Thomas and Friends Live on Stage

Adelaide Entertainment Centre
20 October 2009 - 1pm



Ok - I know my trend for loving all the kiddy shows is becoming quite alarming, but honestly when you go to a show and watch the innocent faces of children, and see how truly fascinated they are with what is before their eyes it is hard to not enjoy it with them.
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That is what I was faced with today - a four year old who got to see one of his most favourite characters coming to life before him. Honestly when Thomas the Tank first made his 'peep peep' whistle sound, a light was triggered in my little boys face.
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Thomas And Friends Live on Stage was a relatively simple production with a few background screen changes, sound effects, songs and dance - and most importantly TRAINS :-) The favourites were all there, Thomas, Percy, Gordon and James. The crew sang the songs from the Thomas television series so the children all related well to what was going on stage.
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The story was typical 'Thomas' with the little engines ignoring the Fat Controllers (or Sir Topham Hat) instructions and therefore creating confusion on the island of Sodor. Of course as per usual, even though Thomas was generally the cause of the problems, it is he that saves the day and once again becomes a 'very useful engine'.
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Despite the simplicity of the script, this show was extremely entertaining, for young and old and well worth seeing. If you have a child who loves trains then I would recommend without a doubt this show.
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The merchandise available was generally reasonable and actually the range was very limited, which when you have children is a definate benefit so they don't spent hours umming and ahhhhing over what they want to waste their money on.
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We ended up wasting our money on a spinning light that cost $20 - a bit rich and as with all these shows, the production know that all the kids want them when they see the other kids inside in the dark with them.

Black Eyed Peas

Adelaide Entertainment Centre

October 10 2009 - 7:30pm

Another big event for the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and how exciting that over 8000 people packed in considering the 'Parklife 09' concert was being held at the same time in Botanic Park.

I was in the General Admission section, and perhaps should have got to the venue a little earlier, because I was probably about 10 people back from the stage. Those who know me well know that I generally like to be as close to the stage as possible - just figure I want to get my moneys worth and see the bands up close.

Well there always have to be a support act, and I guess you play to lottery to see if they are any good. 'LMFAO', was the support, I have never heard of them before and hope to never see them again - what a load of rubbish, maybe I am just getting old, but I honestly could not get into this group. Maybe it was the pants around the knees or really bad lyrics to their songs - I am not sure, but wont waste anymore blog space talking about them.

The Black Eyed Peas came on around about 8:30pm and from the moment they stepped out on stage, everyone knew this was going to be something special. With Laser lights, costumes, dancers and a terrific stage set up to keep the audience intrigued and ready to party.

The Peas started with 'Get Retarded' and played all their big hits like 'Where is the Love', 'This Generation' and 'My Hump' and of course ending the night in encore with 'Boom Boom Pow' and 'I got a feeling'. One highlight was that Fergie, Will i am, Taboo and Apl.de.ap while performing great as a group, all had a chance to perform some of their solo ventures.

While I enjoyed it all some highlights was Fergie performing her huge hits such as 'Big Girls Don't Cry' and mixed up version of all her songs from her 'Duchess' Album including 'Glamorous' and 'Fergalicious'.

Another highlight was Will.i.am playing the role of D.J. and doing music mixes with songs from artists such as Nirvana, Michael Jackson and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. He performed for probably about 20 minutes alone and I can honestly say that from where I was standing that everyone was dancing and enjoying every minute.

The Peas were fantastic, they even had all the people in the seated seats up stairs standing in their seats, dancing and enjoying every minute of the show - (I went to the Pink concert and that didn't even happen for her)!

I left the concert feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, course in the throat - I think all indicative of what you should feel after a good rock/Dance concert. Well done guys come back to Australia again soon

Boom Crash Opera

with Throwaways and Fake Reality

Louisiana Tavern - Elizabeth

Friday 11 September 2009

When I heard that Boom Crash Opera was going to do some reunion shows, I thought they would be great to see and would help me to relive my 1980's and 90's experiences!

