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Latest FromDionne Christian

Emerging NZ musician Arjuna Oakes joins established artists like the NZSO and Black Grace to launch a major new fundraiser for the country's creatives.

ENTERTAINMENT

Getting paid to play - major new fundraiser launched for Kiwi creatives

24 Apr, 2020 5:00am
4 minutes to read

NZ musician helps launch major new arts funder by giving back to fellow performers.

First time novelist Becky Manawatu is a finalist for New Zealand's richest fiction prize.

Are these New Zealand's best books? Ockham award finalists revealed

4 Mar, 2020 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Finalists named in New Zealand's premiere book awards.

The Auckland cast of hit West End play Emilia give voice to one of history's unsung great women. Director Miriama McDowell is seated far right. Photo / Charles Brooks

PREMIUM

Dark lady emerges from the shadows

29 Feb, 2020 5:00am
7 minutes to read

400 years after England's first woman poet made her name known, she's finally being heard.

The Book of Mormon opens at Auckland's Civic Theatre on March 6. Photo / Supplied.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Book of Mormon a masterclass in satire with heart

27 Feb, 2020 5:00am
7 minutes to read

The world's most 'inappropriate' musical is about to open in Auckland.

Avid reader Jann Medlicott is the woman behind one of the world's richest book prizes, the Acorn Prize for Fiction. Photo / Alana Dresner

Revealed - the woman who funds New Zealand's richest book award

22 Feb, 2020 5:00am
8 minutes to read

New Zealand's richest literary award donor reveals her identity to boost local book trade.

Chessie Henry is working on and championing the relaunch of arts crowdfunding platform Boosted.

ENTERTAINMENT

Boosted: Arts crowdfunding site rejuvenated and relaunched

9 Feb, 2020 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Want to support NZ art and literature? It's about to get easier to donate.

Alison Quigan and Mark Hadlow star in Auckland Theatre Company's world premiere of Winding Up by Roger Hall. Photo / supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Roger Hall winds it up for booming new play

5 Feb, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

New Roger Hall play to open in Auckland before North Island tour. Will it be his last?

Mixit members Younis Ahmat Abdallah (left) and Gediyon Nendmu Derb get ready to perform In A Curious Garden at the Auckland Botanic Gardens.

ENTERTAINMENT

How theatre is helping to make refugee kids feel that NZ can be home

18 Jan, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Why could an Auckland arts group become vital to youth as NZ's refugee quota increases?

Hilary Barry, then Pankhurst, (second row from front) with the NZ Youth Choir.

ENTERTAINMENT

Hilary Barry as you've never seen her before

30 Nov, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

NZ Youth Choir celebrates 40th anniversary - here's why it's good news to Hilary Barry.

Acclaimed choreographer Shona McCullagh will be the artistic director at Auckland Arts Festival. Photo / John McDermott

ENTERTAINMENT

Leading choreographer leaps into festival role

27 Nov, 2019 1:05pm
2 minutes to read

Surprise appointment as Auckland Arts Festival names new artistic director.

BUSINESS

The forgotten women who powered early New Zealand

9 Nov, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

New book challenges idea that a colonial woman's place was in the home.

Skid Row residents start their morning in downtown Los Angeles. Photo / AP

ENTERTAINMENT

On Skid Row - the Kiwis at the heart of the 'worst manmade disaster in the US'

2 Nov, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

LA's Skid Row is not a place you want to visit so why are kiwi theatre-goers going there?

Hayden Tee's love of musical theatre meant there was no chance of him joining the family automotive businesses. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

ENTERTAINMENT

Just a small town boy - New Zealand's Broadway star comes home

12 Oct, 2019 5:00am
8 minutes to read

Maungaturoto to Broadway - the remarkable success story of panelbeater's son Hayden Tee.

Delia Hannah stars in State Highway 48, a musical about making the most of life.

ENTERTAINMENT

Kiwi rock opera takes long road to Auckland

9 Oct, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Hamilton father of four's rock opera a novel way to deal with a midlife crisis.

Arlo Gibson, Comfrey Sanders, Ella Becroft and Hannah Lynch in rehearsals for Owls Do Cry. Photo / Andi Crown

ENTERTAINMENT

Playing with a classic - Janet Frame's Owls Do Cry swoops onto the stage

5 Oct, 2019 5:00am
6 minutes to read

Janet Frame's literary masterpiece Owls Do Cry now a world-first stage production.

Young performers appear in Manawa Ora to show the skills they've learned from Nga Rangatahi Toa.

