Author: Stephen Parthimos

Don your trusty fedora and slip into your trench coat as you prepare for the arrival of Agatha Christie’s timeless murder mystery, The Mousetrap. After hitting London’s West End back in 1952, The Mousetrap has gone on to captivate millions of budding detectives around the world, amassing over 28,500 performances in the last 70 years….

Three years ago, Come From Away crash-landed on Australian shores to rave reviews praising everything from the performances to the music. Now, the Tony award-winning musical has returned to Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre to spread its infectious joy and poignant narrative to new and returning audiences. This is one of those shows where every individual element…

Whip out your retro windbreaker, rock the double denim look and prepare to relive the good old ’90s in all their glory with the nostalgia-fuelled Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Following successful runs across the US and the UK, garnering rave reviews from original film stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Reese Witherspoon, this throwback musical…

Experience the timeless Cinderella story you know and love, now with a contemporary spin in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, a Tony Award winning Broadway musical from the minds behind The Sound of Music. After captivating audiences across the US, this spellbinding production has floated into Melbourne, lighting up the famous Regent Theatre with dazzling costumes…

Prepare to be sent on a nostalgia-fuelled ride back to the good old ’90s as Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical premieres down-under in May. Presented by David Venn Enterprises (The Wedding Singer, Bring It On: The Musical), this beloved production will be shuffling its way onto Australian shores in 2022, premiering at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre…

The worlds of ballet and musical theatre collide in An American in Paris, creating an extraordinary blend of timeless music, breathtaking choreography and a captivating love story set against the romantic backdrop of Paris. Inspired by the 1951 Oscar-winning film of the same name, and incorporating music from George and Ira Gershwin, An American in…

An 80s-lover’s neon-filled fantasy, come to life! After selling out performances across Broadway and the UK, and lighting up the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne in 2021, The Wedding Singer brings its neon lights, flashy perms and dazzling choreography to The Arts Centre’s State Theatre – updating the already brilliant performance with spectacular new sets and…

Put on your finest dress, button up your best tux and step into an extravagant world of glitz, glamour and romance at the Moulin Rouge! Based on Baz Luhrmann’s iconic 2001 film, it tells the story of an aspiring composer, Christian (Des Flanagan), who falls in love with Satine (Alinta Chidzey), a prominent cabaret actress and…

An 80s-lover’s neon-filled fantasy, come to life! After selling out performances across Broadway and the UK, The Wedding Singer brings its neon lights, flashy perms and dazzling choreography to Melbourne – filling the Athenaeum Theatre with a sense of resounding joy and classic 80s nostalgia. Based on the beloved Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy, The…

A perfectly stupendous amount of ‘Dum’! The critically acclaimed and globally touring Australian circus company, Dummies Corp, lights up the stage at The Famous Spiegeltent in Melbourne with their first adult-themed circus comedy – The Dumtectives in Cirque Noir. As part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, this show blasts you into a world of…

Melbourne’s theatre scene is back! If you’ve missed the feeling of sitting in one of Melbourne’s lavish theatres, enjoying snacks and a drink from the bar while enjoying a show to remember, get excited because there’s a stellar lineup of shows ready to blow you away. From the Comedy Theatre to Her Majesty’s, Melbourne’s best…

Based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse returns to Melbourne to dazzle audiences at the newly refurbished Regent Theatre. The play exhibits a deeply moving and emotional story about the bond between a boy and his horse during the outbreak of WWI accompanied by stellar puppetry, captivating lighting…

This Canadian musical kicked off in Ontario back in 2013 before finally making its way to Broadway in 2017. Now, in 2019, the town of Gander has landed in Melbourne for its Australian premiere at the Comedy Theatre. Come From Away takes place in the week following the 9/11 attacks, where 38 planes and almost…

After thirty seven years, Barnum: The Circus Musical – which debuted on Broadway in 1980 – has returned to Australia for a strictly limited season. This astounding blend of musical theatre and circus acts lights up Melbourne’s iconic Comedy Theatre and fills it with laughs, awe, and magic for a night of pure fun. Set…

Widely regarded as one of the greatest musicals of all time, the original 1957 production of West Side Story stunned audiences and changed the game for American musical theatre going forward. Since then there have been a multitude of productions focused on retelling this timeless story to new audiences. In 1961 it received a film…