I was really surprised however when I heard that instead of the usual venues such as the Governor Hindmarsh, that at this stage their only gig in South Australia was at the Louisiana Tavern at the Elizabeth Shopping Centre. I did a bit of research and saw that the tickets were only $20 so thought - 'Hey why the hell not!'.

Tickets said that doors open at 8pm so I had no idea how long I would be waiting for any of the bands to come on - my first impression of the Tavern was that it was so small and would never be able to hold a decent crowd or sound for that matter, but after the dinner tables were removed I was quite surprised at how many people fitted in.

The first support band that came on at about 9pm was surprisingly a bunch of kids that formed the group 'Fake Reality', at first I thought that they were maybe doing a sound check but then they jumped into their performance, and at first there was some amusement from the crowd at a bunch of kids on stage, but the boys really worked the crowd and I think the atmosphere became disbelief that kids so young could be so good.

The ages of the boys were apparently about 15, but they showed maturity and professionalism of a band that has played together for years. The boys played mostly cover songs, but even came out with one of their own written pieces which was really good! It is just an assumption, but I don't think I have seen the last of this band and wish them luck for their future successes.

The next band to perform was 'The Throwaways', these guys were really entertaining, and played music like Pearl Jam and Tenacious D, they had the audience singing and dancing with them and really was a great warm up to get the patrons wanting more for when the main act was to come on.

Boom Crash Opera came on stage at nearly midnight, I must be getting really old but by this stage I was getting really tired and my feet were killing me - I guess one disadvantage of a smaller venue is that there was no where to sit unless you wanted to go outside.

Fronted by Dale Ryder the guys launched into some of their greatest hits, such as 'Best Things', 'Gimme', 'Get Out of the House' and 'Onion Skin'. As a band they were great and everyone that attended had a great time.

Not that it affected the performance too much but Dale Ryder the lead singer really did appear to be high on little more than life for this show, he did appear a little disorientated when it came to talking to the audience between songs. I guess this was easily forgiven though because he sang the songs brilliantly and has an amazing voice.

The performance by the band was very enjoyable and was a reminder of the great songs they released probably two decades ago!

PINK
Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Monday, 10 August 2009 7:30pm


Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow - I am lost for words honestly at how much of a performance this show was. Some performers do concerts, this show performed by Pink was a full on stage production that had everything.

There was trapeze, dancing, singing, and more costume changes than what there was in the latest 'Sex In the City Movie'! She sang just about all of her recent hits as well as quite a few of her old ones. She sang some covers such as 'Highway to Hell', a provocative version of 'I touch Myself' and an exciting version of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' that had all of the audience singing.

Alesha Moore aka PINK, got off the stage and into the audience to give young fans hugs, she signed autographs, accepted gifts and generally seemed to have fun interacting and teasing the audience. I have been to many concerts and have not seen a performer give this much attention to the people that buy their albums.

From what I have heard she is doing over 30 shows Australia wide, and holds a record of performing to six sell out shows in Adelaide. I am told that over 9000 people have attended each of her performances and honestly from what I saw, it is no wonder why.

I have heard from friends that it appears that the Pink may not have done some of the gymnastics and trapeze that she normally does in her concerts at this show, and one of her dancers took the trapeze at the time that Pink would normally do it - but honestly I do not care, doing everything that she does must be completely physically and mentally draining, and even though she did not do some of 'her tricks', I have not left the concert feeling disappointed in the slightest.

Pink has left me begging for more, if she ever comes back to Adelaide in the future, ill be there begging for more, and in the meantime, I think I will be buying one of her DVDs as a reminder of the fun I had at this concert. Pink is absolutely brilliant, and I would recommend her shows to anyone - even an mediocre fan would enjoy this performance - GO SEE HER, SHE IS AMAZING!!!

