Broadway Bingo (Outside the Jukebox) Brisbane Powerhouse, Underground Theatre April 19 – 21 If you familiar with Sondheim, Lloyd Webber, and Rodgers and Hammerstein, “Broadway Bingo” is the show for you! The unpredictability of the musical experience, however, means that not all of these musical theatre heavyweights will necessarily appear in every show… which is actually much of the reimagined Broadway concert’s appeal. The unique and clever concert-game hybrid, which is the first 2024 mainstage show for Matilda Award nominee Outside The Jukebox, operates on many levels. Pulling out bingo ca ..read more

Hopelessly Devoted: A Celebration of Olivia Newton-John (Queensland Symphony Orchestra) QPAC, Concert Hall April 6 All great shows come with an opening overture and Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s “Hopelessly Devoted” is no exception as the sweeping sounds of “Xanadu” build to brassy and percussive “Grease” anthems to complete its Oliviature. The following 2-hour 20-minute (including interval) show is a trip down memory lane honour of Olivia Newton-John’s incredible global legacy, beginning appropriately with the inspirational ‘Dare to Dream’, which Newton-John performed with fellow veteran p ..read more

Young Frankenstein (Millennial Productions) Ron Hurley Theatre April 5 – 13 If you know anything of the outrageous comedy of king-of-parody Mel Brooks, you know what to expect from Millennial Production’s “Young Frankenstein”. The 2007 stage version of Brooks’ loving 1974 horror-movie homage to classic Boris Karloff films of the 1930s (themselves inspired by Mary Shelley’s 19th century novel “Frankenstein”) is very witty in the detail of its spoof, making for a highly entertaining evening best summed up as Monty Python meets “The Producers”, with a pinch of Rocky Horror on the side. With book ..read more

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Redcliffe Musical Theatre) Redcliffe Entertainment Centre March 15 – 24 The musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” may be best known for its ‘Any Dream Will Do’, but it is other catchy moments within its overture that see the Redcliffe Musical Theatre matinee audience clap along in immediate glee. When the multiple award-winning Rice-Lloyd Webber musical opens, it is, however, to a bare stage for narrators Taylah-Jay Foster and Mia Hunt (in a very effective split of the role,) to set the scene for the book of Genesis reimagining of ..read more

Big Yikes! (Playlab) Brisbane Powerhouse, Underground Theatre March 13 – 23 Nervous Lorrie. Sorry… Loxie (Juliette Milne). because that is a cooler rebrand, might be the protagonist of Madeleine Border’s “Big Yikes!” yet as the show opens to her being instructed of the expectations of the coffee-foam-love-heart, fast-paced hospitality world and number one rule of customer service by stressed supervisor Stef (Tenielle Plunkett), she barely speaks a word. It’s an overwhelming time for already-anxious Loxie as she sets about both embarking on life in the labour force and as a share house inhabit ..read more

Frankenstein (Brisbane Arts Theatre) Brisbane Arts Theatre March 16 – April 20 From the opening bell tolling towards the edge of Victor Frankenstein’s nightmare, it is evident that the Arts Theatre production of Mary Shelley’s novel, “Frankenstein”, adapted by A. N. Sandberg, showcases sound and lighting design that is not just on-point, but amongst the best I have ever experienced in an independent theatre production. There are many standout creative moments during the follow of gifted scientist Victor Frankenstein (Reagan Warner) and his intellectual pursuit, insights and even madness  ..read more

Great Expectations (Villanova Players) Ron Hurley Theatre March 8 – 17 Classics are so for a reason and the final show matinee audience at Villanova Players’ “Great Expectations” appears to be in agreement, given how busy the Ron Hurley Theatre is with people wanting to see orphan and blacksmith’s apprentice Pip’s (Lachlan Gregory Hugh) journey from childhood to becoming a high society London gentleman, thanks to a bequeathed fortune from a mysterious benefactor.   Expectations (#nopunintended) of Charles Dickens’ timeless 1861 story of class conflict are perhaps subverted though directo ..read more

What Will Have Been (Circa) QPAC, The Playhouse March 13 – 17 Circa is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Rather than looking back, however, the esteemed Queensland contemporary circus company is introspecting into the moment with “What Will Have Been”, a work created by its director Yaron Lifschitz and the Circa Ensemble, that is as enigmatic as its intriguing title. It is inspired, as the company’s visionary Artistic Director Lifschitz explains in the show’s program, by grammar, and the tentative transition between past and present. For a celebration of the company’s 20-year milestone, “What ..read more

Banging Denmark (Pip Theatre) Pip Theatre March 7 – 23 It is ironic that opening night of Van Badham’s “Banging Denmark” coincides with International Women’s Day given the tone of its initial scene, which sees popular seduction community podcaster Guy de Wit (Rijen Laine) offensively outlining his five-step dating program to callers to the ‘safe space’ of his live call line. He really is pathetic (as he later himself admits), as is evidenced by the way he diminishes women through description of so-called seduction techniques to lovelorn men of the internet. There is obviously money to be ..read more

The Wharf Revue: Pride in Prejudice (Soft Tread Enterprises) QPAC, The Playhouse March 4 – 9 2024’s The Wharf Revue may have link to a classic of literature in both its show title and opening church vs state themed Jane Austen style scene, but it is, rather, a musical motif that runs through this year’s offering from the now-national institution… from an appropriate puppet themed “Avenue Q (and A)” panel show parody to a Sondheim-esque “Company” coalition reflection on the ‘little things they do together’. As with their sell-out 2023 season of “The Wharf Revue: Looking for Albanese”, “The Wha ..read more