This Month
The Australian industry nobody wants to run
The untold story of Fiona Allan’s abrupt departure as CEO of Opera Australia says everything about how perilous arts companies have become in 2025.
April
Cops come knocking after NIDA graduates pull no punches as impresarios
Rather than wait for the phone to ring, four young Sydney actors and their teacher formed their own production company to make theatre on their terms.
From Les Mis to an absurdist play: the shows you must see in May
Opera Australia is in a church and overlooked female modernists are on a top gallery’s wall. There is plenty around the country to enjoy.
Dorian Gray is a homegrown Broadway smash. Local investors missed out
The Sarah Snook one-hander is breaking box office records with tickets at $US497 a pop in New York. But just four of the 53 investors in the show are Australian.
‘Articulate, charming, villain’: John Lithgow on playing Roald Dahl
The 79-year-old has been Winston Churchill and King Lear in a busy late career, but becoming the controversial children’s author proved particularly fraught.
What Russia can still teach us
From Tolstoy to Shostakovich, Russian culture helped shape the world. We must not lose it.
Live Nation boss reveals ‘unspoken secret’ of ticket prices
Veteran promoter Michael Coppel is now the biggest Australian cog in a multinational music machine. He says local fans would be bereft without it.
TEG enlists MinterEllison to investigate workplace culture claims
It was Brad Banducci’s first week as chief executive of the company that owns ticketing giant Ticketek. It included a workplace review by an law firm.
March
From Annie to Zimmer: the must-see shows to catch in April
Take a break from the hard-knock life with our monthly selection of the best live entertainment around the country.
How to direct a musical on a ‘football field’
There’s a lot riding on Opera Australia’s annual outdoor production but Shaun Rennie is more worried about actors getting to their marks, and nothing getting blown into Sydney Harbour.
Australian Ballet appointments a show of faith
The artistic director’s contract extension comes as the major performing arts company also gets a new executive director, after being without one for almost a year.
Former MSO boss settles with pianist she cancelled
Sophie Galaise has settled with Jayson Gillham on the eve of his discrimination trial against the orchestra.
He was David Helfgott’s hands. Now he must have fingers in many pies
Sharing the stage with a $16 million violin and donning a powdered wig to become Mozart – pianist Simon Tedeschi on the eclectic lot of a classical musician.
This actor has the legal profession flocking to see her show
Heather Mitchell is reviving the crowning role of her long career, playing the US Supreme Court judge in RBG: Of Many, One.
Your concert ticket might soon look like a bill
A federal parliamentary inquiry into reviving the struggling live music industry has proposed itemising the costs that go into the price of a show.
From two Pulitzer Prizes to the Michael Jackson musical
Playwright Lynn Nottage – whose second Pulitzer Prize was praised for “explaining” Donald Trump’s win – says taking on the King of Pop’s life was a no-brainer.
Police probe Gene Hackman’s phone records to determine death
Santa Fe police said they are trying to piece together a timeline of the Oscar-winning actor’s movements leading up to his unexplained death.
February
Being George Clooney is harder than it looks
A big Democrat donor, Clooney said he sees “a lot of cowardice” as the tech moguls bow to Trump.
Roberta Flack, piano teacher who rose to rule the charts, dies
The music industry didn’t quite know what to do with the soulful, yet classical-inspired music of the North Carolinian – but Clint Eastwood did.
Seven shows you must see in March
From a Michael Jackson musical to an anniversary tour of Green Day’s breakthrough album, there are plenty of performances to get you off the couch.