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Title: Roald Dahl’s Matilda JR. Presented By: Brisbane Junior Theatre (BJT) Genre: Junior Musical Theatre Synopsis: Matilda JR. follows the story of Matilda, a clever young girl with an extraordinary imagination and a love of learning. Misunderstood by her parents but encouraged by her caring teacher Miss Honey, Matilda faces the terrifying Miss Trunchbull and discovers the courage to stand up for herself and others. Packed with energetic songs, humour and heart, the show celebrates bravery, creativity and the power of young voices. Audition Date: Saturday 20 June 2026 Audition Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm Audition Location and Address: Emerge Church, 1 Coorparoo Road, Warner QLD 4500 Audition Requirements: Perform a song Participate in a dance audition Memorise and perform a monologue with characterisation Younger children may prepare only a sentence or two instead of a full monologue Auditions are required for: Lead roles Minor roles Featured dancers Soloists Everyone who auditions will be included in the cast Audition Registration: Registration available via the website Audition Pack: https://brisbanejuniortheatre.com.au/performances/matilda-jr-july-2026/ Performance Dates: Friday 3 July 2026 and Saturday 4 July 2026 Performance Times: Friday: 6:00pm & 8:00pm and Saturday: 12:00pm & 2:00pm Performance Location: Emerge Church, 1 Coorparoo Road, Warner QLD 4500 Rehearsal Dates: 29 June – 3 July 2026 Rehearsal Times: Monday to Friday, 8:30am – 5:00pm Performer Age: Children and youth performers Production Website: https://brisbanejuniortheatre.com.au/performances/matilda-jr-july-2026/ Other information: Wheelchair accessible venue BJT productions operate on a “Show in a Week” rehearsal model An optional Audition Intensive Workshop will be held on Saturday 13 June 2026 from 12:00pm – 3:00pm at Emerge Church Upstairs Studio Intensive cost: $50 Workshop covers audition skills including monologues, singing, movement, accents, characterisation and performance technique with individual feedback provided Available Roles/Character Breakdown: Matilda Wormwood - The hero of the show. She’s brilliant, resilient, creative, and kind, despite growing up in difficult circumstances. Her parents treat her poorly, but Matilda escapes into a world of books, which puts her reading level far above the other children in her class, and she develops a bit of magical power in an effort to defeat Trunchbull. Vocal range: Bb3 - D5 Bruce - One of Matilda’s schoolmates. He has the bad luck to get caught after eating Trunchbull’s cake. Bruce goes through quite a transformation throughout the show and has some important solos. Vocal range: C3 - F#4 Lavender - One of the kids at school with Matilda. She is kind and bright and quickly decides that Matilda is her best friend. Vocal range: C4 - D5 Mr. Wormwood - Matilda’s father. He is egotistical, rude, and not very bright, not to mention a liar. Though Mr. Wormwood is not a good person and he is mean to Matilda, his harebrained schemes can be hilariously funny! Mrs. Wormwood - Matilda’s mother. Like her husband, she dislikes Matilda and does not understand why her daughter loves to read. Mrs. Wormwood is selfish, obsessed with her own appearance, and believes everything she sees on TV. Her dancing lessons with Rudolpho are the most important part of her day. Michael - Matilda’s brother. He is not very bright, though he is the apple of his father’s eye. This is a hilarious supporting role for a silly actor! Miss Honey - A teacher at Matilda’s school. She is kind, is generous, and really cares about the children despite her own desperate circumstances. Vocal top: Bb3 - D5 Agatha Trunchbull - The quintessential terrifying tyrant. As headmistress, she runs her school like a dictator, making up arbitrary rules to suit her every whim and dreaming up creative punishments. Vocal range: C4 - F#5 Rudolpho - Mrs. Wormwood’s self-obsessed dance teacher. This is a hilarious featured role for a comedic performer who moves well. Ensemble - Ensemble roles include Russians, Matilda’s Classmates, Mums, Dads, the School Cook, and the Mechanic.

Title: All I Want for Christmas Presented By: Lind Theatre Genre: Comedy / Christmas Play Synopsis: On Christmas Eve, a desperate father walks into a gift and toy store searching for his daughter and takes the remaining customers hostage. With police involvement, family tensions, unexpected helpers and plenty of chaos, All I Want for Christmas is a festive comedy about strangers caught together in a crisis. Audition Date: 15 & 16 July 2026 Audition Time: 6:30pm Audition Location and Address: The Lind Theatre, 16 Mitchell Street, Nambour Audition Registration: Contact Cec Rebetzke: 0411 044 452 or cecwr45@hotmail.com Performance Dates: 23–31 October 2026 Performance Location: The Lind Theatre, 16 Mitchell Street, Nambour Production Website: The Lind Theatre Auditions Available Roles/Character Breakdown: Dusty Peters (30–40) Sales clerk in his mother’s gift/toy store. Bran Haste (20–30) Single ladies’ man working at the store in a Santa outfit until his acting career takes off. Maggie Grant (20–30) Attractive but intimidating licensed vet technician with horrible taste in men. Howard Concord (35–40s) Mailman whose wife has left him and taken their ten-year-old daughter. Linda Applebee (35+) Self-absorbed socialite who looks younger than her age. Requires a good singing voice. Alvin Applebee (10 years old) Linda’s son. Spoiled, smart-alecky and loves robots and trains. Wilma Peters (60+) Dusty’s mother and owner of the gift store. Frugal. Doug O’Brien (40+) Police Chief who would rather be spending a quiet Christmas Eve at home. Alex Camerun (Male or Female, 25+) Young, eager detective keen to impress the Chief during a crisis. Jessica Concord (9–10 years old) Howard’s daughter. Loves model trains and her father. Minor role. Voice Roles: Radio DJ and Alice Concord, Howard’s soon-to-be ex-wife.

