Arts

Win a double pass to see David Strassman in Brisbane.

International comedy star, David Strassman’s brand new show, iTED E uproariously parodies our technology-laden lives. The sharp-tongued Chuck Wood and loveable Ted E. Bare are constantly on their devices. With everyone connected to social media and the internet 24/7, will Strassman get them back under control? And, in a world-first, Strassman simultaneously operates 5 characters…

Read more

Opera Australia’s Operetta Two Weddings, One Bride is light-hearted and full of charm

If you’ve never seen an opera before and if you’re unsure you want to dedicate a few hours out of your night to what could potentially be something not for you, then an operetta may be the perfect choice! An “Opera Starter Pack” as it were. Opera Australia’s latest production of Two Weddings, One Bride…

Read more

Jai Courtney tops the bill in Melbourne Theatre Company’s new production of Macbeth

Melbourne Theatre Company have pulled together a powerhouse cast for their new production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The production, directed by Simon Phillips, is the third and final instalment in a trilogy of Shakespearian reinterpretations directed by Phillips for Melbourne Theatre Company, following on from acclaimed productions of Hamlet and Richard III. Taking on the iconic…

Read more

Smash hit musical Jersey Boys returns to Sydney in 2018 and you could be part of it

If you’ve ever dreamed of being in a smash hit musical then 2018 could be the year for you! The producers of the international hit musical Jersey Boys are on the hunt for fresh Australian talent, ready for the show’s return to Sydney in 2018. Jersey Boys tells the real life story and the rise…

Read more

Theatre Review: Cabaret opening night an audio disaster but slapstick splendour (performances until May 20th)

The show must go on, and that is exactly what happened after director Gale Edwards stopped the show right before Sally Bowles‘ iconic number, “Cabaret”. Of all night’s for there to be serious mic/audio issues of course it had to be opening night, right?! That’s the beauty of live theatre. In what was a marvellous show of team…

Read more

Fresh cuts and community engagement the focus of new exhibition at the Blacktown Arts Centre

Garage Barbershop, a new exhibition at the Blacktown Arts Centre, is a celebration of the craft and culture of barbering, and the important role the humble barbershop can play within the community. The focus of the exhibition is youth worker and self-taught barber Charles Lomu, and his five apprentice barbers, who have set up on…

Read more

Book Review: Joyce Morgan’s Martin Sharp – His Life & Times is a great primer about Australia’s leading pop artist

If you don’t know the name Martin Sharp it’s still likely you’ll be familiar with his artworks. The Australian artist was responsible for designing the covers of Cream’s two studio albums, was the co-founder and principal cartoonist at Oz magazine and produced famous posters of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and more. Martin Sharp – His…

Read more

Vivid Review: IGNITE: Symphonic Dance Anthems – VIVID Sydney, City Recital Hall (1 & 2 June 2017)

Having made their debut in 2016, IGNITE: Symphonic Dance Anthems returns for two nights only as part of VIVID Sydney. Internationally renowned DJ Dan Murphy joins forces with a full symphony orchestra to present classic tracks which have graced dance floors the world over, such as Sandstorm, Strings of Life and Finally. During the fifteen…

Read more

Opera Review: Two Weddings, One Bride proves that opera can be full of fun & tomfoolery (performances until October 22nd)

The words ‘Opera Australia’ and ‘piano ditty’ are not normally things you would typically associate with one another. But in the latest Sydney Opera House production Two Weddings, One Bride, the pair look set to become a marriage made in heaven. This operetta is a fun and accessible romp through comedy and farce in the…

Read more

Theatre Review: The Bodyguard is salvaged by the songs of Whitney Houston (performances until June 25th)

Through May and June, Sydney’s The Lyric Theatre will serve as the first Australian venue to host The Bodyguard, a production which is as much a tribute to the life and music of Whitney Houston as her iconic 1992 feature-film debut of the same name. I write “iconic” because the film is fondly remembered for…

Read more

7 Arts Events Not To Miss Around Australia – May 2017

Yet again, it’s time to go through a bunch of events not to miss for the month of May. Here are seven of the events we think that’d be well worth going to see and check out, and despite it getting into the colder months of the year, there are many great things to get around to and…

Read more

Book Review: Amy Bodossian’s Wide Open is a beautiful emotional ride through poetry.

Amy Bodossian is an Adelaide performer and cabaret artist who has recently turned her drawings and words with into her debut poetry book Wide Open. She’s performed at all kinds of festivals, from Adelaide Fringe to Woodford Folk Festival to The Big Day Out, and while that list of stages seems quite impressive, this book is…

Read more

Melbourne Cabaret Festival announces 2017 program

The eighth annual Melbourne Cabaret Festival has released a stellar lineup for 2017’s showcase, which will be running throughout June and July. Ten Australian premieres will take place, including an opening night hosted by Cabaret legend and Artistic Director Dolly Diamond, who states the Festival is “…full of homegrown Australian talent with a huge amount of…

Read more

Theatre Review: The Extravaganza that is Aladdin: The Musical is here in Melbourne (performances until October 22nd)

Our tale of love, magic, and adventure takes place in the fabled city of Agrabah where unusual friendships are formed, heroes outwit villains, and true love conquers all. Whilst most of the world knows the story of Aladdin, nothing quite prepares you for the absolute extravaganza that is Aladdin: The Musical. When it comes to…

Read more

Sydney Comedy Festival director Jorge Menindis talks about the just-launched 2017 season

The Sydney Comedy Festival has been around for thirteen years and has amazingly grown from a festival with humble beginnings, into a force that itself has grown to a major arts festival in Australia. Director of the festival for all that time, Jorge Menindis details the history while making some last minute plans prior to…

Read more

Theatre Review: England by Tim Crouch is a masterfully crafted production (Performances in Brisbane until 29th April)

What is the price of a heart? The very source of love and life is taken from one to give to another as flippantly as trading a piece of artwork… sold to the highest bidder. Except, in this case, it was stolen goods, traded by deceit. England, a masterfully crafted play by British playwright, Tim…

Read more

Book Review: Patty Yumi Cottrell’s Sorry to Disrupt the Peace explores that most universal question: “How do I go on, when they do not?”

