Things to do in Melbourne this week

Bernie Dieter and her band of legendary misfits are descending upon Melbourne once again, to deliver a whole month of debaucherous fun and frivolity. Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, starring the legendary queen of Weimar punk described as an "electrifying cross between Lady Gaga, Marlene Dietrich and Frank-N-Futer in sequins", will take over North Melbourne's historic Meat Market from April 3 to May 11. Audiences can expect riotous original songs, immense vocal talent and a jaw-dropping line-up of contortionists, sword swallowers, fire breathers and aerialists. For more info and to secure your tickets, head to the website. Read on for our five-star review of Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett from the 2022 Melbourne Fringe Festival. *** It’s easy to see why Dieter’s award-winning show has garnered such esteem since touching down in Australia earlier this year. Less than two minutes in and our M.C., Bernie has thrown off her tartan dress to reveal glittery tights and feather-tipped shoulder pads. Soon after, she’s straddling an audience member and enlisting the help of two others – lovingly named ‘Shaven Haven’ and ‘Silver Fox’ – to carry her back to the stage in the splits. The fourth wall is not so much brought down, as elegantly side-stepped by her sky-high stiletto heel. All the while, Bernie’s quick-wit and dirty mouth find comedic beats in the unlikeliest – or, as it were, the most unwilling – of audience members. "Tonight is about letting loose, letting go, and getting a...

May the 4th is a special date for any Star Wars fan, but this year it'll be one to remember. A brand-new Lego Star Wars exhibition is making its world premiere, and it won't be in a galaxy far, far away but right here in Melbourne.  Lego Star Wars: the Exhibition at Melbourne Museum comes from revered Lego genius Ryan 'Brickman' McNaught, who's back with his latest mind-boggling project of massive Star Wars brick creations – some standing at a whopping four metres tall.  There'll be Lego replicas of many of the iconic characters, fan favourite scenes, spacecraft and more, from both the classic films and newer releases. Plus, the exhibition will include interactive brick-based activities inclusive of all ages.  While there's still some time to wait for the exhibition opening, building has already begun, and it's expected it'll take more than 25,000 hours to finish and use a wild 8 million Lego bricks. One of the most monumental creations is a three-metre-tall red X-wing spacecraft, made of an astonishing 64,759 bricks, taking 382 hours to build.  "Fans will be blown away by the scale of the experience," Brickman says. "Building these iconic scenes and characters in Lego Star Wars form is an extremely complex task – taking the humble Lego brick and using it by the millions to translate into Star Wars builds and models at an epic scale the world has never seen before.  "My team and I are super excited to launch this mind-blowing experience right here in Melbourne. My inner...

Despite the Holocaust occurring halfway across the globe 80 years ago, its lessons continue to be crucially important to Australians today. Melbourne Holocaust Museum’s Hidden: Seven Children Saved exhibition is focused on educating Melburnians on the Holocaust experiences of seven (now-local) children, to inspire greater understanding of these vital lessons. Interactive displays show visitors what it would have been like for a child to hide in such a volatile time, and how acts of kindness from the community made all the difference. Replica rooms, mini towns, soundscapes, moving images and projections make it an interesting and educational display for families (with kids ten years plus) to visit during the school holidays. The immersive storytelling of the exhibition is so powerful that it won the esteemed Victorian Museums and Galleries Award and the Social Impact Award from the Australian Museums and Galleries Association in 2024. You can find the Melbourne Holocaust Museum in the vibrant suburb of Elsternwick, just 15 minutes from Flinders Street Station. Child and concession tickets are just $10, and adults $12. Book yours here.

