originally posted on 30-03-2020 2:33 PM

Hi @ayrc_1904 , 

Thanks so much for sharing that beautiful collection of stories! I have also been finding a lot of comfort in seeing the beautiful side of humanity shine through in such frankly shitty times. The power of music to unite and inspire people always amazes me. 

I thought you may like this one - a friend shared it with me over the weekend. They are two Australian opera singers who will now be doing a weekly 'concert' from the balcony of their apartment block, complete with lights and sound. This one made me tear up a little if I'm honest! "I Still Call Australia Home" - filmed live, from an apartment block in waterloo. 

originally posted on 30-03-2020 1:57 PM

Hi @ayrc_1904

Loving the good news stories at the moment! I am just going to move your post across to good news stories so you can continue to add to the thread when you find more good news 🙂

originally posted on 30-03-2020 2:33 PM

Hey guys,

Check out this group workout that the Danish people are doing outside their apartments in Copenhagen.  Good vibes 🙂 

originally posted on 30-03-2020 2:34 PM

Haha @Ronan-RO  that is awesome! 

originally posted on 30-03-2020 7:47 PM

The Diamond Princess is now out of quarantine (feels like it's taken forever) and they have shared a special message:

originally posted on 31-03-2020 11:48 AM

Aww @WheresMySquishy  that is so lovely! Thanks for sharing. 

originally posted on 06-04-2020 1:47 PM

A few more good news stories for the week that I wanted to share here- 

This one probably could also go in the thread about activities to do from home actually, but I also think it's a good news piece purely because it made me smile so much, I love seeing how ridiculously creative people can be. The Getty Museum challenged people stuck at home to re-create artistic masterpieces using random items from their homes, and the results are absolutely amazing, ridiculous, and hilarious. 

Art Lovers Recreate Masterpieces in COVID quarantine

A full list is in the link above, here's a few of my favourites

originally posted on 07-04-2020 12:42 PM

One more good news story from me today - this one made my musical theatre nerd heart so very happy! 

The lovely John Krazinski (from "The Office") surprised a 9 year old girl with the original broadway cast of Hamilton singing "Alexander Hamilton" over Zoom. And they absolutely nail it!!! If you're a fan of Hamilton, it's a must watch, especially the look on her face. Brought a tear to my eye! 

Cast Of Hamilton reunite on Zoom 

The full audio has apparently been cut from the Youtube video for copyright reasons, but you can listen to the whole thing on Instagram here. So lovely! 

originally posted on 07-04-2020 7:58 PM

@Janine-RO  Thanks so much for sharing this! My sister is a big fan of Hamilton. I'll show her when she wakes up.

originally posted on 08-04-2020 12:45 PM

@WheresMySquishy  oh I'm so glad, did she like it? I love Hamilton too, apparently they will be streaming a production online at some point, I'll see if I can find a link!

This story also made my heart a bit happy today - families staging photo shoots in their driveways!  A fun way for people to get a bit creative, and stay connected in these weird times. 

Driveway project brings fun to Coronavirus isolation

originally posted on 10-04-2020 7:30 PM

@Janine-RO  She liked it! She thought it was cute.
She got really excited about the idea of a production being available for streaming. We've watched a few clips and videos from musicals online. The Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat movie was also available to watch on YouTube last weekend, so we watched it.
She also likes the musicals Be More Chill, Wicked, Rent, Mean Girls, Six, Heathers, Mamma Mia, Legally Blonde, Spongebob and Jekyll and Hyde.
A family in the UK performed their own version of a song from Les Miserables while in isolation and it's gone viral. We watched it yesterday and had a good laugh.

That story kind of reminds me of how some people have been dressing up to take out the rubbish! I've heard that some other people have been putting teddy bears in their windows so that children can look out for them.

originally posted on 15-04-2020 9:54 AM

@WheresMySquishy  I am so excited to see that more productions are streaming online! Was it the arena performance with Tim Minchin that you watched? I saw it promoted, but ended up not having time to watch it 😞 I love a bit of musical theatre too, I saw the original Australian production of Rent 4 times as a teenager! Such a great cast. 

