Arts news: Another leader leaves Art Gallery of South Australia
There’s been a shake-up at the Art Gallery of South Australia, with a second leader set to leave.
Entertainment
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A second major leadership departure has rocked the Art Gallery of South Australia, with its assistant director Lisa Slade set to take on a new role at the University of Melbourne.
It follows Art Gallery director Rhana Devenport’s decision to leave in July and move to Sydney after six years in the role.
Dr Slade has been appointed as the Hugh Ramsay Chair in Australian Art History at the University of Melbourne.
She joined AGSA as a project curator in 2011 and was made assistant director of artistic programs in 2015, helped establish the Tarnanthi indigenous festival and Ramsay Art Prize, and oversaw the Adelaide Biennial exhibitions.
Art Gallery board chair Sandy Verschoor said it presented the opportunity to appoint a new artistic leadership team, with the search for a new director already underway.
“Dr Slade’s new position demonstrates the strength of the Gallery’s artistic leadership,” Ms Verschoor said.
AGSA’s assistant director of operations, Emma Fey, has been named acting director during the transition.
Missy Higgins plays Sound of White in concert
For the first time in her career, singer-songwriter Missy Higgins is playing the entirety of her hit 2004 album Sound of White in concert. In the lead up to the sold-out gigs at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Thursday and Friday and Saturday’s performance at the Barossa Arts Centre, here’s a review of the Brisbane show by Georgia Clelland:
Walking into the QPAC Concert Hall on Friday night for Missy Higgins’ ‘Second Act’ tour, I was unprepared for the emotional depth that awaited me.
I knew Higgins had recently gone through a separation, but I assumed the title ‘Second Act’ signalled an optimistic new chapter in her life, bringing back the joy felt in her 2018 hit ‘Futon Couch’.
How wrong I was.
Instead, I was taken on a profound emotional rollercoaster, reflecting Higgins’ recent personal hardships that left me needing the intermission – a rarity at concerts – to recompose myself.
The singer opened the show alone on stage in front of a sold-out crowd, her black acoustic guitar cradled in her arms, and began with “The Sweet Arms Of A Tune.” Her voice, richer and more powerful with age, filled the hall with raw emotion.
Higgins, who separated from her husband in 2022, has spoken publicly about the split, but hearing her delve into the personal turmoil that inspired her upcoming album, ‘Second Act,’ was an entirely different experience.
“It’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through – and it took me quite a while to get through enough of the grief to be able to form words around what I was going through,” she said about her divorce.
Throughout the evening, Higgins shared the backstory of each song before performing it, giving the audience a glimpse into her personal journey.
One of the most heart-wrenching moments came with the live debut of “Blue Velvet Dress,” a song about the dissolution of her marriage on December 31 2021, just before Higgins had to take the stage at the ABC New Year’s Eve live broadcast, wearing, you guessed it, a blue velvet dress,
The raw honesty in her lyrics left many audience members in tears, and I can admit I felt a bit emotional myself.
Midway through the show, Higgins performed another tear-jerker song she wrote for her daughter, Luna, 5.
Addressing the difficult questions her daughter asked amid the separation, Higgins sang, “I’ll always love your daddy,” capturing the complex emotions of a family in transition.
The concert’s unique two-act structure with an intermission was a blessing, allowing time to recompose oneself and digest the stirring first half.
As the second act began, the emotional intensity continued but was interspersed with some of Higgins’ classic hits.
Songs like “The River” and “Ten Days” brought a sense of nostalgia, reminding us of the artist who became the voice of breakups for many Aussies in the early 2000s.
Yet, even these familiar tunes carried a deeper weight, resonating with the evening’s theme of transformation and healing.
Despite the emotional weight of the evening, Higgins managed to weave jabs of humour throughout her performance, adding a layer of resilience to the overall narrative. Her voice, like fine wine, has only improved with age, and her stage presence remains captivating. While some artists rely on elaborate stage setups and backup singers, Higgins commanded the stage with just herself and her chosen instrument, proving once again why she is one of Australia’s most beloved singer-songwriters.
SETLIST:
ACT I:
The Sweet Arms Of A Tune
Where I Stood
A Story For The Ages
You Should Run
Greed for Your Love
The Cactus That Found the Beat
Blue Velvet Dress (live debut)
A Complicated Truth
The Second Act
ACT II:
All For Believing
Katie
The River
Nightminds
Ten Days
This Is How It Goes
Casualty
Any Day Now
They Weren’t There
Don’t Ever
The Special Two
Scar
The Sound of White
TINA: The Tina Turner Musical
Festival Theatre
24 April to 31 May
After a week of sold-out previews the word was well and truly out that TINA: The Tina Turner Musical is something special.
And the most special thing about it is Ruva Ngwenya giving a powerhouse performance in the lead.
And she’s a triple-threat triumph, too, singing, acting and dancing up a storm. Her voice is glorious, her emotional intensity in the many times of crisis is gripping.
Most of the other characters, with the notable exception of Ike – a fine and nuanced performance by Giovanni Adams – are more thinly drawn, if well performed.
The design is a clever digital/physical combination, and really adds to the climactic moments, which are absolutely thrilling.
The band, under Christina Polimos with a strong local contingent, is on fire from the start, and only gets better.
Tina is a bit of a mess, structurally, with more than a few jarring time-shifts mainly to accommodate one of the twenty-odd numbers into account. But then again, Tina was involved in the creation of the show, which is hers in a very particular way.
Tina’s life was not an easy one. It was blighted by violence, racism, poverty and addiction. The violence, from childhood through the miserable years of marriage, is graphic.
Uncomfortable this may be, but in this very week when yet another woman has lost her life to family violence, we need to know.
For all of that, when the sound ramps up towards the end, it’s impossible not to leap to your feet, and join in with the other two thousand people roaring out (Simply) The Best. Enough said.
– Peter Burdon
Penbo: Hot N Cold reality of Party Pete’s Katy coup
It feels like you could launch a TV show called Everybody Loves Mali at the moment, writes David Penberthy. Well, not quite everybody.
Aussie Handmaid’s Tale star’s surprise move
After the dark dystopia of Handmaid’s and the terror of horror series Teacup, Aussie actor Yvonne Strahovski has revealed what her next big move will be, and why.