Melbourne live reviews
Jack White returns to the grimy intimacy of the Melbourne venue where he wrote one of his hits
Jack White, rock and roll royalty, could fill a much bigger venue than the Corner Hotel several times over – but this grimy intimacy is what he prefers.
- by Will Cox, Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Cameron Woodhead, Andrew Fuhrmann and Tony Way
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Trump in a dumpster plus a little bit of opera? This is a Christmas show with a difference
F Christmas is a holiday variety special that delivers wildly defiant joys with a dose of reality.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Andrew Fuhrmann, Cher Tan and Tony Way
Twist on Frankenstein transports the classic to London under Thatcher
Cruel Britannia’s atmosphere of uncanniness and threat created by gender conformity resonates with deeper truths that a more straightforward retelling might miss.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Will Cox and Nell Geraets
You don’t often see a performer of this calibre slumming it down an alleyway
Mike McLeish’s solo show, Pensive Like a Fox, is a charming and offbeat cabaret filled with off-the-wall tangents and genuine poignancy.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Tony Way, Kosa Monteith and Jessica Nicholas
Pearl Jam’s last Melbourne show was a decade ago. For fans, it was worth the wait
The rockers revelled in the Marvel Stadium crowd’s good vibes, performing a set too infectious to deny.
- by Will Cox
★★★★★
Arts
Rebellious, big-hearted: This show is the holy grail of Australian musical theatre
The Miles Franklin classic that inspired a watershed moment in Australian cinema has now been transformed into an absolute cracker of a musical.
- by Will Cox, Tony Way and Cameron Woodhead
Casey Donovan spearheads a sparkling cast in spirited show full of uplifting silliness
It’s a joy to watch a feel-good musical that does exactly what it says on the box.
- by Cameron Woodhead
An evening of high-spirited dance showcases new works by local artists
Every movement speaks to the delicate balance between constraint and freedom, pressure and release, in these offerings from VCA graduates.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, Cameron Woodhead and Andrew Fuhrmann
Gangsters and toy koalas: This unknotting of a sibling relationship is oddly affecting
A portrait of a dysfunctional family loving each other in the ways they know best, Golden Blood is a story of yearning and ambition.
- by Sonia Nair, Barney Zwartz, Michael Dwyer, Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen and Jessica Nicholas
★★★★★
What’s on
Cold Chisel at 50 show why they’re one of the world’s great rock bands
Jimmy Barnes sang with every atom of his visibly scarred body. Pianist Don Walker, guitarist Ian Moss, bassist Phil Small and drummer Charley Drayton played like their lives were on the line.
- by Michael Dwyer
★★★★★
What’s on
Christie Whelan Browne’s hilarious cabaret serves up rare authenticity
The zany, raw, warts-and-all Life in Plastic follows Whelan Browne’s own journey from the irrepressible awkwardness of girlhood to stardom.
- by Andrew Fuhrmann, Will Cox, Cameron Woodhead and Barney Zwartz