I have posted some more photos on my facebook profile, so feel free to check them out at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=101081&id=667346917&l=614d7501f2

The Jungle Book - A Musical Tale

Barossa Arts and Convention Centre

Wednesday 5th August 11:00am

Well as promised, I bought tickets to take my son to see the Jungle Book show and I must say this time I was quite disappointed. Nothing wrong with the theatre, I am still impressed by that, but the performance itself was a bit of a let down.

When I saw Jungle book advertised, my thought was that it would contain most of the characters from the original story by Rudyard Kipling. Instead we got three characters Baloo the Bear, Mowgli, and Tabaqui the Jackal. There was no Bagheera the panther, the tiger Shere Khan or snakes monkeys or other characters of any sort.

The play told the story of Mowgli returning to the jungle from the city to meet up with Baloo who in turn wanted to go to the city to becoming a singing bear tourist attraction. I am sorry, but the scripting of Baloo was for him to try and be funny and sing and make the children laugh, but my experience was that they were all just bored and took more joy from the Jackal that only made brief appearances.

Most of the children that attended the performance were from school excursions from the local schools in the area, and really by the end of the performance the teachers were trying to control the children who were starting to become roudy. The highlight for most of the kids was when Mowgli threw out into the audience some stuffed snakes with the threat of them being venomous - the down point was the kids having to give them back as quick as they came.

Some may have enjoyed this show, but on this occasion, I am sorry to say it was money for a ticket that I wish I did not bother to spending.

Time Warp

A Musical Tribute to the Rocky Horror Show

Barossa Arts & Convention Centre, Tanunda

Saturday 25th July - 8:00pm

I have never attended a function at the Barossa Arts and Convention Centre before and was a little worried at what I might be getting myself into, but I can happily say that I was more than impressed by the facilities and appearance of the theatre. Despite the freezing cold of the weather outside, it was a modern and comfortable theatre and held well the sound and lights of this performance.

Ill let you in on a little secret about myself, I am a huge 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' fan and would not be able to sit through any silly amature production of someone just singing the songs. This production far exceeded my expectations on what a tribute show should be! I was a little miffed when I heard that Adelaide was not on the touring schedule of the actual 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' current national tour, and when I came across an advert listed on www.my247.com.au for the 'Time Warp' tribute show, I thought "What the hell I'll give it a go!"

Well here is my review - I loved every second of this show, I laughed, I sang and I danced. The cast playing the characters embraced their roles and looked like they were enjoying bringing this show to the audience. This show is only touring regional South Australia, and after leaving Tanunda, they are travelling to Port Lincoln, Whyalla, Port Pirie and Noarlunga. I really believe this performance could have easily been marketed to central city locations and I am confident that with appropriate marketing, it could easily sell out quite a number of shows.

All of the hits from the original production were performed such as - 'Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch-Me', 'Dammit Janet', 'Time Warp', and 'Science Fiction'. The audience did their bit to participate with all of the usual props and costumes and the characters interacted fabulously with the audience to keep everyone entertained and laughing the whole way through the show.

My only gripe of the performance (and it is only a small one) is that the lady selling merchandise told me that the cast would come out after the performance to do photographs for $5 each - I guess this was not my lucky night because alas I waited and no performers appeared. I would of happily paid more than this for a few photos of my friends and myself in some cast photos - this could definately be a money spinner for future shows if production considered this.

At the end of the show they mentioned that the next production their production company (Event Theatre Australia) was presenting was 'Grease' and I will definately be keeping a watch out for when this comes. I will also be now be keeping check of the upcoming shows at the Convention Centre in Tanunda and may actually purchase some tickets for 'Jungle Book' which is advertised and being shown in August - stay tuned for upcoming blogs about this!!!

Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends

National Railway Museum

Lipson Street, Port Adelaide

Sunday 19th July 2009

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It is school holidays and what do you do in Adelaide to amuse the children? Well taking into consideration that we have no theme parks as such in the state, you save up lots of pennies and take the kids to the train museum. They have put on a special 'Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends' display to try and cash in on the parents and carers home with their children.

