Stage Briefs

Adelaide Fringe 2022 - Winning Poster Design

The countdown to next year’s Adelaide Fringe is officially underway from today, with the unveiling of the 2022 Poster Design – awarded to the youngest ever winner and first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artist in the festival’s 62-year history.

Titled A Whimsical World, the winning poster – designed by emerging 22-year-old Arabana and Kokatha visual artist Mali Isabel and revealed this morning at the APY Lands Gallery in Adelaide – incorporates dot design in a beautiful array of rainbow colours.

Audition Call for The Phantom of the Opera on Sydney Harbour

Opera Australia is calling for Australia’s finest vocalists, actors and dancers to audition for its brand new production of The Phantom of the Opera, which will take place on the iconic overwater, outdoor stage at

The Wedding Singer: New Sydney Dates and Encore Melbourne Season

David Venn Enterprises has announced new opening dates for the feel-good ‘80s musical The Wedding Singer at Sydney’s State Theatre from 5 January, 2022, followed by an encore season at Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre from 27 January, with more cities to be announced.

The Wharf Revue Team Open a Can Of Worms

The Wharf Revue returns in its new annual iteration titled CAN OF WORMS, playing at The Seymour Centre from 23 November and produced by Soft Tread, the company that produced Jonathan Biggins’ The Gospel According to Paul.

SIX The Musical Returns to Sydney Opera House.

The Sydney Opera House has announced the return of SIX the Musical by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, bringing much-needed feel-good live performance back to the stage in line with the easing of restrictions in NSW.

Diana : The Musical Roasted by Critics

The Netflix pre-Broadway opening of Diana: The Musical is being roasted by critics. The musical was closed prior to opening in 2020 and is finally opening this November - but producers released a filmed version of the musical on October 1.

“A right royal debacle so bad you’ll hyperventilate,” wrote The Guardian

Phantom 2022 Dates Confirmed

Opera Australia in association with The Really Useful Group, will present Cameron Mackintosh’s  new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in 2022. The production, originally scheduled for 2021, will now open at the Sydney Opera House in August 2022 and Arts Centre Melbourne in October 2022.

inSPACE 20th Anniversary Program

Image: Womb

The 20th anniversary of Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE Development Program has been revealed, with eight new works-in-progress selected for development. The program will run from January 2022 until October 2022 and will showcase a range of genres including dance, theatre, musicals, cabaret and performance art.

Merrily We Roll Along Returns to The Hayes Stage

The Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical Merrily We Roll Along will recommence at the Hayes Theatre Co on Thursday 21 October. A Broadway fable about friendship, compromise and the high price of success, Merrily We Roll Along played its first preview in June before shuttering due to the Covid 19 lockdown in Sydney.

Neurodivergent and Dementia-friendly Drama for Adelaide’s RUMPUS Theatre

Set in the context of the climate emergency and COVID-19 pandemic, Clock for No Time asks the great existential question: What endures when ‘we’ are gone? It seeks to answer this question by juxtaposing the brain neuropathologies of Simone (who has an Acquired Brain Injury) and her father Ian (who has Alzheimer’s Disease) and how facing the realities of their conditions in the context of a father-daughter relationship may help Simone find the answer.