Possum Magic Family Show

Possum magic is part of an Australian Children's Literature triumphirate.
The Magic Pudding, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and Possum Maic are all etched into our memories.

So when Contacted by Garry Ginivan productions about presenting a 25th Anniversary performance of this delightful show, how could we resist.
http://www.memfox.net/possum-magic.html

We sold out two school's shows within days of it being announced. Last Year with My Grandma lived in Gooligulch we had hoped to present a Family show but lacked the resources. With a great team behind us this year we are forging ahead and are even able to offer both a Family friendly time of a 6pm performance with a special family friendly price of four tickets for $60

Tickets for this event on 20th June are available at Hobsons Bay's ticket site

We love this show and we are sure the children who attend will find it as delightful. Our thoughts have been on Lamingtons, Pavlova and Vegemite Sandwiches for months now. If it's good enough for an invisible possum then it's good enough for us. And we can't get enough of those delicious Anzac biscuits.

We are waiting eagerly also to see soem of the colouring in from the kids from the schools who will be attending during the day. Getting a few dozen buses organised and getting several hundred excited kids seated in 15 minutes presents a great challenge but it is worth it when you stand in the audience and hear the sound of raw enthusiasm.

The quandary is what to present next year. We know it has to be something just as special.

Shows out west

So begins our conversation and discussion about performing arts around the Westerns side of Port Phillip Bay.

It is quite a busy time for us as we get serious with our 2008 Theatre Season and start working out what shows to bring to the west in 2009 and 2010.

Hopefully this will give us the chance to talk with you about what are good shows for this side of town and what our patrons might like to see.

The season so far
We started the year with a presentation of Mantalk at the Williamstown Mechanics Institute. The show was great but the audience was very disappointing. Part of this is due to the difficulty we had in getting the message out there and in the way we managed ticket sales. We had hoped to have our own online ticket service up and running before that show but it wasn't to be.

Still we did have an audience in the end and everybody who attended loved the scatological journey they were taken on by Neil Thomas and David Wells.

This is a constantly evolving show and if you do have the opportunity to catch it somewhere as it grows and tours please make the attempt.
Otherwise catch them on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcOxpps_3vA

Our ticketing service finally got online in Mid April just in time for Shirley Valentine with Glenda Linscott. Produced by Chrissy Harris's HIT productions, the show was a great success with an almost capacity house.

Online ticket sales accounted for almost a quarter of all sales which we all believe is pretty impressive.

The foyer hubbub at interval and after the show was fantastic and it was wonderful to hear the laughter in the auditorium from the foyer.

Our nest production is a more challenging work by Kit Lazaroo Asylum which came out of a sell-out season from La Mama. It is a challenging satire. When we select shows for the season we only get a 10 minute snap shot at a showcase, unless we are lucky enough to be able to attend a production. The selling point for us what that we wanted to know what happened next. We were so intrigued by the story that not knowing how it ended was almost criminal. We thought if we felt that way then our audience would too.

So we are looking forward to how you respond.

Into the Future

We have spent the past weekend at the showcase for next year's product. After a while all the shows start to blend in and it is difficult at the end of the two days to remember everything we have seen. That being said there have been some stand outs. Amongst the presentations that the team liked were Tasdance's new work. We haven't offered contemporary dance in the season before but Tasdance could break that drought.

The Grimstones from Asphyxia were riveting and we would love to present that to someof our school children. From the moment the set was placed on the stage we were won over. http://www.asphyxia.com.au/

We are also considering having Fiona Scott-Norman for a three day season.
The Needle and the Damage Done is a wonderfully dry piece that will have you looking at Vinyl 33s in a way you never thought possible.

In the days to come we will keep you posted on what else we have for 2008 and where else we want to take you in 2009.

in the meantime, visit http://www.hobsonsbaytickets.com.au/ and come to a show in the West. we would love to see you in Altona or Williamstown or Laverton.