PAST PRODUCTIONS
Playhouse Theatre, Perth
24th Jun - 11th Jul, 2010
LoveBites
Music by Peter Rutherford
Book & Lyrics by James Millar
Producers - Sally Burton & Rosemarie Lenzo (Onward Production) and Neil Gooding (Neil Gooding Productions)
Director - Neil Gooding
Musical Director - Peter Rutherford
Choreographer - Nathan M. Wright
Set Designer - James Browne
Costume Designer - Matthew Aberline
Lighting Designer - Ross Graham
A/V Designer - Mandylights
Technical Director - Andrew Portwine
Stage Manager - Jenny Poh
LOVEBiTES is a joyous, quirky, sexy, sassy, wise, hilarious and (sometimes) heartbreaking exploration of the alpha and omega of one of life's biggest puzzles: romance. It is a song cycle from the writers of The Hatpin, with fantastic new music by Peter Rutherford and lyrics by James Millar, LOVEBiTES is a mad-capped song cycle about loving and leaving and leaping into the joyful (or not so joyful) unknown.
LOVEBiTES is a series of short stories about falling in love...and what happens after the confetti settles. Catching one half of each couple in the instant that love strikesand then hearing from the other half about how it ended up. LOVEBiTES is a unique, hilarious and moving song cycle that gives only the beginning and end of each relationship from the separate perspective of the two individuals who share it.
The original production of LOVEBiTES was staged by WhiteBox in 2009 at the Seymour Centre in Sydney
Neil Gooding Productions joined forces with Perth-based Onward Production to stage a new production of LOVEBiTES in Perth in June 2010.
REVIEWS
"JAMES Millar is seriously talented. Not yet 30, he's written, with composer Peter Rutherford, songs about love that are fresh, literate, humane and insightful. The most trampled-over subject in musical theatre has come up sparkling... LoveBites is a very significant achievement."
Deborah Jones, THE AUSTRALIAN
"Millar's lyrics are beautifully observed, insightful and truthful, discovering all the grand passion, joy, humour and heartbreak in ordinary situations...LoveBites has you laughing one minute and wiping away a tear the next...surely Rutherford and Millar are names to watch in Australian musical theatre"
Jo Litson, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
"This simply staged piece of theatre pop consistently hits the sweet spot...The songs are fresh and witty and in the first Act particularly there's plenty of mischievous humour... LoveBites seduces with ease"
Jason Blake, THE SUN-HERALD
"The songs and characters of LoveBites follow the mixed, often hilarious and occasionally sad fortunes of various permutations of human relationships. For any of us (that means all of us) with a memory of a fabulous, infuriating, excruciating, embarrassing, beautiful or mourned beginning and end of a relationship, there’s an echo of those experiences in LoveBites. The authenticity in the songs and characters provoke hoots of laughter and groans of recognition... The four performers are as sassy, sharp and on the money as the material demands. They know what they’re doing – with satirical nods to the various fashionable musical genres (Sondheim, syrupy ballads, pert cabaret numbers and so on) and have the goods to deliver: good voices, harmonies and humour... All in all, LoveBites is an exhilarating night out that will have you laughing, snuffling into your hankie, wriggling with recollections of your own past faux pas and finally celebrating the talent and exuberance of the show’s cast and creative's. More like this please"
Diana Simmonds, STAGENOISE.COM
Original Cast
Amelia Cormack
David Harris
James Millar
Sophia Ragavelas