Performing arts
Beauty pageant sets the scene for modern-day culture clash
Miss Peony tells the story of Chinese-Australian women grappling with cultural identity in 21st century Australia.
- by Sonia Nair
Latest
From Miley to Garland: New show explores what makes a diva
Bernadette Robinson channels 10 powerhouse female performers, including Miley Cyrus and Judy Garland, in her new show Divas.
- by Cameron Bayley
From a Ratatouille musical and Kevin Rudd duet to the stage
Gabbi Bolt first found fame with her song for the unofficial Ratatouille musical and TikToks about Australian politics. Now she’s taking on a new challenge.
- by Hannah Story
Latest reviews
Melbourne live reviews
Caroline Lee’s charming, textured solo performance in June
This wrap of shows around Melbourne includes Caroline Lee in offbeat monodrama June, 2:22 A Ghost Story at Her Majesty’s Theatre, jazz group Trichotomy, Paco Pena’s Flamenco in Concert, and Werribee Park Mansion’s long-running production of What Was That?
- by Cameron Woodhead, Sonia Nair and Jessica Nicholas
Above and beyond: the dance company that operates like a sports team
Choreographer Antony Hamilton says the latest Chunky Move work is the hardest many of the company’s dancers have ever experienced.
- by John Bailey
The cello metalhead behind the soundtrack of your favourite films and games
You’ll hear classically trained Tina Guo on films such as Dune and Top Gun: Maverick, and she’s played with Adele and Stevie Wonder, but it wasn’t until after she joined a circus that her parents accepted her musical path.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
Ripple effect of a one-night stand (and being overlooked for the telethon)
Playwright Alistair Baldwin was told from birth he was one in a million.“Kids with rare and interesting diseases are surrounded by this intense spectacle.” His new play draws on this.
- by Stephen A Russell
Latest reviews
Melbourne live reviews
Fresh from his Sydney piano prize, 23-year-old Jeonghwan Kim dazzles
This wrap of shows around Melbourne includes the award-winning pianist Jeonghwan Kim, the Prince of Reggaeton, J Balvin, a bright new musical by Tom Gleisner, a long-awaited opera, gigs by 070 Shake, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Noah Cyrus and Tove Lo, plus a play about Australia’s first all-woman motor garage.
- by Liam Pieper, Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, Cameron Woodhead and Will Cox
Hustle Harder: Bringing dance into a gallery, all day long
Choreographer Adam Linder’s new commission for the Museum of Contemporary Art asks questions about how social media mediates our experience of the gallery.
- by Jo Higgins
The moody restaurant cellar giving Australian plays a second life
Playwrights get paid very little and never get to see each other. Playwright, director and restaurant owner Wendy Beckett says they deserve to be celebrated.
- by Hannah Story
Carlos got a 95 ATAR. It was 95 more points than he needed
Bump star Carlos Sanson jr was part of the Reddam House cohort that catapulted the school into the HSC top 10. But to achieve his dream career, what he learnt at school mattered a lot more than his ATAR.
- by Abby Seaman