Title: Women in Uniform Presented By: Coolum Theatre Players Genre: Comedy / Musical Theatre / Ensemble Theatre Synopsis: Set in a remote all-women army barracks of the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces, Women in Uniform follows a rag-tag group of quirky, mismatched female soldiers stationed at Camp Firebird. Tasked with staging a morale-boosting Parade Drill to impress a visiting general, the group quickly finds things spiralling into a chaotic variety show while navigating military mishaps, personal dramas and the absurdity of army life. Audition Dates and Times: Sunday 12 July: 2:00pm or 4:00pm Wednesday 15 July: 6:30pm Callbacks, if required: Sunday 19 July at 1:00pm at Rory Williamson School of Dance. Audition Location and Address: Sunday auditions: Rory Williamson School of Dance, 12 William Street, Coolum Beach Wednesday audition: Coolum Civic Centre, Park Street, Coolum Beach Audition Requirements: All auditionees will be taught a song excerpt and choreography, then perform in groups. Speaking role auditionees should familiarise themselves with provided script excerpts. Solo singing role auditionees should prepare a maximum 2-minute song excerpt with backing track. Wear comfortable shoes suitable for dancing. No thongs or bare feet. Audition Registration: Book an audition time Enquiries: linda@gefken.com.au Audition Pack: Audition Requirements and Information Cast List and Voice Ranges Audition Script Excerpts Draft Script Audition Form and Participation Conditions Performance Dates: 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 and 29 November 2026 Possible additional performance Saturday 28 November at 7:30pm and possible preview Sunday 15 November at 2:00pm. Performance Location: Coolum Civic Centre, Park Street, Coolum Beach Rehearsal Times: Commencing Wednesday 2 September 2026 Wednesday evenings: 6:30pm–9:30pm Sunday afternoons/evenings: 4:00pm–8:00pm Monday evenings may be added from October if required. Compulsory tech/dress rehearsals: Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November, 9:00am–5:00pm Compulsory mid-run rehearsal: Wednesday 25 November Rehearsal Location: Wednesday rehearsals: Coolum Civic Centre, Park Street, Coolum Beach Sunday rehearsals: Rory Williamson School of Dance, 12 William Street, Coolum Beach Creative Team: Director: Linda Gefken, Writers: Liza Burgess and Linda Gefken Production Website: https://coolumtheatre.com.au/auditions/ Other information: All cast sing and dance in the ensemble. Cast size expected to be 16–20. All cast and crew must become financial members of Coolum Theatre Players ($15). Cast must provide black, flat lace-up boots. No roles are paid. Stage, tech crew and front of house volunteers are also sought. Auditions will be videoed for the director’s reference. Production contains military comedy, personal drama and references to domestic violence, mental health, prison/ex-con experience and army life. Available Roles/Character Breakdown: Sergeant “Mac” MacDonald (30+) - Tough but fair leader of Camp Firebird. Dry wit, hidden warmth and a soft spot for Luna. Small solos and duets. Corporal Morgan Schmidt (25+) - Over-organised logistics perfectionist who tries to control the chaos. Fancies herself as an opera singer. Small solos. Private Luna “Tick” Bell (18+) - Spacey dreamer and wannabe star. Creative, scrappy and impulsive. Small solos and duets. Private Dana “Kapow” Gregory (25+) - Heavily tattooed ex-con and pyromaniac turned explosives and camouflage specialist. Explosive temper and deep distrust. Small solos. Private Francis “Frankie” Thomas (25+) - Sarcastic, loyal Corps mechanic with a heart of gold. Misses her wife and daughter. Small solos. Private Ellie Rogers (18+)Sweet, shy and seemingly unsuited to army life. A wallflower with a surprising poetic side and powerful voice. Two large solos plus small solos. Private Barb “Barbara Anne” Bateman (18+) - Optimistic team player and 1950s fanatic. A domestic violence survivor finding strength through friendship. Small solos and duets. Private Patty Pink (18+) - Outrageously bizarre, joyful and pink-obsessed misfit with dry wit. Non-singing speaking role. Private Rachael “Posh Spice” Fortescue-Spencer (18+) - Upper-class British, snobbish, wordy and neurodivergent. Hygiene-focused and proud of her family history. Small solos. Private Yasmin “Whiner” Winehouse (25+) - Amy Winehouse-inspired character who claims to have been a backing singer but cannot sing. Whingey, whiny and a little dim. Non-singing speaking role. Commander Jane Ironwood (40+) - Cold, no-nonsense commanding officer of Camp Firebird. Secretly supports the women. One duet. General Gloria Mallory (50+) - Brutal, straight-arrow U.N. General with a hidden theatre-kid past and surprising softer side. One solo, dancer. Additional Ensemble - Other members of the Firebird Corps and the General’s entourage.

Title: The Architect Presented By: Centenary Theatre Group Genre: Contemporary Australian Drama Synopsis: Award-winning Australian playwright Aidan Fennessy's The Architect is a moving and uplifting contemporary drama about friendship and the unexpected connections that can change our lives. When Helen's partner John heads overseas, she reluctantly agrees to employ a temporary carer. Against all expectations, she chooses Lennie – a young drifter and jack-of-all-trades whose qualifications are questionable, but whose enthusiasm for life is undeniable. As an unlikely friendship develops, Helen and Lennie help one another confront difficult truths, discovering that hope, humour and companionship can be found in the most unexpected places. Warm, funny and deeply human, The Architect explores end-of-life choices, resilience and the comfort we find in meaningful connection. Audition Date: Saturday 11 July 2026 Audition Time: 10:00am Audition Location and Address: Chelmer Community Centre, 15 Queenscroft Street, Chelmer QLD Audition Requirements: All auditionees will be required to cold read excerpts from the play. Performance Dates: 5–27 September 2026 Performance Location: Chelmer Community Centre, 15 Queenscroft Street, Chelmer QLD Warnings: Themes of terminal illness and end-of-life choices. Director: Brian Hinselwood Production Website: https://www.centenarytheatre.com.au/auditions For enquiries, contact Brian Hinselwood on 0417 622 553 or brian@hinselwood.net. Available Roles/Character Breakdown: Helen (Female, 60s–70s) - Intelligent, fiercely independent and confronting a life-changing diagnosis. A complex, emotionally rich leading role. Lennie (Male, 20s–30s) - A charismatic drifter and jack-of-all-trades with boundless optimism and a significant secret. Warm, engaging and full of life. John (Male, 60s–70s) - Helen's devoted partner. Practical, caring and deeply committed to those he loves. Jeremy (Male, 30s–40s) - A doctor and close friend of Helen and John. Compassionate, professional and supportive.

