The night of my first assignment for Scenestr magazine 21MAR207. Copyright Karen Marken.
Last Friday I reached a milestone with Scenestr magazine, I have now had 100 posts published with them online or in their printed copies on the street. This all started with a review I submitted to them of Hidden Figures that Karen had won tickets to see. The review was published 23 February, 2017.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
The first film I reviewed on assignment for Scenestr magazine. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Best film of 2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
At New Farm for the first screening I attended where I needed to sign a review embargo agreement. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Within a couple of months I realised if I wanted to make the most of my opportunities there I would have to put my hand up to do interviews. Despite having done this in the past at university I was still quite nervous when I did my first interview with the stars of Grease: The Arena Spectacular Meghan O’Shea and Drew Weston almost two years ago. Knowing it scared me made me confident it would be truly rewarding and that turned out to be true.
In 2018 there were 50 posts published online of my work, it is doubtful I will match that output moving forward, there are things I am currently pursuing away from Scenestr but I am grateful to continue my work for the biggest street press magazine in the country.
At Brunsick Heads 07OCT2017 for the Byron Bay Film Festival 2017 to see the excellent film The Go-Betweens: Right Here. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
CHER! Copyright Lloyd Marken.
19AUG2017 ‘Lord of the Thrones’. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Italian Film Festival Opening Night 2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
At the Queensland Maritime Museum to see Act/React’s ‘Kiss of the Vampire Squad’. This was performed on HMAS Diamantina as part of the Anywhere Theatre Festival 2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Pretty neat having my own Media pass at Byron Bay Film Festival 2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
BCF 2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
‘Uncle Vanya’ 18AUG2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Byron Bay 2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Brisbane Comedy Festival 2019. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
New Farm Cinemas after seeing ‘Wonder Wheel’ 04DEC2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
New Farm Cinemas December 2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
All the people coming to see Cher in 2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
CHER! Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Blue Room Cinebar for the first time to attend a critics’ screening of ‘The Breaker Upperers’ 03JUL2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Director of ‘Celeste’ Ben Hackworth talking about his film with BIFF Artistic Director Amanda Slack-Smith. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Shakespeare Double Bill at Spring Hil Reservoir. 10OCT2018 Copyright Lloyd Marken.
The delicious menu from SABA at the Cine Latino Film Festival Opening Night 2017.
Shakespeare Double Bill at Spring Hil Reservoir. 10OCT2018 Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Italian Film Festival Opening Night 2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
About to see Tom Gleeson at Brisbane Comedy Festival 2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
BCF 2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Outside Metro Arts night of seeing Lord of the Thrones in 2017.
Shakespeare Double Bill at Spring Hil Reservoir. 10OCT2018 Copyright Lloyd Marken.
After Hellboy at Chermside cinemas10APR2019. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
At Chermisde for ‘Godzilla II: King of the Monsters’ 29MAY2019. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
At QPAC for the Queensland Symphony Orchrestra 12MAY2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
BIFF 2018! Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Warm-up act for Cher 2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
At QPAC for Circa in DEC2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
New Farm Cinemas December 2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
CHER! Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Hedda by the Queensland Theatre company 15NOV2018.. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Myer Centre Cinemas in Brisbane CBD for ‘Captain Marvel’ 05MAR2019. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Young Australian Filmmakers Awards 14OCT2017as part of Byron Bay Film Festival 2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
The Purple Cinema at New Farm Cinemas the night I went to them for the first time to see Valerian 08AUG2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Outside Crete Street Theatre following the great Beenleigh Theatre Production of ‘Lord of the Flies’ 19JAN2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
The opportunity Scenestr gives writers and how that flows onto the rest of the print industry is extraordinary. I hope to be working for them for a long time yet.
Of the 100 posts published, 10% were reviews of stand-up comedians and their shows, 29% were theatre reviews, 28% were film reviews, 32% were interviews and 1% were reviews of Cher concerts.
