Stories

Holy mama, I don’t think I’ve ever felt as good about my extra x chromosome as I did leaving, ironically, one of the city’s flashest all-boys schools theatre last night. If you’re shy, easily offended or sexually frustrated, get thee to Hot Brown Honey immediately – it’ll bust you out of your bubble faster than [insert explicit sexual reference here]. This show is in-your-face unapologetic empowerment. Don’t expect any simpering from these sassy lasses – they own that stage and they know it. It’s a celebration of culture and progress and it’s a no-holds-barred glimpse at what the future is going to be with beautiful strong brown souls in charge. Busty Beats and her Honeys dish up a riotous performance of song, dance, acrobatics and hip hop, reminding us that women are strong, powerful, brave and so much more than just the f@$#ing maid. It’s loud – you’re going to be...

Suspend your disbelief and dive into Leo's imagination. This one-man-phenomenon is a trip; warped perspectives and gravity defying dance bubble up to keep you on your toes while you’re not really sure where Leo’s toes are. The premise is simple, as is the set – one man, an empty room, a suitcase. But for an hour or so, that man, that room and that suitcase open a world of possibility, impossibility and beauty that will make your brain hurt (in a good way) and your heart expand. Clever use of video overlay and beautiful music combined with the oddly pleasant confusion of reality make this a show that challenges and charms. Plus Leo’s got one of the best exits in showbiz. Seriously. LEO: The Anti-Gravity Showuntil Jan 20, Assembly Hall - Christ's Collegebreadandcircus.co.nz   Image credit: Andy Phillipson

If you’d told me that a middle-aged Nigerian drag queen would, within an hour, have a Christchurch audience on its feet, singing, dancing and cheering, I’d have called you a liar. Yet, that’s exactly what Le Gateau Chocolat did last night, and has been doing all week. And will be doing until Sunday, so rattle your dags – you do not want to miss out on this one! I went into this with no expectations. Friends and colleagues had said ‘Oh, he’s great’ but that was about it. I’ve since decided they totally undersold this to me. Chocolat isn’t great, he’s a miracle in lycra. With a voice that could lure your kids out of their rooms and your grandparents off the tennis court, Chocolat reimagines the music of his (and my) ICONS – Kate Bush, Madonna, Pavarotti, John Travolta, Whitney Houston... The list is massive and not restricted to music;...

Hey Cityscapers, we need to talk. It’s festival season and the city is chocka with funky beats, fabulous events, awesome performers and clever cats. So here’s my challenge to you – get out there and make the most of it! For the longest time, the Garden City has been the 'guarded city', but you and I know that’s old hat. Sure, we might play it a bit cool but that’s because we’re shy, right? Even so, that’s no excuse for the great swathes of real estate staked out with picnic blankets and chairs in North Hagley Park at the weekend. When Toto, Dragon and Starship performed, bums that had been parked on seats for hours stayed firmly rooted. Poor old Mark Williams couldn’t even get half the crowd to sing back at him until the very last song and Starship poured their hearts out on stage to a crowd of close-mouthed,...

You know you’re experiencing brilliance when all you hear from the audience is: “Wha…?”, “How...?”. “Did he just…?” with a fair sprinkling of: “No! Eew!”.  When you head to LIMBO, you can safely assume you’re not going to finish a lot of sentences as your eyes struggle to make sense of what on earth those bodies up on that stage are doing to themselves. Opening night for LIMBO was packed to the gunnels; not even a summer shower could dampen the excitement. The capacity crowd was ready to be shocked, wowed and entertained, and that’s exactly what it got. Funky beats, fabulous costumes, ingenious lighting and the most beautiful of bodies doing the most outrageous things even kept the revellers in the back row quiet. A clever mix of circus, cabaret, contortion and acrobatics, Limbo, directed by Scott Maidment, has earned its place in entertainment’s upper echelons. It has been a...

Jessie Wong, the wonderwoman behind first-class handbag brand Yu Mei, sits down with Cityscape to chat about the team behind the label, design revelations and the success of such an iconic fashion name. Why bags? I couldn’t find a bag that met all my needs, so designing my own provided the solution. Not a lot of bag designers consider how the modern woman lives, juggling work, family and a social life. We’ve come a long way since the early purses, which were designed to carry a woman’s love letters. We also love how bags can express what we want and design them according to each individual’s needs and to suit the personalities of our friends and family (which each one is named after). We're so enchanted by bags we'd never want to go back to fashion. What’s been a recent career highlight for you? We won the Deloitte Rising Star Award,...

