NEW!

SIDESTEP COMEDY

is another YouTube channel I've established to share many of the many many comedy pieces I've written over the years for various shows and reviews.  These are short clips - some have already been recorded and others will be filmed over coming months with various theatre friends.
The channel is a work in progress and I strongly encourage you to subscribe now to be notified when a new work is uploaded.  You never know WHO you're going find up there!

Subscribing is free and it simply means that when a new video or videos are loaded up on the channel, you'll automatically receive a brief notification.
I can guarantee that there'll be clips on this channel that you will never have seen before!  Even if you've been to every show or review I've produced over the past 15 years.

Go here to view:  YouTube laughs 

Chillin'!

Ooooops!  I'm in winter hibernation mode and I'm sooo chilled out, I forgot about ... well .... everything!
So I've just updated the website, updated Reverbnation, about to update the blog...and if there's any motivation left, I'll update YouTube too.

Since my last post I've trialled my Lounge Room Concert Series - "The Soiree"s ...you may have got an invitation to one of those.  If not, let me know if you're interested for the next series.  [These aren't open to the public but are exclusively for members of my mailing list].  To say they had a magical ambiance would not be an exaggeration and I've decided that these are so enjoyable, I'll give them preferential performance in the future.   Especially because this format is perfectly suited to an intimate audience that prefers Music with Meaning.

Last Chance to catch this show

On the commercial front, I'll be delivering the final performance of the Andrews Sisters show [the knockout trio of the 40s] at the Buttai Barn on October 21. It's been running now for 5 years and along with Diva Fever [also 5 years] and the Patsy Cline show [6 years and 9 seasons!],  it's time to lay them to rest and make way for 3 new shows next year.  The Barn does a great job, providing excellent value for $45 a head, including a devonshire morning tea and 2 course lunch, so I'll be heading back there for a series of shows next year.

I'm hoping, though, to repair the 'disconnect' with my Original music which has been happening over the past couple of years.  That occurs when you spend more time delivering other people's music than your own.  And as an award-winning, established songwriter it's time I paid more attention to my knitting -  since I'm no longer touring, nor doing festivals [which is the birthing place for new music] this is when the threads begin to unravel.

Sunrise by Janelle Karbowiak

Now one might ask..."why bother, what's wrong with the 'old' music?".....and my answer is this: 

Music - as one stream of the Arts - is the soul of our society; it reaches in to lift our spirit; it comforts us through memory; touches our heart through emotion; it inspires us to dream, encourages us to aspire.  New music offers new comfort, inspires new thinking, different perspectives, stimulates new ideas.  We aren't the same person we were 10, 20, 40, 60 + years ago, so while it's pleasurable to revisit the past, it's not where we live anymore and it's not where we'll ever live again.  Music can change us as individuals, and as individuals we can change the world.  I want to be part of a world that is moved by music ...instead of by greed.   How about you?

Back to the 40s

Save the date - May 31st is the opening of Series 3 of The Wireless Chronicles -  Armed and Languorous.  Opening at the Royal Exchange Salon Theatre (ReX) in Bolton Street for an 8pm start.

The Wireless Chronicles is an evening at the wireless - a Live Radio Play interspersed with the music and stories of the decade.  There are 4 in the series - set in the 20s, the 30s, the 40s and the 50s.  The show is delivered in the setting of a radio station with OUR audience forming the live-in-studio radio audience.  The shows are an evening (or sometimes an afternoon) of pure entertainment with plenty of laughs.

In Series 3, our Radio Play has a change of name to the Devious Digit of Destiny.  Our characters are gathered for the announcement of the end of the war, reflecting on how they survived those tough years, and - in the case of our bumbling gangsters - how they turned a quid, illegally of course! We've said goodbye to Hank the Yank Tank, and to Maurice, Enzo, and Dazza.  Now wait til you meet the incomers - oh my!  Our bent bunch will be playing both sides of the fence and in some pretty dicey buildings, like; parliament house; the Duck for Cover Club; and a dubious pie shop.  

 The 1940s had some beautiful music and some fascinating stories to share.  Be part of the fun over the May/June weekend.
3 shows:   May 31st 8pm + June 2nd 5pm at the Rex theatre  +
 June 1st 2pm at the Dungeon.
Email for bookings:  bookings@maureen.com.au
GO TO THE WIRELESS CHRONICALS  PAGE FOR A REHEARSAL MINI-CLIP

THEY'RE BACK!

Yup, those whacky characters Squiffy Naylor, Fat Freddy, Insp. Faulkner and Fifi la More are returning this year for the THIRD series of 
.......THE WIRELESS CHRONICLES. 

But before I release the frantic antics of their latest escapades, there'll be an encore showing of Series Two: Bottoms UP!  (for those who missed it last year - OR - who saw it last year and want the opportunity to see it again!)  You can catch just 2 performances of Bottoms UP!  on May 3/8pm and May 5/5pm at the Royal Exchange Salon Theatre.  Book tickets on 4929 4969
 ............In the third series - Armed and Languorous - we see some new characters joining the farcical flock which has been finding innovative ways to turn an illegal quid during the war years.  We meet up with the bent bunch at the announcement of peace and discover that there's been quite a few changes.  And some devious new doings.  As we traverse between parliament house, police headquarters, the Duck for Cover Club, and - the pie shop?! - we meet a 
few new characters playing both sides of the game.  Get ready for a new batch of laughs.  
May 31, June 1, June 2  at the ReX and The Dungeon.
..........................................
The Wireless Chronicles is a series of four live shows set as a live broadcast from a radio station during the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. Each show comprises: Music and stories of the people and times from each decade; interspersed by 6 consecutive episodes of a Radio Play set in Sydney during the decade – a Crime Farce based around the ongoing escapades of Squiffy Naylor [4^th cousin 6 times removed of infamous Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor] and his gang of misfits, local brothel and bar owner Fifi La More, and her paramour Faulkner of the Constabulary, along with various questionable characters.
Written by local Playwright and Author Maureen O’Brien, delivered with a troupe of 6 players and musicians, all sharing the various voices. Audience participation is encouraged.