The Broadway Sessions team are very sad to announce that both with the new government regulations on mass gatherings, and with our own personal concerns for the wellbeing of performers, audience, and staff alike, this month’s session (Performer’s Choice) on March 29th has been cancelled. The Australian Federal Government has now prohibited indoor gatherings of over 100 people, and as we normally attract well in excess of this number we are put in a position where, as much as we were hoping to provide some light in the dark, do not feel that it is in anyone’s best interest to go against this advice. In addition, our venue would not adequately provide the recommended 1.5m social distancing allowance for all our guests, even without this updated direction from the government.

We have said many times that Broadway Sessions is a celebration of community. This community is where many of us have found a home and a stronger sense of who we are and where we belong. People from all walks of life are welcomed into this community, and we celebrate you all. There are members of this community who are particularly vulnerable right now. They may be vulnerable because they are elderly or are immune compromised, or they may be vulnerable because their livelihoods have been put on hold, and they don’t know how they will make ends meet for the months that it will take for recovery to begin. We implore you, if you can, please think of these people. Listen to the advice of medical professionals and do your part to help slow the spread. Reach out to the lonely, the struggling, the anxious, and give them someone they can talk to. If you have the means and are able, help to do someone’s shopping. Provide a meal for an artist. Share resources and take only what you need.

Here at Broadway Sessions, we are investigating what options may be available to us should a ban on events greater than 100 people continue for an extended period. We have every intention to continue providing performance opportunities for new, up-and-coming, and seasoned artists throughout this period, and will be back, in the flesh (and at full strength), as soon as we are advised it is safe to do so.

Our hearts are with all of you and we hope very much that we can see you all soon. With all our love,

Team BSesh.

P.S If you purchased a ticket to this month’s Session, a refund will be processed in the next 48 hours.

We’re now half-way through 2017 (yikes), but with the passing of time comes exciting new things at Broadway Sessions. We are changing the way that you register for upcoming Sessions – not by much, but enough that we hope it will streamline your Broadway Sessions experience. The changes are broken down into a number of sections, following the way in which you might interact with the new registration system.

Logging In

To register you now have to log in to the Broadway Sessions website. It’s easy, we promise. But first, take a step back and see which path to follow:

If you’ve ever registered for Broadway Sessions (at all) in the past, regardless of whether you’ve performed…

…you already have an account! Simply use your email address (this may be an old one, depending on whether it’s been a while since you last registered) to log in and reset your password. Use the ‘lost password‘ link on the login, and set your password to something useful, but secure. If you’ve changed email addresses, or are having difficulties, just get in touch with us – it’s easy for us to help resolve issues. Once you’ve got that password reset (required first time only), it’s time to login. You can easily access this link from the main ‘Register‘ page, found in the top menu.

If you’ve never (ever) registered, or been here before…

…it’s time to create an account. You can do that here, and then follow the next steps once you’re signed up and logged in. If you can’t remember your email (from above), or you’re having troubles, you can always create a new account (with a new email) and we’ll help you sort out the duplicates later. Again, please just get in touch if we can help.

Your Dashboard (My Details)

Once logged in (using that link found on the Register page) you will be presented with your artist dashboard. From here, you can manage your artist profile, update your bio and headshot (at any stage), and register for an upcoming Session. If you’ve been here before, you should already see an artist profile listed – if you’re new, jump through and press ‘Create New Performer’ to get started. You’ll only need to do this once – before you register to perform for the first time – and only if you’ve never been here before.

Registering for a Session

Setting up an artist profile (or having one) does not automatically register you for an upcoming Session. You will still need to submit a registration for each Session so that we know you’re interested. Simply click on your name (sitting inside a black box) on the main dashboard page (use the link on the main Register page), once you’ve created an artist profile. This will allow you to either register for a new Session, update your headshot and biography, or both.

Your previous registrations will now be saved, and for each new registration you make your old biography and headshot information will be brought across automatically. This will help to save time, and streamline the update process if/when you need to make changes to this information.

The questions that form part of the registration process are still the same, and we ask that you provide two song choices to help us find that perfect mix of performers and songs. Please take note of the registration close date and time, as you must complete the registration process before this date/time (not just start).

Please note: you will no longer receive an email confirmation of your registration – you can now view this by visiting the My Details page (your dashboard), and scrolling right to the bottom. If it’s for an upcoming Session, you should see that it is ‘pending’. Previous Sessions will be visible too, listing what you sang and whether or not you performed. While we haven’t added in all previous Sessions yet, we’ll be doing this over time to ensure that each performer has a complete record of their involvement! This area will also update when we release the final performer list for each month – if you’re having troubles with your email, you can always log in to check your status at any point.

