News

2017 Melbourne Cabaret Festival

Queen of Cabaret, Dolly Diamond has taken the reins of this year’s Melbourne Cabaret Festival bringing together ten Australian premiere shows along with some of the best new talent, Tuesday 20 June until Sunday 2 July 2017.

The eighth annual Melbourne Cabaret Festival returns to Chapel Off Chapel with two weeks of atmospheric, seductive and soul-stirring entertainment.

He Dreamed a Train and Eve

Writer / performer Margi Brown Ash chats to Kiesten McCauley.

2017 Tony Award Winners

The 71st Antoinette Perry Awards – the 2017 Tonys - were presented at Radio City Music Hall, New York on June 11, during a ceremony hosted by Kevin Spacey.

Dear Evan Hansen won the Tony Award for Best Musical, also winning in five other categories.

Hello, Dolly! won the award for Best Revival of a Musical, while Bette Middler took home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her performance in the title role, amongst the productions total of four awards.

2017 Adelaide Cabaret Festival Opens

Adelaide Festival Centre’s 2017 Adelaide Cabaret Festival opens this weekend, with 147 performances featuring 58 international artists and 372 Australian artists over the next 16 days and nights, from June 9 to 24.

Grand old dame Her Majesty’s Theatre plays host to the completely sold-out Variety Performance Gala at 8pm on Friday and Saturday nights. The red carpet will roll out again on Saturday afternoon for attendees of all ages at the Family Gala

The Butterfly Club – 2017 Curated Winter Program

Get cozy this winter at The Butterfly Club. Sophia Dickinson reports.

Melbourne’s prolific cabaret, comedy, theatre and burlesque venue has announced its curated winter program. June, July and August have something in store for every taste, with pun-titled cocktails to match. The kitsch surroundings are made all the more welcoming by bespoke cocktails for each show featuring local and international talent.

Birds of Cabaret Paradise.

When Lesley Reed asked female artists in this year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival about the challenges of the industry, the response was heartfelt. They work in a field dominated by men, with intense competition for job opportunities that have to be juggled with family commitments. Some of our leading ladies reveal how they cope.

“I always loved fish for the colors and birds for the plumage. In the same way, I loved those women of Cabaret. They were birds of paradise,” said French fashion and shoe designer Christian Louboutin.

New Cabaret Under The Microscope at Fringe Festival

Images of illness or injury instantly come to mind when learning the title of new Adelaide theatre company Under The Microscope’s very first show. Scarred For Life’s narrative does indeed have a tie-in with health, but there’s a much more multi-layered and unique story behind the company and the show than one might imagine, with big stars involved. Lesley Reed reports.

Lucy Durack and Jemma Rix Travel Down That Other Yellow Brick Road

Producers John Frost and Suzanne Jones have announced that Lucy Durack and Jemma Rix are joining the cast of the The Wizard of Oz to play Glinda the Good Witch and The Wicked Witch of the West respectively, alongside Anthony Warlow who will be playing The Wizard and Professor Marvel.

A World of Fair Ladies

With My Fair Lady playing in Melbourne, prior to a return Sydney season, Coral Drouyn talks to star Anna O’Byrne and looks at the history of “The World’s Best Loved Musical”.

My Fair Lady is back - some would say it never went away. Now a whole new generation is discovering the joys of “The Perfect Musical”. But the show’s origins are not so well known.

Secret Immersive Chicago in Adelaide Speakeasy

Chicago is set in a time of banned alcohol and secretive speakeasies, the Prohibition era. Emma Knights Productions is taking that secrecy and running with it, creating a very different experience for its production of the classic musical. Lesley Reed reports.

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.