Reviews

A Model Murder

By Melanie Tait and Sheridan Harbridge. Sydney Festival. Darlinghurst Courthouse. January 4 – 19, 2025

In 1954, glamour model Shirley Beiger stood trial for the murder of her two-timing boyfriend outside Sydney’s iconic Chequers nightclub. Melanie Tait and Sheridan Harbridge have shaped those events, and indeed some of the actual courtroom dialogue, into a highlight of this year’s Sydney Festival.

Grease The Musical

Book, Music & Lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Directed by Luke Joslin. Produced by Adrian Storey. Presented by John Frost for Crossroads Live Australia. Lyric Theatre QPAC, 3 January - 1 February 2025.

Grease The Musical is older than I am (and I’m no spring chicken!). It was first performed on stage in1971, with the smash hit movie released in 1978, and it’s been performed and screened probably a bajillion times all over the planet since. Yet, through some musical theatre miracle the cast and crew of the production currently playing at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre manage to make this old classic feel fresh.

Dark Noon

Sydney Festival. Fix+Foxy, Glynis Henderson Productions & The Pleasance | South Africa & Denmark. Sydney Town Hall. Jan 9 – 23, 2025

Within the colonial magnificence of the Sydney Town Hall, seven South African actors run riot with their version of how European emigrants, desperate and white (“when white didn’t matter”), violently scrambled for a foothold in the American West. 

Swan Lake On Ice

Imperial Ice Stars. Sydney Coliseum Theatre. January 9 – 19, 2025

So fresh was the ice that waves of cool air could be felt in the audience when the splendid troupe skated towards us.

The stage of the Sydney Coliseum had been transformed in just over a day and half, thanks to the special ingredients of 14 tonnes of ice and 2500 litres of anti-freeze.

Opening night was filled with thrills and spills. On three occasions skaters missed their mark and hit the deck. Thankfully there were no injuries, and they skated on – but it underscored the challenges of the production.

IMAGINE LIVE

By Jolyon James based on the book Imagine by Alison Lester. NCM & Jolyon James Productions; Co-Producer Geelong Arts Centre; Associate Producer Riverside, Parramatta. Melbourne Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio. 8-11 January 2025

Alison Lester’s book has been in print since 1989, testament to its enduring fascination. Filled with lively and charming drawings of children, animals, and the places where they live – including dinosaurs and their habitats (a sure winner with kids given their fascination with these creatures), Lester’s book has the laudable aim of stimulating children’s (and adults’ – why not?) imagination.

Hometown

Adapted by Amberly Cull and Nick Pages Oliver from a story by Shaun Tan. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. Directed by Philip Mitchell. Ellie Eaton Theatre, Gate 1, Claremont Showgrounds, WA. Jan 6-25, 2025

Hometown is an exquisitely beautiful new production from Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. Inspired by a story by Shaun Tan, this gentle play tells of a young girl living on another planet, who discovers that she is different from the loving family who raised her. She is faced with the difficult choice of remaining with those she loves or returning to the place she is from.

Converted

Book, Lyrics and Music by Vic Zerbst. Music & Additional Lyrics by Oliver John Cameron. ATYP. Directed by Hayden Tonazzi. Music Director Mark Chamberlain. Choreography Jeremy Lloyd. Rebel Theatre, Dawes Point, NSW. January 8 – 25, 2025

Conversion therapy has been banned in four states of Australia but the memories of the harm it has done is still raw. The harsher consequences of this practise are given a light touch in Converted, which is an entertaining joyous disco satire of the idea that anyone’s sexuality can be changed through outside influences.

Overall, it’s a very slick musical with wonderful characters, flashing lights, crisp dancing, lots of good jokes and thumping music.

SIX the Musical

Book, lyrics and music by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Playhouse Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane, 8 January to 9 February 2025 and touring to Auckland and Newcastle

Starting life in 2017 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, SIX has juggernauted into the stratosphere of musical theatre history – transferring to the West End, then Broadway, and going on to win 35 international awards, including a Tony for Best Original Score (2022), and converting new devotees to the musical theatre fan base. I have no doubt of this last claim after last night’s new tour opening in Brisbane, and its packed-to-the-rafters, enthusiastic crowd. Did I say ‘enthusiastic’? I meant to say ‘fanatically exuberant’!

Antigone In The Amazon

By Sophocles, adapted by Milo Rau. Sydney Festival. Roslyn Packer Theatre. Jan 4 – 8, 2024

Brazil has a strong tradition of political theatre – hardly surprising given its long and bloody history of violence, land-grabbing and dictatorship.  After Augusta Boal’s theatre of the oppressed late last century, Swiss theatre maker Milo Rau has collaborated with an Indigenous community of landless workers and Brazilian activists to create Antigone in the Amazon. 

Little Women

By Marisha Chamberlain (based on the book by Louisa May Alcott). Exit Left. Lily Ward (Direction). Suzen Parnell (Costume). David Szoka (Lighting). The Playhouse Theatre, Hobart. 2-11 January 2025

Little Women is the second play directed by talented young director Lily Ward in the last six months. Picnic at Hanging Rock in September of 2024 was a challenging piece for all concerned. It was a moving production where skilful direction and top notch acting resulted in a high level of artistry.

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