Month: September 2025
Falling In Love: Samantha Jade & Ben Hall On The Magic Of Pretty Woman
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This weekend, Pretty Woman: The Musical makes its highly anticipated Australian premiere in Brisbane before touring to Sydney. Starring Samantha Jade as Vivian and Ben Hall as Edward, the rom-com that launched Julia Roberts’ career is now a smash hit stage musical. The Scoop had the pleasure of sitting down…
Announcing MJ The Musical For Brisbane In March 2026
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After thrilling more than 5 million audience members worldwide, producers of MJ THE MUSICAL today confirmed that the Olivier and four-time Tony Award-winning musical will open in Brisbane at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre in March 2026. This news comes just days after the musical was announced for Perth in June 2026. Tickets for…
Review: Into The Woods A Triumphant Return For Ad Astra
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Ad Astra has made their triumphant return to the Brisbane stage, now in their sparkling new home at Petrie Terrace. And what better way to celebrate than by diving headfirst into a beloved musical theatre classic with Sondheim’s enchanting Into the Woods? Opening night was a black tie affair, which…
Review: The Sound Of Music Proves Its Timeless Charm
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Adored by generations, The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of South Australia has brought one of the world’s most beloved musicals to the stage with their production of The Sound of Music. Transporting audiences to the Austrian Alps, we are reminded of the power of music and the resilience of community, themes…
Review: Ruins Find Beauty In The Ashes Of War
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For communities and diasporas that have fled from war, it is no easy feat to detach war from storytelling, particularly for communities that have witnessed intergenerational conflict. In such circumstances, storytelling can become a vehicle of expression, justice and awareness. However, if not complemented with other stories and narratives, it…
Review: The Bogong’s Song 2025 Brisbane Festival
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Bangarra Dance Theatre has premiered their newest work for children at this year’s Brisbane Festival, The Bogong’s Song: a call to Country. This fun and engaging story takes audiences on an adventure for connection and culture. With a mix of stunning shadow puppetry, dance, singing and beautiful visual displays, there…
Review: Cats Pounces Back Into Adelaide With Jellicle Joy
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Celebrating its 40th anniversary Australian tour, CATS the Musical has pounced into Adelaide for a limited three-week season. This canon piece of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s remains one of his most iconic works, and in 2025, we are reminded why. CATS revives the spirit of classic Broadway, bringing back the timeless…
Review: Whitefella Yella Tree A Tender Story Of Love And Loss
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There is absolutely a place for theatre that entertains, but I prefer work that moves. Work like Dylan Van Den Berg’s Whitefella Yella Tree, presented by Sydney Theatre Company. It cuts straight through the soul. Directed by Declan Greene and Amy Sole, and first produced by Griffin Theatre Company in…
Richard Roxburgh Damon Herriman & Ryan Corr To Star in ART
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In a rare opportunity to see three of Australia’s finest actors on stage together, Richard Roxburgh (Rake, The Correspondent, Elvis), Damon Herriman (Better Man, Mr Inbetween, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Ryan Corr (House of the Dragon, Holding the Man, Kangaroo) will star together in the internationally award-winning play ART by Yasmina Reza translated by…
Review: Chatter (NYC) 2025 Brisbane Festival
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In all my years of passionately loving circus, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a clown as exposed as what I experienced in Spencer Novich’s Chatter at The West End Electric. And I mean that in every sense of the word. Exposed in mind and soul. Exposed in baring his nerves, his…
Review: Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical 2025 Sydney Fringe Festival
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It’s not every night you see a Demogorgon belt out a show tune. But that’s exactly the kind of upside-down magic you’ll find at Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical, presented by Epiphany Arts as part of Sydney Fringe Festival. It’s not every night you see a Demogorgon belt out a show…
Announcing MJ The Musical For Perth In 2026
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After thrilling more than 5 million audience members worldwide, producers of MJ THE MUSICAL today confirmed that the Olivier and four-time Tony Award-winning musical will open at Perth’s Crown Theatre in June 2026. Since its Broadway debut in February 2022, MJ has become a global sensation, with acclaimed productions also running in London, Germany…
Announcing Cast For Hair The Musical Melbourne
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Producers today announced the cast for the new Australian production of HAIR, the revolutionary tribal love-rock musical phenomenon that changed the face of theatre forever. Opening at the Athenaeum Theatre from 25 October 2025, this new production of HAIR will bring together a dynamic new ensemble to revive the show’s message of freedom, rebellion and…
Review: Elements Of Freestyle 2025 Brisbane Festival
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Elements of Freestyle is an unmissable masterpiece where dance meets extreme urban sports. Crafted by the renowned ISH Dance Collective, this adrenaline-fuelled production pushes the boundaries of performance. Fusing breakdance, inline skating, skateboarding, freestyle basketball, BMX, and parkour with exhilarating live musicianship, the result is an explosive vision which leaves the…
Review: Mummy, I’m Scared! 2025 Sydney Fringe Festival
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Full disclosure: I loved this show! From being serenaded by the trio of performers dancing as the audience slips by to take their seats, to the high-octane, explosive finale, Mummy, I’m Scared! doesn’t invite you into its world, it drags you, keeling over with laughter, into the séance circle. You may not…
Announcing A Christmas Carol For Melbourne This Season
