Things to do in Melbourne in May

At long last Melbourne muggles will be able to get a glimpse inside JK Rowling's Wizarding World with their own two eyes: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is headed to the Princess Theatre. After becoming the highest selling play on both Broadway and the West End, Melbourne is the third stop on the Hogwarts Express. The official opening is set for February 23, 2019, but there'll be preview performance from January 16. The preview schedule will be announced soon. If you don't know a lot about the play, then here's the lowdown: it's a sequel to the series, based on a story written by Rowling herself and adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne. It's presented in two parts, which you can watch on the same day or across two consecutive evenings. We won't give too much away about the plot, but audiences can expect to find the gang 19 years on from the Battle of Hogwarts. While Harry himself grapples with the troubles of his past, his son Albus deals with living in the shadow of his famous father. The play won a record-breaking nine Olivier Awards in London and six Tony Awards in New York. It's also received rave reviews from just about every major publication in both cities. Time Out New York said: "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is haunted by death and pain; it is often suspenseful and sometimes downright frightening. Yet amid the cinematic tumult and dazzle of the densely action-packed plot, Thorne and Tiffany carve out quiet scenes of intimacy and tenderness. Great car

Muriel moved from Porpoise Spit to the big lights of Sydney for her world premiere in November 2017 and now she's finally headed to Melbourne's Her Majesty's Theatre from March 2019, before heading back to Sydney in June. The musical was adapted for the stage by PJ Hogan, who wrote and directed the original 1994 film starring Toni Collette. It features an original, Helpmann Award-winning score by Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall, which Time Out Sydney described as "irresistible" (seriously, we challenge you to leave without humming one of the tunes). But ABBA fans needn't worry about the prospect of an original score – the Swedish supergroup's songs and spirit are threaded through the whole show. Casting is still underway for the upcoming tour. Maggie McKenna, who played Muriel in the original Sydney production, has recently scored a role in the US tour of Dear Evan Hansen. She won't be reprising her role, but other actors are expected to return. The original production of Muriel's Wedding The Musical was produced by Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures, who were behind the Strictly Ballroom and King Kong musicals. We fell head over hells in love with the show when it premiered and we're willing to bet Melbourne will too. To put it simply, it's the best Australian musical to premiere in years. It's distinctively homegrown but with plenty of flair and great laughs. And it's directed by Simon Phillips, who did Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and just about every ot

At long last Melbourne muggles will be able to get a glimpse inside JK Rowling's Wizarding World with their own two eyes: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is headed to the Princess Theatre. After becoming the highest selling play on both Broadway and the West End, Melbourne is the third stop on the Hogwarts Express. The official opening is set for February 23, 2019, but there'll be preview performance from January 16. The preview schedule will be announced soon. If you don't know a lot about the play, then here's the lowdown: it's a sequel to the series, based on a story written by Rowling herself and adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne. It's presented in two parts, which you can watch on the same day or across two consecutive evenings. We won't give too much away about the plot, but audiences can expect to find the gang 19 years on from the Battle of Hogwarts. While Harry himself grapples with the troubles of his past, his son Albus deals with living in the shadow of his famous father. The play won a record-breaking nine Olivier Awards in London and six Tony Awards in New York. It's also received rave reviews from just about every major publication in both cities. Time Out New York said: "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is haunted by death and pain; it is often suspenseful and sometimes downright frightening. Yet amid the cinematic tumult and dazzle of the densely action-packed plot, Thorne and Tiffany carve out quiet scenes of intimacy and tenderness. Great car

Muriel moved from Porpoise Spit to the big lights of Sydney for her world premiere in November 2017 and now she's finally headed to Melbourne's Her Majesty's Theatre from March 2019, before heading back to Sydney in June. The musical was adapted for the stage by PJ Hogan, who wrote and directed the original 1994 film starring Toni Collette. It features an original, Helpmann Award-winning score by Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall, which Time Out Sydney described as "irresistible" (seriously, we challenge you to leave without humming one of the tunes). But ABBA fans needn't worry about the prospect of an original score – the Swedish supergroup's songs and spirit are threaded through the whole show. Casting is still underway for the upcoming tour. Maggie McKenna, who played Muriel in the original Sydney production, has recently scored a role in the US tour of Dear Evan Hansen. She won't be reprising her role, but other actors are expected to return. The original production of Muriel's Wedding The Musical was produced by Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures, who were behind the Strictly Ballroom and King Kong musicals. We fell head over hells in love with the show when it premiered and we're willing to bet Melbourne will too. To put it simply, it's the best Australian musical to premiere in years. It's distinctively homegrown but with plenty of flair and great laughs. And it's directed by Simon Phillips, who did Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and just about every ot