Get your wands at the ready, because Melbourne is set to play host to the Australian premiere of Harry Potter: The Exhibition. This behind-the-scenes extravaganza will leave Potterheads spellbound, and features interactive recreations of famous film scenes, props and costumes from the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a multimedia experience featuring the Whomping Willow, dementors, the Marauder's Map and the chance to conjure a Patronus charm. Budding witches and wizards will be sorted into Hogwarts houses and earn points as they explore the exhibition – it could be through a potions class, predicting the future à la Professor Trelawney in Divination or defeating a boggart in Defence Against the Dark Arts. There will also be opportunities to practice spell casting and Quidditch skills, plus win golden snitch medallions to become a model student. Each experience comes with plenty of photo ops and, of course, magical interactive moments. There's even a recreation of the Great Hall for visitors to enjoy in all its splendour, complete with floating candles.  This official Harry Potter exhibition is part of a global tour, previously selling out in cities like Boston and Madrid. It will be apparating into Melbourne on April 4, with tickets on sale now. You can find out more about this enchanting experience via the website.  Looking for more family-friendly things to do? Here's our guide to the best activities for kids in Melbourne. 

Wednesday nights in Melbourne are known for one thing and one thing only: Queen Victoria Market’s legendary Night Market. With the summer night market officially finished for the season, Queen Vic has announced it will be bringing back its insanely popular Asian night market to tide you over until the warmer months return. The Hawker 88 Night Market brings Asian tastes, sights and sounds to Queen Vic’s sheds. Running every Wednesday night from April 9 until May 7, a tasty variety of stalls and trucks will be set up to sell authentic street food direct from China, India, Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia and Japan. While the full line-up of more than 20 vendors is yet to be announced, some of the tasty eats (and drinks!) you can expect include Filipino barbecue bowls, Singapore noodles, crispy rice sandwiches, frozen watermelon shochu cocktails and lots and lots of bubble bubble tea. If you're down for a curry eating competition, don't miss Bollywood Night! Across the five-week stint there will also be lion dances, K-pop crew performances, live bands, martial arts demonstrations, taiko drumming, Squid Game-inspired DJ sets and a traditional Chinese costume parade. For more info on the event, check out the website. Craving a bargain feed? These are the 50 best cheap eats in Melbourne. Thirsty? Hit up Melbourne's 50 best bars.

In 1984, director Trevor Nunn was doing press for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express when he offered the perfect maxim for a Webber fan: “Here is my money. Hit me with the experience.” Arguably none of Webber’s shows have hit harder than his 1971 rock-opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, which arrives at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre after a much-lauded run in Sydney. First revived at London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2016 for the show’s fiftieth anniversary, it’s been restaged in Australia by director Timothy Sheader. Sheader favours a ‘more is more’ approach, leaning into every ‘Webber-ism’ that made the show a success in the first place: rock'n'roll maximalism, near-inhuman vocal lines, emotional spectacle. No crucifix is too glittery or top note too loud. Megawatt vocals and an electric ensemble cast make it a cut above the other Webber revivals we’ve seen in the last couple years. Yet its heavy-handed approach also exposes the limits of spectacle for spectacle’s sake, even when it comes to Webber. It’s a dazzling experience, but ultimately soulless.  The curtain rises on a disassembled rock concert: amps, concert speaker boxes and microphone stands peppered around a set of towering balustrades, exposed steel beams and grating that hide the band. Set and costume Designer Tom Scutt puts us somewhere between Rent’s gritty urbanism and the steampunk simplicity of Hadestown. Meanwhile, lighting designer Lee Curran adds a splash of Mad Max to things by throwing dirty...

Arrive at the corner of Flinders Lane and Hosier Lane on pretty much any day of the week and you’ll run into a throng of tourists jostling to get ‘the shot’ of Melbourne’s ever-evolving street art hotspot. No two visits to this spray can alley are ever the same, but from December 12 there’ll be another more stable artistic delight to enjoy on the famous corner. To those in the know, Sandra Powell and Andrew King have become shining lights of the Aussie street art scene, known for supporting up-and-coming artists through acquisitions for their extensive private collection 15 years in the making.  Street art legend Rone says the pair, often known as ‘Sandrew’, have been “champions of Melbourne’s street art community for over a decade”. Now, they’re drawing on their personal collection to create a ripper of a free exhibition, running from December 12 until May 2025 at 167 Flinders Lane (right on the aforementioned iconic corner).  The Outsiders Melbourne will feature more than 100 works from Sandrew’s collection, including art never before displayed in public. Expect gems from local names like Rone, Adnate, Sofles, Vexta, Fintan Magee, Meggs, Kaff-eine and more.  On the international side, feast your eyes on art from Barry McGee, Vhils, Swoon, Invader, Shepard Fairey, Ron English, Elle and an entire room dedicated to Banksy himself. Fans of the mystery artist will be pleased to know that this exhibition will also see his new work ‘Firework’ on display in Australia for the...