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I have been to the train museum a number of times and find it an entertaining day with my son - he is of course train obsessed so it more than satisfies him every visit we make. I do however have a problem with the cost associated by parents just for a 'Thomas' face to be put on a train. My cost for the day was:

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$18 x 2 per Adult entry fee

$2 x 10 for train rides

$4 x 2 for cup of coffee

$15 for 'Toby' train upon exiting

$1 x 2 for hand made badges

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Plus other food bits to spend throughout the day - I easily spent over $100, on what should normally be a fairly cheap day out. I don't normally complain about costs and I appreciate that advertising and extra staff would mean that the National Railway Museum would have to recoup some of their costs, but seriously, make it a good day out for all - yes charge an entrance fee, that is expected, but don't charge for the train rides, kids are so excited about going on them, make the experience enjoyable for all.

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Ok, I have that off my chest and will continue to point out that despite costs, we did enjoy ourselves through out the day, Sir Topham Hat was available to answer an abundance of questions by my 3 year old son, there were live performances available - I believe a puppet show called dancing monkeys and the general atmosphere was enjoyable.

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Normally most of the trains are open for people to climb on, but today for some reason they were closed and were only for enjoying from afar, which was also a little disappointing.

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This is an annual event, I believe held every July school holidays. My advice would be to give the school holidays Thomas event a miss and just go to the train museum on a normal weekend - there will be less crowds, the train rides will be free, you can go in and view more trains and you will save bucket loads of cash!

Something on Saturday 2009

Presents Peter Pan

by Australian Classical Youth Ballet

Saturday 4th July 2009 - 12:00pm

Her Majesty's Theatre

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During the colder months from May to September the Festival Theatre has sponsored some events to keep children amused on Saturdays!

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Each event is very reasonably priced with this Peter Pan show only being $10 per person, so $20 for my son and I to take a little outing and to help stimulate his artistic side is money well spent if you ask me!

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The total cast for this production must have exceeded over 50 dancers/performers, and the costumes and stage set up far exceeded my expectation for a once off budget show. We sat in the Dress Circle section of Her Majesty's Theatre, and they were great seats. I normally go for the stalls, however because this is a fairly small theatre the seats were perfect and we had a great view of the entire stage and cast.

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The performers did not have any script to learn, they told the story of Peter Pan through dance and from the narration of Brenton Whittle and the Book Worm. It was performed wonderfully, and had enough action to keep my 4 year old amused and entertained. There were a few dance scenes that maybe went a little too long and kind of lost his attention a little bit - notably the Indian dance scene, it was good at first and I enjoyed it, but to a child went a little too long.

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There is a different show on every week and various locations throughout Adelaide, so for a cheap and entertaining outing for your family, check out the following website for information to future shows:

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http://www.bass.net.au/events/database/SOS2009/

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Scooby-Doo in Stage fright - Live On Stage

Her Majesty's Theatre

Saturday 23 May 2009 - 1:00pm

A classic cartoon turned stage production - well bring it on and bring more of it!!!!

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Her Majesty's Theatre was a great venue for this performance, all of the kids were able to be close enough to the stage to see their favourite cartoon characters and all close enough together to make for a very loud show! My son is nearly 4 years old and had a great time at this show, he did at times get a little scared by the ghost but after some reassurement continued to laugh and enjoy every minute of the performance.

The 'Mystery Inc' team teamed up to find out and solve the mystery of a supernatural specter who was creating havoc at Daphne's uncles old Clawhammer Movie Studio. The scooby gang (who for some reason was missing Fred) went hunting for clues on the set of a scary movie......
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Of course in traditional Scooby Doo style there were lots of laughs as the main characters of Scooby and Shaggy fell and fumbled there way around trying to solve the ghost mystery.
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This was lovely yet simple performance which was enjoyed by children and adults of all ages!
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I know it is generally the same for all children's shows, but my only gripe was the cost of merchandise. I wanted to buy my son a Scooby Doo toy but at $50 each - I thought this was way too much - think Ill now be looking in stores or on eBay to buy one at a much cheaper price! Not to be a bad parent, I bought him a light up Scooby wand which set me back $15 and a T-shirt which cost $20.
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I did find online a link to a preview of the show on 'You Tube' so have a look, and if the show if touring near you, I can say my nearly 4 year old recommends it!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bq2pTsSCzA

