LATEST
Dear Cats
You’re back for your 40th anniversary. You’re a show for the bucket list. But you know what? It’s hard to…
Dear Les Miserables
You’re beloved. Iconic. Stop anyone on the street and they’re likely to have seen you in some form in the last 40…
Dear Bloom
Your director, Dean Bryant, has done it again. Turned a depressing topic into an uplifting musical. Last year we had…
Reviews and Features
Dear Guys & Dolls
If we were any other musical, we’d be stomping our feet and throwing our toys out of the cot right now. You see – it’s a pretty big advantage you have here. Long before your cast have stepped onto the stage, and before your orchestra has played a single note – you’ve already made us feel like…
Dear Annie
Aww gee, you’ve got heart. There’s a reason your story has endured since the days of being a comic book strip first printed in the 1920s. This famous little red-head has featured in 80 years of comic strips, multiple film adaptations, and junior theatre productions everywhere. She’s turned you…
Dear MJ
When we see a show, we’re accustomed to hearing the ushers remind us: ‘no filming or photography during the show.’ YOUR ushers, however, need to add ‘and no singing.’ That’s how much you know we want to. But ushers be damned, your audience are breaking into spontaneous song anyway. Even more of us…
Dear Pirates of Penzance
For nearly 150 years your comedic story has endured: part operetta, part musical. You made John English synonymous with the late eighties and early nineties. You’ve enjoyed being a send-up of politics and contemporary culture – and popular culture has enjoyed featuring send-ups of you….
Dear Hadestown
It’s your first trip to Australia. Very few of us have seen you in the flesh before, and yet, you’ve already gathered a cult following. Impressive work. You combine the mythological story of Orpheus and Eurydice, with that of Hades and Persephone. The setting is a grim world where the cycle of the…
Dear Wuthering Heights
You’re grim. Bleak. Dark. We expected this. Your Director, Emma Rice, had explained that your story has been ‘dressed up as a romance by Hollywood over the years, but it’s really not. It’s a revenge tragedy.’ Heck, your content warning lists ‘strong language, violence, firearms, whips, death and…
Dear Lord of the Rings
We had all been wondering – how do you translate to the stage a story that takes 1,216 pages to tell in a book, and 9 hours to tell on the screen? (11 hours if it’s the extended version). After all, there are so many dedicated fans who know and love your story inside out. The very concept is…
Dear Six
Oh you are so cheeky. With your catchy, kick-ass anthems, dazzling punk rock costumes, and punchy dance moves. Your creators, Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow, described you as being all about ‘the six wives of Henry VIII, but – like – a pop group’. And that’s all that needs to be said, really. You give…
Dear Guys & Dolls
If we were any other musical, we’d be stomping our feet and throwing our toys out of the cot right now. You see – it’s a pretty big advantage you have here. Long before your cast have stepped onto the stage, and before your orchestra has played a single note – you’ve already made us feel like…
Dear Annie
Aww gee, you’ve got heart. There’s a reason your story has endured since the days of being a comic book strip first printed in the 1920s. This famous little red-head has featured in 80 years of comic strips, multiple film adaptations, and junior theatre productions everywhere. She’s turned you…
Dear MJ
When we see a show, we’re accustomed to hearing the ushers remind us: ‘no filming or photography during the show.’ YOUR ushers, however, need to add ‘and no singing.’ That’s how much you know we want to. But ushers be damned, your audience are breaking into spontaneous song anyway. Even more of us…
Dear Pirates of Penzance
For nearly 150 years your comedic story has endured: part operetta, part musical. You made John English synonymous with the late eighties and early nineties. You’ve enjoyed being a send-up of politics and contemporary culture – and popular culture has enjoyed featuring send-ups of you….
Dear Hadestown
It’s your first trip to Australia. Very few of us have seen you in the flesh before, and yet, you’ve already gathered a cult following. Impressive work. You combine the mythological story of Orpheus and Eurydice, with that of Hades and Persephone. The setting is a grim world where the cycle of the…
Dear Wuthering Heights
You’re grim. Bleak. Dark. We expected this. Your Director, Emma Rice, had explained that your story has been ‘dressed up as a romance by Hollywood over the years, but it’s really not. It’s a revenge tragedy.’ Heck, your content warning lists ‘strong language, violence, firearms, whips, death and…
Dear Lord of the Rings
We had all been wondering – how do you translate to the stage a story that takes 1,216 pages to tell in a book, and 9 hours to tell on the screen? (11 hours if it’s the extended version). After all, there are so many dedicated fans who know and love your story inside out. The very concept is…
Dear Six
Oh you are so cheeky. With your catchy, kick-ass anthems, dazzling punk rock costumes, and punchy dance moves. Your creators, Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow, described you as being all about ‘the six wives of Henry VIII, but – like – a pop group’. And that’s all that needs to be said, really. You give…