Singin' in the Rain Senior (Ages 55+) Presented by Brisbane Arts Theatre Directed by Adelle O’Connell and Kathy Kunde Musical Direction by Laraine Griffiths Choreography by Marisa Bucolo Photography by Kris Anderson - Images by Anderson "If we bring a little joy into your humdrum lives, it makes us feel as though our hard work ain't been in vain for nothin'" - Lina Lamont I can't remember the first time I watched Singin’ in the Rain. But, I do remember the warm fuzzy feeling it gave me. It was part of the soundtrack of my childhood, first loved by my mum and then, inevitably, by me. The songs, the laughs, the old Hollywood magic, and all that tap-dancing talent made it one of those rare musicals that seems to have happiness baked right in. Now, Brisbane Arts Theatre brings that golden-age show to South Bank this July with Singin’ in the Rain Senior, an adapted version of the beloved musical performed by a cast aged 55 and over! Set during Hollywood’s bumpy transition from silent films to talkies, the story follows screen star Don Lockwood, his longtime buddy Cosmo Brown, aspiring performer Kathy Selden, and the famously shrill Lina Lamont. It is a musical about an industry finding its voice, adapting to change, and performers stepping into something new. In this Senior adaptation, that theme of reinvention takes on new meaning. It also offers a joyful counterpart to the Junior and Teen editions so often seen on Brisbane stages, reminding audiences that the thrill of performance does not belong to one age group. Ahead of their season, we spoke with co-director Kathy Kunde about the Senior adaptation, the joy of working with this cast, and the value of creating opportunities for older performers on Brisbane stages. Samantha: I have seen my fair share of Junior and Teen editions of musicals around Brisbane. But, a Senior edition is something my readers and I are far less aware of. Given that there are only a handful of Senior musicals currently available for licensing, what made Singin’ in the Rain Senior feel like the right choice for Brisbane Arts Theatre, especially as a company with such a long history of its own? Kathy: Finding out Brisbane Arts Theatre was doing a Senior adaptation of Singin’ in the Rain was very exciting. When I first discussed the directing opportunity with the President of Brisbane Arts Theatre, Paje Battilana, she noted that they wanted to put something in the season that their older members could become involved in and enjoy. I suppose I have been very lucky over the last number of years, being involved with MATES Theatre Genesis in Birkdale. As part of the season program, they always put on a senior production in the month of October to celebrate Seniors Month. I have worked with many and varied seniors over this time who bring a huge amount of experience with them, including having an opportunity to write scripts to perform on stage, and for many of the actors involved, being able to fulfil a dream of “treading the boards” that, in their busy lives, they may not have had time to do. A number of these seniors are also involved with U3A, University of the Third Age, which also puts productions on during the year. Samantha: To be involved, performers must be aged 55 and over. What has been special about working with a cast who bring such rich life experience into the rehearsal room? What do you think this version offers the performers and audiences that a traditional community theatre season may not? Kathy: The Brisbane Arts Theatre Singin’ in the Rain Senior adaptation has brought in people who have never done theatre before. They may have danced or sung in their lives, but not experienced performing live on stage. We had a wonderful group who auditioned for us, with some even auditioning while travelling overseas. As I keep on telling anyone who will listen, they are all much fitter than I am! Over the last couple of months of rehearsals, I have been continually impressed with every single person and what they are bringing with them. Everyone is so kind to each other, always on time (or actually there before rehearsals start), checking in with someone who may have missed a rehearsal, and downloading apps so we can all communicate together. It has been wonderful. I should also note that the oldest member involved with the production is not actually on stage. This is our beloved Una, who is helping with set design and set/prop construction. She is 91 years young! Samantha: The show sits in that golden Hollywood world of charm, comedy, romance, and spectacle. What directorial approach have you taken for the performance style and world of the musical? Kathy: Sitting down with members of the cast and talking about characterisation has been a joy. They bring in their own experiences, and reflecting on the time that this musical is based in, around the silent movie era, has certainly provided a lot of conversation. The result is a production that does not simply recreate the familiar characters, but allows the cast to find their own way into them. Both Laraine (MD) and Marisa (Choreo) have ensured that the cast are able to work with the music and the dancing so that the show brings a wonderful energy. Helping Adelle direct this musical has been a wonderful and fulfilling experience. I know that the audience will enjoy the show and the experiences that the cast bring to the stage. If Singin’ in the Rain Senior proves anything, it is that there is no expiry date on performance. Some cast members are dusting off skills they have carried for years, while others are bravely stepping into live theatre for the first time. For audiences, the appeal is twofold: the cherished sparkle of Singin’ in the Rain, seen through performers whose own experiences infuse the story with something beautifully unique. It's your chance to enjoy a classic musical while cheering on a production that gives the spotlight to performers who are often overlooked. And if that does not convince you, tickets are only $25 for concessions and $35 for adults, which is about the cost of one dinner delivered to your couch, except this is worth leaving the house for. Plus, my mum is playing Lina Lamont, so I am proudly biased and obnoxiously telling everyone within earshot to get a ticket. Singin’ in the Rain Senior will be presented by Brisbane Arts Theatre from 2–11 July 2026 at TAFE Queensland South Bank Auditorium. For tickets and more information, visit the Brisbane Arts Theatre website.