I loved the Les Mis family parody too - they all have insanely good voices, it's so impressive! 

I have started to follow the facebook group for bin outings too, it's amazing how creative some people are! 

A few of my recent  favourites (pictures from a Junkee story here) 

And this video is for @Claire-RO  who is our resident Kath and Kim fan! 

So good. 

Kath and Kim take out the bin 

originally posted on 16-04-2020 9:09 PM

@Janine-RO  I watched that Jesus Christ Superstar one with Tim Minchin and the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat movie with Donny Osmond. Tim Minchin was really good! It was a really modern production. Overall, it's not my favourite version that I've watched but he and the actor who played Jesus did an amazing job. Andrew Lloyd Webber came out at the end which was cool. They are going to put up The Phantom of The Opera for this weekend which should be good. I hope they can put more productions online!
I've seen Rent here too, but it was a university production. I remember having a book about the making of the original US production, the DVD and soundtrack of the movie. I used to love it as a teenager too!

I saw this on the news today and thought it was really inspiring:
War Veteran, 99, raises $6 million by walking laps of his garden 

originally posted on 22-04-2020 12:54 PM

Ah @WheresMySquishy  I mixed up my "vaguely religious themed rock musicals!" lol.

I love Tim Minchin, I was lucky enough to see him perform a few years ago, and he blew me away. I loved Matilda too - I saw the production in Sydney a few years back. 

I am so glad that you shared the story about Captain Tom Moore!! I read about him on the weekend and it absolutely lifted my spirits too, I love how he gets dressed up and wears his medals to walk his laps of the garden. It's his 100th birthday in a few days, and I just found this story that says he's now raised a massive 27 million pounds for the NHS!!! He has also been sent over 25 000 cards for his 100th birthday from all over the world. Full story here

originally posted on 05-05-2020 4:21 PM

Another good news story for today: this grandpa in the USA was missing his grandkids, and decided to deliver them donuts using a drone! 

The full story is here, love the unique ways people are coming up with to spread the love when they can't be with their loved ones in person. 

originally posted on 27-05-2020 1:27 PM

I thought it might be nice to share another good news story today - how amazing is this picture??

This shows the amazing return of birdlife to the Barwon and Darling Rivers, which had run completely dry after years of drought.  For some kids in the area it's the first time that they've seen it flowing in their lifetimes, and their parents have been able to teach them to fish for the first time. 

You can check out the full story here 

originally posted on 29-06-2020 2:22 PM

A weird and lovely good news story this week: this opera house in Barcelona has been closed for months due to the pandemic, and re-opened this week with a concert for plants. 

“After a strange, painful period, the creator, the Liceu’s artistic director and the curator Blanca de la Torre offer us a different perspective for our return to activity, a perspective that brings us closer to something as essential as our relationship with nature,” the Liceu writes.

After the concert, the plants that attended were donated (along with a certificate from the artist) to 2,292 healthcare workers who have been battling COVID-19 on the frontlines of the ongoing pandemic.

@MB95  thought you may like this one 🙂 

Source is here 

originally posted on 29-06-2020 8:50 PM

Ahahahahaaha whaaaaaat?! @Janine-RO 🤣

So bizare, but kinda strangely cool lol I love that they were donated to healthcare workers afterwards!! 😊 

originally posted on 28-07-2020 2:55 PM

Hey all! 

Thought it could be nice to share another good news story or 2 today: 

This one made me smile a lot, a nursing home in the UK who have been in lockdown for months have found a new way to keep their residents entertained - recreating iconic album art from famous albums. 

Their entertainment manager has been sharing their latest creations on twitter, so awesome! You can check them out here. 

originally posted on 21-09-2020 11:30 AM

Hi all! I don't know about everyone else, but I feel like there was a lot of bad/ sad news around in the last week, so I was really delighted to see this pop up on my news feed  to balance things out a bit! I thought some people here may enjoy some of these images  from the Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards! 

These are a few of my favourites, you can check out all of the finalists here!