NEWS

The Producers opens in Brisbane at the Lyric Theatre at QPAC on March 13 for a strictly limited season before mnoving to Sydney. Bookings can be made through QTIX.

The Sydney season of The Producers opens in Sydney on May 14 at the Lyric Theatre at Star City Casino.

For more information on The Producers see the Web site . Bookings can be made through Ticketek.

Chapters & Chances is an illustrated autobiography or, as Reg Livermore calls it, a souvenir program of a life in theatre. Widely acknowledged as one of the most significant figures of the Australian theatre in the twentieth century, Livermore has enjoyed a career spanning more than fifty years; in his time on stage, on television and in life, he provides an important link with performers and performances during that evolutionary period.

Chapters & Chances is more than just a personal memoir of a life lived in public; it offers a valuable perspective on Australian theatrical history, from the ground-breaking era of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Betty Blokk Buster Follies and Barnum to Livermore's legendary one-man shows to his stints on commercial television on variety shows such as I'm Alright Now, The Mavis Bramston Show and, in the 1990s, the infotainment program, Our House.

Livermore's journey in the theatre has been phenomenal, and his achievements unique ­ it is hard to imagine such a career as his being constructed these days. This is a generous offering from a man of his time who started staging performances as a young child, developed a fabulous life on stage and now devotes his time to making a garden in the Blue Mountains in Sydney and the occasional guest appearance. One might say he lived well.

Chapters & Chances is enhanced by an extraordinary range of archival photographs, and will no doubt be a collector's item for Livermore's legions of fans. It is a chronicle and a celebration of a time of extraordinary ferment in Australian arts.

Reg Livermore was born in Parramatta in 1938 and was stage-struck from the very start. At 13, he started hiring local halls to stage performances in aid of local charities. In 1957, after a successful audition for the well-known Phillip Street Theatre, his professional career was underway, and would lead to many ground-breaking performances in every decade since. In 1996 he was awarded an AO for his 'service to Australian theatre and drama as a performer, writer and director, and to the community'.