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Welcome
to POST Impressions Online, with the best selection
of arts and entertainment information from Western
Australia.
The
last three editions of POST Impressions are
available online:
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Perth,
Western Australia
(Old Edition)
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Rove McManus will be starting up at
the Regal with Peter Helliar and Corinne
Grant.
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The question on
everyone's lips -- is TV's Rove McManus related to
Shaun McManus of Dockers fame?
The answer is a
cheerful "Yup! He's my cousin. Our dads are
brothers." And then a little ruefully, "but we
don't look anything like each other -- him with his
curly hair an' all..."
Surely not a touch
of envy in the voice of a man who has become one of
television's hottest stars?
Cousin Rove, a
Willetton boy, now in his second successful season
of Rove Live for Network Ten, isn't really the sort
of bloke to waste energy on envy.
Bright, funny and
professional, 27-year-old Rove is succeeding where
many, equally professional, have failed.
Following numerous
attempts at "tonight live" spots by the likes of
Denton and McFeast, and a determined effort by
commercial television to axe variety-styled
programs, how did Rove manage it?
"I guess I just
slipped through the net," he joked and then,
typically, he answered the question seriously and
in detail.
Many others, he
believes, were trying too hard to reinvent the
wheel, whereas Rove was sure that his style of show
was something Australian television audiences
needed and wanted.
Channel Nine
spotted him doing a show on Melbourne's community
television Channel 31 and offered him
work.
Would he like to
host a game show, they asked?
"I didn't want to
offend them, but 'thanks, but no thanks' was my
reply," said Rove. "So then they asked what did I
want to do, and I told them, 'what I'm doing now,
but to a bigger audience'."
To retain some
control and responsibility for his own show -
"Don't say 'creative control' that sounds so
negative" -- Rove started his own production
company, Roving Enterprises.
When Channel Ten
picked up the show, changing the name from Rove to
Rove Live, the company became a fully-fledged
production company.
Rove explained:
"Channel Ten doesn't have many facilities, so my
company has now grown to 18 people on the payroll,
from producers and directors to writers, props and
wardrobe -- everything we need to put on a show.
Pretty scary, isn't it!"
His ease and
comfort in front of a camera is what has made this
young stand-up comedian, who used to do the Perth
pub comedy circuit, so instantly
popular.
As someone who has
always performed to a live audience and is used to
thinking on the spot, his television persona fits
comfortably with his ethos "be real, be live, be
honest".
Rove admits he has
had to work hard at adapting to a television
audience.
"I love working
outside the circle," he said. "I've had to learn to
play less to the live audience and more to the
camera. It's the people sitting on their sofas I
have to reach and they have to feel they're part of
the action and not missing out on some live
audience in-joke."
Although he is
working hard at carving his own niche in television
he said he was flattered when critics compared him
with Bert Newton.
"Everyone still
admires Bert," he said. "For his longevity alone
I'm flattered to be compared to him. He's sharp,
he's edgy and I think he's great."
Rove and his
television co-stars Peter Helliar (who has been in
hot pursuit of Australia's most impressive mullet
hairstyle) and Corinne Grant (her on-air segment,
Tell Us Where to Go has taken her to the set of
Dawson's Creek and Sly Stallone's mum's house) are
coming to Perth to remind us, and them, of what
they did before the heady days of
television.
All three are
well-established, headlining stand-up comedians and
love getting back to the intimacy and fun of live
theatre performances.
Rove Live LIVE
comes to the Regal Theatre in Subiaco for two
nights -- Friday July 20 and Saturday July 21.
Tickets can be booked through BOCS.
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Art
is life at Annalakshmi
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The colourful dancers of the Temple
of Fine Arts will perform in their Dance
India, Taste India festival. Photo by Paul
McGovern.
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The lift doors open on the second floor of 12 The
Esplanade in Perth to reveal a sculptured vision
incorporating art, religion, cuisine and
culture.
It is the Indian vegetarian restaurant
Annalakshmi, which provides a cultural dining
experience and is the core income for the Temple of
Fine Arts.
Perth's Temple of Fine Arts is the only one in
Australia.
Indian-born Swami Shantanand Saraswathi started
the temple in 1981 as a music and dance institute
and there are several institutions in India,
Malaysia, Singapore and the US.
They are based on his belief that music, art and
dance have divine origins and that the performing
arts are vital in shaping young minds and
bodies.
Young people learn about their cultural heritage
through music and dance, nurtured by the simple
belief that art is life.
The close-knit Perth community of grandparents,
husbands, wives and children, who all give their
time and expertise for free, is friendly and
welcoming.
Members answer questions about their religion,
culture, ceremonies and rituals with openness and
an unashamed love of the arts that is rare.
Families take part in all aspects of the Temple.
They learn classical eastern and regional dance
styles. They learn visual arts like rangoli (floor
art using dried rice, beans and lentils), and study
music and literature from classical to
contemporary.
They cook in the restaurant kitchens using
ingredients prepared by Annalakshmi Sweets and
Spices in Coimabatore, India. They work in the
restaurant waiting at tables, and run the gift shop
that sells a veritable Aladdin's cave of India art
and craft.
Sarasa Krishnan, a Dalkeith resident responsible
for annual buying trips to India for the gift shop,
describes the temple as "our life blood, beyond
families, children, money and careers".
"We are artists and in giving vent to our
artistic expression we can be free," she said.
Sarasa, a petite, beautiful woman who looks half
her age - "Dancing keeps me young" - has been with
the Temple of Fine Arts since she was 10 years
old.
Now in her 40s she is one of several
professionally trained dancers who have been
through the WA Academy of Performing Arts. She
still dances professionally and is a dance master
for the temple's younger members.
In keeping with its principle of service through
the arts, the Temple and Annalakshmi will host a
10-day Indian festival with free performances.
Dance India, Taste India starts this weekend, July
14, and runs till July 22.
The festival includes Hindu astrology, henna
tattooing, tantric and bridal face painting, art,
craft, jewellery and clothing for sale, Indian
cuisine and traditional dance and music.
Each year an international dance or dance
theatre group is invited to the festival. This year
it will be the Natyanjali, the spectacular blind
dance troupe from India.
Now internationally renowned, the dance troupe
began as simple dance classes at India's Ramana
Maharishi Academy for the Blind. Young dance
teacher Ashok Kumar developed a "touch and feel"
method with his blind dancers who flourished and
became a professional group of six inspirational
dancers who, it is believed, dance with an inner
vision, blessed by the Siva, the Lord of Dance.
Live performances at Dance India, Taste India
begin at 6.30pm. The restaurant is open from 11am
till 3pm and 5pm till late with an unusual "eat as
you like - pay as you wish" menu.
Although the temple relies on funding from the
restaurant, donations and sponsorship, to ask
patrons to decide for themselves how much a meal is
worth is a reminder, explains Sarasa, that to
approach art with heart and soul one cannot think
about money.
It is "art for art's sake."
For further details on the Dance India, Taste
India festival and to make bookings ring the
Annalakshmi restaurant on 9221 3003.
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