Stephen A Russell

Has movie music ever been better? With legends like John Williams and Howard Shore still at work, Hans Zimmer at the peaks of his powers, and the likes of Jonny Greenwood, AR Rahman, Mica Levi, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross knocking it out of the park, the modern film score is a Dolby Atmos-enhancing feast of modernist compositions, lush orchestral classicism and atmospheric soundscapes.What better time, then, to celebrate this art form within an art form – with a few iconic soundtracks thrown in – and pay tribute to the musicians who’ve given our favourite movies (and, to be fair, some stinkers) earworm-laden accompaniment? Of course, narrowing it all down to a mere 100 is tough. We’ve prioritised music written for the screen, but worthy contenders still missed out, including Dimitri Tiomkin’s era-defining score for It’s a Wonderful Life and Elton John’s hummable tunes for The Lion King.To help do the narrowing down, we’ve recruited iconic movie composers, directors and broadcasters like Philip Glass, Carter Burwell, Max Richter, Anne Dudley, AR Rahman, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Edgar Wright and Mark Kermode to pick their favourites. Happy listening!Recommended: 🔥 The 100 best movies of all time.🪩 The 50 best uses of songs in movies.💃 The greatest musical movies ever made.

Last year, a genre usually filled with shambling zombies and sentient mounds of carnivorous goo birthed leftfield successes like M3GAN and Skinamarink, low-budget horror hits that elbowed their way to viral status, even amid the giddy fluorescence of Barbie and prestige awardsiness of Oppenheimer.  By contrast, this year’s slate of scares probably won’t catch too many people sleeping. 2024 is loaded with genre prequels, sequels and spin-offs, from MaXXXine, the third instalment of Ti West’s cult-fave franchise, to the alien-invasion terror of A Quiet Place: Day One, to the extremely-long-awaited Beetlejuice 2. But given that horror is historically a genre of small expectations and big surprises, there’s bound to be something that pops up to frighten the bejeepers out of us when we least expect it. Here’s the best of what’s freaked us out so far.  🎃 The 100 best horror films ever made 😱 The scariest movies based on a true story 💀 The best horror movies of 2023

Television used to be considered one of the lowest forms of entertainment. It was derided as ‘the idiot box’ and ‘the boob tube’. Edward R Murrow referred to it as ‘the opiate of the masses’, and the phrase ‘I don’t even own a TV’ was considered a major bragging right. And for a long time, it was hard to say that television’s poor reputation was undeserved.  A lot has changed. Television is now the dominant medium in basically all of entertainment, to the degree that the only thing separating movies and TV is the screen you’re watching on. Now, if you don’t own a television – or a laptop or a tablet or a phone – you’re basically left out of the cultural conversation completely. The shift in perception is widely credited to the arrival of The Sopranos, which completely reinvented the notion of what a TV show could do. But that doesn’t mean everything that came before is primordial slurry. While this list of the greatest TV shows ever is dominated by 21st century programs, there are many shows that deserve credit for laying the groundwork for this current golden age. Chiseling them down to a neat top 100 is difficult, so we elected to leave off talk shows, variety shows and sketch comedy, focusing on scripted, episodic dramas, comedies and miniseries.  So don’t touch that dial – these are the greatest TV shows of all-time. Recommended: 📺 The best TV and streaming shows of 2023 (so far)🔥The 100 greatest movies of all-time🎬The most bingeable series on Netflix

From musicals based on much-loved and seriously messed up kids’ TV shows to gothic horror reimagined via icons returning to the stage after decades away, this year in theatre is shaping up to be one of the strongest we’ve seen in quite some time.Here are a few shows we know you’ll want to catch before it’s too late to say you were there. RECOMMENDED: Culture vultures, come and get your fix at these top Australian art galleries. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Australia newsletter for more news, travel inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. 

Whether you favour sculpture, painting, photography or textiles, there’s something for everyone spread across Australia’s biggest art exhibitions in 2024. Here are just a few of our favourites that have us booking flights in eager anticipation. RECOMMENDED: The best musical and theatre shows to see in Australia in 2024. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Australia newsletter for more news, travel inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. 

