Welcome to the Season

And now for Act 2! The curtain rises on 10 more excellent theatre productions between June and November 2003.
Act 2 returns us to the Catholic school yard in Sydney Theatre Company's The Christian Brothers; then gives us a taste of adult infidelity in The Last of the Red Hot Lovers; before treating us to the talents of the all singing, all dancing Ballarat Lyric Theatre's local cast performing the favourite Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
We go from the traditional Italian commedia dell'arte style of theatre with Carlo Goldini's The Servant of Two Masters produced by the Bell Shakespeare Company; to an Aussie rules football game in Reserved Seating Only; and then to the balletic delights of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.
The Cello quartet I Cellisti comes before the high C's of opera in the Herald Sun Aria Semi-Final and the prize winning entries in the 2003 Royal South Street Competitions Showcase.
Our Season finishes with a special concert performance by the internationally renowned cabaret act Combo Fiasco.
It's all there for you to enjoy in Act 2. Purchase 5 shows in Act 2 to qualify for the Season package discount. Plus there's a special offer for tickets to Pinocchio on 19 July.
Bring the children, bring the grandchildren or treat yourself to this magical fairy tale.

Thank you to all the Media and Ballarat Local Sponsors of the Act 2 Her Majesty's 2003 Theatre season. I look forward to your company at Her Majesty's Theatre for Act 2 of the 2003 Season.

Janice Haynes
Director, Her Majesty's Theatre

Sydney Theatre Company

The Christian Brothers by Ron Blair

Tuesday 10 June at 8pm

With Peter Carroll
Director John Bell
Design Laurence Eastwood
Lighting Design Brett Graham
Associate Director Jennifer Flowers

"Splendid...Triumphant" The Australian

"VIRTUOSO ACT is simply divine..Peter Carroll delivers a near-flawless performance as the divinely obedient taskmaster...Blair's play is funny, compassionate and truthful." Sydney Morning Herald

Peter Carroll revisits his brilliant portrayal of a man on a crusade for certainty but on the edge of a nervous breakdown in The Christian Brothers. In this stunning play for a single actor, playwright Ron Blair gives his devoted, overworked teaching Brother a well-thrashed chair, a strap, a blackboard and the audience as his pupils. Telescoped into one lesson, the Brother cajoles and bullies his pupils as he races through history, French, literature, physics and Christian doctrine, lurching from lesson to homily; from dire threats one minute to man-to-man worldly advice the next. This is a beautifully developed portrait of a man torn between loving and loathing his students.

Door Prices Adult $32 Conc $27 Child/Youth/Stud $18 Family $82

Season Prices Adult $28 Conc $24 Child/Youth/Stud $17.

Hit Productions

The Last of the Red Hot Lovers by Neil Simon

Tuesday 17 June at 8pm

Starring Max Gillies and Jacki Weaver
Director Jennifer Hagan
Designer Judith Cobb
Lighting Designer Rachel Burke

Two of Australia's most popular stars shine in this Neil Simon classic. Max Gillies plays Barney, happily married for twenty-three years to a wonderful, decent and loving wife. With the onset of middle age, Barney is faced with his own mortality and decides he needs a change, some adventure in his life. This leads him to the rather late decision to join the sexual revolution and have an affair! He takes advantage of the fact that his mother's apartment is unoccupied during the day. Each of the three acts sees Barney bring a different woman to the apartment. Being a beginner at adultery, and with the vastly different personalities of the women to contend with, things go sadly wrong each time.

"The way I see things, life is both sad and funny. I can't imagine a comical situation that isn't at the same time also painful. I used to ask myself: What is a humorous situation? Now I ask: What is a sad situation and how can I tell it humorously?" Neil Simon

Door Prices Adult $32 Conc $37 Child/Youth/Stud $18 Family $82 Season Prices Adult $28 Conc $24 Child/Youth/Stud $17

Ballarat Lyric Theatre

Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Thursday 26 June - Saturday 28 June at 8pm
Tuesday 1 - Saturday 5 July at 8pm
Matinees: Saturday 28 June, Sunday 29 June & Saturday 5 July at 2pm
Season Night: Tuesday 1 July at 8pm

by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Words by Tim Rice
By arrangement with Warner/Chappell Music Exclusive representative of The Really Useful Group Limited , London
Director & choral director: Andy McCalman
Musical Director: Graeme Vendy
Choreographer: David Harford

Ballarat Lyric Theatre proudly brings Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's fun filled musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to Her Majesty's in 2003. A lively and colourful journey through ancient Egypt, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat follows the rags to riches story of Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many colours. A wonderful story and enchanting score packed with hit songs including "Close Every Door to Me," "Go, Go, Go, Joseph" and "Any Dream Will Do" make this a dream of a show for all the family.

