JUNE 19, 2020

AJN ARTS SIVAN 27, 5780 19 WAR SATIRE Streaming theatre live at home DANNY GOCS defector who is so earnest in what he is saying,” said Sussman. THE satirical musical comedy “He took information from a Who’s Your Baghdaddy? will have CIA compendium and fed it back its Australian premiere next week to the spy organisation as if it was when the show is performed live new information.” and streamed into homes around Sussman, 50, who lives in Australia. Author Suzanne Leal. Melbourne, recently celebrated his For five nights from June 24, Photo: Adam Yip 30-year anniversary in the enter- Jewish actor Troy Sussman (who tainment business. ing at a man in the foreground, recently performed in the musical “Many people in the industry “but I cannot be completely Aladdin) teams up with Blake don’t get to do 10 years, let alone sure.” Her voice was soft as we Erickson (Shrek), Phillip Lowe 30 years of consistent performing peered through a magnifying (Georgy Girl), Laura Murphy in music theatre.” glass. (Muriel’s Wedding), Matthew He has performed in musi- I had not known Fred as a Predny (Kinky Boots), Adam cals including Les Miserables, young man, and although there Rennie (The Rocky Horror Show), Singer-actor Troy Sussman. Troy Sussman (right) stars in Aladdin. The Phantom of the Opera, Mary was something about him that Katrina Retallick (Come From Poppins and a three-year run in seemed familiar, I could not Away) and Justin Smith (Billy AJN during a break in rehearsals. was staged again in 2017. It is set Aladdin touring Australia, New help her. Elliot) to perform from a large “Apart from The Phantom of the around a group of mid-level spies Zealand and Singapore. He was simply an emaciated rented house in Sydney. Opera in Korea, it will be the only who believed that their actions led In recognition of the impact inmate who, like those around Due to COVID-19 restrictions, live show being performed in the to the American involvement in of COVID-19 on the arts indus- him, was wearing a striped uni- each actor is in a separate room world. the in 2003. try, the producers of Who’s Your form. There was nothing to help in full costume with camera and “Unlike all the concerts that Sussman plays an Iraqi defec- Baghdaddy? are offering multiple us identify him. microphone. Under the direction have been going online, we are tor known as who was ticket pricing options ranging from Or was there? of Neil Gooding, feeds from each not on Zoom but performing to a recruited by the CIA. Despite pro- $22 to $99 to encourage fans to “Wait,” I said, a distant room are sent to a central com- camera that transmits to an editing viding false intelligence on Iraqi support cast and crew, and are also memory finding its way back to puter and streamed live to the suite and is live to air, just like a mobile weapons laboratories, it was asking theatre-lovers to donate to me. Scrolling through my doc- viewing audience who have pre- TV variety show. used to justify the invasion of Iraq the Actors Benevolent Fund. uments on my laptop, I found booked tickets. “Fans will be able to enjoy full- and overthrow . what I needed: my transcription “This project is so exciting – it’s scale musical theatre live in the “I perform six songs in the of the interviews I had con- comfort of their home.” show and after spending most of Who’s Your Baghdaddy? is being a new way of performing on the performed live nightly from ducted with Fred so many years stage until audiences can get back Who’s Your Baghdaddy? pre- my career in musical comedy, I June 24-28 at 7.30pm. earlier. into theatres,” Sussman told The miered off-Broadway in 2005 and get to play the dead-serious Iraqi Bookings: baghdaddymusical.com.au In answer to a question about Dachau, Fred had told me: “After having been captured ARTS BEAT DANNY GOCS after my escape from Kaufering, I had on my chest and back Melbourne filmmaker Kitty Green; a large red circle, a so-called Mirka’s lifetime of art and Australian-made drama Hearts Fluchtpunkt, escape dot, signi- A MAJOR exhibition of works by artist and Bones starring Hugo Weaving. fying an individual who already Mirka Mora, who died in 2018 after a The bigger cinemas will have a tried to escape. In Dachau it dis- career spanning 70 years, will open at maximum capacity of 50 patrons, integrated, so I tore it away and the Jewish Museum of Australia (JMA) but each cinema will have to meet nobody noticed – it was really in December. the four-square-metres-per-person the last stages [of the war].” Presented in collaboration with requirement. My heart pounding, I looked William Mora Galleries, Mirka will When seated, patrons will be back at the photograph – we feature artworks from the private required to have sufficient social both did – each of us again collections of the Mora family and distancing between themselves and from her archives that have never peering through the magnify- others seated nearby. been previously exhibited, alongside Other health measures include ing glass. I looked closely, just in Mirka Mora’s In the Garden of Dreams (1975-81). works from the 2018-19 exhibition at the magic of hope and resilience. hand sanitiser stations in the cinema case I was wrong. But I was not. Heide Museum of Modern Art. We’re privileged to tell her story in this Cinemas open doors foyer, staggered session start times, Unlike the men around him The Mirka exhibition will reveal longer turnover between sessions, expanded and deeply personal way.” who had stars or circles or tri- her life and artistry through letters, to movie lovers and heightened cleaning regimes. The museum is currently closed angles sewn onto their pockets, sketchbooks and diaries, along with THE Classic, Lido and Cameo Among the films returning to the due to COVID-19 restrictions and will this man – who would soon recorded interviews from the Jewish cinemas will reopen on Monday, cinemas were those screening when become Eva’s husband, then Holocaust Centre archives. reopen on Sundays only from July 26, June 22 following the easing of lockdowns were introduced and Helena and Renata’s father – JMA director Jessica Bram said: with free entry and social distancing Victorian government coronavirus include actor-writer-director Taika had no pocket at all. “Beloved and remembered as measures in place. restrictions, with screenings of Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit. much for her extraordinary career new films including Resistance, the To welcome movie lovers back, The Deceptions by Suzanne Leal and contribution to cosmopolitan The Mirka exhibition will open at the World War II drama starring Jesse Classic, Lido and Cameo cinemas is published by Allen & Unwin, Melbourne as for her remarkable joie Jewish Museum of Australia, 26 Alma Eisenberg as Marcel Marceau; The have reduced regular ticket prices to $29.99 (rrp). de vivre, Mirka Mora gifts each of us Road, St Kilda in December. Assistant, a drama directed by $10 from June 22-28. Decorative Arts Programs For Jewish Listeners & Collectables SBS National Radio Auction: Sunday 28 June, 10.00am AEST View the fully illustrated catalogue Broadcasting in HEBREW, YIDDISH & ENGLISH 727-729 High Street, Armadale, VIC 3143 online at: www.leski.com.au The latest News, Current Affairs, Viewing: 24–27 September, 10am–5pm Otto Prutscher (Austria,1880-1949) & Jacob Löw Reports, Interviews, Music. (Austria/Israel,1887-1968), Wiener Werkstätte SUNDAY 11am - 1pm with Nitza Lowenstein Enquiries: [email protected] | 03 8539 6150 Viennese Sideboard, 1922. Est: $20,000–30,000 HEBREW: 11am-12.00pm* ENGLISH (“Shalom Australia”): 12.00-12.45pm* YIDDISH: 12.45-1.00pm* * The National SBS service broadcasts to Sydney 1107AM, Melbourne 1224AM, Brisbane 93.3FM, Adelaide 106.3FM, Perth 96.9FM, Hobart 105.7FM Broadcasting on: Digital radio, Digital TV, Online & Mobile phones. 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