Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

I'm spending most of my free time outside work at the moment rehearsing for the Dunedin production of the musical "Beauty and the Beast". The set & costumes (designed by Weta Workshops) are doing the rounds at various centres around New Zealand, but most of the cast is local in each place.

Wellington held the NZ premiere in January, and Christchurch was next on the schedule. I managed to catch their production while I was working in Chch recently, along with another Dave (Halalilo) also from the Dunedin production.

We managed to catch up with Russell Dixon (aka "Russell the TV3 Weather Guy" ;-) after the show. He was playing Gaston (the self-centred comedy villain), having already performed the role in Wellington, and due to come south in June to repeat the part in Dunedin. He was fantastic - a role he was made for! - and definitely stole the show.

Check out this site for more information about Dunedin Operatic's production of Beauty and the Beast (opens June 22nd at the Regent Theatre, and runs until July 1st).