There was a point, early in 2023, when comedian Claire Hooper was considering chucking in the chuckle-serving and finding a new gig. “It’s an odd thing to keep doing, stand-up comedy,” she says. “It really feels like a career where 20 years should be enough to get it out of your system.” It was the ever-supportive and sorely missed Cal Wilson, the beloved colleague, friend and mentor to so many who tragically passed away late last year, who convinced her to stay. “She was quite insistent that I shouldn’t,” Hooper says during a deeply generous chat about her first Melbourne International Comedy Festival without Wilson around. “I don’t know if that’s because she believed in me, or because she just wanted to have our pre-show hugs.”Hooper, like many of her colleagues, shares Wilson’s passionately held belief in sending the elevator down. On top of presenting her latest show, So Proud, and live podcast, I’m The Worst, Hooper has a hand in guiding five shows by emerging comedians Laurence Driscoll, Grace Zhang, Lauren Edwards, Nicolette Minster and Bron Lewis. Photograph: SuppliedClaire Hooper with Grace Zhang and Nicolette Minster Wilson unfailingly helped work up the material of emerging comedians and old hands alike. Hooper hopes to do so too, even if it means juggling multiple tech runs in one day, all in different venues, plus popping up in the opening night gala.  “It feels like a really important part of the industry, because I was helped a lot when I started out, so it f

Scratch beneath the surface of our shiny bright harbourside city and you'll soon realise that even the most gleaming facades hide deep, dark secrets that'll make you eep! *evil laugh* Whahahahahahaaaaa. Join us – if you dare – on an odyssey through the past. Here are eight of the most spooktacularly fascinating historic stories about Sydney. The horrors of the Sidney Slaughter House When Lachlan Macquarie began his term as Governor of NSW in 1810, one of his first goals was to develop a new hospital for Sydney. But the British government refused to fund major public works in the colony, so he struck a deal with rum merchants that allowed them to import 45,000 gallons of the spirit in exchange for them building the ‘Rum Hospital’ (now The Mint). Unfortunately, it became infamous for rudimentary blood-letting practices and gruesome experimental treatments. Overcrowded and with poor ventilation, dysentery was also rife. Hence, the ‘Sidney Slaughter House’ slur stuck. The bodies buried beneath Town Hall Station Established by Governor Arthur Phillip and the reverend Richard Johnson in 1792 and expanded by old mate Macquarie in 1812, the Old Sydney Cemetery used to be on the edge of town. These days, it’s right under our feet, every time you pull into Town Hall Station. Technically they exhumed and moved most the rotting residents when a new burial ground was set aside on Brickfield Hill, ­but bones were still popping up as late as 2007. The mass grave of the Dunbar Shipwreck Und

Oh, we are so back. It took a few years, but 2023 felt like the year that Hollywood finally found its footing post-pandemic – which is ironic, considering Hollywood also shut down for large parts of the year. Before all the strikes hit, though, there were indications that the movie industry was coming back to life. There was the #Barbenheimer phenomenon, of course, which helped power the domestic box office to its strongest overall numbers since 2019. But in terms of pure moviemaking, the year was particularly strong. Martin Scorsese dropped another masterpiece, while Across the Spider-Verse made comic-book movies fresh again (at least until Madam Web, anyway). Past Lives made audiences swoon, while small-time charmers like Theater Camp, Scrapper and Rye Lane reasserted the vitality of indie filmmaking. And don’t forget the one about the dancing killer doll! Overall, it was a great year for movies – even the Oscars were enjoyable. But what movies were the greatest? Here are our picks. RECOMMENDED: 🫶 The best movies of 2024 (so far)📺 The best TV and streaming shows of 2023🎥 The 100 greatest movies ever made

2023 was a big year for little horror movies. Sure, the most dominant films of the year were full of vibrant colours, cheery vibes and decades-old IP. But if the talk around the popcorn machine wasn’t about Barbie or The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it was often about some small, freaky nightmare whose budget wouldn’t cover the catering on those other blockbusters. Like M3GAN, the year’s first mega-memed movie about a doll come to life. Or Skinamarink, another viral phenomenon borne from the world’s shared childhood nightmares. Or Evil Dead Rise, the latest reboot of the splatstick franchise that somehow manages to be bloodier and more straight-up terrifying than the original. No true horror movie made much of a dent in the box office – unless you count Oppenheimer, which is certainly horrifying, but doesn’t exactly fit under the umbrella. But several scary movies insinuated themselves into the cultural conversation, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see them make their way into the regular Halloween rotation, if nothing else. Here are the 16 horror movies of last year that left us the most shaken.  RECOMMENDED:  🔪 The best horror movies and shows of 2024 (so far)💀 The 100 greatest horror films of all time🔥 The best movies of 2023 (so far)📺 The best TV shows of 2023 you need to stream

