What the world needs now..

In an event organised by stage star Trevor Ashley at the Sydney Town Hall, fellow thespians lined up to appear in a concert to aid the victims of the terrible Orlando shootings :  From Sydney With Love – A Concert for Orlando. Among the performers :  Magda Szubanski, Joel Creasey, Bob Downe, Paul Capsis, iOTA, Emma Matthews, Simon Burke and Virginia Gay.
Her is the finale What The World Needs Now.

Devil's Playground returns

Jack Thompson plays The Cardinal in Devil's Playground

stars of the show: Nicole Shostak, Jarin Towney, Andrew McFarlane, Morgana Davies, Don Hany, Simon Burke

Devil's Playground is a new psychological thriller & sequel to the 1976 Tom Keneally & Fred Schepsi film.The series begins in 1988 and features the character from the original film now grown up, (played again by Simon Burke) a secular confessor to the Catholic clergy who becomes entangled in political and theological intrigue. It stars Jack Thompson, John Noble & Toni Collette. We popped along to the Henrietta Supper Club in Kings Cross to meet and dine with the cast.

Belvoir Celebrates it's Original Shareholders

above : Geoffrey Rush  Belvoir's original Artistic Director  Neil Armfield and the current one Ralph Myers

He may be  Hollywood Royalty these days but actor Georfrey Rush still finds time to assist local theatre and most especially at the Belvoir Street Theatre in Surry Hills where Rush got his start. Geoffrey was the MC for a special performance on Sunday for around a hundred Belvoir benefactors and original shareholders who clubbed together 30 years ago to get the theatre up and running. After a show that included a number of acts from early performers (one couldn't make it- superstar Mel Gibson) the crew walked down the road to the Belvoir's rehearsal space for a party.

actors at the Belvoir bash : Mike McLeish Julie McGregor and Simon Burke

Movie Stars at premiers

Toni Collette attended the premier of her new film The Way Way Back at the Sydney Film Festival tonight at the State Theatre.
Collette has been spotted around Darlinghurst and Paddington in the past few days during filming of The Devils Playground, the film that picks up where Fred Schepisi's 1976 film left off.
 From the original book by Tom Keneally, the tale is set 35 years later in the 1980s and also stars Simon Burke who starred as a schoolboy in the original Catholic guilt laden true story based on Keneally's life. Simon was on hand at the premier tonight to support Toni while on the other side of town Collette's co-star Steve Carell attended the premier of Crazy Stupid Love.

                                           

The Vanishing Lady

 As the world's richest woman Gina Rinehart launched her book Northern Australia and Then Some
yesterday by flying from city to city in her private jet ( banning the media except for the Ten Network which by co-incidence, she owns) our attention is drawn to a snap ( above left ) taken some time ago on board that plane.
The photo that ran in The Australian newspaper, is of Perth barrister Lloyd Rayney and his late wife Corryn Rayney. Rayney was acquitted of Corryn's murder earlier this month. Gina Rinehart had  been carefully airbrushed out of the snap as the original on the right of it shows.

But the Shuttle has been caught out in similar fashion when we published an agency supplied photo (above left) of actor Simon Burke, pop impresario John Reid and the late music identity Peter Ikin. French police are  investigating the circumstances of Ikin's death.
Now we have the original photo as shown above right. The snap includes Ikin's French husband Alexandre Despallières, a suspect in Ikin's death, carefully airbrushed out.
The creepy mysteries of Photoshop. You can be erased from history!

"The Talented M. Despallières"

Alexandre Despallières

Bloomberg Businessweek has an update on the man being investigated in the death of the popular Australian music identity, former Sydneysider Peter Ikin.

Frenchman Alexandre Despallières and Ikin wed (left) in a civil wedding in 2008 after re-igniting a love affair from a decade previously. In a month, Ikin was dead after a fall down a flight of stairs in a Paris hotel. His body was quickly cremated and his ashes scattered in a ceremony in a French cemetery in front of Ikin's music industry friends Elton John and John Reid and the actor Simon Burke.

 Rock manager John Reid became suspicious about the circumstances surrounding Ikin's death, especially after Despallières was found guilty of forging Ikin's will leaving all his assets to himself. Despallières was arrested and has just been released from a Paris jail while investigations continue.

Simon Burke,John Reid & Ikin

The journalist Brad Stone at Bloomberg who wrote up the latest news on Despallières had previous dealings with the man and the story is a must read. He has interviewed Alexandre Despallières at length and relates a fascinating tale.....click here.



Here is the latest Youtube video featuring Alexandre Despallières in Los Angeles: