THE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT with Shane Cortese

Entertainment North-Side…

Welcome to my first column in this launch issue of Channel Magazine. A fantastic initiative highlighting everything our wonderful area has to offer. It is great that Aidan and his team at Benefitz have taken on this ambitious project.

It was without hesitation that I accepted the offer from Aidan to contribute a monthly column based around the Arts and Entertainment over here on the north side of the bridge.

I have been fortunate to work in some fantastic theatres all around the world. The Duke of York’s, Victoria Palace, Theatre Royal Drury Lane and the Palladium in London, the Liverpool Empire in the exact spot where the Beatles rocked the crowd, and the Manchester Opera House to name a few. They have all been wonderful theatres with great history, which got me thinking about what role a theatre plays in our society, and how important they are.

Theatres are a place where you can go and escape from whatever you have going on in your life for a couple of hours. They can be as small as 80 seat studio spaces or as big as the 70,000-seat “theatre of Dreams” known as Old Trafford. But really most of us have at some time gone to the 800-1000 seat capacity theatre to see something.

Auckland in whole has some beautiful theatres and even with all the history that the UK theatres provided, our very own Civic is one of the best and most beautiful theatres I have ever worked in. Takapuna has the wonderful Bruce Mason Centre. 'The Bruce' has a special place in my heart as I debuted the ‘Class of 58” show there back in 2005. It was a special night after nearly eight months of planning. Pleasingly, the band and show are still together and we are as excited about each new show as we were during that very first one.

I recently saw a one man show at the Pumphouse Theatre, that excellent little space on the edge of Lake Pupuke which is a hidden gem – and Auckland theatre goers best view when having an interval drink on a hot summer evening. We have some fantastic live entertainment coming up over the next few months at all our theatres, and with excellent pre and post show restaurants and bars around, now is the time to get out and experience some of our theatres and the talent that is on offer.

I for one will be at the Bruce Mason Centre on the 14th of August for 'My Way' the Ross Finlayson Variety Concert and this will highlight just how beautiful the theatre is and how far the talent nurtured on the Shore and honed overseas has come. Make sure you book your tickets, it will be a night you won't want to miss. See You at the Show. If you would like to promote your event in this column please feel free to email me at shane@channelmag.co.nz.

- Shane Cortese
shane@channelmag.co.nz