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The five-time Tony Award®-winning production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol will return to Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre for a strictly limited 5-week season, with performances from Thursday 27 November. Tickets will go on sale to the public from 10am on Thursday 25 September via https://christmascarolaustralia.com.au/ Celebrated by audiences around the…
Seasons Of Love: Calista Nelmes Returns As Maureen In RENT
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RENT, the musical that rocked Broadway is back, making its debut this Saturday at Sydney Opera House. Calista Nelmes is reprising her show-stealing, award-winning role as the spirited Maureen. The Scoop had the chance to have a very quick chat with Calista ahead of the season. Calista talks all things…
Review: Menopause The Musical Delivers Laughs In Full Flush
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Menopause The Musical® is hot in the city! Arriving forMenopause The Musical® (MTM) hot, a little sweaty and cranky after some top-shelf shambles from Sydney Trains, I felt, well, menopause adjacent. Thankfully, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the gents’ facility was an empty white porcelain desert. By contrast, in the bubbling foyer, the queue…
Announcing Little Shop Of Horrors For QPAC Brisbane 2026
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Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in association with Woodward Productions today announced a revival of Broadway and Hollywood sci-fi smash musical Little Shop of Horrors, which will open for business at the Cremorne Theatre from 3 January 2026. With Music by Alan Menken and Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman, since its premiere Off-Off-Broadway in 1982, Little Shop of…
Review: Gypsy Shines With Glitz Glamour And Community Spirit
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What does it take to be a star? Talent, confidence and the passion to pursue a dream. If you are looking for a show with all of this in spades, North Shore Theatre Company’s production of Gypsy is the one for you! Gypsy premiered on Broadway in 1959 and was…
Review: LASSÙ Lights Up The Stage With Cosmic Cabaret Magic
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From the second the lights hit the canvas, LASSÙ announces itself as something different. Ashton Legacy Productions doesn’t just roll out another circus cabaret; they detonate one under the big top at Victoria Park. Featuring a dynamite cast who don’t know the meaning of the word impossible, LASSÙ oozes grit, fire, and out-of-this-world circus acts.…
Review: Cirque Corteo Brings Whimsy And Wonder To Brisbane
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Cirque du Soleil Corteo has made its highly anticipated debut in Brisbane as part of the 2025 Australian tour. Corteo follows the hugely successful LUZIA, which toured Australia last year in celebration of 25 years of Cirque shows down under. Corteo, the Italian word for cortege, is no ordinary parade.…
Review: Antigone Sydney Dramaturgical Co 2025 Sydney Fringe Festival
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Those who enjoy both Ancient Greek tragedy and stabbing (the two are far from mutually exclusive) will be delighted with the audacious stab at Antigone by Sydney Dramaturgical Co. It’s shedding blood this week as part of Sydney Fringe Festival. Sophocles, the Dan Brown of political metaphysics, remains as intellectually…
Review: Definitely NOT A Hungry Game 2025 Sydney Fringe Festival
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If you thought Katniss was the protagonist of the well-known epic by Suzanne Collins, think again. Following their resounding success at Adelaide Fringe, Dramafreak Productions and L&D Projects return to Sydney Fringe with Definitely NOT a Hungry Game: A Parody Musical. And it’s definitely not what you’d expect. Co-written by…
Review: MJ The Musical Brings Pure Pop Adrenaline To Melbourne
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Some artists are so big they stop being people and become myths. Michael Jackson was one of them. MJ The Musical, now moonwalking its way across the stage at Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne, doesn’t try to unpack the whole myth, though. Rather than dwelling on the controversies that followed Jackson later…
Review: The Lovers Mixes Bard & Bangers With Sparkling Style
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There’s a particular thrill when a show strides confidently into the theatre, grabs Shakespeare by the collar, and says: we’re doing this our way. That’s the energy that Laura Murphy’s The Lovers unleashes at QPAC. It’s a reclamation, not just a reimagination, of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Here, the women wield the power, the…
Announcing Cast For Anastasia The Musical
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The producers have today confirmed that Robert Tripolino, Joshua Robson, Rodney Dobson, Rhonda Burchmore and Nancye Hayes AM will join Georgina Hopson in leading the cast of ANASTASIA, which will have its Australian premiere at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne in December 2025 before touring to Perth and Sydney in 2026. New tickets for performances from 4 – 15…
Announcing Cast For The Lucky Country Musical
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The new musical The Lucky Country, about what it means to be Australian, today announced an impressive ensemble cast for the upcoming Melbourne and Brisbane seasons. Garret Lyon (Tina – A Tropical Love Story, The Sunshine Club, The Voice) will take on the role of Boy. Naarah (Deadloch, The Sunshine Club, Our Country’s Good) as Teacher. Vidya Makan (Hamilton,…
Review: A Place In The Sultan’s Kitchen 2025 Brisbane Festival
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Joshua Hinton brings his grandmother’s legendary chicken curry to the QPAC stage for Brisbane Festival audiences in the heartwarming show, A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen (or How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry). Inspired by his family’s restaurant in Milton, which his grandparents opened in 1983, Hinton highlights…
Sydney Theatre Company’s 2026 Season Marks The Dawning Of A New Era
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The room was abuzz last night at the unveiling of Sydney Theatre Company’s 2026 Season. Joyful and full of energy, the launch kept audiences on the edge of their seats as the curtain was lifted on a fresh new program. The kind of daring program that I, and many other…