Door Prices Adult $28 Conc $23 Child $18 Family $74
Season Prices Adult $26 Conc $21 Child/Stud $16

Bell Shakespeare Company

The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni
Director John Bell

Monday 21 July at 8pm

Comedy at its broadest and liveliest, Bell Shakespeare presents Carlo Goldoni's masterpiece The Servant Of Two Masters - the crowning glory of Commedia del'Arte tradition that so influenced Shakespeare's comedies and Western theatrics. Truffaldino couldn't be happier with his change of circumstance balancing two jobs and earning double the wage. But his 'masters' turn out to be separated lovers on the run staying at the same inn.

With one disguised as a man, the wily Truffaldino tries to handle the chaos. Hoop-la and hilarity take hold as The Servant Of Two Masters becomes a rough and tumble, lightening paced world of street theatre and strolling players, featuring the stunning physical comedic talent of Darren Gilshenan in the role of Truffaldino.

Very much in the style of The Taming Of The Shrew, this comedy of 18th Century love gone wrong and mistaken identity in romantic Venice is an exhilarating experience for all audiences.

Door Prices Adult $32 Conc $27 Child/Youth/Stud $18 Family $82 Season Prices Adult $28 Conc $24 Child/Youth/Stud $17

Boxing Day Productions

Reserved Seating Only
Adapted and Developed by David Paterson from a play by Peter B. Sonenstein

Sunday 27 July at 5pm

A story of life, love and the AFL This fun comedy is our great game viewed by an unlikely pair in the reserved section of a major football stadium. This action packed play features David Paterson, as the loud, burly football fan and a recently divorced football widow, Cecelia Specht, who has claimed her ex-husband's tickets as part of the settlement to watch the football for the first time.

As a footy "conscientious objector" she is blissfully unaware of the wonders of the game and instantly locks horns with her ex-husband's footy-mate who becomes her unexpected companion for the game. In a tightly composed study of our obsession with sport, they are a seemingly mismatched couple with little to offer each other. Or are they?

Reserved Seating Only brings the colour and controversy of football to the stage of Her Majesty's, along with a witty insight into the battle of the sexes set in the context of our national obsession with sport.

"This play is absolutely hilarious...hilarious and moving...one unexpected laugh after another." Alison Beckett, MCV

Door Prices Adult $24 Conc $21 Child/Youth/Stud $16 Family $60 Season Prices Adult $20 Conc $17 Child/Youth/Stud $ 14

The Australian Ballet presents The Dancers Company

The Nutcracker

Tuesday 29 & Wednesday 30 July at 8pm

choreography Leigh Rowles
music Piotr Tchaikovsky

Nutcracker -the gift of a dream

The Dancers Company presents a traditional Nutcracker in all its spectacle, splendour and vivacity. Featuring artists from The Australian Ballet, as well as Australia 's finest emerging dancers, this new production is a world of fantasy and enchantment.

Based on E.T.A. Hoffmann 's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King , the story unfolds as the magical and mystical Drosselmeyer arrives at a Family $ Christmas party. He gives Clara, a young girl, a Nutcracker doll. She is entranced by the gift and wishes to stay up all night playing with her new toy. Finally she falls asleep, and the realms of fantasy and reality blend to take her on a journey of fairy-tale proportions through adventures in lands filled with snow, sweets and flowers.

Don 't miss this magical production of one of the world's most popular ballets.

