Karis Oka and Eddie Perfect in Beetlejuice the Musical.
Photograph: Michelle Grace Hunder
Photograph: Michelle Grace Hunder

The best of Melbourne theatre and musicals this month

Get your culture fix via all the world-class productions happening in Melbourne this June

Leah Glynn
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June 2025: Winter may have officially arrived, but Melbourne's theatres will warm you right up. 'Beetlejuice the Musical' is playing to sizzling reviews at the Regent Theatre, while 'Hadestown' remains one of the hottest tickets in town. 'The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale' continues its blistering run at the Comedy Theatre, and there's a red-hot adaptation of 'The Birds' showing at the Malthouse. And as part of Rising (Melbourne's annual wintery arts extravaganza), you can catch 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' – hailed by Rolling Stone as “the best rock musical ever”. Rug up and we'll see you out there.

From the toe-tapping to the cathartic, consider this your ultimate guide to all the best Melbourne theatre shows happening this month.

When stuck for things to do between shows, you can also always rely on our catch-all lists of Melbourne's best bars, restaurants, museums, parks and galleries, or consult our bucket list of 100 things to do in Melbourne before you die

Want something else to do this month? Check out our gig guide.

Melbourne's best theatre shows this month

  • 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
  • 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

Before you book...

Not all seats are created equal. Sure, there are some shows so spectacular and unmissable you’d happily sit anywhere, but most experiences in the theatre can be augmented by the best seats in the house. And occasionally ruined by the worst. So, without further ado, we give them to you.

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