
The emotionally laden Madama Butterfly captivated the audience on the night I attended. It is an absolutely beautiful production to watch and listen to, and remarkably, it is easily enjoyed by a novice to the artform, as well as the seasoned opera goers.

The opening two numbers in Dogfight had the whole audience whistling and hooting their applause. It started small, with Hillary Cole’s crystalline voice singing a folksy, acoustic solo, and segues into a high octane routine by the boys from the marines.

Annie Baker is that rare thing; a playwright who can make the mundane simultaneously luminous and gut-wrenching.

Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena was packed to its capacity with adoring Ricky Martin fans, when Mr Livin’ La Vida Loca himself was in town for just one night, shaking his bon-bon and spreading his message of love, tolerance and world peace.

Ron, who has just been told he has a very limited time to live, decides to gather his family together to make some final arrangements. Unfortunately for him it unravels into an untidy scene with some not so pleasant surprises.
As the audience mingled in the bar area at The Studio Underground waiting for The Confidence Man to start, the stage managers wandered among us asking if we’d like to be part of the production.