Sharon, Keep ya Hair On!
Sat 24 March, 10am Capital E Main Hall, Civic Square
NZ premiere
Patch Theatre Company, Australia
“ There have been only a few times in many years that I ’ ve become so rapt in a show for children. When you do experience theatre that hits the mark as successfully as ‘ Keep Ya Hair On ’ , you have two reactions; firstly, you remember ‘ live performance does have a future ’ and secondly, you book it. Those kids will live with this performance for a long time. ” Philip Rolfe, Executive Producer, Sydney Opera House
Based on Gillian Rubinstein books Sharon, Keep Your Hair On;Hooray for the Kafe Karaoke and Prue Theroux - The Cool Librarian, this fully-fledged rock musical employs a high-energy mix of live music and song, multimedia, wondrous gadgetry and plenty of audience participation. Since they began in 1972, Adelaide-based Patch Theatre Company has presented 98 new acclaimed works to over 1.3 million children all over the globe. So don’t be shy, jump in and have a rockin’ good time.
Artform : an interactive, multi-media, concert narrative for children and families.
With the common theme of adapting to change, this funky, funny, wild and wacky trilogy of stories will feature audience members being interviewed on the big screen, invited on-stage, and taking part in the performance. The show draws the audience into the joys of storytelling through a unique mix of interactivity, live music, song, live video projection, children ’ s art and structured play. The audience becomes involved in the performance as would a live studio television audience; they ’ re see the show and become part of it. Lighting operators, sound technicians and video projectionists mix it with the performers as the line between the performance and the audience dissolves. This performance runs for 50 minutes with no intervals. The shows hi-energy makes it fun for children of all ages starting from age 5.
Sharon , Keep Ya Hair On! has more than 100 performances to its credit presented across seven Australian states and territories in more than 20 major venues around Australia including Sydney Opera House, Victorian Arts Centre and at many Australian Festivals. In May 2006 it was presented three prestigious international children ’ s festivals in Vancouver , Calgary and Northern Alberta .
"Fast paced, thoughtful, outrageous and contagious good fun’ Matt Bryne, Messenger Press
“ My daughter Ella (4) and I loved Keep Ya Hair On. It was a delight to watch her face: intense concentration breaking into surprise, laughter and robust song as she became caught up in the wonder of the show. Keep Ya Hair On is a stunning production with outstanding music, excellent rhythm and timing and enough chorus repetition to allow even the youngest children to join in the singing” Gail Fairlamb
” We all loved it and think that you are soooo clever for coming up with the idea and then presenting it so well. We laughed, we sang, we joined in!! Thank you Patch for a most entertaining show. I have taken many classes to many performances but this show takes the cake!! BRAVO!! ” . Marcia Burgess, Dominican School , Semaphore (Yr. 3)
" Hats off to a Huge Hit. Take some stunning musical talent and the tales of a top children's writer, mix freely with a liberal splash of technical expertise and thus do we have kid's theatre a la rock band. And what a dazzling show it is! It's billed for the little ones - preschool to year 4, but the divine voices and personalities of the performers, their melodies and harmonies, their sense of fun and their nifty rhymes, turn the act of storytelling into a novelty concert with appeal to all ages. Keep Ya Hair On is an original and rather avant-garde piece of children ’ s theatre – and it promises to be the hit of Come Out 2003. ” Samela Harris, Advertiser Newspaper, Adelaide
Dave Brown, Director: Dave has 23 years of experience as an artistic director. He has directed over 75 productions for and by young people and written 17 produced works for young audiences. He has an enduring interest in new conventions for the use of music in theatre and the exploration of performance languages, assemblages and interactivity in theatre for young audiences.
Patch under, Dave ’ s direction, has toured to 12 international children ’ s festivals in Japan , Singapore , Korea , USA and Canada and undertaken two major Playing Australia tours in the last three years with annual seasons at the Sydney Opera House and the Victorian Arts Centre.
Gillian Rubinstein, Writer: Gillian is an internationally acclaimed writer who has written over 30 books for children and young people. She has had ten plays produced in Australia , five of them with Patch Theatre. Gillian is Patch Theatre ’ s Patron. She has received recent international acclaim writing under the pseudonym Lian Hern.
David Mackintosh: David Mackintosh was born in Belfast and when very young moved with his family to Australia. He didn't do art at school, mostly sport, but went on to art college where he was highly commended in the MacMillan Children's Book Prize for his version of The Emperor's New Clothes, which was later published. He has illustrated numerous books for children, most notably Gillian Rubinstein's Sharon Keep Your Hair On, which was shortlisted for picture book of the year. As a designer of illustrated books he works with photographers and illustrators, and has won British and Australian design awards. David lives in London.
