Judy, Australia - 1964: The end of the rainbow

by Kylie Northover

When Hollywood legend Judy Garland visited Australia for her only tour here in 1964, the star made headlines around the world - for all the wrong reasons.

Judy Garland performing at Festival Hall during her disastrous 1964 tour.CREDIT: Photo: JOHN LAMB

Infamously struggling with alcohol and substance abuse, Garland's much anticipated tour began well, with two successful sold-out concerts in Sydney, her vocal powers declared a triumph. But by the time she got to Melbourne, travelling by train as she reportedly hated flying so much, Garland, looking tired and frail, and much older than her 42 years (she died just five years later), had apparently had enough.

After hiding out in her hotel room for two days, when she finally took to the stage at Melbourne's Festival Hall 70 minutes late, it was clear things were not going well.

She slurred her way through the first half of the show, reacting to audience members' heckles and stumbling around, and she cut the second half short after kicking over a chair.

It was the beginning of Garland's career decline, yet a new stage show, Judy Australia - 1964 takes the ill-fated tour as its focal point in what creator Bill Farr describes as "a defiant celebration".

Farr, an art director who works in publishing, is a lifelong Garland fan ("Since my first listen to the Live at Carnegie Hall album in 1972") was inspired to write the narrative concert after staging an exhibition of pencil artworks in 2014, based on news photographs from the press coverage of the tour.

Opera singer Liane Keegan, who stars as Judy Garland.

Keegan, who was based in Berlin for many years, has sung in opera, concert and oratoria, performing with opera companies and symphony orchestras around the world. She's a regular soloist with the MSO and a Mahler specialist. But she's also a Garland fan from way back.

"When I started singing at about 12 or 13 it was all Judy Garland. I loved it because it was low enough for me to sing, and with Judy, you got the big, belty ballads," says Keegan, who also co-created the show with Farr and  production company Skunkworks.

"There's something about the pathos and the power of her voice. She had an incredible ability to tell a story - which of course, is what we do in opera - and her storytelling, even in a song, is the full gamut of emotions that she can possibly give it. That left a great impression on me."

But performing Garland's songs live - backed by a seven-piece band - is a departure for Keegan.

"It's very different for me. I've not been given the opportunity to sing this sort of repertoire in Australia much - I did a Bernstein concert with the MSO last year and I sang two pieces in my classical voice and two in my jazz-belt voice and the orchestra nearly fell over."

Judy Garland at the Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne. CREDIT:STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Singing these songs is as much a joy as listening to them; both she and Farr understand the fervent fandom Garland still engenders 50 years after her death.

"It's the Piaf appeal; she was America's Piaf," says Keegan. "She tapped into everybody's hearts in Wizard of Oz and it didn't matter what she did or how she did it from then on, it was that Judy that people loved. The films she made perpetuated that, this beautiful little waif with this sweet voice but power when he needed it. Her voice wasn't a massive range and it wasn't one of the great voices of our time, wasn't trained - but it was that characteristic."

And the legend endures more than 50 years later; Keegan, who works as a vocal technician and teacher, says many of her young students are fascinated by Garland. "I compare her to Amy Winehouse," says Keegan. "Their lives had similar parallels."

The show tells a sad story, says Farr, "but the point isn't to reflect badly on Judy, rather than to celebrate an incredible talent and maybe just wish it hadn't ended the way it did."

Judy, Australia - 1964 is at Athenaeum 2, July 4-6, 2019 www.athenaeumtheatre.com.au

First published in The Sydney Morning Herald, June 24, 2019

Research continues into Bremer Canyon orca hotspot that baffles scientists

by Briana Fiore

An orca breaches in the Bremer Sub-Basin off the coast of Western Australia.
(Supplied: Naturaliste Charters)

Hundreds of orcas are now congregating at the Bremer Canyon off Western Australia's south coast to search for food and find a mate, but scientists still don't know where they come from. 

The apex predators make the journey every year between January and April to hunt for deep-diving whales and fish species like tuna and giant squid.

According to a researcher observing the orcas, the pods spotted this season off Bremer Bay were matriarchal and led by a grandmother who had knowledge of hunting.

However, the knowledge of the existence of the orcas in the area is relatively new, with scientists only becoming aware of their migration through the "hotspot" just over a decade ago.

It's still not known where they come from or where they go.

An orca hunting in the Bremer Canyon where marine creatures including orcas, giant squids, whales and sharks congregate.(ABC Great Southern: Briana Fiore)

Research into clever killers

Marine biologist Jennah Tucker conducts observational research on the orcas so that they can be better understood.

