I TELL YOU WHAT I THINK
First on Entertainment

It is Melbourne’s newest entertainment precinct (off Lonsdale Street), with a sizzling hot new show, involving seven spirited performers.   I speak of Spiegel Haus Melbourne and the adults only, risqué cabaret Blanc de Blanc Encore. Photo by Cameron Grant (front page image also by Cameron Grant) It is slick, sexy and in your face – in short, a walk on the wild side – with audience involvement turned up to scorching.   And it works … magnificently, providing patrons with an ex

Poppycock and balderdash. That sums up the theatre of the absurd production that is Bladderwrack at Theatre Works’ Explosives Factory.   It is errant nonsense – a fruit loop pantomime with a few operatic interludes.   Inspirations include Spike Milligan and The Goon Show, so we shouldn’t be surprised. Photos by Steven Mitchell Wright Bladderwrack starts with some light-hearted banter and audience interaction.   Actors David Tredinnick and Oscar Munro introduce themselves as S

The reframing of the Predator series with Badlands is a move that works well.   It is action-packed science fiction with bite.   At its core is a ruthless mentality that pits father against son.   The central focus is Dek, a young, undersized warrior from a mercenary clan known as Yautja. As the runt of the litter, his all-powerful father Njohrr – an Apex predator – tasks Dek’s brother Kwei (Mike Homik) with eliminating him.   Dek vows to prove his worth by travelling to the

Monopoly now has its own localised version for one of the most picturesque parts of Australia, Victoria’s stunning Yarra Valley.   Local businesses have gotten together to support a new iteration of the classic board game, which is the most played in the world. In fact, according to the Australian licensee, more of than 250 million copies have been produced since its inception 90 years ago.   It is played in nearly 50 languages in 114 different countries.   The Yarra Valley v

Artist Joy Hester (21 st August, 1920 – 4 th December, 1960) didn’t run with the pack.   Despite being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 27, given a year to live and told to put her house in order, she continued to do things her way.   She thumbed her nose at the doctor and at the establishment.   Where is Joy? is a look at the life and times of a rebel, who was unapologetically bold.   It is the perspective of a creative who, too, has been through the wringer and ca

A musical within a political drama, Kiss of the Spider Woman is based on the musical (which opened in the West End in 1992) and book (1976) of the same name.   During what was termed the Dirty War in Argentina, between 1974 and 1983, the military junta engaged in state terrorism.   During this period 30,000 people were killed or imprisoned.   The storyline in Kiss of the Spider Woman is drawn from that period. Gay window dresser Luis Molina (Tonatiuh), who is close to his ail

Conspiracy theories abound in this ever-evolving internet age. Time and again people have been shown to be as mad as a cut snake.   And so it is in Bugonia. The title is derived from a mythical ancient Mediterranean belief that bees are spontaneously generated from the carcasses of dead oxen. Teddy (Jesse Plemons) has a bee in his bonnet in more way than one.   An apiarist, who greatly admires the work ethic of the industrious insects, he lives with his seemingly brain damage

I can’t speak highly enough of the comic might of Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (with libretto by Cesare Sterbini), as performed so adroitly by Opera Australia.   If you have not seen this hilarious opera, let me draw a comparison to the cleverness inherent in arguably the finest popular British TV comedy Fawlty Towers. Like that sitcom, this is orchestrated mayhem on a grand scale, led with distinction by baritone Samuel Dundas as the masterful central figure, Fi

What a great talent this man is. Reuben Kaye headlines a bawdy show to remember, introducing three Australian Opera headliners in the camped-up Opera Up Late.   Making its first appearance in Melbourne, it has been a staple in Sydney since it was conceived by Kaye and award-winning director Shaun Rennie for WorldPride in 2023. It is a fusion of the operatic with musical theatre, seen through a queer lens, liberally lashed with risqué humour.   Shocks and surprises are plentif