Homegrown Presented by: Loose Tooth Theatre as a co-production with PIP Theatre Writer: Sarah Esser Co-Directors: Annabel Gilbert and Grace Longwill Set and Costume Designer: Scarlett Hughes Lighting and Vision Designer: Charlii Lobley Sound Designer: Annabel Gilbert Puppet Fabricators: Sarah Esser and Grace Longwill Photography: Annabel Gilbert and Sarah Esser “Every relationship has a gardener and a flower.” I've accidentally sent enough houseplants to the great garden in the sky to understand their dramatic nature. However, it wasn't until seeing Homegrown that I considered they might also be emotionally manipulative. Presented by Loose Tooth Theatre at PIP Theatre, Homegrown is a 90-minute play blending dark humour with unsettling strangeness. It begins in the painfully realm of infertility and relationship strain, then sprouts into something closer to The Exorcist: Bunnings Edition. Written by Sarah Esser and co-directed by Annabel Gilbert and Grace Longwill, the play creeps between relationship drama, psychological thriller, magical realism, and botanical horror. The story follows Tash and Sophie, a couple who share a home, a life, and a semi-successful gardening publication. After eight failed cycles their dream of motherhood has curdled into sorrow and exhaustion. When Sophie’s latest attempt fails, Tash wishes to close this chapter move on, while Sophie is not ready to give up. When a spilled fertility drink mixes with a mysterious plant spray, something starts sprouting beneath their floorboards. Tash assumes it's a weed and wants it gone. Sophie, still grieving and drawn to the possibility of new life, pleads to study it instead. Before they know it, the plant is growing faster than a teenager's appetite and becoming more like an overbearing roommate with zero regard for boundaries! At the centre of the play were two vulnerable and physically demanding performances from Geena Schwartz and Billy Fogarty. Tash was supportive and practical, but underneath, her life was a compost bin of unresolved messes. She was carrying religious trauma, nightmarish premonitions, sensual dreams about the overtly sexual postman, and the tension between her queer identity and her mother’s faith. Schwartz had to let all that inner chaos spill out through voice modulation, choking, gagging and stage combat, and she made every bit of it seem truly connected to Tash’s fear and frustration. Fogarty was equally strong as Sophie: a loving partner, wounded, stubborn, and consumed by the desire to have a family. As a character with a doctorate in botany whose world was built around growth, the infertility carried an especially cruel irony. Fogarty captured the frustration and devastation of that with painful accuracy, especially in lines like, “I wanted so bad to follow the rules of my own biology. To think nature has got my back.” Both Schwartz and Fogarty gave realistic intimacy, arguments, breakdowns, and frightening screams of trauma. Their performances had that awful recognisable rhythm of two people who love each other, but have been stuck hurting in the same pattern for too long. The Plant, played by Indiah Morris, was a standout stage creation. Painted green and bonneted, it looked like a curious baby straight from Whoville. Morris had such particular physicality in her movements — toddling, crawling, tripping, and observing everything with wide eyes. The way she played it was both cute and unsettling. The costuming and puppet fabrication were well-crafted too, subtly evolving scene by scene as the Plant claimed more space in the house. The Plant was not scary in a “feed me, Seymour” kind of way. At least, not at first... It was a reflection of what both women desired and dreaded. For Sophie, it offered a sense of motherhood, attachment, and nurture. For Tash, it became an invasive sickness, a poison pushing her toward psychosis. The Plant was not inherently harmful; it was more like an infant: needy, grabby, and amoral. Oscar Thelander brought great comic contrast as the Postman, strutting in with an aggressive commitment to package delivery. His scenes interrupted the domestic tension, allowing Homegrown to explore farcical elements amid the heavier themes. The writing captured the exhaustion of fertility treatment with brutal simplicity: “Run all the tests, rack up all the costs, and then… nothing.” That line sums up so much of the play’s emotional terrain: the endless tests, money, hope, routines, humiliation, and feeling abandoned by nature while others seem to bloom. Homegrown took that pain and externalised it into something impossible to ignore. Scarlett Hughes's set design features an expansive lower and elevated stage with a dollhouse, tattered couch, and plant décor, and an underlying hollow space that gave the whole thing a secretive, rotting-under-the-surface quality. The dollhouse was a clever visual metaphor too: a mini version of the perfect home they desired, while their real home grew feral around it. Multimedia elements, including videos, graphics, and sound, conveyed a sense of reality distorting and glitching. Charlii Lobley's lighting and Annabel Gilbert's sound design make the home feel progressively unstable. Homegrown kept diverting expectations, beginning as an intimate relationship drama before twisting into something stranger, bloodier and much harder to categorise. It dug into infertility, grief and sacrifice, while still making room for wit, imagination and bold choices. It was a curious little beast of a play and it trusted the audience to follow it all the way into the garden shed of emotional doom.

EPIC Love Stories Presented by VOX Theatre Arts at The Loft, West End Directed by Tayla Simpson Hosted and Vocal Direction by Rhona Bechaz Band: Sean Alan Fagan, Benjamin Richards and Nathan Cho Set Design: Tamzen Hunter Sound and Lighting: Maddy Simons, Steve Maples and Melanie Simons Photography: Aylish Tan – Artist Focused Valentine's weekend can be a bit of a minefield. Maybe you're happily loved up, maybe you're rolling your eyes at the price of roses, or maybe you've watched The Princess Bride enough times to firmly believe that nobody will ever top Wesley and Buttercup (Just me?) Thankfully, VOX Theatre Arts had the perfect answer. Epic Love Stories was a cheeky cabaret-burlesque celebration of iconic couples from film and musicals, taking all those swoon-worthy romances, grand gestures and wonderfully ridiculous tropes we know and love and turning them up several notches. And what a collection of couples it was! Dirty Dancing, Titanic, Wicked, The Addams Family, Mamma Mia!, Rocky Horror, The Great Gatsby, Death Becomes Her, Brokeback Mountain, Little Shop of Horrors, Barbie and Ken, and even the Mystery Inc. gang all got their moment in the spotlight. The Loft in West End was made for this sort of show. Audience members enjoyed themed cocktails while settling in for a night of romance, nostalgia and blushing. Guiding us through the evening was vocal director Rhona Bechaz, whose old-Hollywood accent, dimpled smile and gloriously bad jokes quickly won over the crowd. Under Tayla Simpson's direction, the show gleefully embraced every cliché. There were longing gazes, dramatic dances, discarded items of clothing, and enough smouldering looks to fog up the room. No matter what nonsense arrived next, everyone threw themselves into it without hesitation. The evening opened with a sweet rendition of L-O-V-E, before Hannah Box brought all the sass and razzle dazzle required for Funny Honey (Chicago). She later joined Aimee Segal for a spirited queer rendition of What Is This Feeling? (Wicked), complete with plenty of knowing glances between Elphaba and Glinda. Historia Scott and Campbell Briggs made a highly convincing Morticia and Gomez, bringing plenty of passion to Live Before We Die (Addams Family), while Ashlin Cork looked like she was having a blast in the wonderfully silly I'm Just Ken/Barbie Girl mash-up. Venus brought Romy and Michele's particular brand of disco glamour to life and had me singing along! Elsewhere, Lay All Your Love On Me (Mamma Mia) delivered all the yearning that young love could muster, while Billy Gray arrived in gold hotpants and absolutely no shame for Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me (Rocky Horror). Skye Schultz and Jack Barrett's Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy gave Brokeback Mountain a theatrical makeover, leaning into the joke with cowboy hats, hobby horses, and absolutely no concern for subtlety. Annie Rose Paroz proved to be one of the vocal powerhouses of the evening. Her voice soared through several numbers, particularly Back to Black, where her vocals accompanied Tayla Simpson's sultry performance inspired by Daisy and Jay from The Great Gatsby. Paroz returned later with a gorgeous rendition of My Heart Will Go On, while Angelina Mustafay and Skye Schultz turned Jack and Rose's doomed romance into something far less tragic and far more ridiculous as Rose gradually strip off while displaying very little concern for poor Jack's fate. I never thought I'd find myself laughing like a hyena through a song that normally leaves me sobbing. Somehow, Titanic, burlesque, and a few well-placed props proved to be a winning combination. Speaking of props, Jack Barrett's Grow For Me alongside a particularly frisky Audrey II puppet provided one of the biggest laughs of the night. That plant had absolutely no business behaving the way it did, and yet somehow the audience accepted its questionable behaviour without hesitation. And then there was Let's Get It On. Featuring the Mystery Inc gang and Mark James singing as Scooby-Doo himself, the number descended into complete nonsense. You really haven't lived until you've witnessed a Scooby-Doo orgy parody. And somehow, this is actually my second... The live band, featuring Sean Alan Fagan, Benjamin Richards and Nathan Cho, brought a warmth and spontaneity that recorded tracks simply can't match. Tamzen Hunter's oversized heart set piece dominated the stage with all the subtlety of Sharpay Evans entering East High. Lighting and sound from Maddy Simons, Steve Maples and Melanie Simons kept pace with the show's constant swings between romance, comedy and after-dark antics. By the time the company came together for This Will Be (An Everlasting Love), I left feeling exactly as a Valentine's cabaret should make you feel: transported, thoroughly entertained, and perhaps just a little bit flustered. In a world that feels permanently glued to bad news headlines, I can't think of a better excuse to indulge in a little fantasy for a couple of hours. Epic Love Stories reminded me that sometimes it's perfectly okay to surrender to the cheese, root for the happy ending, and sing along to the love songs. Because the world could always use a little more epic romance...