Is it getting hot in here? Come on Melbourne, it’s time to head way down, to Hadestown. Seen by 3 million, streamed by more than 350 million and adored by fans all around the world – the acclaimed West End and Broadway musical phenomenon Hadestown will make its Melbourne premiere at Her Majesty's Theatre in May 2025, after having its Australian debut at Theatre Royal Sydney in February.  For the uninitiated, the gist is this: written by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, Hadestown is a genre-defying musical adaption of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in a dystopian steampunk-esque underworld, set to an evocative score that blends New Orleans-style jazz and blues with modern American folk music – with a live brass band on stage, to boot. The show won eight Tony Awards when it opened in 2019, including Best Musical, and is still playing to packed houses five years later. Hadestown already has a dedicated fandom around the world and here in Australia, and it has an edge that will also appeal to everyone who isn’t already a die-hard musical theatre fan.  The Melbourne premiere of this sensational musical is presented by Jones Theatrical Group and Opera Australia. Jones Theatrical Group's Susan Jones says Melbourne audiences "embrace musicals like no other city".  "In return, musicals delight in performing here due to the rousing receptions and support that they receive. Hadestown will be no exception. Creator and writer Anaïs Mitchell is such an...

Venture out as night falls and immerse yourself in the many wonders of our world at Melbourne Museum, welcoming those of us with nocturnal tendencies after dark. The museum will open its doors after closing time for Nocturnal: Museum After Dark, a series of exclusive adults-only evenings that returns in 2025, held on the second Thursday of each month. Explore the museum's major feature exhibitions as well as the permnanet ones, and be enlightened by tours, curator talks and trivia. Once you've satisfied your curiosity, enjoy a bev, play drag bingo and have a boogie with some local DJ favourites soundtracking the night. Each monthly event has a different theme and activities, so there's always something new to discover. Highlights include a special Valentine's Day event, a collab with Melbourne International Comedy Festival, a NAIDOC Week event, plus much more.  Tickets are $32 for adults, $30 for concession or $27 for museum members. To find out more about the Nocturnal event series or to buy tickets, head to the Melbourne Museum website. Want to explore more exhibitions? Take a look at our list of the best ones in Melbourne this month. 

Melbourne’s cutting edge digital art gallery, the Lume, is bringing back its beloved opening exhibition for a summer season, after breaking attendance records in 2021. Last time, the immersive experience attracted a whopping 1.8 million visitors between Australia and New Zealand, making it the region’s most visited ticketed cultural event.  Van Gogh made kaleidoscopic waves through the city when it served as the first-ever exhibition at the digital gallery, re-shaping the way Melburnians experience art. The experience reimagines the now-famous painter's works as projections that completely ensconce you in an 11-metre tall gallery, allowing you to feel like you're in van Gogh's bedroom or under that famous starry night. A mirrored infinity room filled with countless sunflowers also features, which is particularly Instagrammable.  For the return season, the Lume is adding a brand-new virtual reality experience called Finding Vincent. Slip on a headset and learn more about van Gogh’s life, alongside friends or companions.  Within the Lume, visitors can experience art all around them. Instead of looking at paintings on walls or sculptures on plinths, art is projected onto the walls to make you feel like you've stepped inside the paintings themselves. Scents and sounds are also pumped into the gallery to add to the experience.  If you get peckish you can also drop into Terrace Café 1888 where you can snack on delights inspired by both van Gogh's work in France and his Dutch...