MAYORAL FORUM ON ARTS & CULTURE
Thursday 5 September
Fortune Theatre
7:00pm
Dunedin arts advocacy group Transforming Dunedin invites the public to attend a Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture to be held in the lead up to the local government elections.
The Forum will focus on the role and future of arts and culture in Dunedin. Organisers believe this is the first Mayoral Forum with a focus on arts and culture to be held in Dunedin.
Transforming Dunedin spokesperson Paul Smith said Dunedin has a proud history as a city that punches above its weight in the arts but there is very little recognition of this when it comes to electing our representatives.
"Candidates need to understand what the arts and cultural sectors are and what it can do for Dunedin in terms of quality of life and future economic development," said Smith.
"This is an opportunity for people to gauge the level of support candidates have for arts and culture and to put their questions or concerns to them.”
"With an Arts and Culture Strategy undergoing development by the Dunedin City Council the Mayoral Forum is an opportunity for candidates to front up to the community and hear their concerns and aspirations for the future," said Smith.
"Many of these issues fly below the radar and the Forum is a chance to have an open dialogue about the future role arts and culture could play in the life of Dunedin," said Smith
Transforming Dunedin was established in 2012 with the aim of promoting the development of Dunedin's creative and cultural communities. The Forum event is presented in partnership with the Fortune Theatre and Strawberry Sound.
The Forum, which will be chaired by Otago Festival of the Arts Director Nicholas McBryde, will be held at the Fortune Theatre on Thursday 5 September with doors and bar open from 7:00pm and the Forum starting at 7:30pm sharp.
CONTACT
Paul Smith, ,
OR
Barbara Power, ,
Transforming Dunedin website:
Transforming Dunedin Facebook page:
Transforming Dunedin on Twitter:
Mayoral Forum Facebook event:
Dunedin Performance Journal
Altar Boyz Review
This 27 year old female was unashamedly delighted with tonight’s performance of Altar Boyz. This could be because it spoke to the pre-pubescent school girl boy-band lover in me: It’s not often that I, with those sitting close to me, reminisce about dancing to Backstreet Boys as it we faithfully sing along to the pre-show music. However, with almost a standing ovation at the end, and all types of audience member (male, female, young, old, big, small yadda yadda yadda) grooving and smiling along with the Boyz, I suggest that the Altar Boyz, with their catchy tunes and contagious smiles will warm a little part of all of us.
REVISIT, ENJOY, CELEBRATE, SHAMELESSLY LAUGH AT, OR CONFESS YOUR LOVE OF, BOY BANDS
Reviewed by Emily Duncan, 4 Aug 2013 for Theatreview
When I attended form 2 camp at Waianakarua back in the very early 1990s, the girl with the greatest kudos was the one who brought along speakers and plentiful supplies of batteries so that we could all listen to the music from her Sony Walkman. The cassette getting the most play that year was by boy band de jour, New Kids on the Block.
The ballads crooned us off to sleep in our tents at night, while the essentially impotent street-fighting jeers of ‘Hangin' Tough' spurred on our day-tramp prep in the morning. In hindsight, the Knight brothers and their posse were possibly as deluded about the potential of their musical longevity as we were, but that didn't stop us from having ardent adolescent faith in their ability.
Faith is the underpinning message in Altar Boyz, which is having its New Zealand premiere at the Fortune Theatre. The Altar Boyz exemplify the boy band model, which is as old as pop music itself. They are five young men who fit five clear types: the heartthrob wholesome leader, the swarthy Latino, the troubled and mildly dangerous strayer, the ‘intellect', and the charmer whose sexual orientation seems somewhat dubious – if you're still a tweenie.
Read more...
Harmony and discord
By Charmian Smith on Thu, 1 Aug 2013 for Otago Daily Times
Having the world one screaming fan at a time, the Altar Boyz spread irreverent humour in a satire on boy bands. Charmian Smith reports.
A pop concert by a Christian boy band may sound unpromising as a play but, Altar Boyz was one of the longest running Off-Broadway shows.
A satire on boy bands and pop culture in the form of a live concert - the last in the struggling band's ''Raise the Praise'' world tour, it is sophisticatedly put together, witty and funny, says director Shane Anthony. The New Zealand premiere opens at the Fortune Theatre on Saturday.
''It's a story told in a really different way, about faith and friendship and also finding humour, and tapping into archetypes we all acknowledge in pop culture,'' he says. Read more...
‘Altar Boyz’ coup for theatre
Aug 1, 2013 by Brenda Harwood for The Star
Music, laughter and plenty of soul combine in the Fortune Theatre’s latest production, Altar Boyz, which opens
this weekend.
Based on a book by Kevin Del Aguila, with music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker, the
show premiered in New York and enjoyed a five year Off-broadway run.
Altar Boyz is a highoctane musical comedy, which tells the story of five smalltown boys trying to save the world
one screaming fan at the time.
The struggling Christian boy band from Greenville, Ohio, are on a ‘‘Raise the Praise’’ United States tour and are
determined to make the big time. When fate takes them to New York, do the Boyz take a bite out of the forbidden
apple? Read More...