One day, while waiting for her roommate’s new IKEA sofa to arrive, Helen Moran receives the news that her adopted brother has committed suicide. She orders a black turtleneck to wear to the funeral, leaves a message for her boss, and books a one-way flight back to Milwaukee. But her adoptive parents are surprised to…

Read more

Book Review: The Mysterious Mr Jacob by John Zubrzycki brings to life the days of British India

Immortalised in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim as master spy and gem trader Lurgan Sahib, Alexander Malcolm Jacob lived a life every bit as exciting as anything any author could have imagined. Now, John Zubrzycki, a former Delhi-based foreign correspondent, has pulled together extensive research to tell the story of The Mysterious Mr Jacob, bringing Nineteenth Century…

Read more

Garlands of flowers adorn the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields led by Joshua Bell

The Concert Hall was adorned with garlands of flowers last night as the Sydney Opera House presented the Academy of St Martin in the Fields led by Joshua Bell. A picturesque premise to an evening of truly beautiful music. This is the renowned orchestra’s first tour to Australia, and there’s definitely something special about listening to them live. One…

Read more

Theatre Review: Big Fish at the Hayes Theatre is whimsical delight, all kinds of magic, and an absolute must-see

Not too often can you honestly say that a smaller independent production of a musical is undeniably better than a full-scale Broadway production, but Big Fish at the Hayes Theatre has surely got to be one of those times. The signature intimate theatre and the sincerity of the performances gives this musical the biggest of…

Read more

Melbourne to host the first major Australian exhibition of the influential and popular Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai

The great wave off Kanagawa – It is perhaps the best known and most recognisable piece of Japanese art. It has adorned walls, notebooks and computer desktops the world over, and now Australian art enthusiasts get to witness it, alongside other works by its creator, in the flesh at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria this July….

Read more

Hannah Gadsby wins the 2017 Barry Award with her show Nanette

Hannah Gadsby has taken out the 2017 Barry Award for Best Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Gadsby won with her show Nanette – a self described swan song. The award was announced during the traditional late-night ceremony at The Festival Club, and saw Gadsby edging out fellow nominees Damien Power, Anne Edmonds, Tom…

Read more

Hotel guests asked to disrobe in the name of art and self liberation

From the 1st May until the 15th June, the Art Series Hotel Group are inviting guests to sleepover, strike a pose and find themselves the subject of a life drawn masterpiece. This is all part of the hotel group’s ‘No Robe Package’ which asks guests to reveal the “real” them for a group of artists…

Read more

Theatre Review: Sex Object gives audiences more than a happy ending (Shows until 29 April)

Charlie Falkner wants to talk about sex. Specifically, the kind of sex tech-savvy, self-obsessed Millennials are having (or not having). His latest play, Sex Object, produced by JackRabbit Theatre Company and showing at The Depot Theatre, is a fast-paced, uber-real, laugh-a-minute look at what makes people tick in the modern age. And it is furiously…

Read more

Five Reasons To See Kinky Boots in Sydney (Now Playing at the Capitol Theatre)

Kinky Boots stalked onto the stage last night for its Sydney Opening Night and we loved every sparkling moment! If you’re not quite convinced you need to see this dazzling musical yet, here are our five reasons why you really ought to strap on your heels and get to it- The absolute party that Kinky…

Read more

Theatre Review: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet – Shakespeare By The Bay (performances until April 23, 2017)

Set among the beautiful surrounds of Robertson Park in Watsons Bay, Sydney, Shakespeare By The Bay presents The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In partnership with Bard on the Beach, Watsons Bay Hotel and the Woollahra Council, Romeo and Juliet plays out against an ocean backdrop, with the water lapping gently against the dock as…

Read more

Book Review: Clementine Ford’s Fight Like A Girl is an uncompromising and important feminist polemic

Clementine Ford’s latest book Fight Like A Girl packs punches in the best possible way. The feminist commentator has penned a volume that is like a personal polemic; one that is not dissimilar to the work of Lindy West, Caitlin Moran, Tara Moss et al. Fight Like A Girl then, is another important and welcome addition to the ongoing…

Read more

Aled Jones chats about his latest album One Voice and his upcoming Australian tour

Aled Jones was recently in Australia promoting his brand new duet album One Voice- a unique concept, as the album is a collection of songs with Aled dueting with his none other than his younger self! We caught up with Aled in Sydney to talk about the album, the chance discovery of these youthful recordings…

Read more

Perri Cassie on his 2017 MICF show, Channel Perri, and his comedy heroes

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has brought together a wide array of comedians and performers for another year, bringing a stack of world class shows through to the city until April 23rd. The comedy festival in Melbourne has also proven hugely fruitful for Aussie comedians marking their mark as emerging talent – one such talent…

Read more

John Patrick Shanley’s acclaimed Doubt: A Parable to recieve a limited season in Sydney

Sydney is about to enjoy a new production of John Patrick Shanley’s multi award-winning drama Doubt: A Parable, with a limited season due to kick off at the Old Fitz Theatre in Woolloomooloo from 10th May until 3rd June. Originally staged off-Broadway, the play transferred to Broadway in 2005 and sustained 550 performances over almost…

Read more