Newcastle

Newcastle International Sports Centre, known as Hunter Stadium from January 2012, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, New South... Wales, Australia. It is the home ground of the Newcastle Knights and the Newcastle United Jets teams. It is owned by the New South Wales government and administered by the Hunter Region Sporting Venues Authority. Due to past sponsorship deals, the ground has been previously known as Marathon Stadium, EnergyAustralia Stadium and Ausgrid Stadium. Work began on the stadium on 1 December 1967, and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 10 April 1970. It was originally known as the International Sports Centre, and is still part of the ISC complex to this day. The playing surface back then was originally oval shaped to allow both codes of rugby, soccer and cricket to be able to make use of it. The Knights secured a lease on the stadium in 1986, and converted it from an oval to a rectangle layout. In 1992, local tyre outlet Marathon Tyres became the naming rights sponsor for the stadium, and it was renamed Marathon Stadium.
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The Victoria Theatre in Newcastle, New South Wales, opened 1876 and rebuilt during 1890-91 is the oldest theatre still standing in New South Wales.... The Victoria is only one of several large stage and screen theatres built across the city from the 1870s up until the early twentieth-century that have since been closed down. Others of importance were the Central Mission Theatre on King Street, the Theatre Royal on Hunter Street West, as well as the Strand and Lyric cinemas. The first Victoria Theatre was built on the site in 1876. This was altered in 1885 and razed in 1890. The second theatre was built in 1890/1 and closed in 1966. The architect in charge of the 1890 rebuilding was Mr. James Henderson, who elaborately furnished the three level auditorium in neo-Grecian theme. A large stage house and a small first class hotel were also incorporated in the second theatre, the latter closed during 1921 during extensive renovations to convert the theatre into dual stage and screen use. By early 1922, the Victoria was taken over by Sir Benjamin and John Fuller of Melbourne's Princess Theatre fame and they built the large St.
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The Newcastle Civic Theatre , located in Newcastle, Australia, is one of Newcastle's most popular and prestigious venues. The 1520-seat Civic... Auditorium hosts a wide range of musicals, plays, concerts and dance events each year and is the city's oldest surviving theatre . The building opened in 1929 on Hunter Street as a picture theatre, decorated in lavish Art Deco style with a marble staircase, terrazzo balcony and chandeliers. Prior to the theatre's opening the Victoria Theatre on Perkins Street in the city's East End had been the premier venue for entertainment and also the city's largest and most opulent auditorium. The theatre was designed by renowned architect Harry White and opened by the Premier of New South Wales, Thomas Bavin.
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Fort Scratchley, a former coastal defence installation, is now a museum. It is located in Newcastle East, a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales in... Australia. It was built in 1882 to defend the city against a possible Russian attack. However, its guns were not fired in anger until 8 June 1942, during the shelling of Newcastle. The Australian Army left the site in 1972. Fort Scratchley is situated atop Flagstaff Hill, overlooking the Tasman Sea and the Hunter River, less than 1 km from the Newcastle Central Business District. It is accessed from Nobbys Road. It is directly between Newcastle and Nobbys beaches. Originally built as a Coastal Defense Fort, it is located in a commanding position, guarding the Hunter River estuary. The site went through extensive renovation at the turn of the 20th century, which has affected the way it looks and shows how military technology changed during the period of its occupation. In 2004 the site was closed for renovation which the city hoped would make the fort a major tourist attraction. Unfortunately, as costs rose due to vandalism and an increase in necessary decontamination to the site, progress stalled.
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Tiffany "Tiffani" Jane Wood , briefly known as Tiffani Cummins, is an Australian singer-songwriter, who is a former member of female pop group... Bardot. Wood later established an independent solo career, and released her debut solo album Bite Your Tongue in 2006. Wood was born on 8 November 1977 in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. She developed an interest in performing from a young age and enrolled into jazz dancing classes where she would eventually also assist teaching younger students. At age 12, Wood's mother Judy encouraged her to take up singing by joining the Young Talent Time talent school. Her teachers quickly noticed her natural singing talent and at age 15, placed her into a show troupe "The Young Stars" which performed at various venues around New South Wales. During this three year stint, Wood had her first experience of recording for an album and performing solo in front of large crowds, her biggest being the opening of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel where she performed in front of over 20,000 people.
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Jennifer Hawkins is an Australian beauty queen, model and television presenter best known as Miss Universe 2004. She is the face of Australian... department store Myer. Hawkins was born in Holmesville, New South Wales, and currently resides in Sydney. She attended West Wallsend High School in West Wallsend, New South Wales. She is one of four children, and her parents are of Australian heritage. Hawkins was a former cheerleader for the Newcastle Knights rugby league team, and the Hunter Pirates basketball team and also worked as a model. It was as a model that she was cast as Miss Australia for the Miss Universe competition. Hawkins also worked as a choreographer for a dance team that toured Australia specialising in Hip-Hop and Ballet. After dropping out of high school Hawkins went on to be a model. Before participating in Miss Universe 2004 Hawkins sought advice from the previous Miss Australia, Ashlea Talbot, who represented Australia in the 2003 competition, and learned basic Spanish prior to travelling to Ecuador. The Miss Universe pageant was held in Quito, Ecuador on 1 June 2004.