Into the Blue Presented by: The Australian Voices Artistic Director / Composer / Conductor: John Rotar Tides of Ocean — Matthew Orlovich Pearl — Gordon Hamilton Anthos — Alys Rayner Meteora — Meta Cohen And There Was No More Sea — Margaret Tesch-Muller Island Songs — Stephen Leek Bellbird Valley — John Rotar Into the Blue — John Rotar Waltzing Matilda — Traditional, arranged by John Rotar “There is a magic in the world when you’re a kid” There’s nothing quite like strolling into a choral concert and being whisked away on a mental vacation across the vast Australian landscape, all through the power of voices. No orchestra, backing tracks, or elaborate staging — just lungs, humans, harmony, and vocal control that makes me wonder if these singers have superpowers! Founded over 30 years ago, The Australian Voices is renowned for championing contemporary Australian choral music, and this program was a strong reminder of just how much variety, imagination, and emotional colour can exist within a choir. Led by the maestro of melodies, John Rotar introduced the inspiration behind the program and its individual pieces. The concert explored the vastness of the Australian environment, from the deep seas to open skies, flower fields to childhood beaches and the little mythologies we build around places. John spoke passionately to offer context that shaped the listening experience and encouraged us to engage our own imaginations actively. After all, listening to music is not a passive activity. The venue itself beautifully enhanced the visual and auditory experience. The tall archways and brickwork of St Brigid's Church were illuminated with gradients of colour, transitioning through blues, violets, oranges, and pinks based on the mood of each piece.The acoustics were so clear that you could pick out individual voices distinctly, even within the full ensemble sound. At one point, a little songbird in the eaves joined in, which was either a coincidence or excellent unpaid immersive design. The concert opened with Matthew Orlovich’s Tides of Ocean, which ended up being my favourite. It was bright, consuming, and full of movement, with the choir creating wave-like sounds that pulled the audience straight into the water. Without any instruments, the singers created an entire oceanic world through shifting vocal patterns. It was like being serenaded by a school of musical fish. Gordon Hamilton’s Pearl was like a musical cloud floating through the room, with layered harmonies, descending trills, and some beautifully controlled soprano lines floating above the ensemble. The low bass moments were particularly resonant too. The balance between the voice parts and dynamics was one of the choir’s major strengths, with the ensemble shifting swiftly from delicate transparency to a much fuller sound without losing clarity. Alys Rayner’s Anthos and Meta Cohen’s Meteora redirected our attention skyward, moving from flower fields and blue skies to a cosmic journey through galaxies and vast distances. Both pieces explored ideas of separation and connection, particularly the image of two people gazing up at the same sky from different corners of the world. Meteora was especially demanding, playing with repeated text, canons, and tempo changes. In Anthos, the phrase “under the air” returned again and again in different forms, passed around the ensemble until it seemed to orbit overhead. Margaret Tesch-Muller’s And There Was No More Sea took us on a deep dive into the murkier waters of life’s big questions. Penned by a member of the choir, the piece explored mortality, chaos, and the sea, with the men’s voices bringing a low, thunderous weight to the sound. It was something of a philosophical storm at sea, giving the program a moment to sit with something more existential. Stephen Leek’s Island Songs honoured the choir’s founder, and I had a little personal flashback here. I once sang the good old Monkey and Turtle in a bossa nova arrangement — a sentence that will make instant sense to choir people and absolutely no sense to everyone else. That small connection was a lovely reminder of how widely Australian choral music travels through classrooms, choirs, and community spaces, often shaping musical memories in ways we do not realise at the time. John Rotar’s Bellbird Valley was one of the most moving parts of the concert. Based on a family poem and a location held in memory, the piece captured the warm, bittersweet nostalgia of looking back at a place you cannot quite return to — not because it has vanished, but because you are no longer the person who first knew it. The world premiere of Into the Blue transformed John Rotar’s childhood memories of Coonarr beach into a grand narrative. The work had a childlike mythology to it — the way a beach can become an entire kingdom when you are small. The composition featured depictive lyrics, percussive vocal effects, manipulated vowels, and even a cheeky nod to the Jaws motif for the bull sharks. It captured the magical blend of wonder, danger, and imagination in childhood memories. This concert differed from my usual coverage of plays and musicals, which involve characters, staging, choreography, design, and narrative all working together. Into the Blue was far more stripped back, but definitely not simpler. If anything, it required closer attention because the music is exposed and immediate. No lighting cue or costume change could save a harmony or mask an imperfect entrance. It served as a reminder that skilled singers like these can evoke landscapes, weather, tension, humour, memory, and movement with just their voices. The Australian Voices performed with focus, stamina, discipline, and a shared understanding of the music. Most pieces were memorised, with eyes fixed on John’s conducting as entrances, cut-offs, dynamics, and tempo shifts landed with impressive precision (and some seriously strong breath control!). John was visibly working hard too — conducting contemporary choral music is clearly not a low-sweat activity. The large crowd packed into the church seemed very willing to take the journey with them, and it was heartening to see hundreds of people turn up for contemporary Australian choral music. Unfortunately, I had to leave before the finale because Into the Blue was only the first stop on a three-show review day! But watching a video later of John Rotar’s arrangement of Waltzing Matilda confirmed what a fitting closing choice it was. Concluding a program of sea, sky, landscape, and national sound with a fresh percussive take on a familiar tune perfectly suited a choir dedicated to evolving Australian music. Into the Blue was thoughtfully programmed, exquisitely sung, and deeply connected to place. More than anything, it showed how powerful a room full of voices can be when they are used with this much care, imagination, and purpose.

