MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA THEATER REVIEWS

The Helpmann Awards are Australia's version of Broadway's Tony Awards and London's Olivier Awards. The annual awards recognise achievement in live performance including musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, cabaret, opera, classical music, theatre, dance and physical theatre....

Status - The Play is about to commence a short run at the Fairfax Studio in Melbourne. It promises a confronting and challenging experience for all who attend, with its ultimate aim to enrich community awareness of HIV/AIDS and raise the status of those who it impacts....

Last nights opening of the reimagined Les Miserables was a defining moment in Australian music theatre. While maintaining its history and staying true to its origins, Cameron Mackintosh's new production is the dawning of a new era. Its metamorphoses from its original production to this new adaption ...

With design by Filipe Reynolds, the Circus Oz big top sets a scene that is equal parts boardwalk vaudeville, smoke-tinged jazz club, and old-school, sawdust in the ring traveling tent. Costumes and lighting enhance these elements, and the performers themselves bring it all to life with exuberance, h...

From the opening moments of this latest revival of Rogers and Hammerstein's iconic musical The King And I, we are transported to the heart of Asia, its intricacies, its nuances, its customs. Pre curtain, four male Buddhist monks adorned the stage with incense, creating a reverent, calming and authen...

The best cabaret hurts your heart a little, it tells you something about life, and love. This, then, is cabaret at its finest. Bucchino's songs are beautifully detailed accounts of his life - of love affairs, and mistakes, and risks taken - essentially, all the things worth singing about....

For a modern audience, the strength of a classic work can also be its Achilles' heel. So it is with Ibsen's GHOSTS - the 19th Century writer's words are so on point as to feel contemporary, yet this realism also exaggerates any hint of melodrama present on stage....

A show that can continue to run for over 10 years worldwide despite wars, financial crises, and political unrest can be nothing other than a smash hit. There are few shows that can sustain such longevity and remain as remarkably fresh and true to its original product. The return Australian season of...

Whether you've seen Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show on multiple occasions from its incarnation 40 years ago or last night's Melbourne opening was your first experience with the cult classic, one ensuing thought rings true; what was that all about, followed by wow...I think I actually enjoyed tha...

Timing is everything in theatre and the Old Carey Performing Arts Club seems to have got it right yet again. With school holidays having arrived Seussical could not have come at a better time, providing a wonderfully entertaining experience for kids and those who are kids at heart....

Bernadette Peters is a music theatre icon unsurpassed by many, if any. Even if you've haven't seen her craft on display, she is bound to be on an original cast recording that you have tucked away amongst your collection. Peters graced the stage of Her Majesty's theatre in Melbourne last night on the...

Homos in Kimonos offers an alternative night of entertainment. It is highlighted by two promising young performers who boast an impressive vocal presence that is seemingly magnified by the unique and appealing venue....

Joel Creasey's polished performance belies his young age. Rock God is proof that Joel Creasey is a comedian who has taken off and is heading for a high cruising altitude....

Ensure that you book as soon as possible to see Manilla Street Productions offering of Blood Brothers at the Chapel Off Chapel. Produced by Karen Jemison and directed by Chris Parker, this portrayal of the tragic story of the Johnstone twins leaves you in little doubt that the price you had to pay t...

The cabaret and circus worlds infused last night as incredibly talented performers welcomed their audience into the wonderful world of Empire at the return season of this ridiculously thrilling show. The intimate nature of the show captures your attention and imagination from the moment you step int...

It's hard to know where to start with this production of Grease. So much is right, even more is wrong. It is a combination of product and treatment of the product that impacts on the overall aesthetic of this show. The audience participation section at the beginning of the show is particularly labou...

All the tears! All the stars! as Lea Salonga and Michael Ball headline a moving Do You Hear The People Sing? in Shanghai....

The Production Company rounded off its 2013 season last night with Gilbert and Sullivan's classic operetta The Pirates of Penzance. There was, however, little reference to the classic that was first performed in 1879. There have been many adaptations of the original, with this production centering o...

Orchestra Victoria, under the direction of maestro John Foreman sweep into the overture of the production company's production of Singin' In The Rain with such flamboyance and precision that anything that follows seems mundane and a little underwhelming. This is a combination of the show, the cast a...

Hot Shoe Shuffle is a fascinating show. Its part story, part revue, part tap through line give it somewhat of an incomplete, dysfunctional feel. However, the part tap is enough to lead this show to one conclusion...all entertainment....

The relationship between man and horse has been an area of interest for playwrights and authors alike for centuries. The companionship of the creature for man during battle, along with its capacity for the extraordinary, give...

At the beginning of this performance, Finucane, the sinewy master of these ceremonies, quips that three elements are required for art and its audience - passion, liquor and unrealistic expectation. There is no doubt my expectations are high after the revelation that was their 2012 Melbourne show. Bu...

Get yourself a ticket to GYPSY, and get it right now. Because if you have an interest in musical theatre, or any theatre at all, you owe it to yourself to experience Caroline O'Connor as Mama Rose....

From the WIZARD OF OZ/WICKED opening number right through the encores, the gorgeously refurbished Hamer Hall resounded with appreciation for Idina Menzel in this, her first Melbourne show, and the last concert of her first ever Australian tour....

The songs aren't memorable, the story is flawed, and yet King Kong the musical is one show that will stay with you long after the final curtain....