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Sarah Wynter is an Australian actress, most widely known for her roles on American television – such as Kate Warner on the television drama 24... and as Beth on Windfall. Wynter was born in Newcastle, Australia, the daughter of Helen Cummings, a worker in the Australian federal judicial system, and Stuart Wynter, a physician. Her grandmother, the late Joy Cummings, was the Lord Mayor of Newcastle – Australia's first female Lord Mayor. On 20 August 2005, Wynter married Details magazine editor-in-chief Dan Peres in Sydney. Their first child, Oscar Dallas Wynter Peres, was born on 14 January 2008 and the couple welcomed twin sons, Samuel and Julian, in April, 2011. Wynter's interest in acting led her to move to New York City when she was 17 to study drama. Wynter earned her SAG card by landing a role on the Sex and the City pilot, playing what she later summarized as the first woman to have sex on that show. A few years later, she was recognized by SAG again, as part of the second season cast of 24 when it earned a SAG Award nomination as Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
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Rhys Muldoon is an Australian actor, writer and director who has worked extensively in film, television, theatre and radio. Rhys Muldoon has starred... in numerous television roles including Bastard Boys, Play School and the high rating Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler, the BAFTA nominated Lockie Leonard based on the books by Australian writer Tim Winton, Blackjack with Colin Friels, the multiple AFI award winning Grass Roots as the scheming general manager, Greg Dominelli, Secret Life of Us, Big Sky, and The Genie From Down Under. Rhys has more recently featured regularly on the ABC news and current affairs program The Drum. In film, Muldoon has appeared in the Oscar-nominated film The Saviour , Ladykiller , Gristle , Mumbo Jumbo , Danny Deckchair , The Crop , Second Chance , The Extra , Valentine's Day , the hit of the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, Bitter & Twisted and Steven Soderbergh's "Secret Film Project" . Steven Soderbergh's Tot Mom for the Sydney Theatre Company , Gethsemane by David Hare for Belvoir St Theatre .
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Lee Andrew Priest McCutcheon nicknamed "The Blond Myth" is a former IFBB professional bodybuilder and a current NABBA Professional athlete. Lee... Priest grew up in Wallsend Australia. Lee's mom was also a bodybuilding competitor, and posed with Lee onstage. Lee started training at the age of 12 with the help and support of his grandfather. He competed for the first time at the age of 13 and won. He went on to win numerous other competitions leading up to him winning the IFBB Mr Australia at 17,18,19. Lee competed at the World's Championship at 17, where he placed 4th. He was not allowed to get his pro card in Australia because of his young age. It was then Lee decided to enter an amateur competition, Niagra Falls Championships. While there, Lee was discovered and given his pro card. Lee became one of the youngest men ever to turn IFBB pro at the age of 21. Lee competed successfully within the IFBB and is deciding on whether to compete in the Masters Mr Olympia which has been recently scheduled to be reopened with prize money of $100'000. In 2010 Lee decided to switch to NABBA but due to the Mr.
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Jane Comerford is a singer, songwriter, lecturer and vocal coach working in Germany. Jane has an extensive musical and music-related education. She... studied violin and piano for 12 years, and later music theory, and graduated from Newcastle Conservatorium . She had 6 years of classical ballet training in Newcastle as well as jazz dance training in Los Angeles. Further, she went on to study singing in Hamburg, Vienna and Amsterdam, as well as learned to play ukulele. Having studied piano and violin in Newcastle, Jane was no longer sure whether the classical style still fulfilled her expectations. She went to the United States where she worked as pianist in several night clubs. A holiday in Spain made her stay in Europe. After she discovered that life in Spain still did not meet her expectations she moved to Hamburg where she worked again as pianist in the bar of the hotel "Intercontinental". There she started to work with several bands and gained more and more experience in the sound studio. She wrote and composed songs, worked in her husband's studio and became popular as a background singer.
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Bryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts. Born at 35 Second Avenue, Heaton,... Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he began his career playing bass guitar in a trio with Alan Price. After vocalist Eric Burdon joined them the group was renamed The Animals and became one of the most successful R&B bands ever. Chandler's best known bass lines are the opening riffs of their 1965 hits "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "It's My Life". Chandler was also the most prominent of the group's backing vocalists and did occasional songwriting with Burdon. After the group split up in late 1966, Chandler became manager of Jimi Hendrix, bringing him to England and recruiting other musicians to form The Jimi Hendrix Experience. He also produced their first two albums, and was instrumental in introducing Hendrix to Eric Clapton. It was through this introduction that Hendrix got a chance to play with Clapton and Cream on stage. Chandler then went on to manage and produce the English rock band Slade for twelve years, during which time they achieved 7 number one chart hits in the U.K.