Long Gone Lonesome Cowgirls Presented by Ad Astra Written by Philip Dean Directed by Prue Robb Music Direction by Meg Kiddle Set Design: Prue Robb Costuming: Erin Lowry Lighting Design: Dan Endicott Sound: Danielle Park Photography: Kris Anderson - Images by Anderson “A good friend is better than a husband. And more reliable!" Brought to you by Ad Astra, Long Gone Lonesome Cowgirls is a heartwarming two-hander about lonely women and unreliable men. Written by Philip Dean, it first hit the stage at La Boite back in 1995, and it still has that distinctive Queensland feel, making it a perfect fit for Ad Astra’s black box theatre, Pluto. With a soundtrack full of Hank Williams, the play has country music flowing through its veins. Good thing I wore my Texan cowboy boots... Theatre demands commitment, folks! In a small outback town during the 1960s, a young Catholic housewife and a no-nonsense barmaid are dealing with similar relationship issues, despite their wildly different personalities. Vicki is at home taking care of her baby while her husband is always on the road, and Rae is already fed up with her new cowboy husband, Earl. One is restless, the other is stuck, but both strive to create a fulfilling life from what the men around them have failed to offer. When Rae gets abandoned in town, she crashes at Vicki's place (after sweetening the deal with some rare vinyl records), picks up a bartending gig, and starts dating around the local scene. They quickly hit it off in that special way women sometimes do when life throws a curveball. They drink Jim Beam, play dress-up, sing “Crazy,” and form a sister-like bond. Together, these two women navigate life's highs and lows. The setup (design by Prue Robb) gives off an old-school Aussie country hall feel. You've got vintage posters, homely 60s décor, vinyl records, and a live band right inside the world of the play. The piano, drums, and guitar are not simply accompaniment; they make the whole space come alive. especially love the detail of Vicki’s American-obsessed secret cupboard. She may be living in a tiny Qld town, but mentally she's halfway to Nashville, chatting away to her framed photo of Hank Williams like a teen with a celebrity poster on her wall. Some things never change... like having a hopeless crush on a musician. We’ve just traded Hank Williams for Harry Styles. Cheney Hossack gives Vicki a sweetness that makes her easy to love from the start. She's got her head in the clouds, romanticising America and frontier wives as though they might offer her a doorway out of her dull, sheltered life. Always imagining her marriage could be something grander than it is. Hossack’s lovely singing voice suits that softness, while still letting us see the frustration simmering beneath it. And Vicki is certainly no fool. She’s not getting the appreciation or love she deserves, and she’s starting to see that the issue isn’t that she “expects too much.” Nah girl. You expected the bare minimum, and even that was apparently too ambitious. Isabel Kruse makes Rae impossible to ignore from the moment she arrives. She's got a voice that could send a beer flying off a pub table and a gritty confidence that makes the line “You sayin’ I’m not f*ckin’ refined?” land exactly as it should. But underneath her bluntness and tough exterior, there's a woman bruised by disappointment, and Kruse lets that hurt surface during her solo “Walking After Midnight.” It's one of the standout musical moments, full of real heartbreak. She doesn’t even need a mic for that song (which is lucky because it wasn’t working!) The script uses that dry Aussie humour that does not need to announce itself. What could easily become a string of ordinary domestic scenes instead becomes surprisingly engaging, because the writing and performances give every situation something to play with. The structure moves quickly across multiple years, and I really enjoy that we only see the story through the lens of these two women. Husbands come and go, babies arrive, brothers complicate things, neighbours gossip, and yet these people around them exist through conversation alone rather than appearance. The stage belongs firmly to Vicki and Rae. These women are learning that no cowboy, contractor, musician, brother, or fantasy man is coming to rescue them. But they do have each other, and eventually, they find themselves too. Prue Robb’s direction keeps the story moving well, with clear affection for these women and their world. The pacing lets the emotional shifts hit home without turning the whole thing into a misery rodeo. Rae’s monologues from the rolling bar help give context to her life outside Vicki’s kitchen, while Vicki’s phone calls with her husband remind us of the marriage she is trying to make sense of. The kitchen set is functional and well-used as a grounded domestic centre. Given the limits of a black box space, I can understand why the band is tucked around the corner, though I do wish they were a little more visible as such a key part of the production’s world. There were also a few times, particularly on stage left, where some conversations are directed towards the wall instead of the audience. The hospital scene after Vicki gives birth is the main moment where I found myself wanting a clearer view of their faces. The country songs arrive in neat little bursts, never overstaying their welcome and always giving the women something they cannot quite say in plain conversation. The band, led by Oscar Lowe on piano as assistant musical director, sounds fantastic. Plus, Oscar gets a few chances to shine vocally, which is great to see. Erin Lowry's costume work gives Rae a short visual journey, from wearing flannels and denim shorts to rocking those bright 60s dresses. Her outfits show how Rae goes through different phases of reinvention. On the other hand, Vicki's look pretty much stays the same, with the same demure dresses and hair across the years. Rae changes because she wants to keep moving forward, while Vicki stays in the same domestic loop. The production also balances its comedy with some heavier 1960s context. Around Vicki and Rae’s personal dramas, Australia is shifting too - feminism, contraception, conscription, and Vietnam all pressing in at the edges. It gives the story more substance without turning it into a history lecture. When the reality of the war comes knocking, Vicki’s reaction lands with a jolt. By that point, these women are dealing with more than just lousy husbands and lonely nights. The whole country is shifting around them, for better or worse. Long Gone Lonesome Cowgirls understands the strange miracle of being found by the right friend at the right time. Vicki and Rae don't magically fix each other’s lives, but they give each other a place to share their loneliness. Ad Astra’s production shines because of the two performers who make every moment of that friendship feel real, from the first spark of connection to the ache of being apart. This is friendship as a lifeline: messy, musical, slightly tipsy, and held together by someone who loves you enough to welcome you back when you finally ask for help.