Ms Tucker said the black and white sea creatures, also known as killer whales, were so intelligent they had even worked out how to remove satellite tags.

"There have been quite a few attempts at tagging orca, but they've been quite unsuccessful. They're really, really clever animals," she said.

"They're basically, sort of like: 'Oh, what's that on your back? Let me get that off, and then there goes a $10,000 tag."

She said her team gets photo ID of the animals by getting shots of their dorsal fins and eye patches — which are equivalent to the fingerprints of humans.

"We're just trying to piece together the different family structures and the different pods that we see regularly," she said.

This year the animals were led by a grandmother who had knowledge of hunting.

The sea creatures get in formation and hunt silently in a line to cover more ground.

The pods usually include anywhere between five and 15 whales.

When they find food, there is sometimes an oil slick that can be seen from the surface or a distinct smell.

Another sure sign the whales have hit the jackpot is the presence of seabirds trying to feed on the leftovers.

Orcas vs sharks

Ms Tucker said there were places around the world where orcas predate on sharks.

"If I were a shark, I wouldn't be hanging too closely around an orca that is feeding," she said.

"We don't tend to see them [sharks] in amongst all of the action."

Bianca Uyen, a marine biologist onboard Naturaliste Charters, said it was suspected that great white sharks left the area when orcas arrived.

She said there had been reports of great white shark populations in South Africa fleeing when orcas came through.

It took the great whites a long time to return, according to the African Journal of Marine Science, which published a research paper on the topic in 2021.

Need for protection

Kane Watson, Naturaliste Charters whale spotter, said orcas spent 80 per cent of their time hunting.

He said the whales sometimes got curious about the boat when their bellies were full.

Kane Watson, Naturaliste Charters deckhand and whale spotter,says the tours have been running for about nine years.(ABC Great Southern: Briana Fiore)

"We have to stick about 50m away from them, and these guys [the whales] don't know the rules and come right up to us," he said.

Mr Watson said the tours helped fund research about the whales so that they could be better understood.

He also called for people to take care of the ocean.

"Make sure you're cleaning up after yourself to keep our oceans healthy," he said.

Ms Uyen also said it was important to ensure tourism was sustainable. 

"A focus must be on minimising our impact on the environment and giving back to research," she said. 

"We can reduce our impact by educating passengers of whale and dolphin research and conservation, following the Australian National guidelines for whale watching and removing the use of plastic onboard."

First published at ABC News, Monday January 30, 2023

José Carreras & Placido Domingo to Reunite for Concert

by Francisco Salazar

October 24, 2022

Jose Carreras (left) and Placido Domingo. Photo: Chris Jackson / Getty Images

José Carreras and Plácido Domingo are set to reunite for a concert in 2023.

The two tenors will reunite to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their last Three Tenors concert in 2003. The performance will be held at the Tokyo Garden Theatre on Jan. 26, 2023 and will be dedicated to Luciano Pavarotti.

Carreras and Domingo made up the Three Tenors with Pavarotti in the 1990s and early 2000s. The trio first collaborated in a performance at the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy in 1990, the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final. 800 million audience members watched the concert on global television.

The recording of this debut concert became the best-selling classical album of all time and led to additional performances and live albums. They went on to perform together in 1994, 1998, and 2002. They also toured other cities around the world. Their final performance together was on Sept. 28, 2003.

Pavarotti died in 2007 and was recently given the star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Domingo is next headed for Latvia for Operalia while Carreras is headed to Kuwait for a concert performances in November.


FRANCISCO SALAZAR, (Publisher) worked as a reporter for Latin Post where he has had the privilege of interviewing numerous opera stars including Anita Rachvelishvili and Ailyn Perez. He also worked as an entertainment reporter where he covered the New York and Tribeca Film Festivals and interviewed many celebrities such as Antonio Banderas, Edgar Ramirez and Benedict Cumberbatch. He currently freelances for Remezcla.

He holds a Masters in Media Management from the New School and a Bachelor's in Film Production and Italian studies from Hofstra University.

Article first published at OPERAWIRE, October 24, 2022

“Plastic Flowers”, debut CD, Mark Thomann and band.

From the “Plastic Flowers” album cover.

by Tony Magee

Combining country rock and country blues, “Plastic Flowers” is a mostly upbeat joyful album of songs, contrasted with two reflective ballads - “My Father’s Voice” and “Coming Back”.

Recorded over a three year period, Thomann says, “Plastic Flowers takes a different angle on love and flowers as a metaphor for the transience of relationships.”

A Canberra boy, Mark has chosen some of Canberra’s other finest musicians to play with him on the album.