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Christopher John Joannou is a Macedonian Australian musician, best known as the bass player for the successful alternative rock band Silverchair.... Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, he has a twin sister and an older sister. He has a nephew and two nieces. He was the first of the three band members to cut his long hair short. Joannou was nicknamed 'Lumberjack' by Silverchair fans for his love of trees, and plaid shirts. Chris' bandmate Ben taught him how to play bass guitar, making him the only Band member who did not know how to play an instrument. However, he learned quickly. As well as being a well known bassist, Joannou was the assistant producer for The Mess Hall albums Feeling Sideways and the ARIA award winning Notes From A Ceiling. He has used mainly G&L and Fender Precision Basses, and almost exclusively uses Ampeg B-15 Portaflex combos. As reported to gearwire.com, Joannou uses an Ampeg SVT-2 into and Ampeg 810 cabinet and a new Ampeg B15 combo in his live set-up. In 2006 Joannou spoke at the launch of a mental health scholarship set up to honor his cousin Nathan Trepezanov who had committed suicide at the age of 21 in January.
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Sophie Lee is an Australian film, stage and television actress and author. Early in her career, Sophie Lee worked as a model, both in Australia and... Japan appearing in print and on TV. Her first feature film was Raw Silk in 1988. First rising to fame in 1990 hosting the The Bugs Bunny Show on Australian TV, the show provoked controversy through her wardrobe, which was publicised as "middle-aged men rush home from work in time to watch Sophie throw to Bugs Bunny cartoons". The Nine Network series, which had previously not been hosted, featured Bugs Bunny and other Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, plus occasional other material, such as an interview between Sophie and Kylie Minogue. She was cast by executive producer David Lyle out of 150 candidates. In 1991, Lee started playing the ongoing role of Penny Wellings in the drama series The Flying Doctors. In 1992, she also hosted the TV series Sex. Lee built on this in the media, speaking out on feminism, sexism and the need for sex education in the AIDS era.
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Sarah Wynter is an Australian actress, most widely known for her roles on American television – such as Kate Warner on the television drama 24... and as Beth on Windfall. Wynter was born in Newcastle, Australia, the daughter of Helen Cummings, a worker in the Australian federal judicial system, and Stuart Wynter, a physician. Her grandmother, the late Joy Cummings, was the Lord Mayor of Newcastle – Australia's first female Lord Mayor. On 20 August 2005, Wynter married Details magazine editor-in-chief Dan Peres in Sydney. Their first child, Oscar Dallas Wynter Peres, was born on 14 January 2008 and the couple welcomed twin sons, Samuel and Julian, in April, 2011. Wynter's interest in acting led her to move to New York City when she was 17 to study drama. Wynter earned her SAG card by landing a role on the Sex and the City pilot, playing what she later summarized as the first woman to have sex on that show. A few years later, she was recognized by SAG again, as part of the second season cast of 24 when it earned a SAG Award nomination as Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
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Rhys Muldoon is an Australian actor, writer and director who has worked extensively in film, television, theatre and radio. Rhys Muldoon has starred... in numerous television roles including Bastard Boys, Play School and the high rating Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler, the BAFTA nominated Lockie Leonard based on the books by Australian writer Tim Winton, Blackjack with Colin Friels, the multiple AFI award winning Grass Roots as the scheming general manager, Greg Dominelli, Secret Life of Us, Big Sky, and The Genie From Down Under. Rhys has more recently featured regularly on the ABC news and current affairs program The Drum. In film, Muldoon has appeared in the Oscar-nominated film The Saviour , Ladykiller , Gristle , Mumbo Jumbo , Danny Deckchair , The Crop , Second Chance , The Extra , Valentine's Day , the hit of the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, Bitter & Twisted and Steven Soderbergh's "Secret Film Project" . Steven Soderbergh's Tot Mom for the Sydney Theatre Company , Gethsemane by David Hare for Belvoir St Theatre .
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Jane Turner is an Australian actress, comedian and Logie Award winning comedy writer. Turner has appeared in many popular Australian TV programs,... namely Prisoner in a straight dramatic role, with comedy roles in sketch comedy programs The D-Generation, Fast Forward, Full Frontal, Big Girl's Blouse and Something Stupid. On Fast Forward Turner recorded a song with Peter Moon , called "Don't Do Your Soviet Bloc". In the 2000s Turner has received accolades for her performance in Kath & Kim, an ABC comedy series which she created, wrote, produced and starred in with her longtime friend and collaborator, Gina Riley. Kath & Kim became the most successful ABC syndicated show in Australian television history. Turner plays Kath, one of the leading roles in the show and an occasional character, Prue, a shop keeper at the Fountain Lakes Shopping Centre. Turner made her West End theatrical debut in the Australian hit play Holding the Man at London's Trafalgar Studios in April 2010. Turner is married to lawyer John Denton and they have 3 children including model Anna Denton .
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