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Description
What The Critics Say
Performance History
Choreography & Concept
Graeme Murphy
Creative Associate
Janet Vernon
Music
Graeme Koehne
[commissioned score]
Set
Brian Thomson
Lighting
Damien Cooper
Costume
Kristian Fredrikson
Additional Music & Lyrics
Max Lambert / Linda Nagle
Dialogue
Linda Nagle / Paul Chubb
Scenario
Graeme Murphy /
Kristian Fredrikson
Musical Director
Michael Tyack
Music Supervisor
Max Lambert
Research
Frank van Straten
Duration
2.5 hours [incl. interval]
Ensemble
4 guest artists
35 dancers
Also featuring a 10-piece band
Description
There was a time when the Tivoli Circuit reigned supreme. This was the home of variety theatre - where dancers, acrobats, comedians and ventriloquists trod the boards and where unclad beauties stood immobile. From the 1890s until the last show in 1966, Tivoli theatres around Australia vibrated with theatrical magic.
In commemoration of Australia’s Centenary of Federation in 2001, The Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company joined forces for the first time to present an unforgettable celebration of the Tivoli Circuit. Tivoli is Graeme Murphy’s homage to this extraordinary period of variety theatre. Featuring 35 dancers from two of Australia’s most celebrated companies, guest artists and singers and a 10-piece band, Tivoli is a large-scale production which toured nationally in 2001. Due to an overwhelming audience response, Sydney Dance Company presented a return season in 2003 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney.
Interweaving backstage scenes with onstage acts, Graeme Murphy’s Tivoli succeeds in capturing the essence of ‘a night at the Tiv’ whilst also telling the story of the era. The story opens in 1906, when the main character, a starry-eyed Jack, lands a job as a stagehand. This marks the beginning of a life-long love affair with the theatre, and we watch as he works his way to the top in the midst of great change – two World Wars, the roaring 20s and the depression years, the topless follies of the 50s and finally the disastrous advent of television. Drawing upon authentic music and authentic acts from Tivoli productions, Tivoli captures the humour, glamour and magic of the era; and also features original songs written by Max Lambert and Linda Nagle, and an evocative orchestral score commissioned from Graeme Koehne. Set design is by Brian Thomson, costume design by Kristian Fredrikson and lighting design by Damien Cooper.
Tivoli received four Australian Dance Awards in 2002, for outstanding achievement in choreography – won by Greame Murphy, outstanding performance by a company, outstanding performance by an individual – won by guest artist Harry Haythorne, and outstanding performance in a stage musical – won by Tracey Carrodus.
There was a time when the Tivoli Circuit reigned supreme. This was the home of variety theatre - where dancers, acrobats, comedians and ventriloquists trod the boards and where unclad beauties stood immobile. From the 1890s until the last show in 1966, Tivoli theatres around Australia vibrated with theatrical magic.
In commemoration of Australia’s Centenary of Federation in 2001, The Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company joined forces for the first time to present an unforgettable celebration of the Tivoli Circuit. Tivoli is Graeme Murphy’s homage to this extraordinary period of variety theatre. Featuring 35 dancers from two of Australia’s most celebrated companies, guest artists and singers and a 10-piece band, Tivoli is a large-scale production which toured nationally in 2001. Due to an overwhelming audience response, Sydney Dance Company presented a return season in 2003 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney.
Interweaving backstage scenes with onstage acts, Graeme Murphy’s Tivoli succeeds in capturing the essence of ‘a night at the Tiv’ whilst also telling the story of the era. The story opens in 1906, when the main character, a starry-eyed Jack, lands a job as a stagehand. This marks the beginning of a life-long love affair with the theatre, and we watch as he works his way to the top in the midst of great change – two World Wars, the roaring 20s and the depression years, the topless follies of the 50s and finally the disastrous advent of television. Drawing upon authentic music and authentic acts from Tivoli productions, Tivoli captures the humour, glamour and magic of the era; and also features original songs written by Max Lambert and Linda Nagle, and an evocative orchestral score commissioned from Graeme Koehne. Set design is by Brian Thomson, costume design by Kristian Fredrikson and lighting design by Damien Cooper.
Tivoli received four Australian Dance Awards in 2002, for outstanding achievement in choreography – won by Greame Murphy, outstanding performance by a company, outstanding performance by an individual – won by guest artist Harry Haythorne, and outstanding performance in a stage musical – won by Tracey Carrodus.
