By Stephen Brook and Samantha Hutchinson
Firstly, we begin with an apology to John Gandel and wife Pauline.
Last Friday this column brought you happy news of a family engagement for the billionaire property and philanthropy family.
Gandel granddaughter Lauren Thurin, announced her engagement to Oliver Howard, son of Victorian Governor Linda Dessau and her husband, Anthony Howard, a former County Court judge.
The couple had made the news official in the Australian Jewish News and on social media.
This column made contact briefly with Thurin, who sweetly informed us that she was just in the middle of something and got off the phone faster than Usain Bolt.
But it has been brought to our attention that we were guilty of a major omission. So apologies to the Gandel family for failing to note that wedding bells are soon to toll for another Gandel grandchild.
Richard Berman, son of Michelle Gandel and grandson of John and Pauline, has announced his engagement to Jade Solomon, daughter of Mandy and Saul Solomon. Their engagement party was on Saturday night. Congratulations again.
Even more wedding news
In Melbourne, backing for the performing arts traditionally means philanthropic support such as the redoubtable Lady Primrose Potter bankrolling the Melbourne Opera’s production of Verdi’s Macbeth.
But in a more modern era, things can be a little different. At the premiere of The Wedding Singer musical comedy at the Athenaeum Theatre on Saturday night, support for the performing arts came in the form of Real Housewives of Melbourne alumna Pettifleur Berenger taking selfies from seat H6 in the stalls before the curtain rose for dissemination to her 56.7k Instagram followers.
A full house for the opening night of the musical comedy based on the Adam Sandler film about an unlucky in love wedding singer proved two things: that the city has finally cast aside its COVID-19 jitters about attending a packed auditorium for a live performance; and people are mad for 1980s nostalgia. After a slow start, the surprisingly sweet love story ended with a joyous cavalcade of 1980s rock and pop stars tearing up Las Vegas.
With Melbourne’s vacant hotels becoming a political issue, producer David Venn said the musical is playing a “pivotal role in rebuilding the Australian theatre industry” and “creating much needed employment opportunities”. Given the four-week Melbourne season is extending to six and the show is touring the country, we get his point.
The opening night’s Real Housewives representation was strengthened by Susie McLean.
But her bejewelled jacket was easily eclipsed by best on ground Susan Alberti. The businesswoman, former vice-president of the Western Bulldogs and medical research philanthropist was resplendent in a floor-length blue sequin gown with matching jacket and jewels.
Also spotted marching through the foyer was award-winning director Bruce Beresford. Later in the month, thanks to the fundraising prowess of Lady Potter, who has just turned 90, Beresford will direct the Melbourne Opera production of Macbeth. Maybe he was in the audience getting some tips.
Comms role
Susan Crebbin, Daniel Andrews’ director of communications, is outtahere. Her role focused on speech writing and newspaper opinion columns, as well as all those worthy but dull forewords in glossy government reports.
The position complements Sabina Husic who arrived in the Premier’s office in January as director of media following a hasty exit from federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s office a few weeks earlier after she was the victim of that nasty business involving false anonymous emails.
Crebbin, who once worked for Natalie Hutchins as local government, Aboriginal affairs and industrial relations minister before becoming a government spokeswoman, is making her exit after the budget for greener unannounced pastures. We are reliably informed she hasn’t applied to follow in the footsteps of former premier Ted Baillieu’s chief of staff Michael Kapel, who took off from the premier’s office to San Francisco to be commissioner to the Americas for the government of Victoria. His replacement as the state’s trade and export tsar is yet to be announced.
Minister for car parks
Wrong number.Credit: Illustration: John Shakespeare
Smooth functioning of government is all about attention to detail. Unfortunately, things have gone badly awry in the preparation of the latest government ministerial contact list, prepared by the Prime Minister’s Office and circulated to the press gallery on April 19. Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Ken Wyatt’s media adviser is correctly listed as Lisa Hugg.
But her mobile number is not correctly listed.
Cue a very bemused executive who works in the car parking industry named Jana. She is now regularly getting calls from A Current Affair, The Project, Channel 7, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, among others.
Compounding the issue is the fact the exec is often underground with poor mobile reception when the media comes calling and the line drops out.
Jana has no connection with the Morrison government, but would have a few words to say to it. “If Lisa wants to swap, let me know,” Jana said.