Cate Blanchett and her husband
Andrew Upton are one of the great theatre success stories. Not only has their marriage remained strong but their ability to work together has been a spectacular success for the
Sydney Theatre Company.
With two major plays under their belts-
A Streetcar Named Desire and
Uncle Vanya, both of which wowed audiences in Australia and the USA where hard bitten critics on the
Washington Post and the
New York Times heaped praise upon the productions, the pair have also attracted major sponsors to the struggling theatre company including fashion designer
Giorgio Armani.
They have just announced the 2012 season and there are some surprises in store with some old favourites re-surfacing including
Dylan Thomas's
Under Milkwood opening in May with the mellifluous tones of actor
Jack Thompson.
 |
| Jacqueline McKenzie |
In January
Peter Evans presents a bold new production of
George Bernard Shaw’s enduring classic of wicked wordplay
Pygmalion with
Jessica Marais playing Eliza Doolittle.
Two of Australia’s most respected actors,
Pamela Rabe and
Hugo Weaving ( who acted in Uncle Vanya) play the deliciously deviant Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont in
Les Liaisons Dangereuses while the Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre's
Sex With Strangers opens in September with
Jacqueline McKenzie.
You can book tickets
here.
Cate and Andrew also
spoke to Richard Glover on the ABC's Drivetime show about their theatre work and the recent attacks upon Cate when she openly backed a Climate Change tax. Cate also revealed her first acting inspiration was seeing the great Melbourne stage actor
Frank Thring (
left) on stage and thought that if she could get away with playing
Bob Dylan, she thought she could play Thring in a biopic about his life.
Irreverent/ Irrelevant facts :
# The
Shuttle attended the premiere of
Don't Look Now and sat behind Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton. They chatted all the way through the film until Cate appeared on screen.
# Frank Thring's father
Frank W.Thring invented the clapperboard, still used in film making today.
# Frank Thring appeared in numerous Australian movies including
Ned Kelly (1970),
Skippy (1968) and
Mad Max (1985) but was in demand for Hollywood costume epics where he acted in
El Cid, The Vikings,
Hercules Returns, King Of Kings where plays Herod and
Ben Hur where he played Pontius Pilate.
Here is a clip recorded not long before Frank died in 1994 with him at his best :
Nicole Kidman will be jetting into Sydney for this year's ACCTA Awards next Wednesday evening. She'll be joined by Vance Joy and Katie Noonan who will perform alongside a star-studded line-up of presenters and guests, including nominees Simon Baker, Deborah Mailman and Bruce Beresford.
