Lucy Lawless as Stevie Nicks is New Zealand’s forgotten comedy masterpiece

Summer reissue: Twenty-two years ago, Lucy Lawless wasn’t just playing Xena, she was part of one of SNL’s greatest ever sketches. Sam Brooks pays tribute to Stevie Nicks Fajita Round-Up. First published on January 26, 2020. The year is 1998. Jenny Shipley is prime minister, we win zero medals at the Olympics, and an actress … Read more

Lucy Lawless as Stevie Nicks is New Zealand’s forgotten comedy masterpiece

Twenty-two years ago, Lucy Lawless wasn’t just playing Xena, she was part of one of SNL’s greatest ever sketches. Sam Brooks pays tribute to Stevie Nicks Fajita Round-Up. The year is 1998. Jenny Shipley is prime minister, we win zero medals at the Olympics, and an actress named Lucy Lawless is the first New Zealander to … Read more

Decade in review: The 10 NZ live show moments that defined the decade

From New Zealand’s biggest band selling out Western Springs to a landmark moment for Pasifika women onstage, these are the live events that shaped New Zealand this decade. An anchor in the middle of the deep blue sea: Daffodils, 2014 “Daffodils should play all over the country. It should play all over the world. It resonates … Read more

The Kiwi icons that raised me

A children’s television presenter, New Zealand’s first supermodel, and bloody Cocksy! Jordan Hamel pays tribute to the Kiwi icons that helped get him through his life. Adolescence was not a great time for me. Depression, anxiety, sexuality, awkward social interactions, emotional repression, being shit at sports – all the cliched tropes you see in any … Read more

A love letter to Xena: Warrior Princess

It’s Valentine’s Day, so why not pay homage to the New Zealand icon herself, Xena: Warrior Princess (the first three seasons drop on Lightbox tomorrow). Sam Rutledge writes a love letter to the woman herself. Question: was anyone who was alive in the 90s in New Zealand ever NOT watching Xena? I was only born in the … Read more

Pleasuredome is a funkadelic musical aiming to make it from Avondale to Vegas

Everybody wants to rule the world, but who else, asks Simon Wilson in this “partner content” feature, sets out to do it with as much wham-bam glam as the 80s dancefloor revivalist musical Pleasuredome? Just before the intermission, Lucy Lawless gets up close and personal with the woman she’s seducing and slides into ‘Hey little girl … Read more

The making of the immersive mega musical Pleasuredome

Manhattan showtime comes to West Auckland: as the massive 80s musical show Pleasuredome, starring Lucy Lawless, counts down to opening night, executive producer Rob Tapert and producer Charlie McDermott reveal the story of its creation. Rob Tapert: You don’t give up and you try to work only on the things you really love – that’s … Read more

Monitor: Resurrection Man – Bruce Campbell is Back in Ash vs Evil Dead

In Monitor this week, Aaron Yap takes a look at The Evil Dead’s first foray into television. Almost 35 years after the franchise made its cult classic debut, has the magic survived the move to the small-screen? Those who defend Hollywood’s obsession with churning out sequels like to reassure you that sequels don’t – and … Read more