Ben Apfelbaum

DRUMMER QUEENS : OPENING TOMORROW NIGHT @ THE SYDNEY LYRIC THEATRE

When one thinks of famous drummers one can start at Gene Krupa through to Ringo Starr, Keith Moon and Phil Collins. Very few female drummers come to mind. I can only think of two well known female drummers, Sheila E, who was percussionist for Prince, and Karen Carpenter, who drummed for the Carpenters. 

In this production – ‘Drummer Queens’- you have eight virtuosos on drums. They are Georgie Anderson, Stef Furnari, Niki Johnson, Selina Myat, Lisa Purmodh, Claudia Wherry, Ned Wu, Sasha Lian Diaz  who are joined by Peter Anderson, who not only performs but is also the choreographer for the show. 

The creator and composer for the show, Joe Accari, was aware of all female drumming groups in South America, Africa, Asia, and beyond. So, he thought why not Australia?! 

The creative director is Nigel Turner-Carroll, who through his percussionists delivers a brilliant blend of movement and rhythm.

The drumming styles range from amplified beat-box to elaborate electronic synthesised sound. There is even a toothbrush used as a rhythmic device!

Sadly, ‘Drummer Queens’ will only play for six shows at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. The show opens tonight at the Sydney Lyric Theatre tonight and plays until Saturday 13th February, 2021.

www.drummerqueens.com

 

Featured image – Peta Anderson and Joe Accaria.  All pics by Ben Apfelbaum

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.