A Steady Rain Presented by Aparo Theatre in co-production with PIP Theatre Written by Keith Huff Directed by Megan Hind Set and Costume Designer: Stefan Cooper-Fox Fight and Intimacy Co-ordinator: NJ Price Accent Coach: Helen Howard Photography: Creative Street / Kris Anderson - Images by Anderson / Pip Suschinsky “We should know the eyes of a demon when we see one.” Presented by Aparo Theatre in co-production with PIP Theatre, Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain is an intense buddy-cop play about loyalty, corruption, guilt, and the difficult decisions that keep narrowing until no good options remain. Directed by Megan Hind, the production starred Matthew Filkins as Denny and Zac Boulton as Joey, two Chicago cops recounting their versions of events to Internal Affairs after a bullet was fired through the front window of Denny’s family home. The play gained widespread attention after opening on Broadway in 2009, starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig. It explores a friendship built on brotherhood, dependency, damage, and denial, where loyalty becomes harder and harder to separate from self-preservation. A gritty buddy-cop tragedy is not generally the thing I run towards with open arms and my trusty pink notebook. But this production had me properly gripped. The writing moved at a cracking pace, the performances were intense, and the story unfolded like a puzzle being revealed piece by piece. Just when I thought I had figured out where it was going, another shocking piece fell into place. I lost track of how many life-ruining decisions were made per minute. Upon entering the studio theatre, we found Filkins and Boulton already onstage, situated in what resembled an interrogation room. Stefan Cooper-Fox set design was sparse: a white corner space, two chairs, fluorescent lights overhead, and a clock. Not exactly a room you’d want to be invited into for a friendly chat. Without theatrical clutter, there was nowhere for these performers to hide, and the emphasis sat firmly on the storytelling. And for a play centred on memory, confession, contradiction, and self-justification, this was precisely the right focus. Denny, played by Matthew Filkins, was the so-called family man, though mainly in the technical sense that he had a wife and two boys. I found his character to be loud, impulsive, foul-mouthed, prejudiced, violent, and constantly rationalising his awful behaviour as a means of protecting his family. Filkins gave him a frightening momentum. Denny was perpetually on the verge of exploding (and often did). Yet Filkins made sure we saw his fear underneath the rage, especially when Denny recounted his two-year-old son being injured by glass shrapnel after the gunshot shattered the window. It was a classic action-movie “family threatened, man leaps into action” moment, but with messy and painful repercussions. Filkins’ soliloquies were utterly vivid. When Denny spoke about his infidelity, his altercations with pimps, his enemies on the street, and the tangled mess of people orbiting his life, I could picture it all with uncomfortable clarity. Sometimes more clarity than I particularly wanted in my mind’s eye, which was probably the point. He painted the world of the play so powerfully that the invisible characters — Connie, Rhonda, the children, the criminals, the victims — all seemed to occupy the room with them. Zac Boulton brought a very different weight as Joey. Joey was Denny’s longtime partner, his oldest friend, and a man with his own battle with alcohol, but he was also the one trying to hold the crumbling pieces together. Boulton gave Joey a haunted restraint that balanced Denny’s volatility. He was softer, but not weak; damaged, but not passive. His descriptions of Connie revealed so much: Joey was clearly enamoured with her and seemed capable of offering the care and stability that Denny lacked. The interaction between the two performers shared a brotherly rhythm: quick to interrupt, quick to defend, quick to wound, and all too accustomed to compensating for one another. A particularly telling line was, “I’d been covering for him for so long, I couldn’t keep the lies straight.” Their bond was so deep that it had turned into a trap. And the underlying physical tension between the men was always palpable. Both actors handled a huge amount of dialogue with impressive skill. The pace was fast, the Chicago accents consistent, and neither performer seemed to falter, despite the sheer volume of text! Filkins’ anger and Boulton’s trauma were both intensely convincing, and together they carried the 90 minutes with stamina. I just know that both actors must have needed about five litres of water afterwards! The play effectively used perspective by presenting both sides of the story, revealing shifting truths based on the speaker’s intentions and omissions. This was especially apparent in the incident with a young Vietnamese boy discovered naked and distressed in an alley. Unable to communicate with him, the officers couldn’t determine whether he was high, traumatised, dangerous, harmless, or something else entirely. As one line put it, “99% of the f*ckin’ city is traumatised.” The scene highlighted issues of language barriers, assumptions, policing, who is believed when the full picture is unclear, and who is culpable when darkness is brought to light. Megan Hind’s direction kept the production tight. The play began right in the middle of the action and barely gave us a chance to settle. The pacing worked especially well for me because there was no room to drift. We were drip-fed information, then forced to re-evaluate it. A gunshot through a window led to a revenge mission, which led to broken protocols, job suspensions, car chases, violence, infidelity, guilt, and eventually, avoidable deaths. As the title suggests, the physical and metaphorical rain fell relentlessly throughout the story, sitting underneath the action as a dark, inescapable backdrop. The gunshots were loud and realistic, so consider that a warning for anyone sensitive to sudden sound. There were no props, yet the miming was precise enough that I never felt like anything was missing. Every drink, weapon, injury, stressful car ride, and violent encounter was conjured through performance alone. The fight and intimacy coordination by NJ Price played a crucial role, especially for a production where the action unfolded through memories rather than direct staging. This was not an easy watch, and nor should it have been. It asked uncomfortable questions about loyalty, masculinity, corruption, and the stories people tell so they can live with themselves. “It’s strange the things you have to lose in order to gain what you want” sat heavily over the final stretch of the play. By the end, I had reacted viscerally more than once, which indicates that a play has managed to get under my skin. Aparo Theatre and PIP Theatre delivered a stripped-back, hard-hitting production. It was tense, confronting theatre, and a reminder that sometimes the most unsettling storms are the ones people try to explain away.

