Theatre and musicals in Melbourne this week

Update: due to popular demand, the season for this production has been extended until May 3. Tickets for the extra shows are available to buy online now.  Step into the scandalous world of Manhattan’s elite for a night of drama, decadence, iconic pop hits and ’90s nostalgia at this immersive show/party experience – inspired of course, by the cult classic movie, Cruel Intentions. Featuring a cast of bonafide triple-threat performers, Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical Party promises to be an all-singing, all-dancing, 360-degree experience complete with a killer setlist of non-stop '90s bangers from icons like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, *NYSNC, Boyz II Men, The Verve, The Goo Goo Dolls, Natalie Imbruglia, R.E.M, and more. Blurring the lines between theatre and nightlife, this wild event is taking over St Kilda’s newly re-opened Alex Theatre. If you loved the production of Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical that previously toured the country, then you won’t want to miss this. This is an entirely new interactive experience – come prepared for some wild surprises.  With themed cocktails (iced tea from Long Island, anyone?) and options to either sit and watch from a premium seat or sing and dance along in the ‘party zone’, you can choose your own adventure on a seductive night out with the iconic ’90s characters that you love to hate. Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical Party is now playing at the Alex Theatre, St Kilda, for a strictly limited season. Tickets start at...

In 1984, director Trevor Nunn was doing press for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express when he offered the perfect maxim for a Webber fan: “Here is my money. Hit me with the experience.” Arguably none of Webber’s shows have hit harder than his 1971 rock-opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, which arrives at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre after a much-lauded run in Sydney. First revived at London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2016 for the show’s fiftieth anniversary, it’s been restaged in Australia by director Timothy Sheader. Sheader favours a ‘more is more’ approach, leaning into every ‘Webber-ism’ that made the show a success in the first place: rock'n'roll maximalism, near-inhuman vocal lines, emotional spectacle. No crucifix is too glittery or top note too loud. Megawatt vocals and an electric ensemble cast make it a cut above the other Webber revivals we’ve seen in the last couple years. Yet its heavy-handed approach also exposes the limits of spectacle for spectacle’s sake, even when it comes to Webber. It’s a dazzling experience, but ultimately soulless.  The curtain rises on a disassembled rock concert: amps, concert speaker boxes and microphone stands peppered around a set of towering balustrades, exposed steel beams and grating that hide the band. Set and costume Designer Tom Scutt puts us somewhere between Rent’s gritty urbanism and the steampunk simplicity of Hadestown. Meanwhile, lighting designer Lee Curran adds a splash of Mad Max to things by throwing dirty...

Fifty years ago, David Williamson’s The Removalists barrelled onto the stage at Melbourne’s La Mama. Though loosely based on a true story, one can only imagine the reaction back then – gasps? Walkouts? Even now, in 2025, the play’s brashness hasn’t dulled. Police brutality, domestic violence, unchecked misogyny – it’s all still here. Director Anne-Louise Sarks (My Brilliant Career, A Streetcar Named Desire) stages this revival with a sharp eye for Williamson’s absurdist cynicism. The audience is seated in traverse – on both sides of the stage – as implicit witnesses. Sarks doesn’t try to modernise the text; instead, she leans into its 1970s setting (Matilda Woodroofe’s period-perfect costume design includes mustard dresses and flared jeans). The opening scene, set in a sterile police station cluttered with bureaucratic paperwork and buzzing under fluorescent lighting (a little too bright, perhaps), introduces Steve Mouzakis’ Sergeant Simmonds breaking in new recruit Ross (William McKenna). Ross rolls on his heels like a kid who’s wandered into the wrong classroom, while Simmonds mocks and steamrolls him – it’s classic schoolyard bullying. Just when the berating gets old, Eloise Mignon’s Fiona arrives, bruised and hesitant, with her sister Kate (Jessica Clarke), to report her husband’s latest assault. Now, suddenly, Simmonds is all charm. Of course, he’ll help. Of course, he’ll retrieve Fiona’s furniture. But, naturally, there’s a cost.  The set transitions cleverly – a...

From the story’s origins hundreds of years ago, to its transformation into the classic 1991 Disney film, Beauty and the Beast really is a tale as old as time. In its musical form, the production hasn’t been seen in Melbourne since the ’90s, when Hugh Jackman famously performed as Gaston in his first professional role. Fast forward three decades and we’re once again seeing a Melbourne stage transformed into the provincial town and Baroque castle we know so well. Only this time round, the lavish set design is augmented with cleverly integrated digital screens. It’s just one of several updates that ensure this reimagined production of the beloved fairytale keeps up with the times. From the moment the curtain rises, it’s clear this is a large-scale musical with all the belles, whistles and big bucks. Visual splendour is the MO here – think kaleidoscopic costumes, gasp-inducing illusions and spectacular lighting – and it’s easy to see why this show broke box office records at Brisbane’s QPAC.  However, all that Disney investment would be useless without the gifted cast. Shubshri Kandiah exudes whimsy-with-a-backbone as bookworm Belle, charming us with her sweet songs and sassy moments – though the folks in her provincial town just don’t get it.  Brendan Xavier’s beast is alternately ferocious and boyish. His startled squeals and hair-twirling moments help make Belle’s dramatic change in feelings a touch more believable. Both leads shine in their solo numbers, with Xavier’s ‘If...

Bernie Dieter and her band of legendary misfits are descending upon Melbourne once again, to deliver a whole month of debaucherous fun and frivolity. Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, starring the legendary queen of Weimar punk described as an "electrifying cross between Lady Gaga, Marlene Dietrich and Frank-N-Futer in sequins", will take over North Melbourne's historic Meat Market from April 3 to May 11. Audiences can expect riotous original songs, immense vocal talent and a jaw-dropping line-up of contortionists, sword swallowers, fire breathers and aerialists. For more info and to secure your tickets, head to the website. Read on for our five-star review of Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett from the 2022 Melbourne Fringe Festival. *** It’s easy to see why Dieter’s award-winning show has garnered such esteem since touching down in Australia earlier this year. Less than two minutes in and our M.C., Bernie has thrown off her tartan dress to reveal glittery tights and feather-tipped shoulder pads. Soon after, she’s straddling an audience member and enlisting the help of two others – lovingly named ‘Shaven Haven’ and ‘Silver Fox’ – to carry her back to the stage in the splits. The fourth wall is not so much brought down, as elegantly side-stepped by her sky-high stiletto heel. All the while, Bernie’s quick-wit and dirty mouth find comedic beats in the unlikeliest – or, as it were, the most unwilling – of audience members. "Tonight is about letting loose, letting go, and getting a...