This Month
Women plot to rescue Carmen from cancel culture
Georges Bizet’s classic opera has gained a reputation for misogyny, but that’s not there in the original version, says the director of a new, female-led reprise.
From number-cruncher to CEO: This boss’ unexpected path to the top
Lou Oppenheim has risen to the top of Sydney Dance Company, but every day she still wants to know what the numbers reveal about how the company is performing.
June
A small pool of investors is banking on ‘Cats’ being a hit. Again
Veteran producer John Frost is reviving the original “mega-musical” with a regular group of backers who put in at least $50,000.
As Gillham fights the MSO, the paying audience is neglected
Whatever the court verdict, consumers should continue to object to musicians who insert surprise provocations of no artistic relevance into their concerts.
May
‘We need the energy’: Gen Zs to get a seat on NSW cultural boards
In an Australian first, the NSW government creates a directorship at the likes of Sydney Opera House and Art Gallery of NSW explicitly for those aged 18 to 28.
Trump’s film ‘tax on Bluey’ exposes our cultural malaise
Whether or not the United States implements these levies, the president’s plan has shed further light upon the fragility of Australia’s arts.
March
Who really pays the price for arts philanthropy?
In the increasingly troubled relationship between donors and artists, it is becoming difficult to figure out which hand is feeding and which is being bitten.
February
This 4000-year-old story could be fresh off the front page
Sanskrit epic Mahabharata showing at Perth Festival has an urgent message for all of us – particularly for some in the WA capital.
January
Solo guitar stars band together to form ambitious Australian quartet
Audiences are in for something extraordinary, promises the Sydney Opera House’s former CEO, who jumped at the chance to chair the new group’s board.
November 2024
How this music tech start-up attracted Sony as anchor investor
An online portal of ready-made music lessons that any primary school teacher can use has won a major investor.
October 2024
One Direction singer Liam Payne dead after falling from hotel balcony
Harry Styles’ former bandmate died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, according to Argentine media.
September 2024
‘We’re not Logos by the Sea’: How to make arts sponsorships work
Transfield’s exit from Sydney Biennale in 2014 started a torturous recent history for corporate support, but there are still successful exceptions.
July 2024
‘Paris is the perfect place for older women’
Sarah Wilson is living her dream life in a city she says treasures lively arguments and genuine curiosity over wealth and property. This is how she spends her weekends.
June 2024
The unlikely father and daughter paying for King Lear
Barrister Katherine Brazenor has a taste for the darkly comic. No wonder she’s enlisted her father as a co-patron of the Bard’s play on a fatally dysfunctional family.
December 2023
How the Y2K bug reset Opera House CEO Louise Herron’s career
When the anticipated global computing meltdown did not happen on January 1, 2000, the former lawyer couldn’t help thinking her career was “really stupid”
November 2023
Architect Nic Brunsdon wants us to look at air with his NGV exhibit
Like fish in water, humans rarely stop to think about the basic substance that keeps them alive. Perth-based Brunsdon wants to challenge that.
September 2023
Desert deluge failed to dampen my Burning Man spirit
AFR correspondent Michael Smith finally made it to his first Burning Man festival, only to see a freak storm transform the desert site and strand thousands.
April 2023
‘It’s been like a dream’: Dancer returns to the stage after two decades
Sarah Peace is among Australian Ballet stars past and present dancing together in the world premiere of its 60th-anniversary production ‘Paragon’.
March 2023
On the discovery trail of Berlin’s roaring twenties
Traces of the Weimar era linger for those who know where to look, because this museum isn’t in the place you’d expect.
Up close and personal with the very first life that moved on Earth
The Australian technology studio Sandpit is breathing life into everything from 500-million-year-old fossils to an Adelaide festival show and Shakespeare’s home.