From shower to showtime - singing is cool again

by Malcolm Brown, The Sydney Morning Herald:

"EVEN their names have a melodious ring: the Sweet Adelines, the Bright Star Singers, A Choired Taste and, most fittingly in Sydney, the Leichhardt Espresso and the Circular Keys Chorus.

Community choirs, says the director of the Espressos, Michelle Leonard, have struck a perfect chord. Singing was "almost trendy", she said.

"People used to look at you as though you had some sort of disease," Ms Leonard said. "Now you can out yourself. The level of public awareness in the past 12 months has boomed."

Community choirs bring people together, start social relationships and quickly demonstrate how people care for each other, said Ms Leonard, whose youngest choir member is 15 and her oldest in his 70s.

Australian Idol, ABC radio's choirs competition and more lately the national broadcaster's television hit Choir of Hard Knocks have all contributed to the growing delight that people feel when they sing in public. ..."

Read the full article from the SMH here.

Come to the cabaret, says mum

By Lucy Barbour, Inner West Courier
"Monica Trapaga may be most known for her role on Play School, but this queen of children's entertainment is leading a whole other life and it's got more to do with sex appeal, jazz and devilish wit than teddy bears or rocket clocks. ...
Now Trapaga is providing a closer glimpse into her more adult side with a series of musical tributes to legendary diva and cabaret star Pearl Bailey, being performed at the AB Hotel in Glebe.
"It's not just jazz," she said.
"It's old style cabaret, verging on vaudeville."
In the show, Trapaga incorporates a touch of the "naughty", testing out the laps of audience members in true cabaret style, but the thing she wants to achieve most is to make people "feel sexy and good about themselves and to enjoy it".
That is one of Trapaga's great joys in life. ..."

Read the article from Village Voice here.

Coming soon, Valhalla remade as office space

By Sunanda Creagh , The Sydney Morning Herald
"THE old Valhalla cinema in Glebe is likely to be turned into office space, despite objections to the proposal.
The City of Sydney's acting director of city planning, Giovanni Cirillo, has recommended the council approve the conversion of the cinema, which closed down in August 2005.
Under the plan, the exterior of the 1938 building would be retained, and a mezzanine and 38 commercial office suites installed.
The application will be decided at Monday's planning committee and several councillors say it is likely to go ahead.
"There's a fair chance it will be supported by the committee," John McInerney said yesterday.
Cr McInerney said he did not want to see the building remain vacant. "I think it's acceptable," he said. "We are advised that the main parts of the building - the cinema itself - will be subdivided and will be able to be turned back into a cinema if someone decided in the future to do that."

Read the full article from The Sydney Morning Herald here.

Inquest begins into Balibo Five death

"A coronial inquest has begun in Sydney into the death of one of five Australian journalists killed in East Timor in 1975.
Brian Peters, 26, was one of five men working for Australian television networks who was killed at Balibo while covering the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.
The counsel assisting the coroner has told the inquest that eye witness evidence will be called to show that the men were attempting to surrender to Indonesian forces when they were either shot or stabbed.
The inquest, at Glebe Coroner's Court, is expected to hear from a significant number of Timorese witnesses but no Indonesian witness has been made available."

Read the article from ABC News here.

Defamation action against Roberts dismissed

"The New South Wales Supreme Court has dismissed defamation action brought by a Sydney man against former rugby league international Ian Roberts.
Mr Roberts told Sydney's Glebe Coroner's Court in May that Frederick George Rix had sexually assaulted him when he was 15-years-old.
Mr Rix lodged a statement of claim with the Supreme Court asking for $10 million in damages for defamation.
Last month the court struck out his claim but gave Mr Rix liberty to file an amended statement of claim.
Mr Rix has today told the court he had not done that and the court dismissed the action."

Read the article from ABC News here.

Blog Review:
Spanish Tapas, on the blog Jenius

Valhalla sells for office space

by Garry Maddox, Sydney Morning Herald

"A SYDNEY film icon, the Valhalla cinema in Glebe, has screened its last movie after being sold to a property developer. It had been passed in at auction late last year, but the arthouse operation has sold for $2.95 million to W Property for conversion into offices.
The cinema closed last August with its long-time owner and manager, Chris Kiely, blaming the popularity of DVDs and the poor quality of recent releases. Mr Kiely said he was relieved to finally sell. "The sadness was last year when the realisation hit that it could never be a goer again," he said. The new owners plan to retain the exterior and foyer in an office development aimed at the "creative sector" including architects and the film industry.
Built in 1937 and used at times for theatre and music, the Valhalla thrived as an avant-garde cinema for film buffs in the 1980s. "In those days, we were getting 300 people for a double feature," Mr Kiely said.

Read the full article from The Sydney Morning Herald here.