This largely traditional production by noted Scottish director David McVicar will make its Melbourne debut in 2019, with a trio of brilliant Australian leading ladies: Jane Ede as Fiordiligi, Anna Dowsley as Dorabella and Taryn Fiebig as Despina. Canadian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson makes her Australian debut with this Opera Australia staging of Mozart's much loved comedy all about two men taking a bet on their wives' fidelity. No, it's not the most progressive of works. See what else is in Opera Australia's 2019 season.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Frida Kahlo and Vincent van Gogh met? You can see that scenario play out in Damiano Michieletto's production of Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims, the centrepiece of Opera Australia's 2019 Melbourne season and the first ever production of the opera to be staged in Australia. The opera itself has a relatively simple plot about a group of VIPs travelling to the coronation of the French King Charles X, but Michieletto's production, which is headed to the Metropolitan Opera in New York after Australia, takes place in a gallery where famous artworks burst out of their frames and interact with one another. Daniel Smith will conduct a predominately Australian cast with singers including Lorina Gore, Julie Lea Goodwin, Warwick Fyfe, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and newcomer Shanul Sharma. See what else is in Opera Australia's 2019 season.

Elijah Moshinsky's La Dolce Vita-inspired production is one of Opera Australia’s most enduring (in fact, it's outlasted another Rigoletto production that's fallen out of the repertoire), thanks to its spectacular revolving set and ultra glam costumes. It’s still a perfect introduction to the world of opera. Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat will sing the title role and rising Australian star Stacey Alleaume will make her role debut as Gilda. Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan will play the Duke, singing one of Verdi's most famous tunes, ‘La donna è mobile’ (which you may know from a pasta sauce ad). Verdi specialist Andrea Licata is conducting. See what else is in Opera Australia's 2019 season.

This play about two angry young teens is Melbourne Theatre Company’s families and education show for the year. It’s by the prolific Australian writer Finegan Kruckemeyer, who is one of the country’s strongest advocates for theatre for young people, and will be directed by Prue Clark with Henry Tseng (Jasper Jones) in the cast.

Gavin Quinn is one of the directors of Irish company Pan Pan and is coming to Melbourne to work with an ensemble of locals to create a new piece of theatre. The performers are all comedy experts – Aljin Abella, Ash Flanders, Mish Grigor, Nicola Gunn, Marcus McKenzie – so you can expect plenty of laughs as they play members of a cult seeking personal perfection. It’s a work being devised by the whole cast, so there should be plenty of chaos on stage.

Long before Hugh Jackman donned a top hat and tails, the story of circus innovator and entertainment impresario PT Barnum was brought to life on stage in a musical. Barnum premiered on Broadway in 1980 (starring Jim Dale and Glenn Close) and had a string of successful productions around the world in the decades following. Now it's headed back to Melbourne in a new production that's promising to bring the spirit of the big top to the Comedy Theatre, melding circus with showstopping musical numbers, penned by Sweet Charity composer Cy Coleman. (Sorry, the show does not feature 'This is Me'.) In the title role is Todd McKenney, who's no stranger to sharing roles with Jackman – he originated the role of Peter Allen in homegrown musical The Boy from Oz before Jackman took the show to Broadway. He's joined by musical theatre star Rachael Beck, who'll play his wife, Charity. The show will be directed by Tyran Parke, who'll bring all of Barnum's most famous wonders to life – including the world's oldest woman; the magnificent elephant, Jumbo; and Swedish nightingale, Jenny Lind – with the help of the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA).

Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet has come out on top in just about every poll of Australia’s favourite books since its release. Some of us probably even love the Pickles and the Lambs – the two families at the centre of this saga, sharing a ramshackle house in Perth for 20 years – more than we love our own families. The book has been turned into a TV series, an opera and even a radio play. But it’s been almost two decades since Nick Enright and Justin Monjo’s acclaimed stage version of the novel has been seen in Melbourne. And there’s one clear reason why – it’s a huge undertaking for any theatre company and runs to about five hours. But Malthouse Theatre’s artistic director Matthew Lutton has been on a crusade in the last few years of bringing Australia’s classic stories to the stage with fresh eyes. And you can’t do that without bringing Cloudstreet back to life. “If we take our own culture seriously then we should take our stories seriously,” Lutton says. “I think that’s what informs us in thinking about Cloudstreet rather than doing a massive cycle of the Greeks or Shakespeare.” We know what you’re thinking: five hours of theatre sounds like a tough slog. But if you can do five hours of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, you can do five hours at Malthouse. On certain nights, the company will be performing the whole thing back-to-back, with a dinner break in the middle. But if you’re going to be a wuss and skip the marathon, you can see the two separate parts on different ni

