386 stories by "Simon Parris"
Bathing nostalgia in the warmest possible glow, Georgy Girl is a rose coloured trip down memory lane, with exceptionally engaging performances and glorious harmonies being two of the chief a…
While the show as a whole may be losing some of its impact with each return visit, this season serves to provide a showcase for many emerging talents. The proliferation of performing arts tr…
He may be a week early, but Santa has delivered the music theatre revival we have all been waiting for. Attractive designs, intelligent, respectful direction and a knockout cast combine to c…
Concerts and boutique productions flourished, a modern opera premiere swept its categories in the Helpmann Awards and a host visiting stars graced our stages in the 2015 year of opera.
Played straight and true, characterful comedy The Marriage of Figaro is all the funnier.
Listening to the rapturous music and watching the comic complications crescendo, Sir David McVica…
Victorian Opera's audience showed great faith in the polish, variety and flair of the company by filling Hamer Hall for an evening where more than half the program consisted of new compositi…
The cream of Australian music theatre talent shine in this most intelligently adult of Broadway musicals... Having raised the bar for boutique musical presentations with their inaugural seas…
Glorious music is a clear highlight of CitiOpera's new production of La Cenerentola, with a large orchestra and excellent singers bringing Rossini's sparkling score to life.
In an unforgettable evening of song and story, Audra McDonald brought her once-in-a-lifetime voice to Melbourne last night.
McDonald's modesty was immediately apparent when the evening be…
An inspired choice for an opera adaptation, especially in this WWI centenary year, Fly Away Peter is a compelling, haunting reflection on the inescapable horror of war.
In his 1982 novel,…
In a welcome and long awaited Australian visit, Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu demonstrated her finely honed artistry and the luxurious beauty of her voice along with the verve of her gla…
Defying classification, The Rabbits blends opera, music theatre, and gentle pop music in a finely crafted theatrical experience. The result of an incredibly satisfying collaboration between …
A perfect fit to the musical comedy genre that has served them so well, CLOC Musical Theatre’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone lives up to the expected standard of high production v…
Demonstrating yet again their absolute commitment to both new works and young singers, Victorian Opera presents the world premiere of the delightful new opera The Grumpiest Boy in the World.…
The original spirituality, raw talent and Irish charm of Riverdance are all but lost in this flashy, simplistic, clichéd presentation. Having broken away from original phenomenon R…
Brimming with rapturous Puccini-esque music and sung by a wonderfully well-matched cast of five, Lyric Opera of Melbourne’s hand-polished production of long lost Melbourne opera Stella…
The Australian Ballet boasts a carefully curated collection of classical and contemporary dance works in its eagerly anticipated season 2016. Returning full-length favourites and innovative …
A pair of high quality performances anchors a lovingly staged boutique presentation of Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald’s 1995 musical John & Jen. A contemplative reflection on famil…
Lavish production values and wonderful dance combine for a world class, highly traditional new staging of evergreen classic The Sleeping Beauty. Created and promoted over an extended period,…
A terrific cast, strong production values and lashings of real heart set Mother, Wife and the Complicated Life apart from similar “girls night out” revuesicals. Completing the ra…
In a highly artistic program of great integrity, Renée Fleming and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra present a thoughtfully curated program of musical treasures, eschewing the chocolate box grea…
Melbourne Opera raises the bar yet again as a superb cast perform bel canto classic Mary Stuart in a lavish, inventive and highly attractive staging. In a contrasting but highly complementar…
The Australian Ballet traverses from the twentieth to twenty-first century in this scintillating freestyle triple bill that anchors a company premiere and a world premiere with a treasured c…
Music theatre lovers rejoice! The sea of revivals has parted to deliver a bona fide world hit, and the Australian production is a dream come true. Wickedly subversive, endlessly inventive an…
Popular artists will perform in a range of venues in Victorian Opera’s eclectic, original, carefully curated 2016 season. Inverting the formula used by basically every other arts organ…