Every year, Melbourne (and beyond) is overjoyed by Midsumma Festival, a glitter-filled celebration of LGBTQIA+ pride that continues to get bigger and more beautiful – even giving our northern neighbours, all the lovers behind Mardi Gras, a run for their fancy high-heels. Opening with the huggable hullabaloo that is the Midsumma Carnival day hooray in Alexandra Gardens, there’s so much more to see and do. Carlton and Fitzroy’s fabulous thoroughfares Gertrude and Smith once again play host to Victoria’s Pride Street Party, with the official Pride March lighting up St Kilda’s Fitzroy Street. The tennis will throw a ball with the AO Glam Slam, and there are a heap of regional pride parties, too.  With so much on offer, we’ve hand-picked a few top choices, with Midsumma running from January 21 to February 11. Find out more here. Keen to party on? These are the best nightclubs and gay bars in Melbourne.

The freshly installed Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) program director Cerise Howard unveiled a remarkable program of LGBTQIA+ magnificence at a special event hosted in the Melbourne Town Hall ballroom. From gloriously OTT opening night comedy I Love You, Beksman, set in the Philippines, to closing night’s bad boyfriend drama Solo, playing out in Montreal’s drag scene, there’s so much gold to see from November 9–19.  That includes classic cuts in a retrospective sidebar that includes Ana Kokkinos’ adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas’ horny Melbourne odyssey Head On, French farce La Cage aux Folles, rebellious Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s ode to women who love football, Offside, and Al Pacino smouldering in leather in the late, great William Friedkin’s Cruising. Here are ten more top picks for the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. Love going to the cinema? Here's where to get cheap movie tickets in Melbourne.

It's lights, camera and action for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), and a stonking 267 films from 70 countries around the world awaits. Should you find yourself caught in a frenzied panic by the gargantuan program, we're here to steer you through the sea of films on offer (and that's not even getting started on the shorts, talks and virtual reality gems). Consider yourself a cinephile? Check out the best cinemas in Melbourne.

Nick White is not in the building. Well, he clearly is, but he’s currently pretending to be his alter ego, Carli Furplam, aka the dullest co-worker. She’s warming up for him and is super-keen, only she has put exactly one hour on the meter, is parked half an hour away because driving in the city is too stressful, and so she’s on a tight deadline to get the show going and get gone.  Her nervous stream of hair-tugging consciousness, replete with robotic “What’s your name and occupation?” crowd work, makes for a gently gigglish entry to this sophomore show from the architect-turned-TikTok star who racks up hundreds of thousands of views on each of his posts. She’ll be back, later on, in an aside that may or may not be a bit, because the relaxed and reliably likeable, handsomely moustachioed White makes a virtue of appearing as if everything is off the cuff. And that’s not easy to do, especially if you’re prone to social anxiety, a situation that White has harnessed to great effect in his delightfully silly show.  Rolling along amiably, much of his deftly delivered asides are aided by a well-judged eyebrow raise or a spot of imagined banter with the family pup. Teenage Dreams is a fun insight into his foundational years and the bridge into so-called adulthood, having recently settled in Melbourne.  There’s a fun bit about the cutest form of (accidental) self-harm imaginable, via a Malcolm in the Middle dream gone wrong that only gets more hilarious when his mum suggests an inexpl

He Huang has a way with nationality-deprecating humour that bites. When she first broke through on Australia’s Got Talent in 2022, she archly apologised for Covid before pointing out it wasn’t her fault. She spent the entire time locked down in Australia. When one douche shouted at her to go home to China, she replied to his racist retort, “But sir, there are no flights.”An instant hit, her three-minute taster that included a bit about Huang being a “leftover lady,”  unmarried and not dating while in her 30s, led to her debut stand-up show Bad Bitch. It scored a nomination for Best Newcomer at last year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival and won the same category at the Sydney Comedy Festival.  Huang starts her sophomore outing in the same vein, deadpan asking the assembled audience in the Chinese Museum’s Silk Room if she can record the set on her phone, only to drop, a wicked beat later, “for the Chinese government.” Apparently her schtick caused quite a ruckus back home, and not just with the bureaucrats who constantly monitor Chinese social media app Weibo. Her mother, back home in a remote and still very pro-Mao community, tells everyone that her daughter essentially lies on stage for money. Still, the gig has seen Huang graduate from the “leftovers” table at family events to her uncles’ perch, where she is expected to sink shots and gamble with aplomb.  Always teetering gleefully on the edge of bad taste, Huang’s personal revelations are incredibly sex positive a