ENTERTAINMENT

Youth at risk charity gets major boost

4 Oct, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Charity that helps youth at risk gets major boost from event organisers extraordinaire.

Sue Wootton will travel to southern France next year as the 2019 Katherine Mansfield Fellow.

ENTERTAINMENT

Does reading help with feeling well? NZ writer probes the links

4 Oct, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Former physiotherapist turned writer wins major New Zealand award.

Rehearsals for NZ Opera's The Turn of the Screw. Olivia Forbes, 18, left, and Lukas Maher, 12. Photo / Jason Oxenham

ENTERTAINMENT

A phantom at the opera? Young singers confront ghostly challenge

1 Oct, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Will there be a phantom at the opera? Not when it comes to young stars.

Anna Leese - is she playing with fire in The Turn of the Screw? It's NZ Opera's latest production and promises to be spooky. Photo / Michael Bradley

ENTERTAINMENT

Star NZ opera singer's frightening new role: "It freaks me out. I get spooked."

28 Sep, 2019 5:00am
8 minutes to read

Opera star knows the real things that scare don't go bump in the night.

ENTERTAINMENT

Playwright brings home new perspectives on Pacific lives

18 Sep, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

A decade away, Samoan playwright returns home to show us what she's learned.

Members of the Hobson Street Theatre Company Shadow and Kelly in a scene from That's What Friends Are For.

ENTERTAINMENT

Top groups scoop awards for making arts fairer

13 Sep, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

A theatre group started to help the homeless wins top arts award.

Author Kirsten Warner will appear at the Going West Writers Festival next weekend.

LIFESTYLE

Broken pasts and severed futures: NZ author's remarkable survival tale

31 Aug, 2019 5:00am
7 minutes to read

It took 10 years for Kirsten Warner's debut novel to appear, a bigger fight was to come.

Pop-up Globe founder and artistic director Dr Miles Gregory on the theatre's now worldwide renowned stage.

ENTERTAINMENT

Pop-up Globe farewells Auckland

29 Aug, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

One of Auckland's most popular cultural attractions is leaving to travel the globe.

Thomas LaHood and Jo Randerson in their comedy show Soft 'n' Hard, which tackles gender politics.

ENTERTAINMENT

Want to have a tough conversation? Try singing instead

21 Aug, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Is singing about life's big issues better than talking? Aucklanders urged to give it a go.

Marianne Infante's play Pinay is the first first locally written and produced bilingual Filipino play. Photo / John Rata and Marc Conaco

ENTERTAINMENT

NZ theatre adds another chapter to its history with opening of new play

13 Aug, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

NZ's first locally written and produced Filipino play spotlights Pinoy experience.

Josh Morgan and Sacha Cotter with their award-winning book The Bomb.

ENTERTAINMENT

NZ kids' book of the year is 'the bomb'

7 Aug, 2019 8:30pm
3 minutes to read

The best NZ books for children and young adults have been named.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand plays a well-heeled New York art dealer in Six Degrees of Separation, a play a New Zealander knows only too well.

ENTERTAINMENT

Kiwi's connection to conman at heart of the play

4 Aug, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

New Zealander's meeting with conman at the heart of Six Degrees of Separation.

Dionne's sea shell, driftwood and cane basket, an ode to the past. Photo / Michael Craig

LIFESTYLE

Dionne Christian discovers a Clevedon workshop reviving forgotten skills

3 Aug, 2019 7:00am
7 minutes to read

We might be intrigued by the past - but do we really want to live there?

Alison Quigan, Rima Te Wiata, Lisa Chappell, Hera Dunleavy, Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Anapela Polavaitio. Photo / Greg Bowker

ENTERTAINMENT

Getting better with age? The power of wisdom

3 Aug, 2019 5:00am
13 minutes to read

Getting better with age? NZ's top female stars tell us about staying on top.

David Aston, Elizabeth Hawthorne and Carmel McGlone in The Children, a play for every generation.

ENTERTAINMENT

Explosive new drama: if the children are our future how far would we go for them?

27 Jul, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

The fall-out could be unpredictable - play's moral-dilemma leaves audiences gasping.

Auckland's first Turama light festival will provide a whole new perspective on some of our most majestic trees.

ENTERTAINMENT

Art meets science in new light festival

24 Jul, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Cutting edge of art and science highlighted in Auckland's new Tūrama festival.

Marianne Schultz has long been a stalwart of New Zealand's contemporary dance scene; she's now starring in Orchids. Photo / Jocelyn Janon

ENTERTAINMENT

Dance career continues to blossom

17 Jul, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

One of our most senior contemporary dancers is back in town and ready to bloom.