Updating Your Biography and Headshot

This can now be done at any stage, even when Session registrations are not open. To make changes, simply login, and then find your name on the main My Details page. Clicking on your name, like you would to register, will allow you to select either a New Registration, or Bio/Headshot Update Only. The New Registration button will only be available when registrations are open, however.

Any updates made to your biography and headshot will not be visible on the website immediately, however. The Broadway Sessions team must review all changes first – so don’t be worried if your update doesn’t show up right away.

Changes To Your Email Address/Contact Number

While you can change many of your details as part of the registration process, updating your email address is not one that you can do automatically. This is due to a link between your website login, and your artist profile/registration history. If you need to update your email address or contact number at any point, please just reach out to the Broadway Sessions team to get this changed.

Performing With Other People

We often get registrations from groups of people, who would like to sing a duet (or something bigger). While we always encourage this, we ask that each person in the performance registers separately, and simply makes a note in the song comments box (part of the Session registration) to notify us that they will be singing with another artist. Any artist profiles that are created with multiple names (as a single entity) will be removed as this messes up our record-keeping efforts. Because of the flexibility of our new registration system, it would be possible for a single user to create artist profiles for each person in the performance – however we would prefer, if possible, that each artist has their own account on the website to better allow them, in the future, to register themselves should they want to perform alone.

Having Troubles?

Don’t fret. We’ll give you a hand. Just reach out using the contact form and we’ll do our best to assist. In addition, if you have any questions or suggestions about the new process, please let us know.

Well, 2017 is here and the team at Broadway Sessions is ready to bring you another exciting and varied year full of all things musical theatre. Before we get too far into 2017, we wanted to welcome you back with some updated information about our team, and tell you about some new helpers we’ve found to make Broadway Sessions bigger and better than ever before.

Starting with one half of the producers, Scott has moved to Sydney (which is big news), BUT don’t worry, he’ll still be back for most Sessions – and managing things from afar when not available to join us. With this move, we saw an opportunity to bring in one of our regular performers to assist with the running and producing of Broadway Sessions. We are very excited to have Mark Oates joining the team as Associate Producer.

Moving to our hosting team, we’re doing something a little different in 2017. We now have a “regular hosting team” for most Sessions, with guest hosts joining us at different times throughout the year. As a result, we’re excited to be welcoming both Lindsay Prodea and Mark Oates as our Broadway Sessions hosts for 2017! Lindsay will be hosting our first Session (this weekend!), but you will be seeing more of both their faces from month-to-month as a result (which, mind you, is not a bad thing!).

From a stage management perspective, our loyal (and amazing) stage manager Jess Nash has been invited to tour around Australia with SA’s State Theatre Company, and will unfortunately be missing a number of Sessions throughout 2017. We’ve excited to have yet another amazing stage manager, Amanda Rowe, fill her (big) shoes when Jess is busy interstate. Welcome to the team Amanda!

You would have seen him at almost every Broadway Sessions event, and if not, certainly seen his work online almost every month, but we’re excited to have Tim Bates as our (officially) official photographer throughout 2017. The monthly gallery is one of the best ways to remember each and every Session, and Tim’s tireless work each month often goes unrewarded – so thanks Tim!

Lastly, but certainly not least(ly), we’ve created a new position behind-the-scenes to help us with the management of Broadway Sessions in the online world. Many of you will already know her, but she’s been hiding away on the opposite side of the globe for some time now – joining the team as Social Media Guru is Megan Doherty. She’ll be the one behind the social media curtain ensuring that we keep you updated in the speediest of time. Welcome to the team Megan, and welcome back to Australia!

Whew! What a list… All in all, Broadway Sessions for 2017 is going to be even bigger and better than ever before. We have many things to announce, but patience is definitely important here – as time goes by, all will be revealed! We hope you’ve had a good start to the year, and look forward to seeing you on Sunday for our January Session!

What a huge first year we’ve had! (…and a heck of a lot of fun: for us, our performers, and our fans!)

• 12 wonderful months
• 13 “regular” sessions, plus a Broadway sing-a-long at a nursing home during the Adelaide Fringe 2016
• 11 amazing hosts
• 141 incredible performers
• …and approximately 355 songs of all tempos.

Did you know though: each session takes the team around 40 hours to pull together; and that’s before we get to the venue to set up! We are incredibly grateful for the time that our whole team gives us, month after month. A big thanks, firstly, to you guys and girls – none of this would be possible without your passion and enthusiasm.

It was very important to us when we launched Broadway Sessions that it was accessible and financially viable for any audience member wanting to come every, or at least most, months (if they could). As producers, the last 12 months has been a project of love for us. The band and tech team are paid, but definitely not what they deserve for the work and time they put in (and for how incredibly talented they all are). As with everything in life, costs are increasing, and so to ensure we can continue to bring you a quality night every month we’ve realised we need to increase the entry price, just a teeny tiny bit… to $15. Of course, when you perform at Broadway Sessions you will continue to have free entry!