If you watch too many horror movies, you might get a little unnerved when you enter the darkened sanctum that is ACMI’s Swinburne Studio to witness an array of (admittedly cardboard) tombstones erected on stage. If so, perhaps you’ll scream when Mexican-Venezuelan-American comedian Lara Ricote emerges from the shadows, pre-show, in a Wuthering Heights-like floaty white robe that seems destined to get bloody.  If you do, you’ll look a little silly.  Ricote may exude a certain out-there energy, but she’s no phantom of the comedy festival. Working the room with her amiably oddball charm, she asks each of our names in a near-full house, her trademark cartoonish voice (she points it out herself, and that it has nothing to do with her being deaf) making her sound, for all the world, like she’s a character from The Simpsons. Turns out her unusual attire is actually baptism garb because – very on trend for our Easter Sunday review spot – we’re about to experience a resurrection of sorts. Making like it’s an episode of UK gameshow Countdown (not to be confused with the beloved Molly Meldrum’s musical alternative), she asks us to pluck a series of vowels and consonants from our minds as Little Tiny Wet Show (baptism) begins for real with us collectively renamed (dubiously so, in our bad luck). So begins a complete life cycle that lasts the length of an almost-hour-long show involving a light dusting of audience participation, but only if you offer yourself willingly. After all, if she’

There has been a disappointing run of big name shows underserved by low-key production design of late, with both the revivals of Rocky Horror and Grease seriously lacking in the razzle-dazzle department. So why does a similarly stripped-back staging of musical maestro Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb’s Chicago pull it off, like so many of the cast’s silken mesh costume changes? Perhaps something in the bare bones of this deceptively dark comedy, set in the Windy City in the fast and loose 1920s, lends itself to simplicity? Delivered via a sassy brawl between warring molls Velma Kelly (Zoë Ventoura) and Roxie Hart (Lucy Maunder), it’s a broken bottle-sharp commentary on an America that values celebrity crime most malignant over justice and the good of heart, that cuts even deeper now we’re staring down the barrel of a possible second Trump term. That swirling, prophetic darkness lends itself well to scenic designer John Lee Beatty’s darkened stage flanked by cabaret chairs and dominated by a bandstand atop which gamely charismatic musical director James Simpson leads a brass-heavy band through John Kander’s razzmatazz music.  “Give ‘em an act with lots of flash in it, and the reaction will be passionate … What if your hinges all are rusting? What if, in fact, you’re just disgusting?”The contradiction is inherent in the work. And so when Roxie opens the show by shooting dead the beefy but not bright Fred Casely (Devon Braithwaite, a stand-out in a spectacular ensemble) because he had the

 “What’s in a name?” The idea has captivated ever since Shakespeare had Juliet ask of Romeo in his tragic tale of star-crossed lovers. Hobart’s game-changing Museum of Old and New Arts digs into what makes the biggest names in the worlds of art and design, whether it’s gleaming sports cars like a Porsche or the surrealist panache of Picasso. Revealing unseen works from founder David Walsh’s collection alongside international loans, Namedropping examines status and the power we place in certain monikers.

This year, Australian exhibitions highlight powerhouse First Nations creatives, with the Art Gallery of West Australia devoting its gallery spaces to the largest-ever collection of Kokatha and Nukunu artist Yhonnie Scarce’s ethereal glassworks. From her large-scale chandelier-like pieces evoking ghostly reminders of the long-shadow of colonisation and the lasting impact of nuclear testing in Indigenous communities to her more intimate works, this is a truly spectacular career overview of one of our most exciting living artists.

In a world in turmoil, this group show champions the vitally important role textile works have played in activism, protest and community organisation, which is timely indeed. Examining some 150 years’ worth of fabric that sends its message loud and clear, Radical Textiles begins with the pushback against machine-driven industrialisation by British tapestry weaver William Morris and spins from there through 100 artists, both local and international, with the collection also including photography, painting, sculpture and video art.

The Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art’s consistently remarkable Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art returns for its 11th illustrious outing this year, with a strong focus on First Nations artists, creatives of many diasporas and other minority backgrounds, with the emphasis on community collectives. The list of 70-plus practitioners is yet to be revealed, but you can expect showstoppers and emerging artists to sit side-by-side in a must-see show amplified by live performances, film screenings and a kids’ program.

Art is fashion in the eye-popping canon of Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, whose astounding creations have graced the shoulders of our Cate Blanchett, as well as Tilda Swinton, Lady Gaga, Björk and Beyoncé. Throwing out the rulebook of what can be done with textiles, she fuses delicately hand-stitched tradition with totally trippy new frontiers in quantum physics-inspired 3D printing. Co-curated with the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the show is accompanied by works from soundscape artist Salvador Breed, Canadian artist Philip Beesley, Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang and other like-minds.

Curated by Artspace, Sydney, this sprawling showcase of some of Australia’s most exciting contemporary artists is touring the country and is currently showing at Darwin’s Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory before alighting in Port Macquarie’s Glasshouse Regional Gallery (August 24 – November 3) and the Redcliffe Art Gallery in Queensland (November 23 – February 15, 2025). You can discover works by blockbuster sculptor Patricia Piccinini, multi-disciplinary artist Abdul Abdullah, Chinese-Australian artist Louise Zhang and so much more.

If you missed this excellent celebration of Namatjira’s work – the first Aboriginal artist to win the Archibald Prize for his fabulous depiction of proud footy player Adam Goodes – at the Art Gallery of South Australia, fear not. It’s landed at the NGA in Canberra. His satirical swipes at everything from the British royals to former President Trump are delicious, as are his empowered depictions of homegrown heroes, including Olympian Cathy Freeman.

One of Australia’s finest artists gets the expansive, culture-centred career retrospective she deserves with this sweeping look at the distinct worldview and impressive output of the late, great Anmatyerr woman. Blazing her own trail in batik, tie-die and acrylic on canvas, Kngwarray was and remains a titan of the global art scene who brought incredible personal depth to her magnificent contribution to the central desert art movement from the ’70s on. Unmissable stuff from an unforgettable force.

For the uninitiated, the arrival of Bong Joon-ho’s deliriously twisted take on upstairs-downstairs rivalry, Parasite, was a revelation. Funny and terrifying in equal measure, it also works as a sharp social satire on a class war playing out within one very fancy home. A highlight of the 2019 Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA), it went on to gangbusters at the local box office and took over Hollywood too, securing no fewer than four Oscars, including Best Picture, adding to a haul that embraced both a Golden Globe and the Palme d’Or. But the truth is Korean cinema (and twisted TV shows like Squid Game) has been on fire for decades, with this legion of new fans joining an army of devotees. And what better way to get across the must-sees than by charging headlong into this year’s exciting KOFFIA line-up? The Melbourne showcase opens with the soaring historical epic The Night Owl, blending fact with fiction to conjure up a gripping crime thriller with a dash of Game of Thrones’ political intrigue. Filmmaker An Tae-jin spins a gripping yarn set in 17th-century Joseon, the last dynastic rule of Korea, positing what really caused the suspicious death of real-life Crown Prince Sohyeon (Kim Sung-cheol). Let’s just say he did not die of ‘malaria’, with The Night Owl having fun by creating a partially blind acupuncturist (Ryu Jun-yeol) who can see clearly after dark. Witnessing the truth, he must race against time to prove it as malevolent forces move against him.   If you prefe