The first time on assignment at Brisbane Powerhouse for ‘The Soldier’s Wife’ 10JUN2017 as part of the Queensland Cabaret Festival. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
If you’re been along with me for part of the journey I hope you have enjoyed the ride, I thank you for your support and I hope to continue with you by my side. Two years ago this milestone seemed very distant if even possible and it has been one of the great joys of my life to have had this happen to me at 36 when I was feeling that life was kind of passing me by. I feel very grateful to my editors for their support and knowledge and to all our readers. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Having started in 1993 they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland every month.
-Lloyd Marken
At the Spring Hill Reservoir to check out some Shakespeare in 2018. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Karen arriving at the 2017 Bryon Bay Film Festival. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Karen about to see ‘What Rhymes WIth Cars and Girls’ in 2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Karen in City Hall for Tom Gleeson during the 2018 Brisbane Comedy Festival. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
About to see Bad Moms 2 in 2017. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
At BRISFEST 2018 for ‘Ode to Man’. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
I am in my current second year as a freelance writer with Scenestr magazine and starting to enjoy a second ride on some wonderful Merry-Go-Rounds. This is true of the Wonderland Festival which a year ago I was completely unaware of. A heady mix of cabaret, music, comedy and burlesque acts from around the country all performing for two weeks at the Brisbane Powerhouse (an old 1920s powerstation, closed in 1971 and renovated and re-purposed in 2000 as a cultural hub). Last year I considered myself very lucky to cover five acts for Scenestr who were just tremendous – Randy Writes A Novel, Wasteland, Love/Hate Actually, Nath Valvo and Heroism and Sidekickery. I also went and saw There’s Something About Mary(s) after interviewing star Cassie George for Scenestr. This year in another stroke of luck I get to cover five shows again which I really don’t take for granted. I’m really looking forward to Two Man Tarantino and going to see Love/Hate Actually again with my friends.
Outside the Graffiti Room. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Celebrating 25 years in 2018 of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and now Victoria! every month too.
One of the funniest shows I saw last year was Randy Writes A Novel, performed and written by Randy Feltface who is famous for his work with comedic partner Sammy J including television series Ricketts Lane on the ABC, Randy Writes A Novel was his fourth solo show which I saw at the Wonderland Festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Not just raucously funny it was cleverly meta and so it was quite a thrill to only a month late get the opportunity with Scenestr magazine to interview Randy in preparation for his tour of his new solo show Randy’s Anti-Crisis. Randy proved not just funny but, thoughtful, insightful and extremely gracious. You can read the interview here http://scenestr.com.au/comedy/randy-s-anti-crisis-exploring-the-concept-of-belief
Readers who live in Adelaide and Perth I highly recommend you going along to see his upcoming shows.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Celebrating 25 years in 2018 of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. This interview was published in print in the January WA edition of Scenestr which is always a thrill for a GenX guy like myself. A digital version of the print edition can be found here http://scenestr.com.au/read/WA/2018/10-WA/scenestr-WA-10.html#p=24 with the interview on page 24. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.
The second and final weekend of the Wonderland Festival was a rollercoaster ride of up and downs. Having seen Love/Hate Actually on Thursday night I set off to attend a concert by stand-up comedian Alex Williamson at the Old Museum before returning to Wonderland for the rest of the weekend.
I love going to see stand-ups, in fact a lot of the shows I saw at Wonderland were comedies or comedian shows. The Old Museum in Brisbane is not far from where I used to work as hospital wardsman many years ago. I’ve been there over the years when they had the French Festival there, to see my sister in law perform as a member of Queensland Wind and Brass, it is the home of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. There were no elderly volunteers serving homemade scones with tea this night though. Karen and I approached two young women at the canteen who told us no food was available but would we like a drink. No peanuts, no chips, nothing, nada. They kindly told me where the nearest eating venue was and we ended up getting some nice truffle chips before racing back to the venue.
We found a good spot with twenty minutes to go until the allotted time of 7:30pm. I whispered to Karen that the show would most likely start at 7:45pm. As time went on I began to notice most of the audience was younger than us and Karen did not approve of all the baseball caps being worn indoors. I’ve never really cared for that absurd protocol and enjoyed the lively atmosphere of people kicking back after a hard week at work ready to laugh. A few dared each other to race out and grab another drink having already finished the one they had by 7:35pm. Sure enough the show kicked off at 7:45pm and within a minute Karen had gone stone faced. I leaned in and told her I had to stay to review the show but if she wanted to leave -she could but she didn’t.