Venues, Dates & Bookings
What The Critics Say
It is an evening of glamour, glitz, flesh, frills, feathers and escapism in an all-singing, all-dancing, affectionate tribute to the Tivoli circuit…Graeme Murphy repeatedly demonstrates his sense of theatre, deftly inserting sombre touches and lyrical moments to leaven the over-the-top extravagance.
HILARY CRAMPTON, THE AGE, MELBOURNE, 2001
Long gone but not forgotten, the fabulous Tivoli burst back into life this week with all its glamour, pizzazz, and belly laughs intact. Adored by theatre-goers for 70 years, done in by television and unknown by most people under 50, it returns not as a replica but as a spectacular, sumptuously dressed dance musical…A big favourite is a 1930s original in which three periwigged courtiers through Tracey Carrodus through the air…this death defying stuff sends the audience wild. There’s much more…all the dancers are incredible, achieving Murphy’s every creative challenge. Singers Linda Nagle and Michael Cormick are raunchy and suave in clever period songs by Max Lambert, Graeme Koehne and Nagle, while Michael Tyack and the Tivoli Orchestra get the period feel just right. So does designer Kristian Fredrikson’s hundreds of brilliant costumes…Any show that makes you feel this good shouldn’t be missed.
LEE CHRISTOFIS, THE AUSTRALIAN, 2001
If anyone needed a definition of theatrical magic, this evocation of the Tivoli era provides it. There is glamour and laughter…singing, dancing, acrobatic feats and some traditional tricks. Above all Tivoli has heart and a love of performing that reaches out to its audience.
JILL SYKES, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 2001
As the Tivoli compere might say, this is a class act. Choreographer Graeme Murphy has taken a low art form, vaudeville, and given it style by adding satire, pathos, a strong orchestral score, original songs and dance galore based on the high art form of ballet. It’s a sentimental tribute to the Tivoli vaudeville circuit and an affectionate reminder of who we were, and how we lived, in the first half of the 20th Century…Much praise should go to…the outrageously daring Tracey Carrodus, thrown around the stage by Josef Brown, Xue-Jun Wang and Simon Turner, as if she were a wisp of Tivoli tail feather...Thanks for the memories, Graeme.
VALERIE LAWSON, THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, 2001
No expenses have been spared…for this over-the-top taste of how theatre used to be.
STEPHANIE GLICKMAN, HERALD SUN, MELBOURNE, 2001
Tivoli is rich and rare... it has resonances on so many levels it’s like seeing a lifetime of theatre experiences packed into a single performance. Like the generations of Tivoli entertainment on which it is based, this combination of dance work, musical and variety show is extravagant in its range of performing elements and the production lavished on dressing them up.
JILL SYKES, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 2001
9/10: Sequins and feathers, top hats and tails, flamboyant gowns and cheeky bikinis: welcome to Tivoli, Graeme Murphy's gorgeously costumed dance musical celebrating the comedy, glamour and excitement of music hall…Murphy succeeds in making Tivoli’s past thrilling for today’s audiences.
JULIE HUFFER, SUN-HERALD, 2001
10 out of 10. Graeme Murphy has done for Tivoli what Baz Luhrmann did for Moulin Rouge, but with more time to savour the wit, dance, humour, variety, text, music, sets, costumes and beauty.
LARRY RUFFELL, THE CANBERRA TIMES, 2001
Performance History
18–30 May 2001
State Theatre, The Arts Centre
Melbourne, Australia
12–15 July 2001
Canberra Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre
Canberra, Australia
3–7 July 2001
Lyric Theatre, QPAC
Brisbane, Australia
15–27 June 2001
Capitol Theatre
Sydney, Australia
5–9 June 2001
Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Adelaide, Australia
18 Feb–16 Mar 2003
Capitol Theatre
Sydney, Australia
18–30 May 2001
State Theatre, The Arts Centre
Melbourne, Australia
12–15 July 2001
Canberra Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre
Canberra, Australia
3–7 July 2001
Lyric Theatre, QPAC
Brisbane, Australia
15–27 June 2001
Capitol Theatre
Sydney, Australia
5–9 June 2001
Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Adelaide, Australia
18 Feb–16 Mar 2003
Capitol Theatre
Sydney, Australia