Arts
Are the Melbourne v Sydney opera wars finally coming to an end?
Opera Australia’s new program is trying to restore some balance between Australia’s biggest cities.
- by Elizabeth Flux
Latest
Zahra Newman’s transcendent tribute to jazz legend Billie Holiday
This wrap of shows around Melbourne includes Zahra Newman’s five-star Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and The Song Company at Trinity College Chapel.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Jessica Nicholas and Tony Way
‘So rare to see musicians like this’: Jazz stars swing into Melbourne
We asked local musicians for their must-see acts in the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, ahead of its launch on Friday night. Here are their tips and advice on the gigs you really don’t want to miss - especially if you’re a drummer.
- by Martin Boulton
Melbourne’s Chrome Gnome has a new home. What’s next for the city’s highway art?
Like the garden gnomes that were “kidnapped” and sent back postcards to their owners, the Chrome Gnome, also known as Frankie or Reflective Lullaby, has been on the move.
- by Kerrie O'Brien
Exclusive
Performing arts
The first Aussie novel Reese Witherspoon chose for her book club is hitting the Melbourne stage
Pip Williams’ acclaimed Dictionary of Lost Words is now a hit play – but that’s not all; there’s a TV series in the works too and even a “book-concerto”.
- by Hannah Story
Have some of history’s most famous photographs been lying all along?
A new exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria shows that long before we’d heard of fake news, the truth was being tampered with.
- by Ray Edgar
Soprano who inspired Christine in the Phantom returns to the stage
After more than 30 years away from musical theatre, Sarah Brightman makes her return in a new production of Sunset Boulevard.
- by Elizabeth Flux
Exclusive
City life
Stadiums rock: Record year for music, sports as audiences ‘live in the now’
Melburnians have embraced events with enthusiasm coming out of COVID-19, despite the cost-of-living crisis, with stadiums recording their biggest year yet.
- by Cara Waters
‘I think I should make some earrings out of the Logies’
Laughter is pretty much at the heart of a lunch with Alison Whyte, as she reflects on acting in a stage classic and ponders the imagined life of a past TV character.
- by Elizabeth Flux
Fringe dwellers bear up (barely) for their moment in the hard-to-spot sun
Melbourne’s 41st Fringe festival has officially begun – and that was all the excuse some people needed to get near-naked in public even if the weather wasn’t co-operating.
- by Karl Quinn
Read all about it – and then listen to the music
Samuel J. Fell’s history of Australian rock journalism fills in some holes and creates others.
- by John Shand