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After a challenging year in the arts, we’re kicking off 2021 with a milestone as the 200th issue of Limelight goes to the printers. While the publication dates back to 1976, as 24 Hours, this special summer holiday edition marks 200 issues under the Limelight masthead. Our Editor Jo Litson takes a look back at the magazine’s history, which has seen the publication survive possible closure, twice.

The January/February issue looks to the future, however, as four writers – Ian Whitney, Deborah Jones, Jansson J. Antmann and Steve Dow – analyse the new year’s offerings in theatres and concert halls in 2021: The Year of Australian Art.

In October Dan Golding’s Debussy-derived soundtrack for the viral hit Untitled Goose Game became the first video game soundtrack nominated for an ARIA Award. It has now made history again with game music featured on the cover of Limelight for the very first time, as I explore how video games are bringing classical and orchestral music to millions of people around the world in our cover feature, Game Changer. (It’s also the first time a goose has appeared on Limelight’s cover.)

Ahead of Neil Armfield’s staging of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the 2021 Adelaide Festival, Jansson J. Antmann plunges into the repressed desire, erotic undertones, sense of play and inherent beauty in Shakespeare’s much-loved comedy in Of Love and Magic.

There are more new beginnings in The Next Stage, which sees acclaimed dance writer Deborah Jones interview David Hallberg, The Australian Ballet’s new Artistic Director, while Editor-at-Large Clive Paget talks to violinist Francesca Dego about Paganini and what it’s like to play “The Devil’s” favourite violin.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that cultural and sporting institutions face a lot of the same challenges – Andrew Mellor discovers how the arts and sports are teaming up in innovative ways in Back in the Game.

David Drury explains how no two organs are the same in Playing Up, Jill Brown takes on story ballets in Sacred Cow, genre-defying pianist Van-Anh Nguyen answers 5 Questions and ‘Frosty the Showman’ shares his love of classic musicals in My Music.

There are also plenty of regular favourites, including Clive Paget’s round-up of the best recorded music, Guy Noble’s monthly Soapbox, as well as the buzz on live performances around the country, arts news and reviews, and the latest broadcast guides.

Read the January–February issue online

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The issue is available for purchase from our online store and will be available in stores from 5 January.