Skip to main content

Article: Black Box a New Musical!

You don’t know him, but he may have saved your life

BLACK BOX is Queenslander Paul Hodge’s ground-breaking new musical based on the extraordinary true story of David Warren, the Australian inventor who created the black box flight recorder that is now on every plane around the globe, and it will have its world premiere at QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre this May.

Driven by the death of his father in an unexplained plane crash when he was eight, BLACK BOX follows David as he fights for an invention that could record the final moments of a flight before it crashes – the black box. His obsession around this invention places his career, marriage and mind at risk. It’s a show about memory, and how we hold onto, and let go of, those we love 

BLACK BOX writer and composer, Paul Hodge, said, “David’s invention was inspired by his love of music. I wanted to create a theatre form that was as inventive as David’s idea, which led to the use of recorded voices and music, in the same way the black box gives recordings, to immerse the audience in David’s sound world.” Black box inventor David Warren will be played by internationally renowned singer and actor Michael Cormick, who has had leading roles around the world, including in Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast with Hugh Jackman. David’s wife, Ruth, will be played by Helpmann Award winner Helen Dallimore who as well as touring extensively throughout the UK and Australia was the original Glinda opposite Idina Menzel in the West End production of Wicked.

The auditory world that inspired David to create his life-saving invention shapes the audience’s experience
at BLACK BOX, which utilises pre-recorded voices and instruments to create a world of music and memory to tell his story. While Helen and Michael are on stage, the rest of the cast are present through a history- making audio experience. BLACK BOX is the first binaural musical with audience members wearing headphones that allow them to be totally immersed in a 360-degree world of sound. Binaural recording uses two microphones, arranged at the position of human ears to create a 3D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the recorded actors and instruments. This world-premiere production will be directed by David Berthold.

Tickets on sale from qpac.com.au

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Picnic at Hanging Rock - Javeenbah Theatre Company

Written by Mark Rickell “The infamous picnic has become a faux Australian history that has haunted the Australian psyche for almost fifty years.” - Hunter Wall, Director This is the backdrop on which the story takes place, not that of the period in history, but in the present. In the effect of this story and what it means to Australians. Children study the text in schools, the name, and the mystery, is synonymous with Australian literature.  “Whether Picnic at Hanging Rock is fact or fiction, my readers must decide for themselves. As the fateful picnic took place in the year nineteen hundred, and all the characters who appear in this book are long since dead, it hardly seems important.” - Joan Lindsay, Author This adaptation of the text is extremely true to the original material, and serves as an excellent example of the power of theatre as a way of bringing stories to life. This adaptation, expertly staged at Javeenbah Theatre, is a triumph of storytelling. It is clear that dire...
Post a Comment
Read more

Oliver! // Redcliffe Musical Theatre

  Presented at the Redcliffe Entertainment Center, this fantastic production by Redcliffe Musical Theatre is stunning from the first down beat. Set in Victorian England, Oliver Twist has lived in the workhouse since his mother passed during his birth. Now an adolescent, Oliver manages to escape from the grips of the workhouse and flees to London. Oliver finally feels at home when he is welcomed into a group of young boys, led by the charming Artful Dodger who “makes wallets” for Fagin. He later finds out that the group is a band of pickpocketing thieves. Of this band of rascals is the violent Bill Sykes and his devoted girlfriend Nancy. Oliver begins to see Nancy as the mother figure that he never had and they form a strong, familial bond. However, while out on a job with Dodger, Oliver is picked up by the Bow Street Runners and placed into the care of Mr. Brownlow. Concerned for their own safety, Fagin and Bill form a plot to steal Oliver back and keep him from talking. The impres...
Post a Comment
Read more

Metaverse of Magic //JONES Theatrical Group & QPAC

  Are you ready for a night of wonder, bewilderment and magic? Then look no further than the Metaverse of Magic playing at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre's Concert Hall until January 14, 2024! This fantastic immersive production takes the audience on a journey through the Metaverse to face the four masters of illusion to unlock the magical relics. Led by Lenoxx (Ash Hodgkinson - Ash Magic) the audience must help Lenoxx escape the Metaverse by completing interactive challenges via a device. This one-of-a-kind production combines some of the most renowned illusionists and cutting-edge technology to create a fantastic theatre experience.  Hodgkinson is not only a great actor but is also a magician showing off their fantastic sleight of hand card tricks. Then enters the  Legacy  master, Charli Ashby, providing us a steampunk-inspired performance of old school (or legacy!) magic such as sawing people in half! Then came Horret Wu from Taiwan showcasing some incredib...
Post a Comment
Read more