t-shirts and flip flops; wannabe Woodfordians who get up to all sorts of mischief because they’ve outgrown the Children’s Festival and haven’t yet grown into anything else. For these kids, there are Dippin’ Dots, Spaghetti Junction, Circadia, illegal busking after they’ve visited Circadia and the challenge of getting a seat on the Mystery Bus.

Dippin' Dots. Ice cream. Dots. Into which you dip.

I don’t mind telling you that the bus is stationary. It doesn’t go anywhere. You would have to be a magic mushroom munching hippie to assume otherwise. Oh, wait. Right. So the bus is stationary (except it’s moved each year, to a new, exciting spot, to be kept out of the way during the months of the year that the site is unused. We usually plan a special expedition to trek and find it before Boxing Day). On the bus, you are privy to an intimate live, acoustic set by a headline act from the festival line-up. The talent is unreal and artists of the likes of Mr Percival, Adem Scriven and Jesca Hoop return again and again. Amongst artist circles it’s one of the best gigs of the festival.It’s brief, it’s fun, it’s original and it’s in air conditioning!

Pre-show, there’s a show; this year it was an obscure all-female interpretive dance group (the Leggy Lesbians from Lithuania)

LACTATE

Okay, yeah, you got me. So it was a great backstory. It certainly got the punters in the door.

It’s gotta be one of the FUNNEST gigs of the festival. Every year the pre-show is different and we’ve got a doozy planned for next year!

There is just no stopping the evil genius of SRT’s Artistic Director, Simon Denver!

Bustles by kelseyscreations.net

Swamp Thing

Nathan Kaye

See you on the bus next year, suckers!

Woodford Folk Festival 2011-2012

So many wonderful moments (and interestingly, some not-so-wonderful moments too) to describe! I’m not quite back into writing…was I ever fully immersed in it? No. Too many things. This year I will make a concerted effort to write more often. I might even try to be A Writer. In the meantime, Poppy and I are off to Mary Poppins tonight and James and the Giant Peach tomorrow night, both of which I’ll write about. I’ll leave you for now with some beautiful images from Woodfordia, put together by browndog with music by Tibet2Timbuk2

 

Woodford 2011-12 from browndog on Vimeo.

 

If you missed the magic of Woodford this year – its music, its Mystery Bus, its amazing food, its incredible people and its beautiful weather – make sure you book early to go in 2012-2013. It truly is one of those life-changing experiences and you will LOVE it.

Next post: The Mystery Bus

 

 

Woodford Folk Festival 2011

We’ve had a big year!

We’ve had a lovely Christmas and we hope you have had too!

Next?

We’re off to Woodfordia!

You’ll find us on The Mystery Bus in the Hope Island Precinct.

I’m not at liberty to tell you more but it’s safe to say that this gig is a Woodford Folk Festival institution.

This year, for the first time, you can catch LACTATE‘s show!

It’s crazy. It’s fun. It’s a bus. And it’s a mystery. Make sure you don’t miss it!

I’ll try to blog in between gigs! In the meantime, you can follow our updates on Twitter