Guitarist Stuart King is prominently featured along with Matt Nightingale (bass), Jonathan Jones (drums), son Valdis Thomann (trombone), Dan Mclean (trumpet), Dan Bray (saxophone) and Dave O’Neill (fiddle and mandolin).

Thomann cites some of his biggest influences as Jim Croce, Bonnie Raitt, Dan Hicks, Eric Bibb, Taj Mahal, the Zac Brown Band, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

Comparisons can also be made with Gordon Lightfoot. Not stylistically in the music, but in the varied range of subjects and deep thought in his lyrics, both hallmarks of Lightfoot.

Thomann’s earliest music influence was his father who played piano accordion and loved swing jazz bands, romantic European classical composers, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

In 1970’s Tasmania, he suddenly found the draw of the guitar irresistible, joining a band called “Blackwood Creek” and from there, formed his own style of country blues and country rock.

Mark describes his songs as “Nostalgia Rock meets Indie on the road to Tamworth winding up in Memphis.”

The title track “Plastic Flowers” is upbeat and “heavy”. Thomann sings with a strong baritone range voice and has excellent diction, something so incredibly important considering the thought and time he has spent on his lyrics.

“Ain’t Know Way” has a cheeky musical introduction. It’s central point is a kind of “wake up and smell the roses” - live life to the fullest and don’t get caught up too much in dramatic world affairs. A simple approach to life.

“This Country Makes Music” also hints at life’s simple pleasures - “I’ve got the sun on my back, a breeze in my face, maybe I’ll catch me a fish or two”.

“Seven Long Years” begins with a heavy electric guitar intro, joined by the full band, including some excellent brass feature passages. This song defines the “country rock” genre most clearly on this album.

“Where’s Summer Gone” is a medium tempo country / folk song featuring the excellent fiddle playing of Dave O’Neil. In this, as with many of the songs on this album, references to nature, the seasons and the environment feature prominently.

“Sugar Daddy Blues” begins with a long guitar intro, morphing into a blues style with the full band. The lyric suggests advice for a young woman who needs to move on from being supported by her “Sugar Daddy” and find her own way through life.

The closing track, “Coming Back” is a reflective ballad with just guitar and bass accompaniment. After years of absence, a young man is coming back to his true love.

I enjoyed listening to this album very much. Although country rock and country blues are not styles that I usually listen to, hearing these songs opened up a new musical door for me. I’d like to hear more.

My only reservation is there are no vocal harmonies on any of the tracks. Thomann’s voice is clear and powerful, but some harmonies in places would add something special.

“Plastic Flowers” will be launched at the Canberra Irish Club, 4pm on February 5  and will also be released digitally on the same date. The album will be available at the launch concert and also will be stocked by Songland Records in Cooleman Court, Weston.

First published at City News website, January 26, 2023

Rock legend David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young dies aged 81

by Lachlan Abbott, January 20, 2023

American rock legend David Crosby has died aged 81, the musician’s representatives confirmed on Friday.

Crosby, one of the most influential rock singers of the 1960s and ’70s, was a founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (later becoming Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

David Crosby of the band Crosby, Stills and Nash, performs at Glastonbury Festival, in England. CREDIT:AP

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age confirmed Crosby’s death after industry news publication Variety first reported his passing, citing a statement from the musician’s wife Jan Dance. However, the outlet later attributed information about Crosby’s death to a representative after being unable to independently verify Dance’s statement.

Born in Los Angeles, Crosby – who has long battled health issues – joined The Byrds in 1964 and scored his first number-one hit with the group when it covered Bob Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man. Other hits included Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) and Eight Miles High.

After acrimoniously departing The Byrds, Crosby formed supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash, achieving immediate success with their first album. The group later added Neil Young to become Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The group’s 1970 album Deja Vu included hits Our House and Teach Your Children.

Musically, Crosby stood out for his intricate vocal harmonies, unorthodox open tunings on guitar and incisive songwriting. His work blended rock and folk in new ways and their music became a part of the soundtrack for the hippie era.

Personally, his drug habit landed him in prison during the 1980s and ultimately led to a liver transplant after decades of excess. His tumultuous life included a serious motorcycle crash, the death of a girlfriend and battles against hepatitis C and diabetes. He also managed to alienate many of his famous former bandmates, for which he later expressed remorse.

Crosby’s former bandmate Graham Nash expressed his “profound sadness” to hear his friend had died on Instagram.

“I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years,” Nash’s statement read.

Looking back at the turbulent 1960s and his life, Crosby, an outspoken political progressive, told Time magazine in 2006: “We were right about civil rights; we were right about human rights; we were right about peace being better than war ... But I think we didn’t know our butt from a hole in the ground about drugs and that bit us pretty hard.”

