Alex First
SIX, at Comedy Theatre - 80 minutes
SIX sizzles and girl power rules. It is a high-octane musical in every sense of those words. I speak of talent, production values,...
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Alex First
Aug 72 min read
The Importance of Being Earnest (Bloodshed), at fortyfivedownstairs - 70 minutes
This is a Wilde/wild night all right – oh so deliciously wacky, in fact. Bloomshed has taken the essence of Oscar Wilde’s original farce,...
Alex First
Aug 73 min read
50 Shades: The Musical Parody, at Alex Theatre - 100 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
When British author E.J. James released his erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey in 2011, it titillated an excited throng of...
Alex First
Aug 42 min read
The Art of Banksy – Without Limits, on Level 1, 116 Studio Lane, Docklands
It is not hard to see why Banksy’s street art has captured global imagination and attention. With his satirical stencil work, he has been...
Alex First
Aug 33 min read
English (MTC), at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner - 90 minutes, with no interval
Identity. Being comfortable in our own skin. It is integral to who we are and what we stand for. English is about that. It is about love...
Alex First
Aug 23 min read
Only Child, at Chapel Off Chapel - 95 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
The moral dilemma. Juicy. Delicious. Ideal for the stage. It is at the heart of Only Child, a new play from Leah Annetta. Divorced,...
Alex First
Aug 12 min read
Little Shop of Horrors (Saltpillar Theatre) - 100 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
A unique plant runs amok. There you have it. A five-word synopsis of the darkly comedic offering that is Little Shop of Horrors. With...
Alex First
Aug 12 min read
The State, at Theatre Works' Explosives Factory - 80 minutes, without interval
Oh my, what a special kind of subversive offering The State is. In play are democracy and revolution, for this is a huge dig at all that...
Alex First
Jul 273 min read
Pizza Man (Slay Theatre), at 16th Street Actors’ Studio - 90 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
Julie Rodgers (Elyse Batson) is having a very bad day. The 28-year-old has just been sacked from her secretarial role for rejecting her...
Alex First
Jul 262 min read
Older Than I Ever Intended To Be, at The MC Showroom - 70 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
Since the age of 11, when he was taken to see the dark musical Chicago at the Sydney Opera House, Scott Hollingsworth has dreamt of...
Alex First
Jul 253 min read
Romeo & Julie, at Red Stitch Actors' Theatre - 2 hours 40 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
Star crossed lovers all right, but this isn’t the Montagues and the Capulets. In fact, far from it … and neither are we in historic...
Alex First
Jul 213 min read
Elegies - A Song Cycle (Clovelly Fox Productions), at fortyfivedownstairs - 85 minutes, without interval
Love, loss and laughter are potent and enduring in composer William Finn’s (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) Elegies. Based...
Alex First
Jul 153 min read
The Whale (Melbourne Shakespeare Company), at Alex Theatre - 2 hours, including interval
Anger and frustration explode in Samuel D. Hunter’s power packed drama The Whale, which is about connection and redemption. While the...
Alex First
Jul 143 min read
A Streetcar Named Desire (MTC), at Playhouse, at Arts Centre Melbourne - 2 hours 40 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
One of the great plays of the 20th century retains its vibrancy and bite in a stunning MTC production, headlined by a bravura showing...
Alex First
Jul 132 min read
Cirque Bon Bon, at Athenaeum Theatre - 80 minutes
Slick, Cirque Bon Bon is a lively and most entertaining showcase of the circus arts. Its very funny front man is an ardent fan of Queen...
Alex First
Jul 133 min read
La Belle Epoque, at Theatre Works - 80 minutes
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a deeply chequered history, with several name changes and millions of lives lost. Please re-read...
Alex First
Jul 123 min read
Macbeth (An Undoing), at Merlyn Theatre, at Malthouse Theatre - 2 hours 5 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
A striking reimagining of Shakespeare’s tale of murder and madness, Zinnie Harris approaches the tragedy from Lady Macbeth’s perspective....
Alex First
Jul 82 min read
English Eccentrics (Victorian Opera), at Union Theatre, University of Melbourne - 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval
First up, an admission – I love Victorian Opera's commitment to diversity in performance. Its range of operatic offerings is grand and...
Alex First
Jul 83 min read
Castro’s Children (Music Theatre Melbourne), at Gasworks - 2 hours 30 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
Stunning. What a revelation. Such is the power, passion and poise of the sparkling new musical Castro’s Children. Fidel Alejandro Castro...
Alex First
Jul 73 min read
The Boy from Oz (theatrical), at The National Theatre - 2 hours 10 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval
Born Peter Richard Woolnough, but performing as Peter Allen (10th February 1944 – 18th June 1992, his colourful life makes for an...
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