Posted by Naomi on Jan 17, 2013 in
Family,
Review 
If you were in Melbourne on Wednesday night, you would have seen a city alive with summer. People walking, milling, sitting. Sharing time with friends, family, or alone.
You may have passed a mother and her son. He just about to pass her in height. Walking across St Kilda Road, shooting the breeze, in search of food fit to satve off the constant hunger only a teen child can muster. You may have seen a kid and his first taste of Lord of the Fries, of which, I am told, there is no going back.
There is something special about spending time one on one with a child. As they get older and naturally begin to move away from the constant want of parental and family company it is good to get away from home and the confines of the did you do, are you sure, have you got…
Away from the humdrum of home, tensions seem to loosen and side by side in the car, the street, the theatre, real conversations can be had.
That is the way it was when I took The Blue Eyed Boy to LEO at the Arts Centre Melbourne. He had the pick of three shows to see, and this was his choice. The more intimate space of the Fairfax Studio was perfect for this one man performance. A fringe festival-like show that starts out with some laughs and makes a decent into darker territory. All the better for older children and adults.
The performance delights, engages and challenges perceptions as you watch both the performer and a screen that films his every move. As well as the cleverness and physicality of the performance, there is a depth of character and emotion I was not sure would be there before the show began. That was, for me, what made the performance. Not so much that my perception was challenged, but my emotional response as music, image and Leo himself changed from happy go lucky to an altogethr darker place. And, that he found his way out of that place.
Leo is recommended for children aged ten plus, and although there were younger children in the audience, I do think the promoters got the age right for this performance. The louder music and darker side to the show, which is what really drew me in, is not aimed at younger audience members. For younger theatre goers wanting something a little out of the ordinary Oh Suivant! May be more the show to see.
For my lovely, growing teen and his rather proud mother, this was the perfect show, and the beginning of a great evening in the city we call home. Leo is on now through to January 27th. Tickets can be purchased here.
Disclaimer: I worked with 360 Immerse for the Arts Centre and am duly compensated for my time. I was not expected to write a review of Leo. I did though want to write about my time with my son, and the performance we saw. Just as I would have if not collaborating with an agency.
Tags: Arts Centre Melbourne, Leo, Melbourne, Review, Summer Season, The Blue Eyed Boy
Posted by Naomi on Nov 24, 2012 in
Review 
Earlier this week I was lucky enough to go to the opening of The Chronicles of Narnia Exhibition here in Melbourne. I took with me The Green Eyed Girl and one of her friends. Not your average midweek outing.
There is a small part of me that wants to believe in magic. When the kids were younger it could still be found watching on from the sidelines as they anticipated Santa, wrote letters to fairies and searched through dark windows for signs of Easter Bunny.
It could also be found in books. The suspension of disbelief as words turn to characters, adventures come to life and fantastical worlds unfold. My first encounter with the land of Narnia was as a six year old, having my teacher read from The Magician’s Nephew each day. It was the start of a long yearning to be part of that world. I spent many hours searching wardrobes, on the off chance one would happen to be the doorway to that land. Though I am not sure shutter-doored built-ins in a 1970s brick veneer suburban home really were all that magical. Not from wont of trying.
Imagine then, a typical working week. Imagine sitting in traffic going at a snails pace. A journey doubling in the expected length of time and a clock ticking away from fashionably late to down right rude even contemplating showing up at all late. Picture two excited eleven year old friends, sensing the rising tension from the driver, sitting quietly in the back seat as Melbourne traffic inched forward. A hasty car park, a hurried walking pace and a will that the doors were still open to what we hoped was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition.
Something happened when we entered the pavilion. There is, it seems, a little bit of magic left after all. The friends pushed through two large wooden doors and found themselves in a wardrobe. In the wardrobe, complete with fur coats. In front of them, a lamppost, surrounded by snow. This is when the excitement really started, for the girls and for me. Instead of seeing the exhibition through my eyes, I saw it through those of two eleven year olds. Costumes from the movies, props, interactive touch screen maps. A chance to lift swords and attempts to lift armour. The right amount of fact and fantasy mixing to create a real sense of magic. My only concern was convincing the girls to leave.
The exhibition is open daily from now until February. Take your children along, and watch for glimpses of magic as you view it through their eyes.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition
Showing from 21 November 2012 to February 2013
Pavilion Waterfront, Docklands Ave, Docklands
Tickets from Ticketmaster 136 100 or www.ticketmaster.com.au
Exhibition open Weekdays: 12 noon to – Last entry 7pm – Close 8:30pm
Weekends: 10am –Last Entry 7pm Close 8:30pm
Admission: Family $59.90 (4 Ttx) Adult $19.90 Child (3-10 yrs) $14.90
2 years and under free – Groups 10 or more-buy 8 and get 2 free
Disclaimer: I received a family pass to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition.