Cityscape spends five minutes with Kristy Thomson, who with Jamil Rehman are the team behind The Gallery Fitness, in Montreal Street. Opening their own gym is the culmination of a 20-year dream, particularly for Rehman. The Gallery Fitness is a gym for people who are serious about their goals. What are you most proud of with your bodybuilding? Going to the Arnolds (the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival) in the US in 2010 and getting 8th. Getting in the top 10 gets you IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding andFitness) professional status. When did you switch from working out to bodybuilding, and why? I started working out at 15. At 17, I hired a personal trainer, Robyn Crotty, All Black Ryan’s mum, I started with her. At 20 I did my first national competition and won the figure class. If you want to get into bodybuilding it’s best to get a personal trainer that specialises,...

Fresh from his own hit Las Vegas show, UK comedian and magician John van der Put, aka Piff the Magic Dragon, will flame Christchurch audiences as part of Bread & Circus – World Buskers Festival. He tells Cityscape about his magic life and performing with a diva chihuahua. What did you do before Piff the Magic Dragon came along? I was a regular human magician doing weddings, bar mitzvahs and corporate dinners and getting fired everywhere for being too grumpy. How much do you know about New Zealand? Never been. My only knowledge comes from those Hobbit movies. On that basis, I’m looking forward to towering over the inhabitants but terrified I’m going to get shot in the face by a dwarf. What has been the most surreal experience of your career? Penn Jillette (half of the top US magic act Penn & Teller) becoming Pop the Magic Dragon. How hard...

Danielle Casey is the creative force behind this season’s heritage-drenched Ballantynes Christmas window displays. Cityscape talks to her about her gig with a little shop in London called Harrods, and how she got to do what she does. How did you get to be designing Christmas windows for Ballantynes? I arrived back in New Zealand this time last year after seven years in the UK. While I was there I worked with some amazing production and design agencies where I produced campaigns for the likes of Nike, Bacardi and Harrods. Naturally I was excited to come home but also a little apprehensive about how my experience would stack up in the New Zealand job market. I knew of Ballantynes so applied for the advertised visual merchandiser role and after two interviews was hired as their visual merchandising manager. What has been your biggest gig so far (apart from Ballantynes of course)?...

One of the world’s most loved reggae bands, UB40 will be performing in Christchurch on Waitangi Day, which is also Bob Marley’s birthday. Cityscape talks to one of the originals, Astro, about the thrill of performing live and the downside of fame. Congrats on your 40th anniversary and the success of A Real Labour of Love – what was it like getting back in the recording studio? Thank you. It was great to finally get back in the studio to record A Real Labour of Love. They are a collection of songs that we used to sing on the tour buses while touring in the 1980s. Did you have any idea it was going to be so well received? No, we had no idea because as always it’s the public that decide if it is a hit or not! Obviously we hoped people would love it but nothing is guaranteed. You’re...

By her own admission, Betty Grumble comes from a long line of humanoid and mythical sex clowns. She shares her womanifesto with Cityscape before her appearances in Bread & Circus – World Buskers Festival. How did you break into this industry? I wouldn't call it a break. I was always a creature of theatre and shows. I didn't want to tell stories that didn't make my heart sing, I didn't want to compete and be treated like an object. I was lucky enough to train and persist within arts schools and experiment in the realm of the nightclub. Installation performance, drag, strip and storytelling all got smashed together as I honed full-length shows. It was a maturation, a slow burn, a thick tree trunking that is now bearing fruit. I didn't compromise my radical heart and people have respected that. How did your persona Betty Grumble come to fruition? Betty Grumble...

Cityscape has a yarn with New Zealand R ’n’ B queen Ladi6 on her music plans for 2019, getting her judge on in Project Runway and her funky fresh style ahead of her January gig with Fat Freddy's Drop in Hagley Park.  Who will be joining you for this gig? My band, the usual suspects and maybe a couple of special guests... one will have to see won’t we... lol. What are your musical plans for 2019? Oh man, new life, new life, new life... we are in dream mode now for what will be a creative killer of a year... 2019 is already blowing my mind! What’s the state of hip hop in NZ these days? Man, as far as I can tell... damn good! Of the new crop of artists, who are you a fan of? Oh man, I’m a fan of pretty much everybody coming out right now,...

