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Who doesn’t like hearing bangers with the volume turned up?   In what has become an annual, most enjoyable musical cavalcade, Legends in Concert returns for its eighth iteration at The Palms at Crown. While the line-up of big-name tribute artists varies from year to year, the good times keep on rolling.   This season, after a brief Taylor Swift opener, it is Pat Benatar, Michael Bublé , Dolly Parton and Cher before the break.   Thereafter, Swift returns for a longer set, foll

What does it take to push a disenchanted young man over to the dark side?   That question is answered in all its destructive ugliness in the incendiary play Blackpill: Redux.   It is a reworked expansion of a production that captured the imagination at Theatre Works’ more experimental venue, The Explosives Factory, last April. Photos by Sarah Clarke Eli (Oliver Tapp) has just been fired from his sales job after a series of vitriolic online posts in his private life with a wom

Strong, melodic voices and good-humoured banter characterise an ideal, fun-filled family musical.   Showcase Entertainment Group brings our favourite green ogre and his irritating best friend, Donkey, to life on a Victorian and NSW tour.   The musical is based on the 2001 Dreamworks Animation film and the 1990 book by William Steig. With book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori, it follows the familiar plot, but it is a slightly streamlined version

So joyful. So creative. So colourful. Simply astounding. I felt like a little kid, full of awe and wonder.   Yes, these are my words. This is unquestionably one of the must-see exhibitions of your life, for there is nothing else like it. Forget balloons stretched, twisted and folded into a sausage dog. That is so passé.   Think instead of the Einstein of ballooning (who, by the way, is captured in balloon form in this extraordinary showcase).  Half a million coloured balloons

Set in the magnificent Royal Botanic Gardens, The Australian Shakespeare Company’s The Wind in the Willows is a delightful family production, which never ages.   I am pleased to be able to say that three decades on, it continues to resonate – strongly.   That is due to a combination of colourful characters, mischief making, engaging songs and interactivity. The fun begins by the lake when the Head Chief Rabbit takes centre stage.   Dressed in white tails, suspenders and bow t

Humour plays a significant part in PLOS’s production of The Wizard of Oz.   Led melodically by the beautiful voice of Lana Hutchinson as Dorothy Gale (boy, can she hold a note), the comedic elements come from the scarecrow, tinman and lion.  Photo by Dylan Norrington The ageless story is that of young Dorothy, who lives on a Kansas farm with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.   They have a mean neighbour, Miss Gulch, who wants Dorothy’s beloved dog Toto impounded and put down.   Wh

The 40 th anniversary production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical CATS is mesmerising – a real crowd pleaser.   Superb prowling and dancing, choreographic excellence, an enticing set design and look at me performances are its hallmark. That is not to overlook moggie-appropriate costuming, attractive hair pieces and feline-friendly make-up.   And who can forget the hissing and stretching out of paws as the cats come out to play and put on a show.   There are ample oppo

A spectacular four concert series over 11 days finishes in grand style with three of the doyens of musical theatre treading the boards.   I run out of superlatives when I try to describe the phenomenal voices of Marina Prior, Lucy Durack and Simon Gleeson … for they are living treasures. Their depth, range, texture, tone and control are something to behold – a privilege to witness in their full glory.   Together, they are an incendiary combination.   The concert incorporates

Grand performances, stunning staging and striking costuming characterise a musical adaptation of the 1997 animated film of the same name.   The story concerns a legend surrounding the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia.   The tale begins in St Petersburg in 1906 when the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna Romanov (Nancye Hayes) bids farewell to her youngest granddaughter. Photos by Jeff Busby The Dowager Empress is moving to Paris, but before she does she gifts Anasta

Maestro John Foreman met Casey Donovan, Paulini and Rob Mills on the set of Australian Idol more than 20 years ago. Foreman was the original musical director of the show and all four, including Foreman, have gone on to forge enviable careers.   Put them together a couple of decades on and you have the makings of something special.   That is exactly the case with John Foreman’s Australian Pops Orchestra and The Idols of Music Theatre at Melbourne Recital Centre. Individually a

