Standing Room Only for Sunday 2 October 2022

12:16  Christchurch's always controversial Cathedral

It was so nearly lost.   As the Christ Church Anglican Cathedral is being rebuilt, historian Edmund Bohan is releasing a history of the distinctive Gothic building.    It seems it was controversial even before work started on designing it,  let alone building it.  

From the laying of the foundations to the official opening, it took 40 years, after squabbles over pretty much every aspect of its construction - not to mention the huge problems raising the money to build it in the City Centre.

In Heart of the City: The Story of Christchurch's Controversial Cathedral, Edmund is critical of the former Anglican Bishop Victoria Matthews' determination to demolish the badly-damaged cathedral after the Canterbury earthquakes, to replace it with a modern church.

And he tells Lynn Freeman he's very much looking forward to seeing the Cathedral restored to its former glory after a lengthy and pricey rebuild.

But first he sets the scene.  Back in the 1860s, there was controversy over where the cathedral should go, its design, whether it should be in stone or timber - even if there should be a cathedral built at all!

Heart of the City: The Story of Christchurch's Controversial Cathedral, by Edmund Bohan is published by Quentin Wilson Publishing.

 

12:34  Aboriginal dancer Dalisa Pigram at the Tempo Festival

A powerful dance work examines some of the reasons behind the shockingly high number of Aboriginal youth taking their own lives.  It's about to premiere in Aotearoa.

Aboriginal dancer, Dalisa Pigram is performing Gudirr Gudirr as part of Auckland's Tempo Dance Festival.

Dalia is from Broome in Western Australia where efforts are being made to keep their language and culture alive.  But, as she tells Lynn Freeman during a break in rehearsals, at the same time their young people are really struggling.

Dalisa Pigram will perform Gudirr Gudirr at Auckland's Q Theatre October 3, as part of the Tempo Dance Festival: Te Rerenga o Tere.

 

12:45 Landscapes - their effect on us, and vice versa

The New Zealand landscape is dramatic and varied - a mecca for film makers these days, but long before them, for painters.

But it's not just the beautiful beaches, rugged mountains and lush forests.  It's also New Zealanders' often complicated relationship to the land that many artists have tried to capture.

Te Papa has been rifling through its extensive art collection to look at just this in an exhibition called Hiahia Whenua: Landscape and Desire.

Rebecca Rice, Curator Historical NZ Art, and Megan Tamati-Quennell, Curator Modern & Contemporary Maori & Indigenous Art, have collaborated on the exhibition.

They have chosen early idyllic landscapes from the colonial period, and put them alongside contemporary works. 

As they explain to Lynn Freeman, landscapes in art have fallen in and out of fashion over the centuries.  So why do they still have a place in our hearts?

Hiahia Whenua: Landscape and Desire opens at Toi Art at Te Papa in Te Whanganui a Tara on Saturday (Saturday 8 October)

 

1:10 At The Movies

This week Simon Morris reviews the documentary Fire of Love, the Iranian road movie Hit the road and the animated family movie DC League of Super-Pets.

 

1:31  Peter Nichols sculptor - 60 years of creating

For the three years before sculptor Peter Nicholls' death last year, he worked with his friend and editor Don Hunter on a biography charting his 60 years of creating often monumental work from found materials.

While he didn't live to see the finished book, which he titled Dynamics / Memory / Grace: Peter Nicholls,  he did proof a colour draft of it a fortnight before he died, in his 80s.

Most of his sculptures, crafted mainly from 'found' native wood and steel, were designed for outdoor settings. But many are also in galleries and homes around the country.

Peter shared his expertise with the next generation of artists as a lecturer in Sculpture at the Dunedin School of Art, Otago Polytechnic from 1979 until 2001.

That's where Don Hunter first met Peter, as he explains to Lynn Freeman.
 

1:46  Rose Lu and the Randell Residency

Writing the rocky love story of  a second-generation Chinese-New Zealander and a recent Taiwanese migrant has been the focus of writer Rose Lu's six-month writer's residency at the historic Randell Collage in Wellington.

It's the 20th year of residencies at Randell Cottage.    Rose's time there has just ended, so it felt like the perfect time for a catch up.

Rose's first book was the prize-winning, 2019 essay collection All Who Live On Islands.

Lynn Freeman wondered, was she leaving with the manuscript she'd planned to write there, one that was going to include a lot of tramping?
 

2:06 The Laugh Track - Brendon Green

In the comedy business you get better the more you do, and right now we seem to have more opportunities to get better than ever before.  We've got funny people, witty people, quirky people - and one or two real pros.  Brendon Green is a real pro.

Brendon's been around for a while.  Aside from his standup work, you've seen him on Give us a clue and Comedians giving lectures.  But his day job is Head Writer for the hit TV show Have you been paying attention?

He knows how to construct a joke, is what we're saying.  And now he's putting that skill to good use in a live show called I'm happy you're here.  It's aimed at supporting and promoting conversations about mental health.

Brendon Green chats to Lynn Freeman on the Laugh Track.  His picks include Mike Birbiglia, Kyle Kinane, Becky Lucas and Nate Bargatze.
 

2:26  MUSOC celebrates 50 years of musical theatre

The University of Canterbury Musical Theatre Society has performed around 80 productions over its 50-year history, and many of the members involved on and off stage are about to gather for a reunion to mark its anniversary.

