top of page

Search


Nijinsky (The Australian Ballet), at Regent Theatre - 2 hours 30 minutes, including a 25-minute interval
Spectacular. Creative (in short, it is visionary). Compelling. Â Nijinksy showcases the very best of The Australian Ballet. Â As the...
Alex First
Feb 222 min read


A Nightime Travesty, at Malthouse Theatre - 80 minutes
With selective taste appeal, A Nightime Travesty is a walk on the wild side.  It is a parody, an extreme First Nations’ cabaret with...
Alex First
Feb 202 min read


TRUTH, at Merlyn Theatre at Malthouse Theatre - 80 minutes
Is he a hero or a villain, a revolutionary or a zealot? Â Fair questions to pose about a man who spent seven years in exile and a further...
Alex First
Feb 192 min read


ARIA, at Ensemble Theatre - 90 minutes, without interval
Families – you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them.  In short, that is what playwright David Williamson is playing with...
Alex First
Feb 173 min read


Hadestown, at Theatre Royal Sydney - 2 hours 30 minutes, including interval
The hero in Hadestown goes to hell and back in his quest to rescue the love of his life. Â This is a modern retelling of an ancient Greek...
Alex First
Feb 153 min read


Constellations (Lunatix Theatre), at Bakehouse Studios - 90 minutes, without interval
Life is about sliding door moments.  The decisions we make … the directions we choose have consequences.  And so it is with matters of...
Alex First
Feb 142 min read


Anatomy of a Suicide (Heartstring Theatre), at Meat Market Stables - 100 minutes, without interval
Intergenerational trauma characterises the incendiary play Anatomy of a Suicide, which sees three family stories set in different...
Alex First
Feb 83 min read


An Evening Without Kate Bush, at Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne - 70 minutes
Kate Bush – what did I know about the English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer before I attended An Evening Without Kate...
Alex First
Feb 72 min read


Truth to Power Café, at Theatre Works - 90 minutes, without interval
Live theatre can throw up curve balls, but this – the 61st iteration of Truth to Power Café globally and its Melbourne premiere –...
Alex First
Feb 63 min read


Panti Bliss: If These Wigs Could Talk, at Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne - 70 minutes
Ah, don’t we just love the Irish … and with good reason.  You don’t have to look too far to appreciate their sense of humour.  That is...
Alex First
Feb 52 min read


Follies (Victorian Opera), at Palais Theatre - 2 hours 15 minutes, plus interval
A couple of fraught relationships and bygone days are at the heart of Stephen Sondheim’s pointed Tony Award-winning musical, Follies.  ...
Alex First
Feb 23 min read


Shirley Valentine, at Athenaeum Theatre - 110 minutes, plus interval
Life hasn’t turned out the way 42-year-old Liverpool housewife Shirley Valentine had envisaged.  Married with two adult children – a boy...
Alex First
Feb 12 min read


A Body at Work, at Theatre Works - 70 minutes
Writer and performer Frankie van kan came from a liberal family and, for the most part, was comfortable in her own skin. Â Now she pulls...
Alex First
Jan 292 min read


37 (MTC, co-produced with Queensland Theatre) - 90 minutes, without interval
When I first saw 37 almost a year ago, I was suitably impressed by the authenticity, grit, vitriol and humour involved in the production....
Alex First
Jan 293 min read


Penn & Teller 50th Anniversary Tour, at Hamer Hall in Melbourne and QPAC in Brisbane - 90 minutes without interval
Magicians, comedians and crowd pleasers extraordinaire with the Midas touch … and they have been doing it for 50 years. Oh my!  In a...
Alex First
Jan 223 min read


Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen, at Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne - 70 minutes
In a comic tour de force, Samuel Barnett has the audience in the palms of his hands. Â We hang on his every word, as he changes tack,...
Alex First
Jan 152 min read


Legends in Concert, at The Palms at Crown - two hours, plus interval
This all singing, all dancing, hit song fest just gets better and better, year after year. Â What a show! What a production! Â Elvis may...
Alex First
Jan 113 min read


Bearded, at Theatre Works - 100 minutes, without interval
Fear of coming out and the judgment associated with doing so are the subject of a new musical, focusing on the LGBTQIA+ community. Â A...
Alex First
Jan 103 min read


School of Rock The Musical (PLOS Musical Productions), at Frankston Arts Centre - 2 hours 30 minutes, including interval
It’s lively. It’s cheery. It upends political correctness. In fact, it is the perfect holiday treat.  I speak of School of Rock The...
Alex First
Jan 23 min read


John Foreman's Australian Pops Orchestra New Year's Eve and the Day Before Gala Concerts, at Hamer Hall - 2 hours 30 minutes, including interval
What a glorious way to bring in the New Year. Â Witness three powerhouse performances from musical theatre royalty, accompanied by...
Alex First
Dec 30, 20242 min read
bottom of page