Like a man living in his own personal Aaron Sorkin movie, Vin Diesel threw aside his teleprompter at last week’s CineCon in Las Vegas to deliver a spontaneous cri de coeur about the value of cinemas. His audience was America’s movie theatre owners, there to scope out what much-needed ‘product’ Hollywood has for them in the year ahead. ‘You guys don’t give a shit about the teleprompter,’ he grinned. Instead, Diesel waxed lyrical about his upcoming Fast X blockbuster and his pet subject: family. Cinemas were part of his Fast family, he said. They were the reason his megabucks franchise has been a success, and he knew what they’d been going through since the pandemic. ‘I look out and see soldiers on the front lines,’ he told them.  Five thousand miles away, his words would have been ringing painfully true. There, the acting CEO of England’s Tyneside Cinema, Simon Drysdale, has been emerging from the horrors of a redundancy round. Bankruptcy looms for Newcastle’s beloved cinema. A fundraiser has been launched in a bid to galvanise the locals. ‘We’ve got months to survive,’ Drysdale tells Time Out. ‘We’re 40 percent down on attendances from pre-pandemic and our costs are stratospheric. We were struggling pre-pandemic, but the situation is pretty dire now.’ Tyneside’s woes are a worryingly familiar story two years on from the pandemic. Edinburgh’s Filmhouse, Aberdeen’s Belmont Filmhouse, Los Angeles’ Cinerama Dome, and London’s multi-arts space Riverside Studios have all either gon

It’s been far too long since we sat in a dark movie theatre, losing popcorn to impossible crevices while smearing melted choc-tops liberally across our best out-of-the-house outfits. And we couldn’t be any happier for this gloriously cinematic mess. We're getting you ready to return to the movies by getting you up to scratch on the hottest new releases. Here are five of the biggest movies you can catch in Sydney’s cinemas right now. Recommended: The best cinemas in Sydney. No Time to Die OK, OK, we’re cheating a little because Daniel Craig’s final mission as Bond, James Bond doesn’t open until November 11, but tickets are already on sale and it’s all anyone is talking about already. Word to the wise, avoid the internet for the next few weeks if you don’t want any spoilers. But you can rest assured our reviewer LOVED 007’s swansong, hinting, “There are big, unprecedented storytelling decisions.” You can read the full review here Nitram The biggest Australian release of the year took home Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for star Caleb Landry-Jones. The controversial film is a powerful and remarkably sensitive reckoning with the days that led up to the Port Arthur massacre and that terrible day that led to a complete overhaul of Australian gun laws. Our reviewer said, “The film does not glorify his murderous act or even depict it. Nor does it name him. What it does, with bone-shuddering brilliance, is reinforce why those reforms were necessary.” You can read the full revi

Unlike some places overseas, including the US, there hasn’t been much of the carrot-reward approach to encouraging folks getting vaccinated in Australia, beyond the roadmap to unlocking. That changed dramatically over the weekend. A group of cashed-up philanthropists, including MYOB founder Craig Winkler, have tipped into a prize fund that’s been dubbed Million Dollar Vax. A lottery prize pot of $4.1 million is up for grabs for any Australian who has had at least one vaccination to date and has or will be double jabbed by December 13 and able to prove so with a vaccination certificate. Each day in October the pot will cough up $1,000 gift cards. But the main drawcard is a $1 million jackpot, to be drawn on November 5. Winkler says Million Dollar Vax, based on the American models, is more about rewarding folks who have already decided to get jabbed, rather than specifically encouraging them to do so. In a statement he clarified that: “That’s a decision you should make in consultation with a health professional. The promotion simply seeks to reward people who decide to be vaccinated now rather than waiting, so that we can reduce the community impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.” He also noted that the faster we get above 80 per cent vaccination rates across the nation, the sooner we can help states to unlock safely and all get back to some sort of normality in our lives. If you have already been double jabbed or are keen to do so, you can sign up for the lottery here. Want to save

If you’re stupendously excited about the avalanche of massive main stage shows opening this summer, including not one but two dramatic big hitters from Sydney Theatre Company (STC) before the end of the year in Julius Caesar and Death of a Salesman, then you’re going to LOVE this news. The illustrious company has signed a ‘first look’ deal with super-producers Michael Cassel Group (MCG). What that means in practice is that MCG will have first dibs on transferring or remounting any show that STC creates with a view to touring it interstate or internationally. It’s the first time an agreement of this nature has been struck by a theatre company in Australia. And it’s already up and running. The current lockdown may have postponed a planned encore run of artistic director Kip Williams’ Oscar Wilde adaptation The Picture of Dorian Gray, the one-woman show starring an astounding Eryn Jean Norvill as all 26 characters, but MCG have snapped it up. That ensures audiences all over the country and overseas stand at chance at seeing it for themselves in the very near future. Reviewer Maxim Boon said of the star, “Norvill produces some of the most virtuosic theatre I have ever witnessed, on stage or screen,” and of Williams, “he has deftly explored an intersection between the cinematic and theatrical, creating productions on the bleeding edge of stagecraft that bridge the liminal space between these two modes of storytelling.” Speaking of the newly inked deal, Williams said, “I am so thri