Mel Watson, Music: As a multi-instrumentalist/vocalist and composer, Mel has been part of over a dozen albums and has had 7 years of international touring experience as a founding member of Adelaide band Fruit.
Catherine Oates, Music/Performer:Catherine is a composer/instrumentalist, whose diverse output has seen expression with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, State Theatre Company, Corinthian Singers of Adelaide, Restless Dance Company, Cirkidz and Patch Theatre Company. She toured internationally as percussionist and bass guitarist for 5 years as a member of the band Fruit.
Sam Lohs, Music: Sam is a singer, song-writer/guitarist and has had 7 years of international touring experience founding member of the internationally acclaimed band Fruit
Geoff Cobham, Production & Lighting Design: For the past 22 years, Geoff has worked as a Lighting Designer, Set Designer, Event Producer, Venue Designer and Production Manager from small innovative productions at the Performance Space, Company B Belvoir Street to large-scale theatre/dance productions, festivals, art exhibitions, events, museums.
Gaelle Mellis, Production Design: Gaelle’ s minimalist designs have been seen in Adelaide theatres for the past ten years with work for Restless Dance Company, ADT, State Opera of South Australia, Vitalstatistix, Junction Theatre, Brink Theatre, Come Out 01 and Patch Theatre. She was awarded the Adelaide Critics Circle Award for Individual Achievement in 2002.
Susi Davies: Musician/Performer Susi D and her band Salty have toured nationally supporting artists such as Sophie B Hawkins, Marie Wilson and Katie Noonan. Susi released her debut album, Just Because in 2006 to a sold out crowd and her singles have rapidly climbed the charts on local radio stations. Susi is also co-creator, writer and performer in the children's duo ‘Rock Chick & Science Geek’ (she's the Chick!) with gigs at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and National Science Week. Susi is currently in creative development with Patch’s new production Hickory Dickory Dock, to premiere at the Come Out 2007 Festival in Adelaide.
Libby O’ Donovan, Performer: Libby has toured the United States as a soloist with the Adelaide Connection, performed annual seasons of cabaret performances in Tokyo, been a featured artist at the International Association of Jazz Educators convention in New York City and a finalists at the prestigious Wangaratta Jazz Festival. Libby has also worked extensively with Doppio Parallelo. With her acclaimed cabaret acts - “ Women with Standards ” and "Flat on Your Bacharach", she has also toured nationally and internationally.
Ian Moorhead, Performer/Multi-Media: Ian specialises in music/sound design and video art and has presented his work in Edinburgh , Dublin , London 's West End and New York . He has worked with the State Theatre SA, Restless Dance, Leigh Warren and Dancers, Junction Theatre, Vitalstatistix, Cirkidz, Savage Wit and been involved in three national tours with Patch Theatre. Ian was videographer/composer for the dance film "Blowfish" dual finalist, Dendy Awards: Sydney Film Festival, Eat Carpet: SBS Television, & nominated for Best Dance Film: Australian Dance Awards, 2001.
Bob Weatherly, Performer/Production Manager/Lighting Operation: Bob is currently the touring co-ordinator and production manager for Patch Theatre Company. He has co-ordinated and managed two international tours (to Singapore and USA ) and two national Playing Australia tours for the company. Bob co-ordinates and manages the busy touring schedules of all Patch repertoire shows
James Sweeney: Audio Operator/Performer James Sweeney has spent his working life refining his craft as a musician and developing his skills in the area of sound recording and production. James gave up engineering studies for guitar.His love of playing has seen him specialise in fiddle, electric violin, guitar, mandolin and slide guitar - basically anything with strings! Over the past two decades James has performed at The Australian National Folk Festival, The Adelaide Festival of the Arts, WOMADelaide and in clubs, pubs, schools, Pitjanjara communties, kindergartens and even on Countdown. In technical and audio production James has worked for The Adelaide Festival Centre, WOMADelaide, WOMAD New Zealand, Tour Down Under, Come Out Festival, Croc Fest, The Adelaide Fringe Festival, Sydney New Years Eve Celebrations on the Opera House foreshore and Hyde Park Carnivale in Sydney. In rock'n roll circles James is often seen carrying heavy instruments and setting them up for acts such as Weird Al Yankovic and Neil Sedaka, as well as stage work with golden rockers Richard Clapton, Jeff Duff and Mental As Anything. James has been involved in several award winning Patch Theatre productions since 1998.
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