The sophisticated operatic farce, A Little Night Music, is set in 19th Century Sweden. It follows the misadventures of a set of illicit lovers and their spouses who come together for an idyllic weekend in the country. The show deals with issues of forbidden love and infidelity, sexuality, gender, class, lost love and regrets. Lawyer…
Three disaffected young men are at the centre of Green Day’s rock opera American Idiot. The story is expanded from their album of the same name, (released in 2004) and also features music from the 2009 album 21st Century Breakdown. Lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt formed Green Day in…
Push The Book of Mormon over a cliff and mix in an unhealthy dose of Avenue Q and you go some way to describing the irreverence that is Hand to God. A puppet practice workshop in a church gets shanghaied by the devil and it’s only a matter of time before proceedings spiral totally out…
Esther Hannaford, take a bow. What a star! Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is a showcase of all that is great about musical theatre – joyful and triumphant, with Hannaford front and centre. The music is outstanding – hit after glorious hit – with superb voices to match. The story is wonderfully crafted – lovingly populist, with…
Mark Haddon’s best-selling award-winning novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has been adapted to the stage by fellow playwright an Olivier winner himself. The novel which has become a staple of the school curriculum. Haddon himself thought the novel unadaptable, but Stephens’ version has been quite successful, remaining reasonably faithful to the novel….
Three Cs describe Hir: confronting, colourful and comedic. By the way, the title is a gender-neutral pronoun. One character also likes being addressed as “ze”, as distinct from “she” or “he”. After three years in the Marines picking up shattered body parts on the battlefield, Isaac is looking forward to coming home and sleeping in his own bed….
A scintillating script by British playwright Lucy Kirkwood and a trio of dynamic performances make for a highly involving two hours of entertainment in The Children. The devastating effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 inspired the play. When Kirkwood heard about the heroism of the retired work force returning to the plant to help…
David Campbell was born to play Bobby Darin, such is his command of the character and vocals in Dream Lover. He fits seamlessly into the highly demanding role, which requires a great deal of energy and non-stop movement. While the musical contains many numbers I was familiar with, it matters not. In Campbell’s hands –…
Three friends – drag queens Mitzi and Felicia, and trans performer Bernadette – board a battered old bus named “Priscilla”. They plan to travel from Sydney across the desert to fulfill a performance engagement in Alice Springs. Mitzi’s past has come back to provide an unlikely second chance. Along the way to the Alice, the “girls” frock…
Adoration for ABBA in Australia shows no signs of abating if the crowd at The ABBA Show at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne is anything to go by. The audience (of a certain age) turned back the clock as they danced, swung their arms in the air and frequently cat-called “Ya” as a group of two Brits…