I was faced with a conundrum, this was the first time I had really seen a show for Scenestr and not enjoyed it. I wanted to express that but I also wanted to be fair to the comedian who had allowed us to attend his show to give an honest and fair review. Alex Williamson is extremely popular, engages with his fan base, commands attention on stage and give his all. Most of his comedy for me though lacked depth and rarely made me laugh. You can read more of my thoughts here http://scenestr.com.au/comedy/alex-williamson-brisbane-review-the-old-museum-20171206 I actually believe Williamson is very talented and could mature into a comedian who makes me laugh one day.
Which brings us to Nath Valvo, a stand-up we saw at Wonderland Festival the next night. Like the puppet Randy the week before I laughed quite a lot through Nath’s routine. Valvo’s audience was full of people of all different ages, backgrounds, etc. We all laughed together in recognition of so many truths that felt familiar to all of us. Of course the key was wit, timing, delivery, pacing not just insight. Comedy is a tricky thing to review, repeat some of the jokes and you’ll spoilt them with your delivery and lack of context, over analyse too much and anything ceases to be funny. Its hard to explain what is funny but you know it because people laugh and if it isn’t funny they don’t. To that end wasn’t Alex Williamson just as funny then. Well not to me and therein lies the rub. Given I saw them one night after the other and had such different reactions it was fascinating to compare the two but in the end that’s just coincidence. I found Nath Valvo really funny and you can read more of my thoughts here http://scenestr.com.au/comedy/nath-valvo-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171204
The next day we saw Nath again on a sunday afternoon before going to see the final show I was to attend at Wonderland – A Modern Guide to Heroism and Sidekickery. Conceived and performed by Michelle Zahner with some help from the audience it was a humble intimate piece that poked fun at comic book tropes while delivering a heartfelt message of the little ways we can be heroic in our own lives. I’m curious to see how the show could expand without spoiling what makes it so special. Zahner has such a likeable engaging stage presence that I think no matter what the piece will remain charming and smart. You can read more of my thoughts here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/the-modern-guide-to-heroism-and-sidekickery-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171205
I felt really lucky to attend all the shows I got to see and review and/or review at Wonderland and hope to get more opportunities in the future.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.
Currently the Wonderland Festival is running at the Brisbane Powerhouse and like the Queensland Cabaret Festival earlier this year at the same venue Scenestr put the call out to their contributors to suggest some shows they would be happy to attend and review. Previously for the Queensland Cabaret Festival I was lucky enough to see Soldier’s Wife. This time around I am to attend and review five shows Randy Writes A Novel, Wasteland, Love/Hate Actually, Nath Valvo, Heroism and Sidekickery. They are not the only shows running too, check out the program here https://brisbanepowerhouse.org/festivals/wonderland-festival-2017/ if you’re a local.
On Friday night Karen and I saw Randy Writes A Novel which probably features one of the bigger names of the festival with Randy ( a purple felt puppet) doing a stand up routine that asked some big questions about narrative structure and the purpose of art. God it’s good to laugh. You can check out my review here http://scenestr.com.au/comedy/randy-writes-a-novel-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171127
I also went and saw the cabaret There’s Something About Mary(s) starring Cassie George and musical director Luke Volker on piano. I was fortunate enough to interview Cassie for Scenestr in the lead up to Wonderland and was excited to see her show. A low key affair with one piano and a singer on stage I enjoyed the show. George is a talent through and through and her repartee with Volker kept the show moving. She certainly knows how to belt out a tune and he is excellent at tickling the old ivory. I kept wanting something deeper and more insightful from the finale but the show reflects a search that is ongoing about how to be our best selves and maybe that is why I felt some lack of fulfillment because it reflects the show’s ideas. Either way I will look out for shows from them in the future, it takes guts and panache to do what she did and honey she did it well. You can check out a review of the show from another Scenestr writer here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/there-s-something-about-mary-s-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171129
Wonderland runs over two weekends. I’ll be attending further shows starting Thursday. Have a great week everyone. Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.
Back to the Drawing Board Productions 