The school holidays are here and the Perth arts scene has exploded with family-friendly shows!
George’s Marvellous Medicine bounds off the page in a live show direct from a sold-out season at the Sydney Opera House. From July 3-8th the Heath Ledger Theatre will be packed with Roald Dahl’s mischief, music, magic and mammoth laughs thanks to shake & stir theatre co, the award-winning team behind the Australian production of Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts.
Then from the 9-13th July CDP Theatre Producers will take over the theatre for The 78 Story Treehouse. The play by Richard Tulloch is adapted from the book by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. The team behind The 13-, 26- and 52-Storey Treehouses Live on Stage return with the newest, biggest, brightest blockbuster in the series for children aged 6-12 and their adults. The treehouse has now got a Scribbletorium, a high-security potato chip storage facility (guarded by one very angry duck!) and even an open-air movie theatre…. but watch out for those cows!
From June 30 – Jul 20 Spare Parts Puppet Theatre are performing The Farmers Daughter. Inspired by real-life stories from rural Australia, The Farmer’s Daughter tackles themes of change and resilience while celebrating the lives of the people who live and work on the land. Puppets, performers, lights and sound vividly recreate rural Australia and invite a deeper understanding of the families who call it home. Ages 7+.
Keys in the City is back due to popular demand. WA’s exotic keyboard collection is on display at the City of Perth Library with unique guided tours and performances from some of WA’s keyboard experts. The 17th and 18th has a special kids tour at 9:30am.
The University of Western Australia are launching a new theatre season for young people. The Little Hoo Haa: Big Laughs for Little People runs 2nd-14th and offers big laughs for little people using improvised comedy at its finest and funniest. Mum and Dad will have just as much fun as the little ones. Ages 6+. Josephine Wants to Dance on the 20th is a theatrical production from Monkey Baa Theatre Company that tells the story of dreams, believing in yourself and a dancing kangaroo. Based on the hugely popular picture book by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley. Ages 4+.
Mercedes College are producing The Adams Family at the Regal Theatre from 27-29th. The Broadway stage musical is an adaptation of the cartoonist Charles Addams’ comic strip for The New Yorker magazine and follows the iconic spooky Addams Family.
Jazz for Juniors is on the 3rd and 6th of July. Designed by the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra for children 7 years and under, the theme this holidays is “A Journey Through Jazz”. I can’t wait to check this one out.
Meanwhile the WA Youth Orchestra are producing a Mahler extravaganza on the 7th. Mahler’s epic second symphony will be performed by a 250-strong collaboration which includes the youth orchestra, Orchestra of the Music Makers (Singapore), singers Taryn Fiebig and Fiona Campbell, Perth Symphonic Chorus and The Winthrop Singers conducted by Tze Law Chan. This will be a really passionate performance of one of Mahler’s most-loved symphonies, bristling with the energy of youth!
Finally, the new Disney production of Aladdin the Musical opens at Crown on the 22nd. Enjoy an art-filled school holidays and for details of adult art events in Perth head to the July Gig Guide.
Noted 