The original Broadway company of Come from Away on stage
Photograph: Matthew Murphy | The original Broadway production of Come from Away
Photograph: Matthew Murphy

Melbourne theatre and musicals in January

From musicals to mainstage we've got you covered for on-stage highlights this month

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January is typically a quiet month vis-à-vis Melbourne theatre. But January 2021 is the exception, with the month largely marking the return of Melbourne's theatre industry following almost a year of darkened stages. 

It's not business as usual, but there's still a small, curated pool of live performances for audiences to get stuck into this January.

RECOMMENDED: The best art exhibitions in Melbourne this month.

Musicals

  • Musicals
  • Melbourne

Melbourne, it’s time to put on some makeup and pull the wig down from the shelf – because Hedwig has finally announced plans to head on over to our wicked little town. Following a smash-hit season with Adelaide Festival, GWB Entertainment and Andrew Henry Presents have confirmed that Hedwig and the Angry Inch will unleash its raw energy at Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre from June 13 as part of RisingSeann Miley Moore stars as the hedonistic anti-heroine herself, Hedwig, opposite acclaimed actor, singer, songwriter Adam Noviello as Hedwig’s devoted yet defiant partner, Yitzhak. 

  • Musicals
  • Melbourne
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

The auditorium of the Regent Theatre is doused in a blood-red glow tinged with anaemic green as we take our seats, a buzzing neon sign already dropping his name twice. Providing both the manic music and leery lyrics, Perfect is, well, perfect as our unseen by most living souls poltergeist of ill-repute, accompanied by a jaw-droppingly bawdy book from Scott Brown and Anthony KingExpertly conjuring the blithe spirit of the movie, complete with its iconic ‘D’ay-O (The Banana Boat Song)’ possession, you’ll want to ‘Jump In The Line’ by curtain call on this riotously rabid real good time. 

Stephen A Russell
Stephen A Russell
Contributor
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  • Musicals
  • Melbourne
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Looking for something to warm your heart this winter? We've got just the answer: beloved musical Annie is returning to Melbourne after a smash-hit run in Sydney. With a knock-out cast that includes Anthony Warlow as Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks, Debora Krizak as Miss Hannigan and Greg Page (aka the OG Yellow Wiggle) as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, this tale of hope, family and friendship is one you won't want to miss. Annie is showing at the Princess Theatre from July 8. Now, who's ready to belt out 'It’s the Hard-Knock Life'?

  • Drama
  • St Kilda
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Emilie Collyer’s new play, Super, which is currently running at Red Stitch Actor’s Theatre, is interested in more intimate powers that might help you day-to-day. Phoenix (Lucy Ansell) has the ability to dissipate someone’s anger; calm them down without a fight. Rae (Caroline Lee) brings people into her emotional vulnerability; if she cries, everyone else cries. And Nel (Laila Thacker) is so efficient, she can do the most basic tasks in the blink of an eye – and she can whip up a spreadsheet that will blow your mind. This production is a clever excavation of our dream to be more than what we really are, grappling with a society that forces us to question our own power – super or not.

Keith Gow
Keith Gow
Contributor
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  • Musicals
  • Melbourne
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Tackled by everyone from Roman poets Virgil and Ovid to Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire and Katee Robert’s queered novel, Midnight Ruin, the myth of Eurydice and her Orpheus finds new life in the hands of folk singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell. Her eight Tony Award-winning smash-hit musical Hadestown began life as a sung-through community project before she turned it into a concept album, and then a Broadway smash with help from director Rachel Chavkin.

Stephen A Russell
Stephen A Russell
Contributor
  • Performance art
  • Southbank

There’s no more rehearsing. In fact, there was none to begin with. Not a single cast member of ECHO: Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen knows the part by heart. Welcome to a spectacle that is deliberately unprepared, unorthodox and unpredictable. Nassim Soleimanpour is the most performed playwright in the history of Iranian theatre. You may know him for his acclaimed works like White Rabbit, Red Rabbit or NASSIM. This July, he’s joining audiences at Malthouse’s Merlyn Theatre all the way from Berlin for a spectacle that plays with technology and tricks of the trade to redefine the idea of ‘home’. 

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