There is not a household in Australia that is not familiar with Kylie or Dannii Minogue. Whether you love them or loathe them, they are two of Australia's biggest celebrities. But little is known about the other Minogue sister, Erin. The youngest sibling has often been overlooked and overshadowed when it comes to musical talent by her older sisters. Presented as part of Midsumma Festival, On A Night Like This: The Erin Minogue Experience explores the life of the Minogue sister who never existed, based on an entirely untrue story.
Lizzie Moore has been performing as Erin Minogue since 2014 when the show premiered at Adelaide Cabaret Festival but she's been a fan of the singers for a lot longer. "The
Minogues have been part of my life since I was little," she says. "I have strong
memories of my older sister dressed up as Dannii on Young Talent Time (me as Courtney
Compagnino), wearing a very cool oversized black jumper from Dannii's
K-Mart range, driving around the streets of Melbourne singing to Kylie's
Impossible Princess album, dreaming of being Simon Cowell's not so
secret love affair (made that one up. What were you thinking,
Dannii??!!)"
I spent a lot of 2016 watching a variety of TV shows from a broad range of genres and in my need to always finish what I start, I never "quit" a TV show until I finished its entire season - regardless of how bad it is or how much I hate it. But with the bad comes some utterly brilliant ones, so I decided to list my top ten TV shows of 2016, based purely on their most recent season.
If you're not up to date with the season, read with caution as some spoilers may be revealed.
1. American Crime - season 2
This anthology series drew me in from the very first episode. Felicity Huffman is in top form as the principal of an elite high school whose job becomes very difficult when a student on a scholarship accuses the basketball team star players of rape.
Connor Jessup is a phenomenal find, so much of the season rests on his shoulders and in being able to show the conflicting emotions of his character, Taylor, in dealing with the the ramifications of his accusation.
The story is told through various perspectives and therefore you're never quite sure as to what the truth actually is. While dealing with the alleged rape, American Crime is a nuanced look at race, class and privilege and what happens when the status quo is threatened.
While we live in the era of binge watching, the themes that are explored here are quite heavy and emotive, so a weekly episode was perfect with this (and also gets you excited about what happens next - none of this instant gratification stuff!)
The beauty of anthology series' is that you don't need to watch season one first, and while the first season is brilliant, there is so much more to admire about season two, and reflect on as well.
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was a German transvestite who survived the Nazis and the Communists and helped start the German gay liberation movement. Her story is so incredible that even while learning about it, you wouldn't be alone in thinking think that some of it has been made up, but you would be wrong. American playwright Doug Wright travelled to Berlin and after a series of interviews - totalling hundreds of hours - with von Mahlsdorf talking about her extraordinary life, wrote I Am My Own Wife.
Since its premiere in 2003, the play has been performed around the world and throughout Australia, and during the 2017 Midsumma Festival, Melbourne audiences will have the opportunity to witness the fascinating story of Berlin's most notorious transgendered woman on stage.
If you're looking for some cheeky entertainment during Midsumma, then you really cannot go past Baby Got Back, a celebration of everything ass. That's right, those glutes are getting a show of their own. The all-female homage to the derrière is a 'psychosexual adventure of demented dancehall, projection mashups & remixed soundscapes, burlesque shakedowns and stripper mayhem'.
After sold out season at the 2015 and 2016 Fringe World in Perth, the show is finally making its way to Melbourne and the cast could not be more thrilled. "Basically, we came up with the show because we are a bunch of perverts," Frankie Valentine, one of the performers of Baby Got Back laughs. "We are so excited to finally be bringing this show to Melbourne though! The concept of the show has definitely changed and morphed as we continue to do it. Initially it was simply about a celebration of women's bodies and a mutual appreciation of ass. As we continue with the show we use it as a platform to highlight numerous issues we face as women in our society."
As the end of 2016 approaches, there are a plethora of 2017 calendars being released, including the first all male redhead naked calendar, the University of Sydney student naked charity calendar and even a calendar featuring near naked 'hunks' helping animals in distress. Well now the Helendale Hornets are now getting in on the action. Written by Jake Stewart and presented as part of Midsumma Festival, The Helendale Nude Footy Calendar will look at the lengths a local football club will go to in order to secure itself a future.
However, this is not the only event to be told, as Stewart informs me there are a number of interesting stories to be told from within these small country towns. "The
play is actually three independent stories told simultaneously, with
Helendale being just one of them. While we tell the story of
the Helendale Hornets photographing their nude calendar, we also delve
into
the Lynx-scented dynamic of an all-male classroom in Galshank, as well
as the events surrounding a hunky celebrity arrival at a caravan park in
Karandah Heads. These three stories are all told with a young gay
protagonist at the helm," he explains. "As
we have been rehearsing, it's been exciting to watch the ways in which these
stories illuminate each other. As is the sheer wonder of watching eleven
brave, funny, talented guys work together to tell three
complex, socially
pertinent stories."
