Princess Theatre

Tina Turner was the bread and butter of our household TV screen. She belted alongside Mick Jagger at Live Aid, leather-clad and big hair, raced her supercharged engine across Coober Pedy in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome and assured the world that everything would be alright as David Bowie slipped out of the shadows during her Private Dancer Tour. She was one of music’s indomitable icons, a powerhouse; she was the Queen of Rock‘n’Roll. When Tina – The Tina Turner Musical finally rolled into Melbourne’s Princess Theatre after its West End debut and national run, it arrived with sky-high expectations. Having stacked up Tony and Olivier nominations as well as praise from Rolling Stone for its ability to simultaneously “entertain and enlighten”, I’m relieved to say that this Melbourne production did not disappoint. Leather, shoulder pads and sequins that would make Tina herself proud, danced across the red carpet on opening night with hundreds, including local Australian stars, paying homage. For someone like me, who never experienced Tina live beyond the glow of a television screen, the energy certainly made it feel like the real deal.  The musical, written by Katori Hall alongside Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, stays true to Tina’s journey – thanks, in part, to Tina herself. From her early days in Nutbush, Tennessee, with gospel choirs and dusty churches, to the St. Louis blues scene where she met Ike Turner, across the globe to the soggy streets...

Jesus Christ! The messiah will return to rock the Melbourne stage when Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s celebrated musical Jesus Christ Superstar arrives in Melbourne in early 2025, following huge acclaim and sold-out seasons in London, as well as an extensive North American tour. The Olivier Award-winning reimagined production of this celebrated rock musical will land at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre in March 2025, as part of a national tour.   With an iconic 1970s rock score that was originally released as a concept album, this global musical phenomenon has been wowing audiences for decades. Jesus Christ Superstar opened on Broadway in 1971, and went on to become the longest-running musical in West End history at that time when it transferred to London. The original Australian production opened at Sydney’s Capitol in May 1972, followed by seasons at the Palais Theatre and other cities, playing for more than 700 performances. Many people will also remember the iconic sell-out Australian arena tour in 1992, which starred John Farnham, Jon Stevens, Kate Ceberano, Angry Anderson, Russell Morris and John Waters. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, Jesus Christ Superstar is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ, as seen through the eyes of Judas. This musical is not so much about preaching the word of the Bible, but it’s more of a subversive interpretation of the psychology of the...