Author and illustrator Donovan Bixley joins forces later this year with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra to bring Mozart the man to life.

ENTERTAINMENT

Drawing on music to tell new stories of Mozart

16 Jul, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Award-winning illustrator Donovan Bixley to join forces with APO to make Mozart magical.

Talia Carlisle, Emma Mcguire, Sara Cowdell and Elizabeth Connor are making girl group Little Mix the inspiration for their show, Power.

ENTERTAINMENT

Embracing contradictions: Power at Basement Theatre

15 Jul, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

It's not quite a tribute to Little Mix but celebrates the music, style and contradiction.

Ivana Mlinvac completed her MA looking at the impact of having a parent in prison; now she's written a children's picture book for those going through the experience. Photo / Dean Purcell

ENTERTAINMENT

Sprinkling stardust into the lives of vulnerable children

7 Jul, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

First-time author writes picture book to help vulnerable NZ kids with parent in prison.

Karen Burnett Hamer (back centre, pictured with her family) returns to Auckland for the first time to stage her musical version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre-maker hears sound of music and tiny feet

6 Jul, 2019 6:00am
4 minutes to read

Meet the NZ/USA theatre family who could be our answers to the Von Trapps.

An eerie image of a flooded McDonald's restaurant, from the film by Danish artists Superflex, aims to get us thinking about consumption, pollution and climate change. Photo / courtesy of the artists.

ENTERTAINMENT

Health of harbour top of mind during hikoi to art exhibition

6 Jul, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Art exhibitions usually open with wine and cheese, this one starts with a hikoi and hangi.

Priya Sami says fear held her back from making a move into musical theatre. Photo/Jason Oxenham.

ENTERTAINMENT

Once upon a time musician Priya Sami was afraid of theatre but not any more

22 Jun, 2019 7:00am
6 minutes to read

Tough as a musician's life may be, Priya Sami can't imagine doing anything else.

Performer and Yes Yes Yes co-creator Karin McCracken in an earlier performance of the play aimed at preventing sexual violence. Photo/Jinki Cambronero.

ENTERTAINMENT

New play for teens aims to prevent sexual violence

21 Jun, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

New play for New Zealand teens aimed at preventing sexual violence is a must see.

Pupils from Balmoral Primary School with Ronnie van Hout's new sculpture Boy Walking in Potters Park in Auckland. Photo / Alex Burton

ENTERTAINMENT

Let's hear it for the boy; Auckland's giant new kid in town

15 Jun, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

There's a stride in the humongous lad's step but where, exactly, is he headed?

School of Rock stars Joe Kosky and Zane Blumers check out the Civic stage where they will perform later this year.

ENTERTAINMENT

Hunt launched for New Zealand's best school songwriter

9 Jun, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Could the next best song Andrew Lloyd Webber hears be written by a Kiwi kid? Here's how.

Rashmi Pilapitiya (left) and Kalyani Nagarajan star in A Fine Balance, a co-production between NZ-based Indian community theatre company Prayas and Auckland Theatre Company. Photo/Michael Craig.

ENTERTAINMENT

Theatre epic to open in Auckland next week

8 Jun, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

New Zealand theatre companies join forces for epic history-maker like no other seen here.

Picture Book Award finalists in this year's NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults show off the diversity of our people and places.

ENTERTAINMENT

Books for young readers reflect diverse New Zealand

6 Jun, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

The year's best books for New Zealand children and young adults named.

Manoa Teaiwa has looked to the past, and his own family history, to produce the dance work Stolen Stories for the Pacific Dance Festival.

ENTERTAINMENT

Land made of land - the tragic story of one of our Pacific neighbours

3 Jun, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

The story of Banaba Island, told at the Pacific Dance Festival, is likely to shock

Sir Roger Hall believes he is the first Kiwi playwright to be knighted. Photo / Michael Craig

ENTERTAINMENT

Roger Hall's knighthood new chapter for NZ theatre

3 Jun, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Playwright Roger Hall honoured for key role in the development of New Zealand drama.

Royal NZ Ballet dancer Katherine Minor soars high in the arms of fellow dancer Paul Mathews. Photo/Ross Brown

ENTERTAINMENT

A ballet for our times

1 Jun, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

A new version of Swan Lake is a ballet for our times, says the Royal NZ Ballet.

Diocesan School for Girls students Eva Wu (left), 13, and Mika Kurosawa, 10, have been selected to play cello at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of an international musical performance.

ENTERTAINMENT

New York beckons for young musicians

1 Jun, 2019 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Two Auckland school pupils will play at New York's Carnegie Hall after competition wins.

