A self indulgent but witty media reel welcomes you to Joel Creasey’s show Blonde Bombshell, where he will take you on an hour of laugh out loud celebrity stories, awkward tales and stories from his life.
All by Ellen Burgin
REVIEW: BK OPERA'S ADULTS ONLY PIRATES OF PENZANCE
I never thought I’d coin the term ‘opera dominatrix’ and yet here we are, Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018 and BK Opera are presenting Pirates of Penzance, only this isn’t the version your grandmother took you to see when you were a kid, it’s the everyone in your undies, whips and bondage kind of adults only show… except it’s much more tame than that.
REVIEW: THE BIG HOO HA MICF
One of the best things about seeing improv performers as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is that no performance will be the same, leading to completely brand new, never seen before shows performed every night. The Big Hoo Ha light up the festival again this year following a sell out run at MICF 2017 and 8 years on the scene in Melbourne as a beloved weekly improv group. Non stop fun and adventure is in store!
REVIEW: BARE THE MUSICAL
A deeply emotional musical that’s still relevant in the days following marriage equality passing in Australia, Stage Art’s bare The Musical has lit up Chapel off Chapel. Complete with using the Chapel’s original stained glass windows as a centre piece, and with an ensemble of power house voices, this show is a fitting and modern Victorian professional debut for the show.
FESTIVAL OF LIVE ART 2018
This week the Festival of Live Art takes over the city, so get ready to twerk, wear onesies, swim, get sledged and everyone’s favourite, audience participation! The festival returns for the third time and is Australia’s largest festival of live art that celebrates contemporary, experimental, interactive and participatory artworks that are unlike any other – you won’t see the same thing twice.
REVIEW: THE PACIFIST'S GUIDE TO THE WAR ON CANCER
Every year or so, I see a show that stays with me for life – for it’s content, performances, something makes it stick in the back of my memory and continue to rave about it long after the curtain as fallen. This year, I strongly feel it will be this enlightening, powerful, honest and witty feminist manifesto that takes on the big bad c word – cancer.
MELBOURNE PLAYBACK THEATRE: LOVE IS LOVE
Melbourne Playback Theatre Company’s shows are all made up of real events, and they’re back for 2018 with two days of performances for all ages, with Love is Love and Imaginarium.
REVIEW: AMERICAN IDIOT
A loud, technology infused millennial call to action, like a psychedelic rock and roll drug infused dream, American Idiot has smashed into the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne following a sell out season in Brisbane in 2017.
REVIEW: FALSETTOS
Falsettos is a fascinating and edgy piece of theatre for a number of reasons – its snide and witty Jewish humour, its exploration of homosexuality at a time where we weren’t as out and proud as we are now, and right as the HIV AIDs crisis broke and no one knew what was going on. Stage Art have bitten off a huge emotional rollercoaster of a musical, delivering a show that examines love and the crisis of masculinity.
REVIEW: ROMEO IS NOT THE ONLY FRUIT
A musical that challenges the portrayal and stereotypes of lesbians in popular culture, and coincidentally opened on the night of the Marriage Equality postal survey results being announced, left itself big shoes to fill.
BREAD CRUMBS... FOLLOWING THE TRAIL
BREAD CRUMBS is a warped retelling of the well-known fable Hansel and Gretel – it’s a crass and highly stylised exploration into the link between gender roles, domestic abuse and the scarring impact it has on young people.
REVIEW: ALEXITHYMIA
It’s not often I get the pleasure of interviewing and writing a feature, and then also reviewing the show, but I was lucky enough to speak to Tom Middleditch of A_tistic and director and producer Jayde Kirchert ahead of the opening of the show.
MICHELLE MCNAMARA: DRAWING ATTENTION TO THE LOST SOULS AMONGST US
Illumi-Nation Theatre director, Michele McNamara, has brought together five poetic monologues from award-winning Australian playwright, Daniel Keene as part of this year’s Poppyseed Festival.
TARAH CAREY: TANDEM TALKS
A chose your own circus adventure, the world premiere of Gravity Doll’s new show Tandem opens at Chapel Off Chapel as part of the Poppyseed Festival in late November.
JEAN TONG TALKS: FUN, CAMPY AND POLITICALLY IRREVERANT
Star crossed lesbian lovers, a dead lesbian chorus and some pretty gay songs – Romeo Is Not The Only Fruit as part of the Poppyseed Festival promises to be fun, campy, politically irreverent and casually incisive.
JAYDE KIRCHERT AND TOM MIDDLEDITCH: DEVELOPING EMPATHY FOR NEURODIVERSE HUMANS
Alexithymia is described as the inability to name and describe emotions, which affects 85% of people diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Citizen Theatre and A_tistic have joined forces to create a new theatrical work that gives a voice to stories of females who are on the spectrum.
YANA ALANA: I DON'T WANT TO BE AN AUSTRALIAN CELEBRITY
Melbourne cult cabaret icon Yana Alana is a multi- Green Room award winner, a Helpmann award winner, a femme drag star and this week, an artist launching her first album.
REVIEW: ALL THE SEX I EVER HAD
All The Sex I’ve Ever Had is quite possibly the most warm, safe space I’ve ever drifted into in a theatre, for an open, honest and loving conversation about sex and relationships, and yet it was still both serious and light hearted and funny all at the same time.
REVIEW: UNDER SIEGE
Under Siege might be the reason I now finally understand, and like, contemporary dance.