Life just keeps getting busier for the super-talented Estère, who will bring her ‘electric blue witch-hop’ to the Electric Avenue stage in February. Cityscape falls under her spell. You’ve had a whirlwind of a year performing globally. How does performing abroad compare to performing on home soil? I think when you perform abroad there's an extra layer of anticipation and uncertainty in the emotions that come with touring. When you're going somewhere for the first time and you know all your friends and family are on the other side of the world, you can feel a great sense of vastness. I enjoy touring wherever I go but playing in New Zealand has a special feeling of warmth and familiarity. Before you went solo, you were in the collective Brockaflowersaurus-Rex & The Blueberry Biscuits, which is a rad name – how did that name come to be? We all had studied either...

The Christchurch Symphony Orchestra will mark its return to the Town Hall by reuniting with Shapeshifter, who they performed with in 2007. Cityscape asks keyboardist and guitarist Sam Trevethick what the audience can look forward to. Shapeshifter back in the Town Hall with the CSO after 11 years – how exciting is that? It’s very exciting to be reopening my favourite venue. I'm so happy it was able to be saved from destruction. The night we played with the CSO was incredible so it’s great to be able to repeat it. What will the playlist look like – a mix of old and new? Pretty much a song or two from every album we've made, plus one or two we haven't yet. For the Christchurch band members in particular it must be great to be part of the return to the Town Hall? It’s my favourite venue in the world, and...

In March, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra will return to the city’s beloved and rebuilt Town Hall. As well as regaining an auditorium that is regarded as one of the best-designed concert halls in the world, the CSO will also get a permanent home in a new wing built just for it. Part of that new wing is the Ron Ball Studio, which the orchestra will use as a main rehearsal room and small performance venue. Cityscape asked CSO chief executive Gretchen La Roche about the significance of the return, and what plans the organisation has for its new home. How important to the CSO is the return to the Town Hall? Like many people we are really looking forward to it. The Town Hall is a very special place, with its acoustics and revolutionary design putting it among the top concert halls in the world. It’s a significant building not only...

The CSO’s celebrations of the reopening of the Christchurch Town Hall include the first concert of the 2019 Lamb & Hayward Masterworks Series. Pianists Michael Houstoun and Tony Chen Lin will perform Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos. Cityscape asked Chen Lin about his journey from Christchurch music student to the Town Hall stage, and the responsibility of choosing the new Steinway piano for the auditorium. You made your debut with the CSO this year – what were some memorable moments from that? The whole experience was a very memorable one. I especially enjoyed working with Benjamin Northey, who is a wonderful musician and conductor. In addition to that, it is always a joy to play for a warm and appreciative home crowd with my family and friends sitting in it. But this amiable feeling wasn’t just in the audience; it was lovely to see so many familiar faces in the orchestra too, many...

From our friends at Universo, here’s a perfect cocktail for a languid summer afternoon or as a sundowner at the bach or barbeque. Ingredients 3 lemon wedges30ml Tanqueray Gin30ml Pimms30ml Monin blackberry syrup15ml lemon juicecucumber ribbon (for rim of glass)cucumber ribbon stick40ml soda water Method 1. Add lemon wedges to a highball glass and muddle. Add all liquid except the soda water, fill the glass to halfway with normal ice and stir.2. Place cucumber ribbon around the rim of the glass then top with crushed ice.3. Top with the soda water and garnish with the cucumber ribbon stick, a slice of lemon and mint leaves. Edible flowers are also a garnish option. universo.co.nz  

Take a leaf out of restaurateur Francesca Voza’s new cookbook to prepare this taste-bud tempter, inspired by her visit with chef James Stapley to a Sicilian fish market. Serves 6 - 8. Prawn Bisque  INGREDIENTS 1kg of prawns, shells on 1 carrot1 red onion1 fennel bulb1 celery stick8 cloves fresh garlic1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil1 sprig fresh rosemary, picked1 tsp fresh chilli flakes2 cups white wine1L Napoli (see recipe below) or a good quality passata2 cups watersalt to taste METHOD 1. First remove the heads and shells from the prawns. Keep these to one side; they will give your bisque its punchy prawn flavour! Refrigerate the prawn meat until needed (see ‘To Serve’).2. Roughly chop the carrot, onion, fennel, celery and garlic cloves and add to a saucepan with the olive oil, rosemary and chilli flakes. Sweat this down on a low heat until soft but without colour – about 10...