Brett Debritz’s archive

The move to my new website, debritz.net, is on – and that’s where you’ll find my new, improved blog. While the contents of this site will remain as an archive in some form or other, debritz.com will eventually point to debritz.net. What’s in all this for you? Well, for starters, there’s the chance to become a registered user and have your say on my posts.

I’m back in Brisbane and working hard on the promised changes to this website. The plan is to add some features, change the approach of the blog, and make it all more user-friendly. It will take a few weeks to get everything running smoothly, but I’ll be posting updates here.

It’s something an Australian actor could only have dreams (or nightmares) about – appearing in the same show, week in, week out since January 26, 1988. According to Playbill, that’s been the fate of Broadway Phantom of the Opera stars George Lee Andrews, Richard Warren Pugh and Mary Leigh Stahl, who have been with the production from the word go. Phantom is now the longest-running show on the Great White Way and has been the biggest generator of income and jobs in American theatre.
PS: I met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber once. I literally bumped into him on opening night in Melbourne about 15 years ago. All I could do was shake his hand and say “Congratulations”.

I have just received an email from a Russian woman called Svetlana, who tells me she is 25, “blonde with blue eyes … I have not children and I have not boyfriend here”. She is hoping to work abroad and is looking for a man from USA, Europe or Canada to “be my guide”. She says she wants to leave Russia “because it is impossible to live here for young pretty woman”. Although I’m not in a position to help her out any way, it seems I received the email in error. And for some reason, my mail server filed it in the junk mail folder …

Just as Phantom of the Opera reaches the record for the most-performed musical on Broadway, rumours are gathering pace that the show will be making a return to the Australian stage. Also rumoured is a touring arena version of the evergreen Les Miserables. Just confirmed for a Brisbane run is Fiddler on the Roof, starring Topol.

Internet kiosks are few and far between in the NSW Central Highlands, but I expect to be back online early next week.