BeatCamp!: Entertainment for the Masses

After traveling all over the country and the world with New Zealand’s favourite girl group for the last 14 years, The BeatGirls creator Andrea Sanders tells us all about her current show, BeatCamp!, currently rocking the house in Circa Two.

DOTW: I understand that you created The BeatGirls – can you give us a bit of the history of the group?

AS: The BeatGirls were born 14 years ago in a show called Blame It On the Bossa Nova at Downstage. The format of 3 women in a girl group was popular and the idea to play only Beatles music was the initial musical direction. Since then the repertoire has broadened to include all eras, from the 1940s to now, Lady Gaga.

DOTW: What can you tell us about your current show, BeatCamp!?

AS: BeatCamp! is a similar format to previous shows, such as It’s My Party, although the focus is not so much on ‘60s girl groups. This show incorporates all styles, from The Andrews Sisters to Madonna, from Peggy Lee to Amy Winehouse, with a little Motown on the side. All the usual comedy, fab costumes and tight choreography. Suitable for all ages – kids to grandparents.

DOTW: What can you tell us about your fellow BeatGirls in BeatCamp!?

AS: It is great to be working alongside long-standing member Carrie Mclaughlin – a fab and trusted performer who really goes the extra distance. Kali Kopae, a fantastic young performer with a beautiful voice and a rising star! It’s great to work with both of these talented women who each bring their own yummy flavour to the line up.

DOTW: Your past shows at Circa have all but sold out; what is it about The BeatGirls that audiences respond so well to?

AS: I think our shows sell out because people like the format which is basically entertainment for the masses. We combine popular music with razzle dazzle (lots of sequins!) and also accentuate the humourous side of a lot of the songs. There is no pretention, just an honest delivery along with often informative banter about the artist we are covering. Unlike a lot of bands, The BeatGirls have a theatrical style which means they are equally at home in a theatre or at a party where the dance floor is packed. Over all, I think The BeatGirls have a fantastic vibrant energy which you can’t see but you can feel. How else can you explain how three performers can keep a dance floor of 300 people full? Energy is infectious! The fact that the music appeals to a wide demographic also helps.

DOTW: The BeatGirls have traveled extensively throughout NZ and Australia – what has been one of your favourite performances, and why?

AS: Festivals are always a buzz to perform at, such great atmosphere! We’ve had so many fantastic trips overseas and extensively throughout NZ, its hard to pick but obviously performing in Athens at the Olympics for all the Sports Illustrated parties was a real buzz. They could have had any band in the world, but they chose us from little old new Zealand, and that in itself deserves a huge round of applause! Some of the best gigs could be in someone’s lounge at a birthday party, so it’s not necessarily based on the location or size of the event. Performing our Anzac show We’ll Meet Again is always lovely, especially when the folks who served in World War II turn up with medals and all sing along to ‘We’ll Meet Again’. We know this generation won’t be around forever, which makes it all the more poignant.

DOTW: Finally, being a member of NZ’s favourite girl group gives you the opportunity to sing a lot of great songs by a lot of great artists. What are your top five favourite songs of all time?

AS: Tough question, as there’s sooooo many songs and they were all #1’s in their day so they are all well written and iconic. Generally, the new songs you learn are your favourites, but here goes:

-         Beatles – ‘She loves You’

-         David Bowie – ‘Rebel Rebel’ or ‘Golden Years’

-         Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 – ‘Agua de Beber’

-         Smokey Robinson – ‘Baby I Need Your Loving’

-         K.C. and the Sunshine Band – ‘Give It Up’

This list will of course change and I’ll be sick of singing these songs, but for now, that’s it!


BeatCamp! runs in Circa Two until 30 October. Tickets are going fast (23, 29 and 30 October are already SOLD OUT) so call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or go online at www.circa.co.nz to get yours today!

Wharfside Restaurant: Wild about Wine #2

Hi, Martin here from Wharfside Restaurant at Circa Theatre, back for my second instalment on the wonderful subject of WINE.   

My two favourite vineyards would have to be Te Mata (Hawkes Bay) and Pegasus Bay (Canterbury).  Simply put, they both make damn excellent wines.  Both have a strong local community involvement, both have history and I have drank the wines and watched both the wine and the label evolve over the past 15-20 years. 

I have a nice range of Te Mata Coleraine and Awatea as well as Pegasus Bay Aria Riesling and Pinot Noir, but for me it’s Te Mata for reds and Pegasus Bay for Rieslings.  Both vineyards feature multiple wines on Wharfside’s wine list.  One excellent thing about cellaring wines is the ability to use them as gifts.  It is pretty hard to get an aged wine off the shelf so what a great gift when you can give someone a wine that’s aged 5-10 years, is a great drinking age, and they just can’t buy anywhere.  It is really just another wine story waiting to evolve through the person you give the wine to.