In exciting news for creative minds warming up for Sydney’s upcoming cultural unlock, Brand X have teamed up with City of Sydney to run a beautiful looking creative studio opening early next year.  The City of Sydney Creatives Studios will include two large, double-height rehearsal spaces with sprung timber floors for performance artists, five soundproof recording studios for musos, production and editing suites for video whizzes, art studios and an honest to goodness apartment for artist in residence sojourns too. There will also be a café downstairs, and loads of offices, storage space and dressing rooms too. Creatives can register their interest here.  “It has long been a priority to increase centrally located, affordable space for our artists and creatives,” lord mayor Clover Moore says. “This five-storey venue will accommodate creatives in the heart of the city, and help the sector’s recovery from the devastating effects of the pandemic. The spaces are designed for a variety of artistic disciplines and artists at different stages in their careers, and to encourage collaboration within our talented creative community.” Brand X director James Winter is psyched too. “We are energised at the prospect of delivering new, accessible opportunities for emerging and established artists to enable practice-based experimentation, creative development and production of new work.” Want to know more about arts venues reopening? Read the plan here.     

Sydneysiders who have been fully vaccinated will be able to return to cinemas, theatres and live music venues, art galleries, museums and more once the state hits the 70 per cent double dose target. Once this key vaccination level is reached, NSW's lockdown will begin to lift from October 11. However, those who choose to remain unvaccinated will have to wait a little longer to re-join the city’s cultural life. Anyone deliberately dodging the jab without a medical excemption will not be allowed to enter any arts venue until December 1, when it’s expected NSW will have more than 90 per cent double dosed in the community at large. Even after that date, it will be up to individual venues if they are comfortable welcoming unvaccinated patrons. It’s incredible news for the arts community, with the majority of venues completely out of action for many, many months over the last year and a half, unlike hospo venues which have at least managed to struggle on with takeaway options. It means that the major shows that hedged their bets by announcing reopening dates and putting tickets on sale have been vindicated, including Broadway smashes Hamilton, Come From Away and Jagged Little Pill. The BridgeClimb has also announced that they are raring to get folks stomping all over the world-famous harbour edifice once more. Expect many more cultural events to unlock the doors in the coming weeks. There will still be 75 per cent capacity limits on entertainment venues and masks will be mandatory

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been clear that NSW is preparing to reopen once the target of 70 per cent double vaccinated has been met, but there has been no official date put on that milestone. We’ll get there when we get there. That hasn’t stopped several of Sydney’s major attractions and hotels from declaring they are ready to roll in late October, with many predicting we’ll meet the official target on or around October 18. The big shows and destinations hedging their bets on this date include hit musical Come From Away, which is waiting in the wings at the Capitol Theatre and has started selling tickets from October 20. It's also the first major arts production in Australia to not only require theatregoers be fully vaccinated, but also its cast and crew. Producer Rodney Rigby said they were outing their faith in NSW residents getting double jabbed, allowing live performances to reboot. “Across the world, vaccination is proving to be an effective way of getting fans safely back into the theatre and we cannot wait to welcome audiences back soon.” The world-famous BridgeClimb across Sydney's iconic Coathanger has announced October 22 as the date it hopes to begin re-harnessing brave souls after the best views of the city. They’re hoping to coax back climbers by offering post-climb drinks vouchers for the Glenmore for the first 200 customers to book in. “It’s time for Sydneysiders to celebrate,” BridgeClimb CEO David Hammon said. “This is going to be a summer like no other f

The producers of Tony and Olivier award-winning musical Come From Away have announced the show will reopen to live audiences on October 20, assuming the roadmap to lifting lockdown once 70 per cent of adults over 16 are fully vaccinated remains on track. According to the NSW government’s roadmap as it stands, they’ll be able to welcome audiences back to the Capitol Theatre at 75 per cent capacity, with tickets already on sale now, through to November 28. However, the NSW government has not officially confirmed the date from which businesses can reopen, only that this date will be the first Monday after the 70 per cent vaccination target is reached. Rodney Rigby of Newtheatricals produces the show – set in the aftermath of 9/11 when flights from across the US were diverted to a tiny Canadian community – in collaboration with Junkyard Dog Productions. In a sign of the times, they have mandated that all audience members must be able to prove they are fully vaccinated in order to enter the Capitol. He said they wanted to lead by example. “Across the world, vaccination is proving to be an effective way of getting fans safely back into the theatre and we cannot wait to welcome audiences back soon.” The policy of all cast and crew being required to be vaccinated has been widely embraced on Broadway in New York and in London’s West End, and gives us an idea of how theatres are likely to work once they reopen. Previously, casts have protected themselves from possible infection by livi

