Thursday, February 2, 2012

Reg Livermore – Take a Bow

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Reg Livermore has been entertaining Australian audiences for over 50 years. Sadly, I have missed the majority of the many, many shows he has appeared in – either as part of an ensemble cast or in his one man shows – because Reg lives and performs mostly along the eastern seaboard of Australia, and rarely it seems, does he make it to Adelaide.

However, I count myself lucky to have at least seen him in his seminal one man shows Betty Blokk Buster Follies in 1976, and Sacred Cow II in 1981. I also saw his production of Ned Kelly when it toured to Adelaide in 1978, a show for which Reg was writer, director, and designer.

So I was absolutely delighted to see that the Arts Centre Melbourne, was staging an exhibition celebrating his extraordinary career, and that my visit to Melbourne coincided with the exhibition, which as of this writing I have already visited three times.

Reg Livermore – Take A Bow, showcases his groundbreaking solo shows that began with Betty Blokk Buster Follies, and features some of the many stage costumes worn during that, and other shows. Also on display is material from his personal archive, including show posters, manuscripts, interviews, and awards, all of which allow the visitor a rare glimpse into the creative talent of a true Australian theatre legend.

The centre piece of the exhibition features a giant screen replaying songs from Betty Blokk Buster Follies. And it is these songs and performances that have drawn me back to the exhibition several times already.

Betty Blokk Buster Follies DVD
Here is the promotional video for the Betty Blokk Buster Follies DVD:


Some of the costumes on display include those of the characters Tara The Incredible, Carmen Marahuana, Allison Diesel, Captain Jack, Joan of Arcadia, Vaseline Amalnitrate, and the immortal Betty Blokk Buster herself.

As an occasional performer myself, I have always been drawn to other singers and actors who are not afraid to completely inhabit the characters they play and give them full expression. Reg Livermore not only does that but he has never been afraid to tread where many other performers are afraid to tread. In recognition for his many years in theatre, Livermore was honoured as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1996, and in a special ceremony at Melbourne’s Docklands in 2006, Livermore was named one of 100 Australian Entertainers of the Century.

His latest show and tour Turns (with another legend of the Australian theatre Nancye Hayes), took place in 2011. At 73. Reg Livermore doesn’t look like he is ready to stop performing anytime soon, and Turns was just the latest in a long career that began in 1957 with Around The Loop, and has gone on to included television (as an actor and presenter), and appearances in more than 100 theatre and television shows.

Apart from his one person shows, and the dozens of other theatre performances he has been in, Reg Livermore has appeared in some of Australia’s biggest theatre productions including Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show, Barnum, Iolanthe, The Producers, and My Fair Lady.

I was delighted to see that a collection of songs from the Betty Blokk Buster Follies show is now available on CD and DVD, and these can be bought via Possum Records. Reg has also written an autobiography, Chapters and Chances a coffee table style photographic history, published in 2003, and he is currently completing a second volume, There Are Things I Haven't Told You. Chapters and Chances can be bought directly from Reg Livermore via his website, and I note that he is more than happy to sign copies of the book if you request it.

Both the book and the DVD can also be purchased at the Arts Centre Melbourne during the exhibition.
"On of the most extraordinary events in Australian theatre history - A brilliant star"
~ The National Times on Betty Blokk Buster Follies

I have made my own humble tribute to Reg Livermore using footage from the Take a Bow exhibition, edited to his beautiful performance of the Charles Aznavour song, What Makes a Man?


More information:
Reg Livermore – Take A Bow at Arts Centre Melbourne, Gallery 1
November.5, 2011 – February 23, 2012.
Open Daily | Free entry

Reg Livermore on YouTube…


Reg Livermore on The Midday Show (1996)
In 1996, Reg Livermore appeared on The Midday Show, and was interviewed by the shows host Kerri-Anne about his career, his Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) award, and other topics. You can see that interview here:

Monday, January 23, 2012

Monday Movies - Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut


Screen grab from Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut
Just one movie for you today, and it’s great as it is bizarre, surreal, and funny.
In 2009, Vimeo developer Casey Pugh had a dream: to create an entire remake of the original Star Wars: A New Hope using only 15 second fan-made clips; they could recreate the scenes whichever way they wanted, whether using action figures, beer bottles, animation or dogs. Now, a 2010 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media later, the entire crowd-sourced project has been completed.


You can see the completed fan-made Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut, below. The two hour film includes animation, live action, puppets, Lego figures, and the weirdest collection of 15 second clips ever assembled into one delightful pastiche that pays tribute to George Lucas’s groundbreaking film.


Thanks to Gothamist for bringing this to my attention.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Things You Discover Walking – Clifton Hill Shot Tower


Clifton Hill Shot Tower looms over local homes


Have you ever wondered how they made those little round balls that passed as bullets in the olden days? You know the type I mean. Small, round, lead balls that had to be rammed down the barrels of primitive muskets and pistols, before they could be fired at an assailant or enemy combatant. Well, today’s Things You Discover Walking entry provides the answer.

A couple of kilometres from the home I am currently house sitting (in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy North), is a tall chimney-like structure that towers high over the neighbourhood of Clifton Hill. A little research reveals the column to be the Clifton Hill Shot Tower, a structure that was first erected in 1882.
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Would you like to hazard a guess at the number of bricks that went into
the towers construction?
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But what exactly is a ‘shot tower’?

“A shot tower is a tower designed for the production of shot balls by freefall of molten lead, which is then caught in a water basin. The shot is used for projectiles in firearms.” ~ Wikipedia

Let’s examine this process in more detail. Inside the shot tower, lead was heated until molten before it was passed through a copper sieve high up in the tower (presumably, the furnace to melt the lead was located at the top of the tower). As the molten lead dropped through the air it solidified as it fell, and the surface tension generated by the fall, formed tiny spherical balls.

The partially cooled balls dropped into a pool of water at the bottom of the tower where they were left to cool down completely. And that in a nut shell is how lead shot used to be made before the development of modern bullets.

To make larger shot sizes, a copper sieve with larger holes was used. However, the maximum size of the lead shot was limited by the height of the tower, because larger shot sizes needed to fall farther to give them time to cool.

Originally, molten lead was poured into moulds of various sizes to create lead shot, but as you can imagine, this was a long, slow, time consuming process. The advent of the shot tower sped up the process considerably until even newer modern methods were developed. 

Clifton Hill Shot Tower
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The Clifton Hill Shot Tower rises 49 metres (160 ft), and can be found on the corner of Alexandra Parade and Copper Lane. The tower (the tallest shot tower ever built in Australia), was operated by the Coops family, who also managed the Coops Shot Tower. Remarkably, this tower has also been preserved and can be seen inside the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre. Both towers are on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Modern methods for producing lead shot for shotgun shells, have of course done away for the need for shot towers, but many examples of these fascinating relics of a bygone age still survive.

Two of the oldest towers still standing are the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower in Wythe County, Virginia. This was built in the 1790s, and is now part of a state park and open to the public during the tourist season. Another is the Chester Shot Tower, in Boughton, England. This tower, built in 1799, is the oldest surviving shot tower in the Britain. Other examples still survive in countries as diverse as Germany, Finland, New Zealand, and elsewhere.

Clifton Hill Shot Tower
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So there you have it: the Clifton Hill Shot Tower. It now stands like a silent sentinel on a nondescript corner just metres from the entrance to Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway.

It would be wonderful to see the tower turned into more than just an old relic from a bygone era – I’m sure the view from the top would be well worth the climb – but sadly, money, politics, and planning constraints will no doubt conspire to stop that.
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