The biggest musicals to see in Australia this year

Tomorrow couldn’t come faster – or more like 2025 – when Annie is set to make its grand return to Australia. Based on the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, first published in 1924, this family-friendly musical has gone on to become one of the most awarded and loved productions of all time. Bet your bottom dollar that there'll be sun when the musical brightens up the stage of Sydney’s Capitol Theatre in March 2025, marking its first return to Australia since 2012.

Touring dates: Sydney from March 2025 and Melbourne from July 2025

It's been seen by more than a million people on Broadway and many more on the West End, and now the Tony Award-winning MJ the Musical has landed in Australia for the first time. Centred around the making of his 1992 Dangerous World Tour, MJ the Musical features more than 25 of Michael Jackson’s biggest pop hits set to show-stopping dance numbers – including ‘Beat It’, ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘Man In The Mirror’ and ‘Thriller’. Off the back of his critically-acclaimed turn in the US National Tour of MJ, American actor Roman Banks is leading a stacked cast of local and international performers.

Touring dates: Sydney from March 2025 and Melbourne from September 2025

Many fantasy series have come and gone, but it seems that there is no escaping the pull of the one to rule them all. Middle-earth is about to collide with the Harbour City, with the news that The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale is set to make its Australian debut in Sydney. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved epic trilogy, the stage production will premiere with a strictly limited season, just in time for the 70th anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring (the first book in the trilogy) hitting the shelves.

Touring dates: Melbourne from April 2025, and Gold Coast from July 2025

Attention lovers of the strange and unusual – this one's for you! This musical adaptation of a kooky cult classic is finally making its way Down Under, with the Broadway production of Beetlejuice the Musical set to premiere in Australia in 2025. The unnerving, green-haired and striped-suit-wearing ghost that featured in the nightmares of '90s kids has been transported from screen to stage in the critically acclaimed musical version with a serious cult following, which will hit Melbourne's Regent Theatre in May 2025. Fun fact: the musical’s original score is composed by Australia's own homegrown star, Eddie Perfect. 

Touring dates: Melbourne from May 2025

Rawr! Four decades since its Aussie debut, the British “mega-musical” Cats is headed back home for its 40th anniversary. This iconic, feline-focused musical is based on T.S. Eliot's poem collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and first premiered in London in 1981, where it ran for a record-breaking 21 years with almost 9,000 performances. Featuring timeless tunes (including hit song ‘Memory’), spectacular sets and captivating costumes, this musical is sure to be a claw-some night out for the young and old. 

Touring dates: Sydney from June 2025, Adelaide from September 2025, Perth from November 2025, Melbourne from December 2025 and Brisbane from February 2026

Did they really just say that?! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard (while simultaneously feeling terrible about it) as I did watching The Book of Mormon. This horribly hilarious Tony, Olivier and Grammy award-winning production last toured Australia in 2015, where it broke the record for the highest-selling on-sale period of any production in Melbourne’s Princess Theatre’s 159-year history. Now it’s back to tell the story of two young Mormon missionaries sent to a small village in Uganda. While the plot centres on Mormonism, the creators (also behind South Park) call it an “atheist’s love letter to religion” – a wink and a jab at organised faith more broadly. You need not be a musical theatre nut, but you need to be cool with explicit language, challenging themes and “did they really just say that?” humour.

Touring dates: Sydney from July 2025

Here we go again... or here we come again! The Dolly-Parton-approved musical comedy Here You Come Again will be gracing Australian stages this July. Packed with all of Dolly’s most iconic songs – including ‘Jolene’, ‘9 to 5’, ‘Islands in the Stream’, and ‘I Will Always Love You’ – this heart-warming and hilarious show channels the spirit of the universally-loved country queen’s heartfelt and sassy style to tell the story of a diehard fan, whose fantasy version of Dolly Parton helps him navigate life's toughest challenges. The Aussie tour will kick off at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre from July 12, before promenading over to Sydney’s Theatre Royal on September 12. Dates and venues for Perth, Canberra, Newcastle and Adelaide will also be announced soon.

Touring dates: Melbourne from July 2025, Perth in August, Sydney from September, Newcastle and Canberra in November, Adelaide from December

First hitting the Broadway stage in 2008 (before it inspired the 2021 feature film), this rags-to-riches story is dancing its
way from Sydney to Melbourne and the Gold Coast in 2025. A fiery fusion of poetry and passion, In the Heights is an idyllic love letter to the riches of community, cariños and carnival. Our reviewers in Sydney gave the production a four-star rating, so you'll have to go see what the buzz is about for yourself.

If you know exactly how many minutes are in a year (it's 525,600, in case you were wondering), then you'll be very excited to read these words: Rent has arrived in Australia. A new production of the legendary '90s rock musical premiered earlier this year as part of a national tour, the first since 1998. The multi-Tony Award-winning show, written by Jonathan Larson, follows a close-knit community of artists living in New York City's East Village as they navigate the joyous highs and crushing lows in an unrelenting city. Featuring catchy hits like 'Seasons of Love', 'Take Me or Leave Me' and 'La Vie Bohème', Rent is a rollercoaster of a musical that will have you gripping your sides with laughter and dancing in your seat, before wiping away tears during truly poignant theatrical moments. 

Touring dates: Sydney from September 2025

It’s time to slip on your self-lacing sneakers and grab your hoverboard – because the Sydney Lyric Theatre is set to host the Australian premiere of Back to the Future: The Musical in September 2025. Based on the blockbuster movie from 1985, the story follows the adventures of high school student Marty McFly and the eccentric scientist Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown as they time travel to different periods in history and Marty faces the critical paradoxical question of “Wait, am I my own grandfather!?” While the critical reception for Back to the Future's theatrical spin has been mixed, you can’t argue with its popularity – it's been seen by nearly 3 million people worldwide to date. It also broke box office records for London’s Adelphi Theatre when it opened, and the West End production is now in its fourth year – with an extended season now running through to mid-2025.

Touring dates: Sydney from September 2025 

Since its debut on Broadway in 2018, Pretty Woman: The Musical has broken box office records and captivated audiences in London’s West End. Now, Pretty Woman: The Musical is heading our way, with its Australian premiere set to open in Brisbane in 2025. Based on one of Hollywood’s most beloved rom-coms, the 1990 blockbuster Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, this musical adaptation tells the iconic tale of a chance meeting between Edward (a ruthless businessman) and Vivian (a free-spirited escort) in a whole new way. It's going to be big. And we mean BIG! HUGE! 

Touring dates: Brisbane from October 2025

A lavish musical for the whole family with opulent settings and dazzling costumes, Anastasia will premiere Down Under in 2025. This rave-reviewed musical is inspired by the beloved 1997 animated feature from 20th Century Fox and, of course, the mysterious tale of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov’s rumoured escape in the dawning days of the Russian Revolution. It will open once upon a December at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre in 2025, before touring to Perth’s Crown Theatre in March 2026, and will finally land at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre in April 2026.

Touring dates: Melbourne from December 2025, Perth from March 2026 and Sydney from April 2026 

We’re already having a huge year for musicals in Australia – but now, the world’s #1 musical is heading back Down Under, with Disney Theatrical Group announcing that an all-new Australian staging of Disney’s The Lion King will premiere in Sydney from April 2026. Approaching 30 landmark years on Broadway, The Lion King has been seen by over 112 million people worldwide, and continues to ascend as one of the most popular stage musicals in the world. It has been more than a decade since The Lion King’s last Australian tour – and this epic show has captivated nearly 4 million audience members during its two previous tours Down Under.

Touring dates: Sydney from April 2026