Things to do in Sydney today

Great Scott! All the way from 1985 to 1955 and now 2025, Sydney has landed the opening of mega-movie musical Back to the Future: The Musical, complete with a superb ensemble, captivating visual effects and enough nostalgia to power a time-travelling DeLorean.  For full transparency, Back to the Future is one of my favourite films of all time. Growing up watching Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd’s Dr. Emmett Brown travel through time across three films was a large part of my movie-watching childhood. So when it was announced that it would be getting a high-octane staging, I was both ecstatic and sceptical. However, like the show’s original writer (and now the musical’s) Bob Gale said, “we’re not going to do this unless we can do it right”.   Thankfully, of the musical version I can safely say – to borrow from the Doc – “IT WORKS!” What’s the premise of Back to the Future: The Musical? After uncovering an old folder of photos in his parents’ basement, Gale wondered, after seeing a high school version of his father, whether he would have been friends with him back then. “The answer is no,” he joked at the opening night bows. The result of this is classic ’80s nostalgia – in both setting and plot.  BTTF follows teenager Marty McFly in Hill Valley, 1985, whose life is less than spectacular. He dreams of being a rock 'n’ roll star but he’s told he’s too loud and a “slacker” like his father. His family are just as hopeless. None more so than his father George...

Nearly 30 years after it burst onto Broadway, Rent remains a landmark. It won four Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, but its true legacy lies in how it blew open Broadway’s doors to the misfits, bringing ’90s rock, raw emotion and the gritty diversity of real New York life to the stage. It didn’t just reflect a generation, it shaped one. For theatre kids like me, Jonathan Larson’s words were the ones we belted backstage and found ourselves in. And it wasn’t just us, Rent inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to write In the Heights and paved the way for the Glee generation: a wave of fans and artists who saw musical theatre as urgent, inclusive and unapologetically cool. Now, Opera Australia is reigniting that spark for a new generation with a bold, heart-filled production. What’s the premise of Rent? Jonathan Larson’s rock musical Rent follows a group of seven struggling young artists and friends trying to survive and create in New York City’s Lower East Side during the late 1980s. As the AIDS epidemic spreads and claims lives around them, they grapple with love, illness, addiction and the looming threat of eviction. At the same time, they face a growing disillusionment with capitalism and the gentrification rapidly reshaping their neighbourhood. Who makes up the cast of Rent? As in Puccini’s La Bohème, the inspiration behind Rent, the story begins with two friends: Mark (Henry Rollo, Rocky Horror Show), a struggling documentary filmmaker, and Roger (Harry Targett, Dear Evan...

The Comedy Store in Moore Park has been Sydney’s go-to spot for belly laughs since 1981. Venture inside and watch the stage come alive with top-notch talent with comedic timing – think homegrown favourites, international stars, rising newcomers and the occasional surprise guest. The Comedy Store Showcases run Thursday through Saturday, packing in 90 minutes of back-to-back stand-up with plenty of comedians on the bill. In fact, you can even catch The Saturday Late Show at 8.30pm if you prefer a later line-up. No two nights are the same, but each one guarantees tons of chuckles with new acts added constantly. RELATED READ: Make Tuesdays more fun with this affordable comedy show in the Inner West, featuring a rotating line-up of cracking comedians – plus, you get a free drink. The calendar is also dotted with solo shows and special events, from household names debuting their latest routine to the next big comedian testing out fresh material. What’s more, all tickets come with an alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverage. Still feeling thirsty? Get more drinks and nibbles at the Lounge Bar that keeps cocktails, cold beers and wine flowing with tasty antipasti also on offer. They even have table service, so you’ll never miss a punchline. It’s true what they say: laughter really is the best medicine, so gather your mates and go. Find out more and book your tickets here. Weather not looking so hot? Check out our list of the best things to do indoors in Sydney. Looking for weekday...

Need a new profile pic? We’ve got you. One of the world’s biggest immersive experiences has landed in the Harbour City – serving up a fun, surreal backdrop for your Instagram grid glow-up . Bubble Planet: An Immersive Experience is open now at Paddington Pavilion, Sydney Olympic Park, offering Sydneysiders a transporting, ultra-Instagrammable experience. Already experienced by more than two million visitors around the world, with sell-out runs in Milan, Los Angeles, London and Brussels, Bubble Planet is a fantastical world of optical illusions, cutting-edge virtual reality experiences, giant bubbles, and next-level immersive projections. Visitors to the Sydney site can expect to embark on a dreamlike journey through more than 10 otherworldly rooms, home to giant bubble domes, LED underwater-style wonderlands, selfie hubs and VR dreamscapes.  Almost 10,000 tickets were sold ahead of the official opening, so we expect this one will be another sell-out run for the people who brought the incredible immersive Van Gogh experience to Sydney back in 2020. Session at this bizarre immersive world run for between 60-90 minutes, and the experience is suitable for people of all ages – with kids under four welcomed in for free. Keen? You can learn more and snap up tickets over here.  Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, things to do and travel inspo, straight to your inbox. RECOMMENDED: Want more activity inspo? Here’s what’s on in Sydney this...

Many productions that examine colonisation share stories that highlight its impact on a systemic level: the institutionalised violence, the collective suffering of mobs and the disintegration of culture. Declan Greene and Amy Sole’s Whitefella Yella Tree break from this to explore the consequences of colonisation in the microcosm of romance. This unique exploration of adolescents at the precipice of adulthood delves into the disruption and havoc colonisation had in their day-to-day lives. By focusing on the personal narratives during colonisation, the production artfully cultivates compassion through relatability. Indigenous people are shown not as a monolithic group defined solely by hurt, but as varied individuals falling in love, growing up and living with the ordinary complexities of life. But these complexities become more fraught under the pervasive presence of colonialists. What’s the premise of Whitefella Yella Tree? This two-hander production begins with the meeting of Ty (Joseph Althouse) of the River Mob with Neddy (Danny Howard) of the Mountain Mob. As cheeky and rowdy as any young adolescent boys would be, both young men meet every moon to exchange information about the strange white people who now live on their land. But it’s not just information being exchanged; it’s shy glances, cheeky jokes and young love all while the greatest existential threat unfolds before them. Ty and Neddy, while in training as a storyteller and a warrior for the mob respectively,...