Te Mata Vineyard, Hawke's Bay

Pegasus Bay Winery & Restaurant, Canterbury

With regard to the wine we have available at Wharfside, I have found that people are creatures of habit – they want wines they know.  Our biggest moving wines seem to always be the ones that most people recognise.  Kiwis are certainly not the biggest risk takers in wine choice but I do encourage people to get a little outside their comfort zone – you will probably be very pleasantly surprised about what wine treasures await.  Ten years ago stepping outside your comfort zone with wine choice could have provided quite a mixed basket with some unpleasant wine in the mix; however today, that would certainly not be true.  I’ll go so far as to put it out there and say that most New Zealand wines, even in the lower price bracket, are pretty safe, good drinking wines.  I’m sure most people appreciate that there will be more complexity in more expensive wines versus simplicity and easy drinking in cheaper wines, but you would have to look pretty hard to find a New Zealand wine that will curl the tongue. 

At Wharfside, I am intending to introduce one wine by the glass that is a little outside the mainstream every couple of shows, so give it a try when you come in.  I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.  

It’s funny when I think back over memorable wine experiences; I tend to find that it’s sometimes the surprises that stand out.  For example, maybe you have kept a wine too long, or you have come across it hidden away somewhere and you realise there’s a chance it is “past it”, don’t discard it, instead open it with friends admitting that it may be a little past it.  Discuss the wine and have a try, at the very least it will create an interesting chat about a dead wine and at the very most it could blow your socks off.

I have a fond memory of, on a fishing trip, watching the sun coming up as we had breakfast on a boat off the Coromandel, opening a Riesling a good 6 years past its use by date.  It was an elegant, subtle wine – and what should have been a past it - back up wine, turned out to be the award winner of the trip.

Again I come back to the point that wine is about you.  Your palate, fun and enjoyment.  Next time you are having a glass, have a think about what is in the glass.  Don’t be in a hurry, have a sniff, a think, a taste, more of a think, and don’t be afraid to discuss your thoughts with others enjoying the wine, hear what they have to say and see if you agree with their views.  Wine tastings are a great way to find out what you like and enjoy trying several different wines in one sitting.

My partner Dee and friends enjoying a wine tasting at Wharfside

We are opening during the day shortly (from around mid-November) and I invite you to pop down and have a glass in the conservatory while you watch Wellington walk by.   We have a fantastic outlook over the waterfront.  I’ll be ensuring that we have some easy drinking afternoon wines that will taste great on a wonderful Wellington weekend.  Some of my recommendations would be the Pegasus Rieslings, Temata & Mudhouse Sauvs, Pinots and Pinot Gris.  

I encourage you to investigate where the wine originates from and what specific smells and tastes come from each region. 

Hmm all this wine talk is making me thirsty, must be time for a quick glass.  

Martin Halliday

Wharfside Restaurant @ Circa Theatre

Wharfside Restaurant is open for pre and post theatre dining. Call 801-7996 to make a booking.

The Birthday Boy

One of New Zealand’s leading actors (Grumpy Old Women, Second-Hand Wedding, Dancing with the Stars), Geraldine Brophy returns to Circa  for the first time since 2009’s Blood Wedding to star in The Birthday Boy. She takes a moment from her hectic rehearsal schedule to tell drama on the waterfront all about Carl Nixon’s fantastic comedy.

DOTW: What is the basic story of The Birthday Boy?

GB: The Birthday Boy examines the friendship between two men over a 25-year period from their fortieth birthdays until they are 65. Their lives play out very differently when one becomes a father and both of them deal with the successful careers of their respective wives.

DOTW: What was it about this story that drew you to the play?

GB: Carl’s script has elements of traditional key male and female roles in reversal. He examines these from opposite perspectives. Parenting and Partnerships. I liked the fact that he has pushed some interesting boundaries with his approach to these role changes – male and female capacity for nurture and empathy, for example.

DOTW: What can you tell us about your character?

GB: My character, Kathy, is the embodiment of the modern woman who tries to have it all – motherhood and a career. She is more conflicted early on when her children are smaller, but as they mature and her career shoots to the stars, she copes by absenting herself both physically and emotionally with a single focus.

DOTW: How is it to work with director Jane Waddell?

GB: Jane has been a delight to work with as a director. She has a gentle but solid hand on the tiller. The play is the current contemporary mix of comedy and drama, so navigating the moments when we play both can be tricky. You want an audience to laugh but also for the subject matter to resonate, in order to feel for the character’s plight. Jane is very cognizant of this.