Crosby released his last album, For Free, as a solo artist in 2021.

Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson paid tribute on Twitter, writing: “I don’t know what to say other than I’m heartbroken to hear about David Crosby. David was an unbelievable talent – such a great singer and songwriter. And a wonderful person. I just am at a loss for words.”

Article first published in The Sydney Morning Herald, January 20, 2023.

With Reuters, AP

Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95

Lollobrigida was nominated for three Golden Globe awards and a Bafta. Getty Images

Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, one of the biggest stars of European cinema in the 1950s and '60s, has died at the age of 95.

Often described as "the most beautiful woman in the world", her films included Beat the Devil, the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Crossed Swords.

She co-starred alongside the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson and Errol Flynn.

Her career faded in the 1960s and she moved into photography and politics.

Italy's culture minister paid tribute, saying: "Her charm will remain eternal". Getty Images

Nicknamed La Lollo, she was one of the last surviving icons of the glory days of film, who Bogart said "made Marilyn Monroe look like Shirley Temple".

Movie mogul Howard Hughes showered her with marriage proposals. Off camera, she enjoyed a feud with Sophia Loren, a fellow Italian star.

Loren was "very shocked and saddened" by the death of her one-time rival, a statement said.

Culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano wrote on Twitter: "Farewell to a diva of the silver screen, protagonist of more than half a century of Italian cinema history. Her charm will remain eternal."

Lollobrigida died in a Rome clinic, her former lawyer Giulia Citani told the Reuters news agency.

Colourful life story

Luigina Lollobrigida was born on 4 July, 1927. The daughter of a furniture manufacturer, Gina spent her teenage years avoiding wartime bombing raids before studying sculpture at Rome's Academy of Fine Arts.

A talent scout offered her an audition at Cinecitta - then the largest film studio in Europe and Italy's thriving "Hollywood on the Tiber".

Lollobrigida wasn't keen. "I refused when they offered me my first role," she recalled. "So, they said they would pay me a thousand lire. I told them my price was one million lire, thinking that would put a stop to the whole thing. But they said yes!"

In 1947, she entered the Miss Italia beauty pageant - a competition that launched many notable careers - and came third. Two years later, she married a Slovenian doctor, Milko Skofic.

Skofic took some bikini-clad publicity shots of his new - and still relatively unknown - wife. Six thousand miles away in Hollywood, the world's richest man sat up.

Infatuation

Hughes had just taken control of a major studio. He was more than 20 years older than Lollobrigida and famous for a string of affairs with the most glamorous women of the age - including Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner.

He tracked Lollobrigida down and offered a screen test. She accepted, expecting her husband to accompany her to America. On the day of departure, only one of the tickets Hughes had promised showed up.

Gina Lollobrigida leaning on a mirror in 1950. Getty Images

Hughes had divorce lawyers waiting at the airport. She was installed in a luxury hotel, given a secretary and a chauffeur, and bombarded with proposals.

He had prepared everything. Even the screen test turned out to be a scene about the end of a marriage.

The trip lasted nearly three months. She saw him daily - fending off pass after pass. To avoid the press, they often ate at cheap restaurants or in the back of his car.

Although the behaviour was clearly abusive, Lollobrigida said she enjoyed the attention. "He was very tall, very interesting," she later recalled. "Much more interesting than my husband."

Before she departed for Rome, Hughes presented her with a seven-year contract. It made it hugely expensive for any other US studio to hire her. "I signed it because I wanted to go home," she said.

Hughes didn't give up. His lawyers pursued her as far as the Algerian desert - where she was making a film. Her husband was understanding about the decade-long infatuation. He'd even play the lawyers at tennis.

Stardom

Avoiding Hollywood, Gina worked in France and Italy - making films such as The Wayward Wife and Bread, Love and Dreams.

Her first English-language picture - opposite Bogart in John Huston's Beat the Devil - was shot on the Amalfi coast, and was the beginning of a series of starring roles alongside the world's most glamorous men.

In Crossed Swords it was Flynn; in the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Antony Quinn. She realised her celebrity was global when 60,000 turned up to greet her in Argentina. They included the country's dashing president, Juan Peron.

She won awards for Beautiful But Dangerous - as an orphan opposite one of Italy's finest actors, Vittorio Gassman. She played a manipulative circus performer in Trapeze, with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis.

She disliked Sinatra, with whom she starred in Never So Few - a wartime romance shot in Myanmar and Thailand. He was late on set and got shirty when she complained. "Zero sense of humour," she said.

And disaster struck her next project. Two-thirds of Solomon and Sheba had been filmed when her co-star, Tyrone Power, had a heart attack filming a sword fight in Madrid.