Aucklanders Blake Tuke (left) and Jason Yong-Westland perform in Westside Story. Photo / Michael Craig

ENTERTAINMENT

A new Tuke sails onto the international stage

26 May, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

The Tuke family name is known in NZ for gold-medal sailing; now add dancing to the mix.

Anna (left) and Amber Stevenson, pictured with Arika Parker-Wendt, who plays King Julien the Lemur, share equal billing in Madagascar - A Musical Adventure Junior. Photo/Andi Crown

ENTERTAINMENT

(Dis)ability no barrier to moving it in Madagascar

18 May, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Sisters Amber and Anna Stevenson are among a group of kids making NZ theatre history.

Bronwyn Turei stars in Rants in the Dark, playing a husband and father.

ENTERTAINMENT

Mum's the word for Go Girls star Bronwyn Turei

15 May, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Go Girls star reflects on parenthood and family roles.

Ngā Hine Pūkōrero (from left) Matariki Bennett, Terina Wichman-Evans, Arihia Hall and (front) Manaia Tuwhare-Hoani are the first Australasian team selected to be part of Brave New Voices.

ENTERTAINMENT

Slam dunk! New Zealand poets make history

15 May, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Creative NZ teens score a global first, taking slam poetry - Aotearoa style - to world.

Author Fiona Kidman has won this year's Ockham New Zealand Book Award for fiction, 31 years after her first NZ book awards win.

ENTERTAINMENT

Ockham book award winners named

14 May, 2019 10:00pm
3 minutes to read

One of New Zealand's favourite novelists takes top prize at Ockham NZ Book Awards.

Elise McCann, pictured with her Matilda the Musical co-stars and composer Tim Minchin, has continued to champion Roald Dahl through stories and song.

ENTERTAINMENT

Razztwizzler show to leave your chuggling along with Dahl

10 May, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Roald Dahl comes to Auckland in all-singing orchestral show with a touch of Bond.

Abi Taylor turns Theresa Healey into Queen Elizabeth II with a little help from make-up, wigs and Tracy Grant Lord's costuming. Photo/Doug Sherring

ENTERTAINMENT

Regal role a jewel in the crown

4 May, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Actress Theresa Healey: When you're asked to play the Queen, you don't say no.

Artist Ronnie van Hout's Boy Walking will be put up in Potters Park in June.

ENTERTAINMENT

Oh boy! Giant sculpture to make huge impact on city's art

4 May, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Potters Park to get one of the largest public artworks Auckland has seen.

Clinton Hewett, Fresh Gallery coordinator, at The Dawn Raids - Educate to Liberate. Hewett's own family experienced a

NEW ZEALAND

A bleak chapter in NZ: The dawn raids and Operation Pot Black

4 May, 2019 5:00am
7 minutes to read

Gallery exhibition tells of the random stopping in the streets of anyone with brown skin.

Anna Baird and Scott Harding as the dinner party hosts Elizabeth and Colin in Middle Age Spread by Roger Hall, who says he suspects the latest production will mirror the colours of its 1970s' setting.

ENTERTAINMENT

Roger Hall's Middle Age Spread lives on

28 Apr, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Playwright's most celebrated work has been revived for his 80th birthday.

Acclaimed New Zealand painter Judy Millar, pictured in 2016, with the vibrant art she is becoming known and noted in Europe for. Photo/Babiche Martens

ENTERTAINMENT

No of-fence taken at artist's unusual entry

20 Apr, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

NZ artist Judy Millar has her first international survey show - in Switzerland.

The many objects in the Margaret Olley Art Centre. Photo / Supplied

TRAVEL

Murwillumbah: Pleasing patterns of Tweed

19 Apr, 2019 1:00pm
5 minutes to read

The drive to Murwillumbah is almost as great as its gallery, writes Dionne Christian.

Visitors to the Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition which opens in Auckland this weekend.

ENTERTAINMENT

Mandela and me: Exhibition curator on bringing together a life

13 Apr, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition opens in Auckland today.

Greg McGee's latest novel is Necessary Secrets, a gripping story about modern family life in New Zealand.

ENTERTAINMENT

Author Greg McGee on what's been keeping him up at night

13 Apr, 2019 5:00am
10 minutes to read

Author Greg McGee on the necessary secrets that kept him awake at night.

Pop-up Globe is going nationwide with a New Zealand tour of

ENTERTAINMENT

Pop-up Globe to hit the road as 'cockpit theatres'

8 Apr, 2019 5:00am
2 minutes to read

Get ready Dunedin, Nelson, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Hamilton and New Plymouth.