As Sydney gears up to unlock, three of Australia’s biggest live music tour promoters stand ready to unleash an avalanche of major stars returning to our harbourside city’s coolest venues. Massive names like Lorde, Snoop Dogg, Alanis Morissette, the Backstreet, the DMAs and the Kid Laroi. The thing is, though, if you want to be back in the presumably socially distant mosh when that happens, you’re gonna need to get double vaccinated. Frontier Touring, Live Nation and TEG has banded together to help the push for Australia to get jabbed, get back out there and get in amongst stadium rock one again. Favouring the carrot, rather than the stick, approach, they’ve launched a cool competition dubbed Vaxstage Pass. Open to all Aussie residents aged 18-plus, head over the Vaxstage Pass site to sign up. You’ll have to be fully vaxxed and able to prove so via the Medicare COVID-19 Digital Certificate, by the time the comp closes on November 30, and then share, in under 25 words, which live gig you’re most looking forward to. And the prize is pretty outstanding. Five winners will get double passes to each gig hosted by Frontier Touring, Live Nation or TEG for the whole of next year. Wowzas. Get jabbed, get in, get on it. Love live music? Stream a global gig featuring Kylie, Delta Goodrem, Jennifer Lopez, Lizzo, Billie Eilish and more.

Way back in 1998, a trippy dystopian movie about humanity being stuck unawares in an online world (no, not in an endless Zoom meeting) was shot almost entirely in Sydney’s Fox Studios. That film was The Matrix, and it would set the world on fire when it was released the following year. It pitted Keanu Reeves’ newly red-pill awoken saviour, computer hacker Neo, against malevolent machines personified by sharp-suited local hero and on-screen villain, Hugo Weaving, as the nihilistic Mr Smith. While two big screen sequels dropped in 2003 – The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions – they never quite lived up to the hype, although the spectacular fight sequences boosted by slow-motion ‘bullet time’ ensured the trilogy’s place in the pantheon of sci-fi excellence. So let’s just say the first trailer drop for the long-awaited fourth installment, The Matrix Resurrections, just blew up the internet. So what did we learn? Well, as with most teaser trailers, not a whole lot. But questions, we have a few… Neo is back? Look, this is hardly revelatory, given we’ve known about Reeves’s involvement since the fourth live-action film was announced, but is this the flying, bullet-dodging, leather trenchcoat-clad demigod we know and love? In the trailer, we see Reeves as Thomas Anderson (his name in the ‘real’ world) in therapy with Neil Patrick Harris. But just to be clear, Neo very definitely died in a heroic sacrifice for all of humanity at the end of Revolutions. Or did he? The whole pr

"Vast amounts of the regions" will come out of lockdown on Saturday, September 11, the deputy premier John Barilaro has announced. Areas that have not recorded any cases for at least 14 days and are deemed low risk will enjoy new freedoms from 12:01am. However, significant restrictions will still remain in place, to balance both the economic and health concerns. Barilaro said that, “The mid-north coast, to the north coast, to the northwest, Aubrey to Riverina and the Murrumbidgee areas will open.” He then added that, “The southern part, southeast, the Illawarra Shoalhaven area, the Hunter region, Central Coast out to the Central West parts of the far west won’t open today.” He said that the decision on where would and would not open was based on health parameters and protecting regional NSW, acknowledging that it would be, “a bittersweet day for the regions.” However, he said that the partial unlock, “gives a level of hope and light at the end of this tunnel, the long winter, and it gives us an opportunity to come together and know that it is worth fighting for.” Barilaro stressed the continuing importance of vaccination statewide and cautioned that significant restrictions would remain in place in the areas opening up and that just one case could send those communities back into lockdown for 14 days.  As of Saturday, the regional areas that do open would see hotels, cafes and restaurants, retail and workplaces reopen, but with capacity restrictions and the four square metre