MUSOC was formed to not only entertain, but to encourage people to hone their skills - performing, writing and as crew.

Past members include singer and lecturer Judy Bellingham, jazz maestro Tom Rainey,and more recently actor/comedian Brynley Stent and composer Luke Di Somma who was our guest on the Laugh Track recently.

One of the first productions was Cinderolla & The Fairy Oddmother, penned in 1972 by a young Philip Norman, who of course has gone on to have a respected career as a composer, conductor and educator. 

Lynn Freeman talks to Philip and to one of the reunion organisers and former MUSOC director, Cam Stewart.

MUSOC 's 50th reunion is on at Haere-Roa, University of Canterbury starting on the 7th of October. 

 

2:36  The ultra short works of Frankie McMillan

Frankie McMillan explores wandering in all kinds of ways - through landscapes and through life - in her new collection of short and ultra short stories, The Wandering Nature of Us Girls.

Many are based on snatches of her own memory, growing up with the freedom to take off with her sisters.

But for others she's started imagining the lives of others, including Annie Edson who miraculously survived toppling down Niagara Falls inside a barrel in 1901.
 
This is the award winning Christchurch writer's sixth book, and she's a two-time winner of the New Zealand Flash Fiction Day competition.  

Frankie chats with Lynn Freeman and reads from The Wandering Nature of Us Girls.

Frankie McMillan's short story collection The Wandering Nature of Us Girls is a Canterbury University Press publication.
 

2:47  Choreographer Jo Lloyd is inspired by what people say

Award-winning Melbourne dancer and choreographer Jo Lloyd is creating a new work for the New Zealand Dance Company's 10th anniversary, incorporating insults and phrases she's gathered over many years.

What They Said will premiere as part of the Tempo Dance Festival in Auckland. 

Jo's worked with dancers and presented work at Festivals around the world .  She's also gathered a cabinet full of awards along the way.

But while some of her previous shows have been brought to New Zealand, this is the first time that she's worked with one our our dance companies.  

Lynn Freeman asks Jo about the collection of phrases, statements and insults she's woven into What They Said.

The work premieres at Auckland's Q Theatre on the 7th of October as part of the Tempo Dance Festival

 

3:06 Drama at 3 - a double feature of Close Shave and Alex's Lament

Today we have a double bill for you, beginning with a play about a potential outbreak of a highly infectious disease - Close Shave by Barbara Anderson.   Featuring Michael Haig, Catherine Downes, Bill Direen, Lloyd Scott & Patrick Smyth, it was recorded by Alistair McAlpine and produced by Fergus Dick for RNZ National.

The second play ais about a father pushing his son to follow in his own footsteps.  Alex’s Lament by Ian Hood sees a father and son tussling over parental expectations and music.  It features Glenis Levestam, Peter Vere Jones, Grant Tilly and Scott Le Pine with musician Rob Winch.   Once again it was recorded by Alistair McAlpine and produced by Ross Jolly for RNZ National.

 

3.48  Jacqueline Bublitz's difficult second novel

When your debut novel sparks a publisher's bidding war, wins a slew of awards and nominations and tops the bestseller list, when do you have time to write the notoriously difficult second novel?

Jacqueline Bublitz has managed to - in between media interviews and invitations to talk about that first book Before You Knew My Name.   .

The crime novel - told from the perspective of murder victim Alice - took out both the Best First Novel and Best Novel categories at the recent Ngaio Marsh Awards.

Before you knew my name was set in Melbourne - based on the 2014 murder of a woman out jogging in an area Jacqueline knows well.  Her next book though will be set in Aotearoa.

Jacqueline spends her time between Melbourne and New Plymouth.  Lynn Freeman asked her if she was a big crime fiction reader before she started writing it.

Music played in this show

Artist: Stargazers
Song: The happy wanderer
Composer: Saloviev-Sadoy
Album: British Hit Parade 1954
Label: Acrobat
Played at: 12.12

Artist: Cat Power
Song: Traveling (wo)man
Composer:  Williams
Album: Jukebox
Label: Matador
Played at: 12.30

Artist: Lee Marvin
Song: Wanderin' Star
Composer: Lowe-Lerner
Album: Paint Your Wagon
Label: MCA
Played at:  1.07

Artist: Dion
Song: The wanderer
Composer: Maresco
Album: King of the New York Streets
Label:  Therightstuff
Played at: 1.43

Artist:  Goldenhorse
Song: Wandering One
Composer: Maddock-Morelle
Album: Live at Helens
Label: RNZ
Played at: 1.58

Artist: Linda Ronstadt
Song: Poor wandering one
Composer: Gilbert-Sullivan
Album: Pirates of Penzance
Label: N/A
Played at: 2.05

Artist:  The Temptations
Song: Papa was a rolling stone
Composer: Whitfield-Strong
Album: Get ready
Label: Planet
Played at: 2.58

Artist:  Miranda Lambert
Song: Wandering spirit
Composer: Jagger-Rippetoe
Album: Palomino
Label: Sony
Played at: 3.05

Artist:  The Mainstream Singers
Song: Never did no wanderin'
Composer: Shearer-McKean
Album:  A Mighty Wind
Label: Columbia
Played at: 3.58