I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons has returned to Melbourne for 8 weeks and you don’t want to miss out on this breathtaking musical. It follows the journey of four blue-collar boys as they rose through the ranks to become one of the…

A thrilling, beautiful, and jaw-dropping production. Matador is a fusion of burlesque, high energy dance pieces, and jaw-dropping aerial acts, all set to a story inspired the tale of the love torn bull and the seductive matador. The two-hour production is a thrilling series of electric solo and group dance numbers with awe inspiring circus…

Alice in Wonderland is a timeless story explored through multiple media forms every year and in 2019 has been bought to the stage. The family story is one full of magic and wonder and never fails to attract an audience of fans and newcomers alike, which is what makes Lewis Carroll‘s story a classic. This…

Mandy is a crazy two-hour LSD trip led by a totally unhinged Nicolas Cage performance. The film follows Red (Cage) and Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) who live a peaceful life in the Pacific Northwest, that is until a religious cult barge in and rob Red of the love of his life, sending the man on a…

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening is back with Disenchantment, his first new animated series since Futurama dropped way back in 1999. Disenchantment is a medieval fantasy which follows the adventures of rebellious princess and self-proclaimed alcoholic Bean (Abbi Jacobson), her elf sidekick Elfo (Nat Faxon), and her trusty personal demon Luci (Eric Andre) through the kingdom…

You Were Never Really Here is a gripping psychological thriller, and a dark and disturbing character study with Joaquin Phoenix putting in a thrilling lead performance. The film follows Joe (Phoenix), a veteran living with PTSD, who spends his time finding and rescuing missing girls. On this job, however, he stumbles into a larger conspiracy…

After the success of his first season and his recent stint in The Defenders late last year, Luke Cage (Mike Coulter) returns to protect the people of Harlem caught in the middle of an explosive gang war between the nefarious Mariah Dillard (Alfre Woodard) and the new kid on the block, Bushmaster (Mustafa Shakir). Luke…

Spoilers for the Ash vs Evil Dead finale to follow It was only a week ago when the news dropped that the beloved The Evil Dead (1981) followup series Ash vs Evil Dead would not be returning for a season 4 and this season 3 finale all of a sudden became the series finale. As heartbreaking as…

Ash vs Evil Dead has returned for its third season, proving that this classic franchise still has a lot left in it as long as Bruce Campbell’s Ash is blasting away Deadites. When this season opens, Ash, Kelly, and Pablo have been somewhat moving on with their lives since supposedly ridding the world of evil,…

As we approach the release of Twin Peaks Season 3 on DVD and Blu-Ray, we mark three months since the somewhat controversial finale of season 3 which divided a fanbase into those who admired the ending and those who most definitely disliked the way it all played out. But whether you liked how it was…

Ash vs Evil Dead is the followup series to Sam Raimi‘s Evil Dead trilogy that pits Ash (Bruce Campbell) against more Deadites proving the chainsaw wielding, shit-talking badass can’t seem to escape the presence of evil. I am a huge fan of the original Evil Dead films as they inhibit a specific tone unlike any…

Alias Grace is a Netflix Original Series inspired by the historical true story of Grace Marks, a convicted murderer, and is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. The six episode miniseries is written and produced by Sarah Polley, directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho), and stars Sarah Gadon (11.22.63) as Irish-Canadian immigrant…

Acclaimed writer/director Noah Baumbach is back with his latest character centric story focusing on a dysfunctional family who put their quarrels aside to come together and celebrate their ageing father’s artistic work. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), a drama/comedy, boasts an all-star cast from Emma Thompson to veteran actor Dustin Hoffman and comedic giants…

Directed by Todd Haynes (Carol), Wonderstruck focuses on the lives of two kids in two different time periods, who both set off on their own very personal New York adventures. Ben (Oakes Fegley) longs to know the identity of his father as it may provide some insight into his own life and mindset. Rose (Millicent…

Ever since his resounding success with the Harry Potter franchise Daniel Radcliffe has continued to push the boundaries of his acting career with fantastic and varied performances in both Swiss Army Man and Imperium. Now Radcliffe has completed one of his most physically demanding roles yet portraying Yossi Ghinsberg, an Israeli adventurer who became stranded…