Tags: family, Melbourne, Narnia, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition.
Posted by Naomi on Jul 5, 2012 in
Review 
Sometimes you just have to get over yourself and let go a little; sometimes letting the inner child out is good for the soul. Thanks to Cavanagh PR and Disney that is just what I did when I attended Disney on Ice Let’s Celebrate yesterday.
Attending the show with me were two very excited seven year old girls and a grown up (but perhaps equally excited) friend. Watching children inch towards the edge of their seats in excitement and wonder is something I will never tire of watching. Disney on Ice provided plenty of edge of the seat excitement for two seven year olds.
As a child of the seventies, I grew up with Disney on my TV every Sunday night. It is something etched into my early memories. It was great to see some of the older Disney stories from my childhood and before my time making an appearance along with the newer ones. My favourite Disney movie is Fantasia, so I was more than a little happy when Mickey battled with brooms on the ice. There may have been a little bit of leaning forward in the seat from me too at that stage!
The ability of the skaters in general was fantastic. There is something magical about seeing lifts, spins and jumps live on the ice. The performers certainly knew how to put on a good show and the girls were spellbound from beginning to end.
There was some audience participation, almost pantomime style, such as yelling at Mickey not to eat the apple from the wicked witch that certainly helped keep younger audience members engaged.
As well as the live action, there was a large screen at the back of the ice. I did wonder how necessary this was. I am not sure it added to the show overall. I found it distracting rather than enhancing. By looking at the screen you missed the action on the ice. I also felt the princesses looking for their prince and seeking out true love may have been a little drawn out. The cynic in me wondered at the need for so much one day your prince will come action. I also would have liked to have seen more of the Toy Story Characters. Buzz and Woody were pretty big in our house when the children were younger, and for what it’s worth, I think they deserved a bit more time on the ice.
Overall though I really did enjoy myself. The skaters were fantastic, the show was lively and entertaining. The two children with me were enthralled, their excitement catching, so much so we could not convince them to leave their seats during the interval!
Disney on Ice Let’s Celebrate is on in Melbourne now. Dates for Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide venues are below and tickets are available online here.
Wed 4 – Mon 9 July – Hisense Arena, Melbourne
Wed 11 – Mon 16 July – Allphones Arena, Sydney
Thu 19 – Sun 22 July – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Disclaimer: I received four complementary tickets to Disney on Ice as well as a VIP pass to meet Micky and Minnie after the show for a photo opportunity.
Tags: Disney on Ice Let's Celebrate!, Review
Posted by Naomi on Jun 7, 2012 in
Family,
music,
Review,
Teen life 
A lot is happening in my part of the world. Work, home, social life, family. It’s all good, but it’s all busy.
I like to have a work life balance. Ridiculous, over used phrase that it is. It was only a matter of time before another member of the family caught the lurgie. Sorry about that Blue Eyed Boy. And with band rehearsal, soccer training, and homework, homework, homework we have been a house on track to being very out of balance.
So, lurgie filled kid and all, I was grateful when Tuesday rolled around and I knew we had a bit of family time booked in.
Yes, I have become someone who books in time. In pencil. On a calendar. I know.
On what was surely the coldest day ever in Melbourne, with one child tired from all the stuff mum, so much stuff I have to do; and one tired from all the homework and a lurgie; with a Hubby with a deadline looming, caution was thrown to the icy wind and we headed to the city to be part of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Education Week.
In my head, we were one of those well rounded families, filing into the town hall ready to be carried away on a sea of music. In reality, we left it too late to leave, battled traffic, had an e-Tag that kept beeping that something was wrong, parked three car parks and a city block away from where we had to go. Oh, and I didn’t have a single umbrella in the car. Not a one. And I call myself a Melbourner.
We arrived at the Town Hall, I retrieved the tickets and we walked in. Bickering.
I asked the kids where they wanted to sit, and was rewarded with an I dunno and an OMG I DON’T KNOW. I replied in kind with a whispered oh for fuck sake by ignoring them. A lovely usher, with a knowing smile, pointed out some great seating options, we ignored them all, with much angsty teen eye rolling and found a whole row to ourselves towards the back. Give me strength, I thought at about that time, and wondered why I considered it such a good idea to come out as a family.