Phantom of the Opera

Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Wednesday 20 May 2009 - 2pm

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Well what a treat, before we arrived at this performance we were told that because it was a matinee performance that the main characters were to be played by the understudies, so you can imagine my surprise when the Phantom appeared and it was the amazing 'Anthony Warlow'. The voice on that man is amazing and you could see that the role of 'Phantom' he has definitely made his own. I believe that Anthony Warlow is Australia's original 'Phantom' and has reprised his role after a successful battle with cancer (in his shoes it was previously 'Rob Guest' who died last year during his role as the Wizard of Oz in the production 'Wicked').

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Ana Marina played the role of Christine and Alexander Lewis plays the charming, Raoul. Both actors bought amazing talent as did strong cast which I believe consisted of a lot of local 'Adelaidian' talent.

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During interval I did hear a lot of people complaining about the venue and suggested that the Festival Theatre would have been a far better choice. I do however disagree, because if Adelaide is ever going to start pulling these types of shows, then it does need to be in a venue that can have an audience of more than 1500 patrons at a time. I was not sitting at the front, and also had people sitting in front of me, I was still able to see the stage, the faces of characters, and the amazing details on the costumes. I do feel that there are some South Australians stuck in past frame of mind and need to move past the idea that the Festival Theatre is the only place for a live theatrical performance to be held.

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That being said the Phantom of the Opera performance was refreshing and definitely what this state needed! I believe that it has been booked for over 20 shows which is great effort!

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My highlight of the show would have to be the masquerade ball, where the costumes and stage setting were absolutely amazing. The large stair case going up through the centre of the stage was breath taking.

Model Train Show

Railshow 2009
Golden Grove Recreation and Arts Centre

17-19 April 2009

Well what do you do on a Lazy Sunday afternoon to entertain a train fanatical 3 year old, you take them to an advertised Model Train Show!

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Presented by the 'S.A. Railway Modellers Association Inc', this was a display of the hard work of some dedicated model train enthusiasts. The cost to get into the show was $15 per family with part proceeds going to St John Ambulance.

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The trains that were on display had amazing attention to detail. My favourite which was the Kangaroo and Cockatoo Railway. This display had hand carved people and really did resemble a small town and its logging operation. It was obvious that the builder of this model railway had spent many many hours working out the fine detail of the town and its features.

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Much to the delight of my 3 year old, and to many other children, that among the exhibits was more than one 'Thomas the Tank' model train sets. Each with working trains and a good selection of the Thomas characters. Courtesy of my son, I think we spent at least an hour in front of the Thomas models, and was dragged too and fro from display to display, but always back to Thomas!

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There were approximately 12 different Model Trains on display, I guess I was hoping for a little more than what there was, but it was still enough to keep a child entertained. There are a number of factors that I could think of that would keep model train owners away and that being that the Models were on display in a small venue, and the fact that the exhibitors were using their own time and risking their Models to the trust of many little (and sometimes big) enquiring hands. I think one thing lacking from the event as well was the lack of a major sponsor of the show. Perhaps if the show had sponsorship support from radio stations or television channels, this would help with advertising and promoting the event.

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I am not complaining, this was a cheap event and was a good way to spend an afternoon, but I really feel that with some more support of more of the members of the SA Railway Modellers Association that this show could be huge, and a great draw card to families with little boys (or girls) obsessed by trains and tourists within the state! If the promoters were able to secure perhaps even just 5-10 more model train displays, particularly of the same amazing attention to detail as the ones on display, it could be a show not to be missed - and could even compete on a national scale.

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The program lists that the next exhibition will be held on the June 2009 Long weekend, and then also at the Royal Adelaide Show, so keep a look out for model train displays near you.