One version of the story says Power died in Lollobrigida's car on the way to hospital. Another suggests he passed away in his dressing room and was "walked" out of the studio - a scarf tied round his jaw to stop it sagging.

Whatever the truth, Power's scenes were reshot with Yul Brynner. The film shocked late-1950s Hollywood with an orgy scene, albeit one where all were fully clothed.

Rock Hudson and Sophia Loren

In 1960, she moved to Canada - for lower taxes and a promise of legal status for her Yugoslav husband. One magazine gushed that it was "the most fetching argument ever advanced for liberal immigration policies".

Her film career was slowing but there was still time to work with her favourite actor: Rock Hudson.

Rock Hudson and Lollobrigida were nominated for Golden Globes for their performances in
Come September. Getty Images

They appeared together in romantic comedies Come September and Strange Bedfellows. After a lifetime fending off Hughes and most of Hollywood's finest, Hudson's failure to make a pass came as a shock.

"I knew right away that Rock Hudson was gay, when he did not fall in love with me," she told one reporter.

Her feud with Loren was coming on nicely. Egged on by her husband - the film producer Carlo Ponti - Loren had claimed she was "bustier" than Lollobrigida.

Gina hit back, saying Sophia could play peasants but never ladies. "We are as different as a fine racehorse and a goat," she said.

Lollobrigida's brief affair with heart transplant pioneer Christian Barnard spelled the end of her marriage. Divorce had just been legalised in Italy and she took early advantage.

"A woman at 20 is like ice," she declared. "At 30 she is warm. At 40 she is hot. We are going up as men are going down." She was certainly not short of admirers.

Prince Rainier of Monaco was one, in spite of his marriage to Grace Kelly. "He would make passes at me in front of her, in their home," she claimed. "Obviously, I said no!"

Her last major film - alongside David Niven in King, Queen, Knave - came in 1972. There were tantrums on set and the production was halted three times for mysterious "eye problems".

Lollobrigida took a few parts in American TV series - including Falcon's Crest and Love Boat - but then reinvented herself as an artist.

Castro and court cases

This was no ageing film star vanity project. Lollobrigida was good.

She donned a disguise to take award-winning photographs of her native Italy and saw her huge marble and bronze sculptures entered at an International Expo in Seville.

Lollobrigida reinvented herself as a sculptor and photojournalist. Photo: Marco Di Lauro

She scooped the world with a rare photoshoot and interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

"We spent 12 days together," she said. "He didn't interest me as a political leader but as a man. He realised that I hadn't gone there to attack him and he readily accepted me."

There was work for Unicef, the United Nations and an unsuccessful run for a seat in the European Parliament. She remained active in politics - as recently as last year, she stood for the Italian Senate, but was unsuccessful.

Younger men

Despite all her suitors, the "most beautiful woman in the world" never quite found Mr Right.

"My experience," she said, "has been that, when I have found the right person, he has run away from me. Important men want to be the star - they don't want to be in your shadow."

Disastrously, she met Javier Rigau y Rafols, a charming Spaniard who was 34 years younger. They announced their engagement in 2006 - but soon called it off, citing frenzied press attention.

Lollobrigida took legal action against her former boyfriend, Javier Rigau y Rafols. Photo: Vanina Lucchesi

Rigau, however, went ahead with the wedding - allegedly using an imposter to play Lollobrigida. According to her account, she only discovered her marriage by chance when she found documents on the internet.

She took legal action; Rigau produced witnesses. He insisted Lollobrigida had agreed to marry him by proxy using a power of attorney she had once granted.

She lost the ensuing court case, but the marriage was annulled in 2019 with the blessing of the Pope.

Lollobrigida fought another legal action against her son Milko, who had asked for control of his mother's business dealings. Now in her 80s, the action was thought to have been prompted by her new relationship with a handsome man in his 20s.

In later life, she became reclusive. But - from time to time - she would hold court at her huge villa, with its flock of white storks, on Rome's ancient Appian Way. She would glide down her magnificent staircase, bedecked in emeralds, to greet visiting journalists with her young lover. It was Sunset Boulevard come to life.

"I am only a film star," she had a habit of saying in a full Norma Desmond purr, "because the public wanted me to be one."

Gina Lollobrigida lived to an age at which memories of her glory days - as part of movie world royalty in the '50s and '60s - have grown dim. Few of her films are now regarded as classics.

But - in her time - she was one of the greats. Her life story was as exotic as any of the roles she played.

And the maxim by which she lived, she said, was simple: "We are all born to die. The difference is the intensity with which we choose to live."

Article originally published by The BBC on January 16, 2023

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64292026