We sat in silence. I looked at other families sitting in front of us. Saw a brother pull a face at a sister, saw a father whisper yell at the face puller, realised we were far from alone in our family ways and listened as the orchestra tuned.
We were there, silence and all for Meet The Music: Scandal! As part of the MSO Education Week, children, schools and families of all ages are treated to a range of interactive concerts. The concert we chose was aimed at children years 7 to 12.
As presenter Paul Rissmann began weaving tales of scandal, I wondered if my two ratbags would stop being all teen like for long enough to enjoy the concert. I needn’t have worried. Together with conductor Benjamin Northey and the musicians, all four of us managed to forget our lack of balance and be enveloped in the magic that only a live orchestra can bring. Add to that the amazing solo performance from Nicholas Russoniello on saxophone and in the space of fifty minutes a family were transformed to one cohesive unit again.
I call that a job well done MSO. A job well done. Music, it really does soothe the savage beast. There are a number of performances as part of Education Week, with tickets still available, as well as more throughout the year. They have a school program that can also be accessed by families, BYO sulky ratbag teens, excited pre-schoolers or any child in between.
Disclaimer: I received a family pass to Meet The Music:Scandal! In exchange I provided teenagers, a swear-mouthed mum and a tired, on deadline dad, who despite themselves all had a fantastic time.
Tags: melbourne symphony orchestra, music, music soothes the savage beast
Posted by Naomi on Mar 17, 2012 in
music,
Review 
Living in Melbourne is something I sometimes take for granted. Our home in the hills is about as far away from the city as you can be and still get away with saying that we live in Melbourne. Weekdays consist of sitting in traffic as I go to and from work, school drop off and pick ups. There are local shops and supermarket visits, roads often travelled and not usually really seen. Familiarity and contempt and all that.
But when I go to the city proper I’m reminded of the beauty of Melbourne. Reminded of the way it hums and lives at all times of the day and night. Reminded that there is life outside my beloved hills. Life beyond commuting and seeings small sections of the city on repeat. I love that people dress as the do – in all manner of styles and statements. Love the colour, the nuance, the hum that is a living breathing city.
Thursday night was one of those I love this place nights. The Green Eyed Girl and I had gone into the city to see the Peony Pavilion at the Arts Centre. It was the Green Eyed Girl’s first experience of ballet, and what a first experience it was. Both of us were in awe of the performance. The stunning simplicity of the scenery, the music, the dancing were all truly magnificent.
At interval as I waited to be served at the bar, an elderly woman stood next to me chatting to the barman with a degree of familiarity. Dressed in understated black elegance, hints if diamonds in her ears, her eyes shone as she told the barman of her joy at the performance so far. “Stunning,” she told him as he passed her two glasses of sparkling wine, “it’s real ballet. Real ballet!” she said as she took her glasses and turned to leave the bar. Her eyes met my girl’s as she passed. Joy was written on her face. Happiness shone from her eyes. And there we were, three different generations, dressed in three different ways, expressing ourselves through our chosen clothes, united by the love of a live performance and the joy it brought us all.
That for me is part of the reason I go to live performances, be it ballet, classical music, comedy, theatre, rock, pop, folk, hip hop… the connection to people through the utter joy it brings. Connected to total strangers through a common love of music, dance, a story, a laugh.
Being in the Arts Centre before the performance began was a time for me to observe, take in, look at the people attending the performance. Families, couples, friends. People young and old. Connected by family, by love, by friendship. Connected to strangers by the anticipation of being part of an audience. The Peony Pavilion has a short season. We attended opening night and the last performances are this weekend. There is however, lots of other things happening at the Art Centre. A quick and free online registration provides you with emails keeping you up to date.
I am hoping to take the family to a performance at The Famous Spiegel Season. Jazz high tea anyone? And I have my eye on Macbeth later in the year. (Though I do wonder how actors get away with using the name of that Scottish play and living to tell the tale.) I have all but convinced Hubby that Opera would be a fantastic date night too.
So, here’s to nights out in the city I love. Here’s to cross generational love of dance. Here’s to dressing up and expressing yourself. Here’s to performances that leave your hands smarting from clapping and your eyes full of joy.
Do you have nights out? Do you love to dress up? Would your choice be comedy, ballet, opera, theatre, music? I’d love to know.
Disclaimer: I received two complementary tickets to The Peony Pavilion.