Geraldine Brophy and director Jane Waddell.

DOTW: The Birthday Boy has a very strong cast of talented actors; what can you tell us about your fellow cast members?

GB: My fellow cast members are experienced and talented artists. Some of us have worked together before many times and this is often a short cut to convincing ensemble work. Coming to work and moving through the story each day is a pleasure. They make the job look easy and that is, of course, the great skill of such people.

DOTW: Finally, what should audiences know about The Birthday Boy?

GB: Audiences should know that The Birthday Boy is another fun New Zealand play in the style of “Theatre of Recognition”, but that it provides, as all good comedy should, the possibility of a great conversation post-show. And if anyone’s having a birthday, we have a couple of great packages to help celebrate!

Tickets are now on sale for The Birthday Boy, 9 October - 6 November. Call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or visit www.circa.co.nz.

Celebrate your birthday at The Birthday Boy!

Circa Theatre and Wharfside Restaurant are happy to offer some very special options throughout the season of The Birthday Boy (all include ticket price based on groups of 6 or more):

Bubbly and Birthday Cake - $45.50 per person
Nibbles, Bubbles, Coffee and Cake - $57 per person
Birthday Dinner - $75 per person (not including wine) $80 per person (including a glass of wine per person)

And a special surprise treat for the birthday person!

For more information about our birthday packages, contact Cara Hill, Audience Development Director, at 801-8137 or carah@circa.co.nz.

Ye best be comin' to this show: PIRATES

by: First Mate Dicko Fortuna

Arr Me Hearties!

T’is with great warmth of heart that I be here to announce that we be nearin Port Circa, with our pirate show all about pirates which we be callin PIRATES. 

We been at full sail fer some time now, with all hands on deck, either busy in the riggin, or rehearsing our jigs and learning our lines.  Learning lines has been tough as many among the crew ain’t clever with books an the like, so often we find we just has to make it up on the spot.  In fact given that the only one in the crew who can read is Jones, the cook, we may be forced to make it up the whole time, as Jones is usually busy making us Biscuits.  You see the biscuits Jones makes us are diffrent to the biscuits you lot might know...  Jones don’t got much in the way of eggs and such with us at sea most of the time, so he has to find other sticky things in the bottom of the ship to stick ‘em all together, like mooshed up snails and worms and weevils.  We try to get him to save the weevils though (they are much yummier as a side). 

We realised the other day that we don’t got much in the way of costumes, so we done what we done best.  Pirated!  The Mogul of India happened to be floatin past in a Caravel so we done hopped on board, tied ‘im to the mizzenmast and poked ‘im wiv spoons till he done agreed to lend us some fancy britches (Britches is like pants, but with puffier legs, like if normal pants were short pastry and britches were puff pastry, if ye get my drift).  So we might have to do a show about how we come about gettin such fancy britches.  We have had so many adventures recently I think we’s going to have to tell lots of diffrent stories. 

Like last week, Bosun Moon done lost his hand on the poop deck.  He put it down for a second to have a cup of tea and just like that a cheeky albatross whipped off with it and we haven’t seen it since.  It’s not too much of a worry though, Moon still has his normal two hands, he just likes to have a spare around in case things get busy.  And all the crew put our grog money together in Madeira and bought him a right nice hook, which he’s right over the moon about (actually that’s why we done re-named him Bosun Moon... He wanted to be Bosun Hook, but we thought Cap’n Hook might have something to say about that, so we started calling him Moon instead to keep his spirits up).

Also a few weeks back we noticed a lot of barnacles on the bottom of the ship, so we pulled in at Madagascar to careen her for cleaning.  We beached the ship at high tide, got all the crew off and dragged her up on shore as much as we could, and she was almost right out of the water when the tide went out.  But then, just as soon as we’d scraped all the barnacles off a pirate hunting privateer round the bay!  There was no way to escape so had to just pretend we was innocent bakers, not devilish pirates.  This worked a treat until he asked what a bunch of sailing bakers was doin with such fancy britches.  By this time though the tide had come in, so we just tied him to a coconut palm and sailed away in our nice clean ship!

Anyway, I can hear the Cap’n cursin’ me so I better get to work or we won’t make it in time to tell you rest of our adventures!  Just before I go...  People been asking what a bunch of ferocious pirates be doin making a theatre show fer kiddies.  Why you ask?  We just arrrrrrrrrrrrr!


PIRATES runs throughout the school holiday in Circa Two, with performances at 11 am and 1 pm Monday-Friday, and 11 am on Saturdays. To book tickets, call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or visit www.circa.co.nz.