1.     MJ: The Musical (Lyric Theatre) – The tense lead up to superstar Michael Jackson’s Dangerous world tour and his relationship with his abusive, controlling father. 2.     The 39 Steps (Comedy Theatre) – Slick and oh so cleverly acted and staged, this enticing parody of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock British spy thriller is riotously funny. Photo by Cameron Grant (photo on the front page by Daniel Boud) 3.     The Talented Mr Ripley (Arts Centre Melbourne) – Sydney Theatre C

Bernadette Robinson brings sizzle to the Melbourne Recital Centre, paying homage to some of the greatest female singers to have played at Carnegie Hall.   It is an emotion-charged 85-minute set with the 40-piece Australian Pops Orchestra, conducted by David Young, featuring musical director Mark Jones on piano. Time and again, Robinson extracts maximum value from songs that build and build to a rousing crescendo.   Her ability to hold notes is quite astonishing, along with th

Christmas came early to the Melbourne Recital Centre, as the mellifluous voice of Silvie Paladino filled the concert hall with glad tidings.   She was the starring artiste warbling carols to the musical accompaniment of conductor John Foreman’s spectacular Australian Pops Orchestra.   It was an afternoon and evening of celebration (there were actually two concerts) after what Paladino said had been “a hard week … in a broken world”.   She went on to acknowledge the transforma

If the media call is anything to go by, those attending one, several or all of the Australian Pops Orchestra’s concerts over the next fortnight are in for a special treat.   Maestro John Foreman AM is looking to spread joy, happiness and optimism over the festive season. He will be doing so with his magnificent 40-piece orchestra and a dazzling array of guest artistes, that have trodden the boards on Australian and international stages.   All four concerts over a total of nin

As a conventionally brought up, white, heterosexual male, I was excited by what I saw and learnt from Two.   In fact, opening our eyes to difference and embracing it continues to be one of society’s challenges.   I put it to you that while we may have come some way, we still have a long way to go.   Non-binary Kit (Sienna Macalister) is strong willed. They know who they are and they want others to accept who they are too. Photos by Leonie Leonida But the person most challenge

The ugly threat of colonialism looms large in Brodie Murray’s well realised Soul of Possum.   We are on the Murray River – Wamba Wamba country – in 1853.   Suddenly, the bush is devoid of its usual wildlife.   There is an unseen danger.  Photos by Darren Gill Wirramanda ( Balla Neba) tries to warn brothers from another clan, but they are immediately dismissive.   However, before long, the elder of the pair, Warru (Wimiya Woodley), senses the peril too, causing a falling out

Come From Away is a brilliantly composed, intense and emotional musical. So much so, that it gets me every time.   When I first saw it, I thought I had seen nothing like it. Photos by Ken Spence Now, several years later, having attended several productions, I feel the same way.   Perhaps that is why I keep coming back to the well, leaving just as moved and appreciative as if experiencing this stunning show as a novice.   Now it is OSMaD’s turn to move mountains and that they

Imagine losing the love of your life on your wedding night, only to have the chance to win her back from the underworld, subject to strict conditions.   Surely, you’d back yourself.   But wait, the story gets much darker because although you and your wife are reunited, the conditions are too much to bear.   In short, you are severely limited in how you can engage with her and you are not allowed to tell her that that is the case. But, after hearing her desperate pleas, you re

Each year I keep coming back for a repeat dose of Christmas cheer.   Why? Because The Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol is a fine, heartfelt and meaningful production, in which the actor who plays Scrooge changes from year to year.   Charles Dickens’ tale of greed at the expense of humanity may date back to 1843, but its message never grows old.   And this representation is as slick, assured and as family friendly as they come, finishing with merriment and mirth. Photos by Michelle

In good conscience, I can’t say I could recommend this play to … well, anyone.   Within minutes, I was wishing I was anywhere else other than in Theatre Works watching Nihilistic Optimism On Trampolines. Photos by Sian Quinn Seeing workers at a trampolining facility hooking up, bonding, squabbling and bored out of their tiny minds hardly seemed like the most engaging of entertainment.   The work picked up somewhat after one of their number began composing a yarn involving the