Tags: ballet, Melbourne, night out
Posted by Naomi on Jan 10, 2012 in
music,
Review 
{image credit megan kristine }
I have spoken before about music and it’s effect on me. Of the way it moves me. How tears welled at Gorillaz, how I wept when I heard The Hilltop Hoods. The sweet sorrow of hearing Cyndi Lauper sing Time after Time or Paul Kelly singing From St Kilda. As a child I went to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with my grandmother. In my family home the record player was used for a lot of music, Elvis, Tchaikovsky, Swinging Safari… John Farnham. We all grew out of John Farnham, the rest has stayed. When at my sister’s we still put on those childhood records and talk, dance and drink with them playing. The music washing over us with memories.
I have a few musical experiences I count as my most memorable. The first time I saw Michael Franti & Spearhead. Being in the front row for the Mountain Goats belting out This Year. Coldplay singing Yellow and a wall of confetti.
In December I added the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Messiah.
Sitting in the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall at the Melbourne Recital Centre with the vast wooden surfaces was an experience in itself. The warmth of the wood on every surface gives an impression of intimacy. This was compounded once the performance was about to begin as I could hear, as if I was standing right beside him, the intake of breath from conductor Reinhard Goebel as he raised his hand to begin.
With soloists Miriam Allan, soprano, Sally-Anne Russell, mezzo-soprano, Angus Wood, tenor and Teddy Tahu Rhodes, bass-baritone and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus led by chorus master Jonathan Grieves-Smith this was truly an experience I will not forget.
The music brought emotions to the surface, memories of place and people, memories from my soul.
It affected me physically in the deep bass coming up from the sole of my feet, the almost involuntary tapping of a hand, a finger or my foot.
It effected me emotionally, as all music does. It spoke to my spirit and rocked my soul. I tweeted the God of Music is alive and well #Messiah #MSO
For my family I have decided to make this an annual event.
The 2012 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra season has begun, and there are a range of events to choose from. Including four free concerts in February. On the 15th, 18th, 22nd and 25th. Each with a different theme. The weather in February is perfect for a family picnic and some music at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
For my Blue Eyed Boy I have my eye on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in October.
There are a number of children’s concerts throughout the year too. Something I look forward to taking my class to each year, and a great family outing.
Music speaks to the very soul of you. A song, a note can bring memory flooding back. Evoking time, place, people, emotion. What memories do you have linked to music? I’d love to know.
Disclaimer: I received two complementary tickets to the performance of Messiah from the MSO.
Tags: melbourne symphony orchestra, music, music soothes the savage beast
Posted by Naomi on Oct 6, 2011 in
music,
Review 
Memory is a funny thing. It can play tricks on you. It can make you laugh, cry, reminisce about the good old days. For me, it is often linked to music, clothes, people. Some of my earliest childhood memories are linked to sound and music and for me there is always something a little magical about the rhythmic scratch of a needle on a record. Make that record Peter and The Wolf with Alec Guinness narrating and you have a huge chunk of my childhood right there.
So, when I was approached by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra PR and asked if I’d like to attend and review a performance for them I was more than happy to say yes. As luck would have it, performances of Peter and the Wolf were available during the school holidays. The Blue Eyed Boy and Green Eyed Girl had been on an excursion earlier in the year to see the MSO, and I had taken my class to a performance as well. Â But Peter and the Wolf, that was something my children had not heard live, and both of them were happy to come along with me. Music feeds the soul, inspires the imagination and evokes emotion, I can not begin to think of a world without it. Live music is no exception. Add into the mix a bit of nostalgia, a dark, inspired film and you have the makings of a great afternoon out.
Now, in my childhood world, Peter and The Wolf comes with narrative. This version did not. It did, however come with a stop-motion animation from BAFTA winning director Suzie Templeton. The performance was held at ACMI with the film screening while the orchestra played. The interpretation of the story had a modern edge, and was, it has to be said, dark and a little confronting to begin with, especially I would imagine for younger audience members. For my Green Eyed Girl, it was a winner. She of the Coraline and Nightmare before Christmas ilk.
What I love about the MSO Classic Kids concerts is the interaction. Having been an audience member as a parent and a teacher, seeing the conductor and musicians interact with the children in the audience is fantastic. Children respond well to being able to have their say, it’s a great way to engage a young audience and make them feel like they are a part of the performance. It also lets the children know they are valued and keeps things relaxed. What I really like is that the conductor and musicians do not take the children for fools, they are respectful and responsive, there is warmth and that, I’d say goes a long way towards children embracing music.
The MSO has a number of children’s performances left this year. If you are in Melbourne, and have the time free, it’s well worth it. Keep an eye on the website for next years performances too.
Disclosure: I received tickets to Peter and The Wolf for myself and my children from the MSO.
Tags: melbourne symphony orchestra, music soothes the savage beast, peter and the wolf