Louis Nowra’s Così, telling the story of a young director who stages an opera starring the patients of a mental health facility, is one of the best known Australian plays of all time. But it’s somehow never had a production at a state theatre company. Melbourne Theatre Company is bringing it to the mainstage with a little help from co-producer Sydney Theatre Company and a cast led by Cleverman's Hunter Page-Lochard as Lewis, as well as Esther Hannaford, Katherine Tonkin and Rahel Romahn. MTC's associate director Sarah Goodes is helming the dark comedy.

This largely traditional production by noted Scottish director David McVicar will make its Melbourne debut in 2019, with a trio of brilliant Australian leading ladies: Jane Ede as Fiordiligi, Anna Dowsley as Dorabella and Taryn Fiebig as Despina. Canadian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson makes her Australian debut with this Opera Australia staging of Mozart's much loved comedy all about two men taking a bet on their wives' fidelity. No, it's not the most progressive of works. See what else is in Opera Australia's 2019 season.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Frida Kahlo and Vincent van Gogh met? You can see that scenario play out in Damiano Michieletto's production of Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims, the centrepiece of Opera Australia's 2019 Melbourne season and the first ever production of the opera to be staged in Australia. The opera itself has a relatively simple plot about a group of VIPs travelling to the coronation of the French King Charles X, but Michieletto's production, which is headed to the Metropolitan Opera in New York after Australia, takes place in a gallery where famous artworks burst out of their frames and interact with one another. Daniel Smith will conduct a predominately Australian cast with singers including Lorina Gore, Julie Lea Goodwin, Warwick Fyfe, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and newcomer Shanul Sharma. See what else is in Opera Australia's 2019 season.

Elijah Moshinsky's La Dolce Vita-inspired production is one of Opera Australia’s most enduring (in fact, it's outlasted another Rigoletto production that's fallen out of the repertoire), thanks to its spectacular revolving set and ultra glam costumes. It’s still a perfect introduction to the world of opera. Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat will sing the title role and rising Australian star Stacey Alleaume will make her role debut as Gilda. Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan will play the Duke, singing one of Verdi's most famous tunes, ‘La donna è mobile’ (which you may know from a pasta sauce ad). Verdi specialist Andrea Licata is conducting. See what else is in Opera Australia's 2019 season.

The Melbourne's longest running and most successful improv comedy night, the Big Hoo Haa, is improvised comedy at its rawest: minimal pretension, audience participation and maximum laughter. Anything could happen! Well, not anything. Scripted comedy, for example. That definitely won't happen.

A Thursday night staple in Melbourne, comedy at the European Bier Cafe is still going strong. They’ve featured all the big names, including Sarah Silverman, Adam Hills, Jimeoin, Dave Hughes, Stephen K Amos, Wil Anderson and heaps more, plus all the best Melbourne and interstate comedians there are. It's a guaranteed high-quality night of laughs for just $12; what more could you want?

Every Tuesday Lido Cinema's intimate Jazz Room hosts a free night of established and rising stand-up stars. Some big Melbourne names have graced the stage in recent months including Dave Thornton, Danielle Walker (pictured above), Corey White and Laura Davis.

It's mostly rising stars who take the stage each Sunday night at Club Voltaire, but big names also check in from time to time, including Dave Thornton, Greg Larsen, Anne Edmonds and Damien Power.

Imperial Comedy is named as such not because of a policy of expansion via colonisation, but after the hotel in which it is housed. The comedy is more the descriptive here as every Tuesday night a fleet of Melbourne's best comedy talent set foot on the stage and plant their flag of foolery. With previous guests including Celia Pacquola, Rove McManus, Adam Hills, Claire Hooper and Wil Anderson, this comedy night is one of the best in Melbourne. Tickets (online or at the door) are $10.

If you know Fitzroy's Catfish, you'll know that this little bar does a mean Philly cheesesteak and they sure know a good craft beer when they see one, but they also run comedy nights every Tuesday. Comedians including Nazeem Hussain, Claire Hooper, Joel Creasey, Tom Gleeson and Tommy Little have all graced the Catfish Comedy stage, so order a cheesy steak sanga on Tuesday nights and pull up a chair, laughs from the best comedic talents in town are guaranteed.