Door Prices Adult $39 Conc $30 Youth (U25) $25 Child (U17) $20 Season Prices Adult $35 Conc $30 Youth (U25) $25 Child (U17) $20

I Cellisti

Thursday 28 August at 8pm

"I Cellisti have crafted the beautiful sound of cello into a powerful repertoire of skill, precision and radiance." Kulcha

"Snazzy jazzy cello fellows" The Hills Gazette

"A lone cello is rich, mellow and sonorous. Combine four and you have the aural splendour that is I Cellisti." The Post Shigeru Komatso, Fotis Skordas, Tim South and Jon Tooby are four gifted musicians, all members of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

Together they form I Cellisti, Australia's only regular cello quartet. I Cellisti have performed together since 1994 and have crafted the rich and magical sounds of cello into a powerful repertoire of precision and radiance. Many of the works they perform have been arranged especially for this unique ensemble. For classical music lovers and for lovers of creativity the performance of Cellisti is a rare treat.

Door Prices: Adult: $30 Conc: $27 Child/Youth/Student: $18 Season Prices Adult: $26 Conc: $23 Child/Youth/Student: $17

Royal South Street Society

Thursday 18 September at 7.30pm

Her Majesty's is the venue for one of the highlights of the musical year in Ballarat, as sixteen semi-finalists in the prestigious Herald Sun Aria compete for a place in the Melbourne final. This is an opportunity to hear some of Australia's finest young singers performing at their best.

Door Prices Adult: $18 Conc: $15 Child/Youth/Student: $8
Season Prices Adult: $15 Conc: $12 Child/Youth/Student: $8

Picture: Lisa Anne Robinson, 2002 Herald Sun Aria Winner. Courtesy of N L Harvey & Sons Photographers.

Royal South Street Society

Sunday 2 November ar 7pm

A great night of entertainment is presented, as some of the finest acts in the Tattersalls Royal South Street 2003 Competitions come together for a fabulous variety concert. Music, song, dance and drama are all included

Door Prices Adult: $18 Conc: $15 Child/Youth/Student: $8
Season Prices Adult: $15 Conc: $12 Child/Youth/Student: $8

Combo Fiasco

Tuesday 11 November at 8pm

Tony McGill Vocals, piano
Charmaine Clements Vocals
Shaun Murphy Vocals, piano

"The trio's beautiful voices blend like a well mixed martini." -Time Out New York, November 1999

The distinct close-harmony, sound and humour of the international vocal sensation Combo Fiasco makes them one of the hottest cabaret acts in the world today. When Combo Fiasco burst on to the New York cabaret scene in 1998, they played to packed houses culminating in a performance on the NBC Today show.

They were then invited to open the New York Cabaret Convention, the first non-American act ever to be honoured in this way, and were hailed by the critics as the most exciting group to hit the New York cabaret scene in years.

They followed this triumphant performance with shows in Manhattan, Washington DC, and Miami and have subsequently performed each year in New York to critical acclaim. Combo Fiasco have been nominated for a MAC Award (Manhattan Association of Cabaret) as the best vocal group in New York City. Combo Fiasco have appeared at the Sydney Festival, Melbourne International Festival, Brisbane Arts Festival, Queensland Biennial Music Festival and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

They have collaborated with the Bell Shakespeare Company in For Whom the Bell Tolls and the Queensland Ballet in The Blue Angel Cabaret. Combo Fiasco have appeared in Concert with the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra and during the Sydney Olympic Games with the Sydney Allstars Bigband at club.news.

"Elegant, funny and ridiculously talented." The Age, Melbourne

Door Prices Adult $30 Conc $28 Child/Youth/Stud $17 Family $76 Season Prices Adult $26 Conc $22 Child/Youth/Stud $15

Garry Ginivan Attractions

Pinocchio
The Greatest Little Show on Earth!

Saturday 19 July at 2pm

A troupe of travelling players appear on the stage for this brilliant family treat. Based on Carlo Collodi's enduring tale of the puppet who wanted to be a real boy, this wonderful production, with actors playing all the well-known characters, including Pinocchio and Geppeto, will be crammed full of tuneful songs, action and story-telling. Suitable for all ages.

"entertainingly and stylishly played" The Age

"A winner by a very long nose...the best show I have ever seen" Herald Sun

Prices All tickets $12
If purchased with Season, all tickets $10