We also want to let you know, for those who weren’t able to join us for our first birthday, that we have a new home! That’s right, and swanky new place we call “Norwood Live”. It’s also known as The Norwood, or the Osmond Terrace Function Centre – part of the Norwood Hotel on the corner of Osmond Terrace and The Parade, Norwood. It’s real easy to find, and there’s plenty of parking in and around the venue. In addition, while there are bar snacks available all night, you can also order a FULL meal and have it delivered to your table inside the venue once the doors open. Just jump into the main restaurant section of the Norwood Hotel before the doors open (and let them know you’re here for Broadway Sessions), or at the venue bar once the audience is inside! For even more details, check out one of the upcoming Session pages for all the info.

If you have any questions, queries or suggestions, please just get in touch with us at any stage. We’re here, we’re open, and we’re happy to talk. It’s you, our supporters, that make Broadway Sessions a reality and a possibility, so we don’t want to do this without you. The Adelaide (and wider South Australian) support team we’ve amassed over the last twelve months has been incredible, and no doubt it’s only going to get better and better from here.

We look forward to seeing this event continue to grow over the next twelve months, and thank you for your continued support – whether off stage or on!

Peter and Scott

A BIG BROADWAY SESSIONS BIRTHDAY SURPRISE

To help us celebrate turning the big ONE, and to ensure that nobody misses out on the opportunity to join us, Broadway Sessions will be hosting its first birthday party at NORWOOD LIVE, on the corner of The Parade and Osmond Terrace (Norwood).

Parking is in abundance, and there is plenty of room for everyone to come along to enjoy the festivities. As this is a new venue for Broadway Sessions, please allow a little extra time to arrive – but we promise it’s not hard to find, and your favourite Broadway Sessions Front of House team will be there to greet you.

Tickets are just $10, and available now online (and at the door). Help us remember the good times we’ve had so far, and get excited about what’s still to come. RSVP today – it won’t be a party without you!

More information about our birthday is available here, and tickets available right over here!

We are moving! That’s right, after an intensive venue search around Adelaide, Broadway Sessions has found a new home. We are incredibly excited to announce our partnership with Nexus Arts, at the Lion Arts Centre!

Nexus is the perfect venue for us: it’s bigger which means no more squishy Sessions where you can’t see or move; the bar is at the back of the room making it easier to purchase drinks; there’s lots of free street and cheap car park stations only a few minutes walk away; it’s part of the western CBD cultural hub; and it has a more of a New York Supper Club feel. 

We are incredibly excited to introduce to you our hosts for the Sessions at this year’s Fringe Festival.

On February 14th, Mark Oates will take us on a journey though the last six months as we share with you some of our favourite, and defining moments since we begun. Mark hosted our very first Session so we are very excited he’s back!

Then, on February 28th, Catherine Hancock and friends will lead us all in our very first sing-a-long – that’s correct, you, the audience, will get to to sing along with the Broadway Sessions band! 

If you’re relatively new to the music theatre scene in Adelaide you may not know Katie Packer… unless you were at our Opening Night in August last year where she sang ‘Safer’ from First Date. Rewind 10+ years ago, and you may remember seeing her treading the boards for both Northern Light Theatre Company and Marie Clark.

Katie recently moved back to Adelaide from Melbourne; in fact she arrived just in time to perform at the first ever Broadway Sessions! She has played such musical roles as Little Buttercup in HMS Pinafore, Lady Thiang in The King & I, Antonia in Man of La Mancha, The Narrator in Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and received Lyrebird Award nominations for playing Sister Amnesia in Nunsense & Nunsense 2. Most recently, she played one of her dream roles, The Witch in Into The Woods, the wonderful Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn in The Music Man, and one of small and talented ensemble in Working The Musical.

Before she moved to Melbourne, she was a singing teacher for many years, and has kept that going by Musical Directing such shows as The Outsider’s, All The New Stuff, Kid’s On Broadway, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Godspell, Little Shop Of Horrors, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, The Wedding Singer, Seussical The Musical and most recently The Wizard of Oz.

In addition to that enormous list, in 2014 she also added another quiver to her theatrical bow by co-directing Avenue Q. All of which means she can’t really decide which side of the stage she would like to be on!

Now she is trying her hand at hosting. Come and join us this Sunday as Katie helps Broadway Sessions weave the way through the multitude of love songs (of all kinds) in musical theatre.

Many of you would probably recognise Lindsay Prodea – besides treading the boards over the last decade, he’s was part of our Opening Night, Gender Swap, and dueted with the always stunning Kate Dempsey last month!

