New and upcoming musicals in Melbourne

Update 02/08/21: Melbourne performances of Frozen the Musical have been cancelled until Aug 8 following Victoria's fifth lockdown. Ticket holders will be contacted. Let’s start with the most important thing. Yes, Jemma Rix sings Elsa’s mega-hit song ‘Let It Go’ as the barnstorming closer to act one of this musical staged version of Disney’s Frozen. And yes, she absolutely goddamn nails it.  The story, as any seven-year-old could tell you, is this: Princess Elsa was born with the ability to create snow and ice from her fingertips, but after accidentally wounding her sister and best friend, Anna, she is convinced to hide her powers beneath thick gloves and a frosty veneer of detachment. That strategy is bad for sororal bonding but good for the safety of the kingdom, until the demands of a glove-free and highly emotive coronation day release a literal and metaphorical storm. Details get somewhat hazy after that, with various characters going up and down the mountain that overlooks the sisters’ home of Arendelle, but there’s a talking snowman, an affable reindeer and various degrees of cold and winter clothing involved. The animated version of the story is focused on Elsa, whose platinum fishtail braid adorns lunchboxes the world over. But the stage version is much more centred on Anna, a kindhearted goofball played with true joy and charm by Courtney Monsma. Her singing is more than up to the task of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez’s music, with a voice that’s Broadway-r

Once is a wildly popular musical film that won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and had a soundtrack that was nominated for a Grammy. The stage musical, based on the film and sharing its soundtrack, went on to pick up more awards: the Olivier Award, Drama Desk awards and Tony Awards. Once, it seems, is almost closer to being an EGOT than Elton John or Bette Midler. Now, you can soak up that award-winning, stellar songwriting with Darlinghurst Theatre Company's new iteration, coming to Melbourne's Comedy Theatre from September 17 to October 3. Once The Musical is based on the film written by John Carney with book by Enda Walsh. Music and lyrics are by the film's famously non-actor protagonists Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. This production harnesses the film's solid baseline with additional magic added by director Richard Carroll and with musical direction from Victoria Falconer. Once The Musical is also peppered with dance sequences from the local staging of Hamilton's director Amy Campbell. If you're unfamiliar, Once follows the journey of a struggling busker who encounters a gifted Czech pianist and they embark on a will-they, won't-they songwriting adventure. The two literally make beautiful music together while surfing a strong romantic undertow as they go. The roles of 'Guy' and 'Girl', originated by Hansard and Irglová are played on stage by Aussie musical theatre legends Toby Francis and Stefanie Caccamo. Prepare to fall in love with the songs all over again

Update 02/09/2021: Due to Victoria's sixth lockdown, performances of Moulin Rouge! The Musical from August 13 to October 3 have been cancelled. If you hold tickets for these performances you will be contacted regarding a refund. The show plans to open as soon as possible. Do you believe in freedom, beauty, truth and love? Yes? Good. A spectacular stage version of Moulin Rouge! wings its way to the Regent Theatre this winter for its Australian premiere.  The stage version is closely based on the film and features (almost) all of the songs you know and love, including 'Lady Marmalade', 'Come What May', 'Your Song' and a whole new version of the 'Elephant Love Medley'. There are also a whole bunch of songs in there that were released in the years following the film's 2001 release date (for example, Katy Perry's 'Firework' is in place of 'One Day I'll Fly Away'). The show has been getting rave reviews. Time Out New York said, in a four-star review: "Moulin Rouge! may turn out to be the jukebox musical to end all jukebox musicals – if only because, among its particular type of jukebox musical at least, it’s hard to imagine how it can be topped." Alongside the choreography, direction and impressive song list, critics have been particularly dazzled by the set design, which has transformed Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre into a slice of Paris at the turn of the century. It's set to do the same at the Regent. The local prodution has now announced its cast, which is led by Alinta Chid

Update 15/06/21: Friends! The Musical Parody has rescheduled its Melbourne season to November 23 - December 12 following Victoria's fourth lockdown. Ticket holders will be contacted. If it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, you might want to consider spending some time with your favourite sextet. If you've recently binged every episode of Friends but are still craving some nourishment from Central Perk, here's the perfect opportunity. This musical parody of one of the world's favourite sitcoms is coming to Melbourne after playing for almost a year in New York, around the US an then being delayed more than a year due to the events of 2020 (and 2021). All your favourite twenty-somethings will be on stage, as they try to negotiate life, love and work in New York in the 1990s.  The question on everybody's lips of course is who's playing who: who will capture the neuroticism of Ross, the quirkiness of Phoebe or the unyielding sarcasm of Chandler? Friends! The Musical Parody has now announced its cast which features Belinda Jenkin as Phoebe, Stefanie Jones as Monica, Sarah Krndija as Rachel, Joseph Spanti as Joey, Tyran Stig as Ross and Rowan Witt as Chandler.  The musical was penned by Bob and Tobly McSmith, who have a long track record of lovingly spoofing '90s TV shows, recreating TV's most memorable moments and creating soundtracks that bring something new to the stories we already know and love. And it goes without saying, but this is an unauthoris

It's official: Hamilton is coming to Melbourne in 2022. The juggernaut musical has confirmed it will play at Melbourne's Her Majesty's Theatre from March 16 2022, following its 2021 Australian premiere in Sydney. For those unfamiliar with the hit show, Hamilton takes the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and turns it into a banging musical underpinned by an incredibly catchy score of music spanning hip hop, jazz and rap.  With the book, lyrics and music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who, to top it off, also starred as Alexander Hamilton in the original production), the show debuted on Broadway in 2015, before premiering in Australia in Sydney in March 2021 to rave reviews (you can read our five-star review here). The Australian cast features Jason Arrow as the titular Alexander Hamilton, Chloé Zuel as Eliza Hamilton, Lyndon Watts as Aaron Burr, Akina Edmonds as Angelica Schuyler, Matu Ngaropo as George Washington, Victory Ndukwe as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Shaka Cook as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, Marty Alix as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton, Elandrah Eramiha as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds and Brent Hill as King George III. Find out more about the cast by reading our interviews with Lyndon Watts and Victory Ndukwe. Hamilton's original US producer, Jeffrey Seller, said: "I am grateful that so many Australians have embraced Hamilton since its Sydney premiere in March. The entire creative team and I are thrilled that Hamilton will call Melb