Critics' choice theatre shows in Melbourne

If you thought history class was boring, Six the Musical is here to change your mind. Created by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, this high-energy musical returns to Australia and will be at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre from July 24. In this foot-tapping show, the six wives of King Henry VIII are reimagined as modern-day pop stars out to reclaim their stories. One by one, Catherine of Aragon (Sarah Murr), Anne Boleyn (Mia Paris Scalise), Jane Seymour (Cara Bessey), Anna of Cleves (Kadesa Honeyhill), Katherine Howard (Angela Brischetto) and Catherine Parr (Lorinda May Merrypor) take the mic, wowing you with their power ballads and rock anthems. Since its breakout debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017, the show has become a global sensation thanks to its infectious songs, sharp wit and empowering message. It’s making a triumphant return to Australia, so get ready to say “Yasss Queen”. For more info and to secure your tickets, head to the website.  Read on for our five-star review of Six the Musical from 2024. *** Divorced, beheaded… live? This unconventional pop rock musical takes a dry historical topic and turns it into a rowdy 80-minute concert to rival the Spice Girls themselves. Everyone knows that King Henry VIII had not four, not five, but six wives – enough to require a mnemonic technique to keep track. History has reduced the legacies of these ladies to little more than singular words in a rhyme detailing their fearsome fates, but what if we carved out space to...

It’s a play considered to be one of the greatest of all time, and after undergoing a show-stopping run in 2023, 'Death of a Salesman' – with award-winning stars Anthony LaPaglia and Alison Whyte reprising their roles – is returning to Melbourne once again. Showing from August 11 to 22, Arthur Miller’s inimitable play will be staged at Her Majesty’s Theatre for a limited season that you don't want to miss.  First performed in 1949, the Pulitzer Prize-winning production explores the promises and pitfalls of the American Dream. The two-act tragedy is told through a montage of memories, confrontations, arguments and dreams of protagonist Willy Loman who tries to navigate what it means to be successful in post-war America. For more info and to secure your tickets, head to the website. Read on for our four-star review of Death of a Salesman from 2023. *** The curtains of Her Majesty’s Theatre open on Neil Armfield’s magnificent production of Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman to reveal a towering grandstand; rusted and weather-stained, ‘Ebbets Field’ printed across the top of its commentary box. All but one of the 14-strong cast are sitting on the bleachers, waiting. "Willy?", Linda Loman asks as her husband limps on stage holding two suitcases. It’s one of the most recognizable images of 20th-century theatre, and it’s keenly watched by the entire ensemble. Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning script seemed like a death knell for the American Dream when it premiered in 1949, but 70...