News - International Casting Service & Associates

CASEY DONOVAN: MAMA CASS THE TRIBUTE CONCERT at the Sydney Opera House

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -1100

CASEY DONOVAN: MAMA CASS THE TRIBUTE CONCERT Showing as part of Message Sticks 2012

Casey Donovan is a tour de force in Mama Cass: The Tribute Concert. Casey and her band bring new life to the legendry music of Mama Cass (Cass Elliott) and her superstar band The Mamas and the Papas. This is a fitting tribute and perfect showcase of Casey Donovan's virtuosity.

Mama Cass (1941 - 1974) was well known for her powerful voice, her iconic 60s style, and her fabulous sense of humour. Her legacy remains with such classic recordings as Dream a Little Dream of Me, California Dreaming, Monday Monday and Dedicated to the One I love.

Mama Cass: the Tribute Concert is both a powerhouse performance and an intimate encounter. Allow Casey to share with you the music, memories and big personality of this inspirational singer.

Aria and Deadly Award winning performer, Casey Donovan, rose to success as the winner of the second series of Australian Idol. Since then this Gumbaynggir woman has made an indelible mark on the Australian theatre and music scenes, including standout performances in Company B Belvoir and Black Swan State Theatre Company's The Sapphires and her Big, Beautiful & Sexy tour. Casey returns to the House with her rendition of Mama Cass from the musical theatre production Flowerchildren.

To quote Mama Cass “Our job as entertainers is to ease some pain. So to begin with, you have to know what and where the pain is.”

"The best performance comes from Casey Donovan, built on the lines of Mama Cass, whose Franklin covers achieve extraordinary poignancy and power" - Telegraph, UK on Donovan's Sapphires performance.

Venue: Sydney Opera House, Studio Date: Tuesday 27 March, 7.30pm & Wednesday 28 March, 8.15pm Duration: 2 hours including interval.

Don Reid wins Best Male Actor at Tropfest!

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -1100

Tropfest's panel of judges including Asher Keddie, Toni Collette, Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman awarded the Best Male Actor to Don Reid, the lead actor in Rupert Reid’s ‘Boo’.

Huge congratulations to Don!

Other Tropfest 2012 winners included:

Winner - Lemonade Stand by Alethea Jones (Vic)

Second - Boo by Rupert Reid (NSW)

Third - Photo Booth by Michael Noonan (Qld)

Telstra Crowd Pleaser - Boo by Rupert Reid (NSW)

Best male actor - Don Reid from Boo (no relation to director Rupert Reid)

Best female actor - Kate McNamara in Kitchen Sink Drama

Women in Film award - Marie Patane (NSW), director of How Many Doctors Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?

Telstra Mobile Masterpieces winner - Jason Van Genderen

JOSH HELMAN BACK IN AUSTRALIA TO SHOOT FILM "BLINDER "

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -1100

For a country as obsessed about Australian Rules Football as Australia is movies about our national code have been few and far between.

However, that is about to change with new film ‘Blinder’ going into production from February 20th in Torquay, VIC with Richard Gray directing (writer/director of ‘Summer Coda’ and ‘Mine Games’).

Josh will star as James Mortimer a great centre half forward player for the Torquay tigers. He's loyal to a fault with his teammates, but it's Mort's attraction to a young teenage girl that leads to the undoing of the club and lifelong friendships.

One of the film’s producers, AFL legend Glenn Archer says it has been too long between Aussie Rules movies “An Aussie Rules film has been a long time coming. Considering it’s the most watched and most tribal sport in the country, BLINDER will be a film that will capture the imagination of the footy world. There are millions of people that tune into the games every week, attend local footy and judge how their weekend was depending on the result of their team’s match. BLINDER will encapsulate everything great about that game, insights into the life and times of footballers and hopefully inspire people.“

CHRISTIE WHELAN starring in 'BRITNEY SPEARS: THE CABARET'

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -1100

Starring Christie Whelan at The Seymour Center 15-25 February 2012

Written & Directed by Dean Bryant

Musical Arrangements by Mathew Frank

Not so much a cabaret show as a cry for help, Britney Spears: The Cabaret has had acclaimed seasons in Sydney, Melbourne, and at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

Hilariously funny and strangely touching, Britney Spears: The Cabaret is a satirical look at the perils of fame by award-winning writer/director Dean Bryant. The musical direction of Mathew Frank sees Britney’s hits transformed into cabaret songs, and seamlessly intertwined into the fabric of her life story.

“Ingenious. Confirms beyond doubt that Bryant & Frank are the brightest creative duo in Australian musical theatre. Christie Whelan is magnificent.” The Age

“Simply stunning. Unmissable.” The Advertiser

“Not to be missed. Sensational” Herald Sun

“Hilariously sad and sadly hilarious. An eye-opening journey into the existence of one of the most successful commercial bodies on earth” Sydney Morning Herald

“Brilliantly entertaining, and incredibly moving” DNA magazine

Christie Whelan recently wowed critics and audiences in the lead role of Xanadu: The Musical in Melbourne. She has received critical praise and awards for her roles in shows including Company and The Drowsy Chaperone, and at the end of 2011 starred in The Importance Of Being Earnest at the MTC – with Geoffrey Rush as her mother.

