Witches with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
I was working with the good folks at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra again over the weekend, at the premiere of a concert called Witches - featuring four Australian stars who've all played, well, witches, both here and overseas.
Helen Dallimore and Lucy Durack represented for Team Good Witch, having played Glinda in Wicked on the West End and in Australia respectively; and Jemma Rix and Amanda Harrison combined forces for evil, having both been Elphaba in Australia, New Zealand, and on tour through Asia as well.
The idea was to get them together, and create an extravaganza of music based around that theme with material from Wicked of course, but also shows like Ghost, The Witches Of Eastwick, Frozen and Into The Woods, along with classic songs like Witchcraft, I Put A Spell On You (by the great Screamin' Jay Hawkins), and Rodgers & Hart's Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered.
The addition of a non-witch, in the form of Ben Lewis (who appeared as The Phantom Of The Opera in Love Never Dies when it premiered in Melbourne) added another spark to the evening, as he performed not only in phantom form but as the Devil himself in a couple of other numbers, as well.
Kellie Dickerson brought her considerable talents to the podium, leading the orchestra through the programme, with many of the orchestrations having been rewritten specifically for this show.
Needless to say, the crowd went wild on opening night; a chance to see this great, talented group together in one place, with such rich material to draw on, and such talented musical backing, doesn't come along too often.
Though I dare say it may come back, based on how pop-U-lar (sorry, Wicked joke there) it was, when I saw it on opening night, and in several reviews that came out afterwards.
And, how popular the images have been since then - so these are a few of my favourites, some of which might not been seen elsewhere. Enjoy!