Class of ‘58
ROCK AND ROLL HEAVEN THE CLASS OF58
If you believe in forever, the song goes and well, Friday night at the Bruce
Mason Centre proved it most certainly does.
Rock n Roll Heaven is a tight, fast paced live Rock n Roll show that is of such
an international standard it is just so hard to believe that it is our very own
New Zealanders delivering this quality entertainment.
From the opening where Shane Cortese (Dom from Shortland Street) appeared on a
miniature motorbike, the night just flew by. Backed by an 8 piece horn section,
6 piece band and 2 backing singers, it was just dynamic.
We know him as an actor of fine quality for his portrayal of Dominic but Boy oh
Boy we didn’t know he could sing, and sing he did for over 2 and a half hours.
We laughed, sang, and tapped our feet until we couldn’t sit any longer and up we stood and danced!
The second half opened with the Bass player and lead guitarist singing 2 Everley
Brothers songs, and explaining how much the two Everleys didn’t get along in real life, before introducing 2 pretend brothers who didn’t get on. Imagine the surprise and excitement when out walked Michael Galvin
with Shane to sing “Bye Bye Love!!!
The Highlight of the show comes in an amazing section where the Story of Elvis
is told through his songs. This is where Shane excels and it’s no wonder he played the role in London. His voice is tuned to Elvis’s and the audience rose as one after American Trilogy to give the band a well
deserved and heartfelt standing ovation.
Shane finished the show by recounting a trip to Starship Hospital and reminding
us that the night was about raising funds for them. Judging by what I saw in
the buckets at the end people loved the show and were more than happy to throw
in spare change.
I would have bought a ticket right there and then for the next night but alas
this was a one off. However I did hear rumours that this show will tour later
in the year and if it does I will be the first to buy a ticket. Its not often
we get shows of this standard. I implore you to see it.
Rock ‘n’ Roll lives
Sarah Blake
Sarah Blake
Into the Woods
New Zealand Herald, 20 November. Reviewed by Susan Budd.
With Raymond Hawthorne's magnificent production of Into the Woods, Auckland
Theatre Company ends the year to thunderous applause.
It is theatre at it's best: magical, enthralling, lusciously costumed,
beautifully set and superbly performed to sublime music. It makes you laugh and
it makes you cry.
Stephen Sondheim is inarguably the master of musical theatre. His lyrics are
witty and profound, his music subtle, complex and divinely melodic.
When blended with James Lapine's treatment of Grimm's fairytales as a metaphor
for the joys and pains of life itself, the result is unparalleled
entertainment, satisfying and immensely enjoyable. The characters of fairytales
pursue their dreams to make their wishes come true, but the consequences are
unforeseen and uncomfortable. What happens in the happy ever after?
The mythic figures are brought to idiosyncratic life. Roz Worthington's
Cinderella is no pathetic waif wilting over the ashes but a glamorous teenager,
a little ditzy but not about to fall for a good-looking guy just because he is
a prince.
Her growth to pragmatic but compassionate maturity is beautifully charted.
As her prince, "raised to be charming, not sincere," Shane Cortese has charm in
spades, undercut by total selfishness and the inability to desist from the
pursuit of unattainable princesses.
Ross Girven and Delia Hannah, as the baker and his wife, portray delightfully
the couple who set the plot into motion with their search for the ingredients
for the spell that will lift the witch's curse of sterility.
They best embody the tragedy of wish fulfilment and the pathos of acceptance.
Simon Roborgh's Jack is splendidly comic and Claire Dougan gives his cow bovine
sweetness. Sophia Hawthorne is a feisty Little Red Riding Hood and Jennifer
Ward-Lealand comes into her own as the witch when she finds youth and beauty
but loses the powers of darkness.
George Henare as the objective outsider, the narrator and mysterious man, holds
the disparate elements together with quiet authority, bringing a chill along
the spine with those magical words "Once Upon a Time..."
Vicky Haughton's choreography sends the cast of 18 swirling in constant,
graceful motion among the strangely organic Art Nouveau structures that in John
Parker's set represent trees, evocatively lit by Vera Thomas.
Backstage - Issue #221, Tuesday 19 December, 2000 - Richard Mays
Can't sign off without mentioning the imported trio of Shane Cortese (Westend & British touring productions of Joseph & Elvis - the Musical) , Keri Harper (True Bliss) and Jerome Winterburn that
director Pat Snoxall pulled in for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour
Dreamcoat. Their presence and talent helped make the show huge.
Croydon Advertiser 7 August 1998 - Peter Steptoe
....Pharoah, played by Shane Cortese in the Presley manner and garb was a
revelation. He had that indefinable something known as presence and that means
when on stage, you only watch him
The Telegraph 14 February 1997
... and Shane Cortese stole the show as an uncanny Elvis-clone Pharoah.
The Star 11 February 1997
....and Shane Cortese is the kind of Pharoah who can really do justice to his
parts show-stopping songs.
Elvis and Joseph spark a whole lotta shakin’ in the crowd
Brighton and Hove Leader Thursday January 30th 1997
.... New Zealander Shane Cortese, who doubles up as Paroah and Judah, shines
with his Elvis impression, which must rate as one of the best in the business.
Never mind about what The King is doing in the biblical tale of Joseph from the
House of Jacob. Artistic licence works in mysterious ways.
West Sussex Gazette 2 January 1997
....Shane Cortese turns in a scene-stealing cameo as Pharoah Elvis Presley
Joseph’s Dream Team
....Richard Swerrun in the title role wowed the crowd with a spectacular
performance supported by a talented cast including a hilarious Shane Cortese as
an Elvis-inspired Pharoah.
....But the standing ovation was well deserved and particular praise should go
to Shane Cortese who won the adoration of many of the women in the crowd with
his Pharoah/Elvis role.
Pharoah steals the show from Joseph
....To me, the great star of the show was Shane Cortese, whose Elvis lookalike
Pharoah can always be guaranteed to bring the house down.
Surrey Advertiser 28 December 1996
....Shane Cortese swivels his hips in the manner born as Pharoah/Elvis as a
chorus of American-style cheerleaders hang on his every word and faint at every
“Uh-huh.”
Leatherhead Advertiser 26 December 1996
....Equally worthy of praise is Julie Maguire, who belts out hit after hit in
the central role as narrator, and Shane Cortese as the hip-swivelling
Elvis-look-alike Paharoah.
Birmingham Post 6 March 1996 - Richard Edmonds
....Shane Cortese’s Rocky is still the clever performance it was at Coventry. This Rocky suggests
innocence (a knowing innocence) and is beautifully done. And every gold-dust
coated, perfectly honed muscle works its spell.
Belfast 22 February 1996
....Shane Cortese (Rocky) is every woman’s (and many men’s) dream toyboy - a ready-made Charles Atlas but ever so much younger, sweat
oozing from every muscled pore.