Over the past decade Lindsay has performed in both theatre and cabaret, having enjoyed success in various genres: classical roles such as John Brooke in Little Women (The Musical) (Therry Dramatic Society 2013) and Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods (Northern Light Theatre Company 2012); to contemporary roles such as Abraham in the Adelaide premiere of Altar Boyz (Davine Interventionz 2013), Sonny Malone in Xanadu (The Musical) (Davine Interventionz 2014), George in The Drowsy Chaperone (Hills Musical Company 2013), Kyle the UPS Delivery guy in Legally Blonde (HMC 2014) and most recently Elliott Garfield in The Goodbye Girl (Therry 2015). Lindsay has also appeared in countless other shows, favourites including Urinetown, 42nd Street, Crazy for You & Les Misérables. He is currently rehearsing the role of Fabrizio for Davine Interventionz’s 2016 Adelaide Fringe Show, The Light In The Piazza.

Aside from musical theatre, Lindsay has a keen passion for cabaret, having written, co-produced and performed at numerous cabaret events over the years. Stepping out side his usual genre, Lindsay played the role of Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (old sport), produced by Independent Theatre.

If you need to escape your family after a busy Christmas period or just need to wind down after the year that was, come visit our family and drink a toast to the last session of the year!

Calling all Broadway Sessions Fans!

Here at Broadway Sessions headquarters we’ve been keeping pretty quite on our plans for the next few months. We  thought it was high time we shared it all with you. So sit back, grab your favourite drink and read on…

December

We had a lot of fun with our first two themes – Gender Swap and It Takes Two (or more) – but we do recognise that some performers have songs they are dying to sing that didn’t fit either theme. So, in December we have decided to keep it free choice. That’s right – you can choose ANYTHING from the music theatre catalogue. But there’s a small twist…

We don’t know about you, but for us the weeks leading up to Christmas are pretty full on and busy (busy) busy! Work Christmas parties, drinks for this, drinks for that, family catch-ups, last minute Christmas shopping, final auditions for performing arts schools, Carols by Candlelight and so on… And of course then there’s Christmas Eve and Christmas Day get-togethers, Boxing Day parties, plus lots of racing from one place to the next. So, we thought by the time Broadway Sessions arrives it’s time to stop, take a break from the busy-ness of the season, and sit down, relax with Broadway Sessions: piano style!

No drum grooves, no funky bass riffs, just you, the piano, and the lyrics of your favourite Broadway songs. Be creative (but mindful) in your song choices. You can choose a song where the lyrics really speak to you, or that will make the audience laugh. Maybe there’s a song that’s accompanied by a band or orchestra that you think would work well with the simplicity of just a piano. Or, there may be a song that you’ve heard which is recorded with just a piano and you would like to sing that. What ever you choose, it’s sure to be an interesting night!

January

January sees our next theme night. In the lead up to Valentines Day we thought it was a fitting time to explore love songs in theatre – songs of romantic love, one-night-stand love, unrequited love, lost love, stalker love – you get the idea! Here’s your opportunity to share your favourite theatre love song, maybe to the one you love? The Broadway Sessions band will be back and there may be a special performance (or 3)!

February

February in Adelaide means Festival time and we just had to join in the fun. Since we couldn’t possibly fit everything into one night we have added an extra Session. That’s right. TWO BROADWAY SESSIONS. It’s Christmas all over again!

Join us firstly on the 14th of February as we revisit some of our favourite performances and performers since we launched six months ago.

Then on the 28th we have our very first sing-a-long, Broadway style, where the audience can really join in the fun. There are many things planned already for this night and we don’t want to say too much, too soon, but you can expect a wide range of songs from Rogers and Hammerstein to Andrew Lloyd Webber to Jonathan Larsen and Stephen Sondheim!

Both sessions will include the opportunity for you to register to perform on-stage. Please note that due to all tickets being sold via Adelaide Fringe and FringeTIX there is a slight price increase for these two sessions.

And that brings us to:

March

There are composers and lyricists out there who have an impressive resume of shows they’ve written; although some shows they’ve written are better known than others. This month we will be exploring the music of one very well known writer, and definitely one of our favourites. Shows include Children of Eden, The Baker’s Wife, Rags, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pippin and Wicked. Yes, that’s right, this month we are celebrating the music of Stephen Schwartz. Join us for  “May The Schwartz Be With You” where you will hear/perform songs you know like the back of your hand, and others you may not have realised he wrote.

We have an exciting four months ahead and we’d love you to get involved! If you’re interested, start picking your performances pieces and get ready to register as soon they open.

Not a fan of being the centre of attention? That’s no problem – grab a ticket, a glass of your favourite beverage, and come along to enjoy a great night of live entertainment.

Stay tuned for further updates, and we hope to see you there at one of our Broadway Sessions!