John Batchelor: the voice of Foxtel's new Action & Entertainment Channel

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -1100

We're excited to announce John Batchelor is the voice of Foxtel's new factual channel. Next week, Foxtel will launch the action and entertainment television brand.

'The programming has real grit, real determination and passion. Highlights include:

PAWN STARS is a series that has broken all records for its US network exceeding 7 million viewers, making it the number one US cable show for all people 25-54.

STORAGE WARS is another hit in the US with the Season 2 premiere attracting 5.1 million viewers, making it the A&E channel’s largest audience ever.

AX MEN is enjoying its best year yet, averaging 1.7 million viewer impressions in the US amongst the 25-54 age group in 2011.

SWAMP PEOPLE is the number one cable show in the US on Thursday nights.

ICE ROAD TRUCKERS is the international hit phenomenon – this series paved the way for this style of factual entertainment and an all new series will be screening in 2012.

DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER is an adrenalin-charged original series attracting 3 million plus viewers for its 200th episode – now in full HD'.

(Foxtel website channel description)

'THE STRAITS' starring Suzannah Bayes-Morton

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -1100

Suzannah Bayes-Morton is a lead cast member in 'The Straits', a brand new crime drama set in Australia’s Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait. Suzannah plays 'Sissi Montebello', the adopted daughter of 'Kitty' (Rena Owen) and 'Harry' (Brian Cox).

Rachael Blake, Martin Sacks and Alex Petersons also appear in the exciting new series. Tune in on ABC1, Thursdays 8:30pm from February 2nd, 2012.

ABC1 Website Series Description:

Set among the turquoise waters and lethal wildlife of Australia’s Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait, The Straits is an exotic, darkly humorous crime drama.

The Montebellos are not your average Australian family. Modern day smugglers, their family business is transporting drugs into Australia and guns and exotic wildlife out, making use of ties of blood and loyalty in the Torres Strait Islands.

When Harry, the head of the family, starts to plan his succession, a power struggle is sparked between brother and brother, wife and daughter. Under attack from ambitious bikies and mercurial PNG Raskols, the family must hold together through torture, assassination and imprisonment.

ERICA LOVELL in 'ORDINARY DAYS' at Darlinghurst Theatre

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -1100

Ordinary Days — An Extraordinary Show

Rachael Beck and Erica Lovell in Ordinary Days. Image by Scott Clare

The paradox of living in a big city is that you can feel suffocated by crowds of people and yet completely alone, usually at the same time. Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days is an understated show about the most extraordinary of ordinary experiences: human connection, seemingly at random and left to chance.

In this Australian premiere production, independent music theatre company Squabbalogic continues to impress with their consistent high-calibre productions where the story is given its best possible opportunity to shine. And it’s a great story. We follow four New Yorkers through their immediate day-to-day lives: Deb (Erica Lovell), the acerbic grad student who loses her thesis notes; Warren (Jay James-Moody), the whimsical cat-sitting artist’s messenger who finds them; Claire (Rachael Beck), the woman who can’t quite let go of her past to make room for her moving-in boyfriend; and Jason (Michael Falzon), the boyfriend trying to find a place in New York and Claire’s heart all at once.

When the characters collide and their days turn into a patchwork quilt of loss, conflict, and that ever-present young adult uncertainty of what, exactly, life is supposed to mean, what we begin to see is something that happens in life over again but could never be written about enough: how an individual person can feel so insignificant, and yet make a passing, unconscious effect on someone else’s life that could change it completely.

Ordinary Days Company. Image by Scott Clare

James Browne’s set design and Sian James-Holland’s lighting is simple and plays homage to the original New York production. It isn’t overbearing; it’s never overbearing. It doesn’t need to be. We are more than transported through the four strong performances on stage.

While all members of the cast deliver exceptional performances, it is Erica Lovell’s Deb that will steal hearts and perhaps the entire show. In turns abrasive and vulnerable, she is wickedly funny and helplessly lovable. It is almost inconceivable that her music theatre career began in 2008; she is one of the most exciting performers I’ve seen of late on Sydney stages. Jay James-Moody continues to prove he can wear multiple creative hats and look good in all of them; this performer and sometime director brings a gently funny, surprisingly thoughtful view to the hopeful Warren, who could have been dangerously one-note in the hands of a lesser actor.

Rachael Beck and Michael Falzon, two very well-established and deservedly lauded figures of Australian music theatre, were perfectly matched in Claire and Jason; Falzon’s charm and Beck’s guarded warmth create a compelling relationship.

The show’s final moments, which start to gather slow steam in Warren and Deb’s ‘Rooftop Duet’, comes to its climax in Claire’s emotional breakthrough ‘I’ll Be Here.’ The threads of the story centre, just for a moment, on the change they have brought about in this one person – a change that’s set in motion, unknowingly, by a stranger’s epiphany.

Ordinary Days tell us that the simple things we often miss when trying to make our lives mean something really do matter; Ordinary Days reminds us that life isn’t just a series of events. Take a moment and let yourself be charmed by this show. You won’t regret it.