Factory Made – A New Musical Book, Director, Set Design: Douglas Berry Composer, Music Director: Your Man Alex Smith Choreography, Costume Design, Props, Hair and Makeup: Jemma Crowhurst Lighting Design: Maddy Bosanko Sound Design: Ben Cooke and Angelina Mustafay Photography: Images by Anderson and Josh Sweeney “Music has to say something to be good. But robots have nothing to say...” Factory Made is a brand-new musical by Douglas Berry and Your Man Alex Smith, presented at Phoenix Ensemble. This show asks us whether art can still mean something if a robot helps to create it... all while serving up killer rock songs, dastardly corporate villains, tap dancing, improv, and one very loveable escapee from the factory floor. The story follows OceanSix, a corporation so aggressively greedy it has managed to monopolise status over everything (ahem, Amazon). With robots running its factories, one robot named Pru makes a daring escape and crash-lands into the life of Stu, the anxious frontman of the band Friendship Alliance. Stu was eagerly expecting a guitar amp but instead receives a sunshiny robot with the worldly wisdom of a goldfish. Stu’s band is gearing up for their debut performance when one of their members bails, leaving Pru as the emergency replacement. The problem is, the band’s entire persona is speaking out against OceanSix and corporate exploitation. So, using a robot in their music makes them look a bit… hypocritical. And thus, the story poses an intriguing question: have they become the very thing they are fighting against? In a world currently drowning in conversations about AI, art, creativity and ownership, the show has plenty to say. Beneath the punchlines and pratfalls, there's a real argument being made about why art matters, why effort matters, and why music needs to come from somewhere inside. Phoebe Imberger portrayed Pru as a walking ray of sunshine, full of brightness, sweetness and oddness. Her clear, gentle singing voice gave the character an extra warmth beneath the robotic quirks. She had a Janet-like quality from The Good Place: helpful, chipper, otherworldly, and impossible not to love. Her friendship with Stu was the show’s emotional epicentre, like a heartwarming buddy comedy where you totally get why this ragtag group would want to protect her. Alex Smith was wonderful as Stu, giving him all the awkward, anxious, hopeful musician qualities needed to make the character work. Stu was the kind of person who clearly had big feelings and big principles, but very little ability to calmly process anything. His number “Robots, They Ain’t Got It” was one of the early standouts, with big Dewey from School of Rock flavour as Stu argued that music needs struggle, soul, and something to say. The chemistry between Imberger and Smith had such a sweet, odd-couple quality to it, and the show was at its strongest when it let these two bounce off each other: think Lilo and Stitch, Buzz and Woody, Mantis and Drax. A standout sequence was “I’m a Detective,” a mini-musical within the musical where Stu and Pru pretended to be cops, fought crime, and were so committed to the bit that it actually worked. The songwriting, storytelling, choreography, and props all combined for perfect comedic effect. It was a blast watching the duo discover just how far they could push their 'improv' without being caught out. Jemma Crowhurst rocked the stage as Tess. She had the rock chick attitude, the voice, and the stage presence. Plus, she managed to choreograph the show, design the costumes, props, hair, and makeup.. so apparently sleep is just an option in her life. Emma Erdis brought some serious Terminator vibes as M.A.X., especially when rocking out to the hard-hitting tune “To the Xtreme.” And I can't forget Abi Pineda, who nailed it as the tap-dancing(!) Robot Assistant. Meanwhile, I'm still trying to master the art of walking without rolling my ankle every damn day. Rae Rose was fantastic as Deeandra, the big boss of OceanSix. All greed, grins, and power poses, they owned the opening number “Factory Made” like a corporate villain straight out of a comedy-horror flick. Rae had the crazy villain look and voice mastered to a tee. Each time they strutted on stage Deeandra was as slick as a shark in a business suit, with a dash of mean girl nastiness and a sprinkle of sarcastic glee. The Shareholders, played by Oliver Catton, Liam Hartley, Torin Cook, and Daniel Lelic, were the epitome of wealthy snobs, cranked up to about one trillion on the snooty scale. Their motto was “F*ck poor people,” which pretty much told us all we needed to know about them. All four were so funny that I do not know how anyone on stage survived without breaking. I would have been useless. The casting was excellent across the board. Douglas Berry’s script was hilarious to me. Not just “polite theatre chuckle” funny either. The kind of funny where you hear people still repeating lines to each other at interval. The direction made room for all the silliness in the story, mixing awkward pauses, silly costumes, background gags, goofy physicality and witty one-liners. It had a very Starkid-adjacent flavour: homemade, high-concept, nerdy, self-aware, oddly sincere, and completely willing to run at a ridiculous idea until it became emotionally sincere. It was anti-capitalist sci-fi, buddy-cop, and musical fever dream rolled into one. I swear I wrote a play just like this two decades ago called The Random Adventures of Bobble and Spoink. The music was the show’s not-so-secret weapon. Alex Smith tossed in a wild mix of rock, synth, barbershop quartets, villain ballads, detective jingles, and revolutionary musical theatre. The Act II opener, “The Spectrum,” was my personal favourite. I need it immediately so it can become my ringtone, my alarm, and my entire personality. It was on the nose, catchy, and odd in the way the best musical theatre songs often are. “To the Shop,” the barbershop quartet number, was another impressive highlight (special shoutout to Daniel’s falsetto!) “Enough Wasting Time” was an intense theatrical solo before expanding into a full-cast moment, complete with an intentional rock pulse and flag wave that felt very “Do You Hear the People Sing?” if Les Mis had been hijacked by robots. Then, near the end, Alex’s ballad brought a real sweetness back into the story. For all its chaos, the show did have a heart, and the final emotional beats worked because the production had taken the time to build genuine affection between its characters. Jemma Crowhurst’s choreography was a major strength of the production. The opening number used mechanical precision beautifully, instantly setting up the world of the show. That physical language carried through the production, balancing comedy, storytelling and musical flair. The Dream Ballet was a particular standout, giving us M.A.X.’s villain origin story through cinematic music, slow-motion movement and dramatic blocking. Visually, the production had a playful and cohesive identity. Douglas Berry’s set design supported the shifts between factory, band space, and urban streets. There was a lot of humour baked into the design, particularly in the costumes and prop work, that gave the whole show an extra boost of personality. Maddy Bosanko’s lighting helped shift the production cleanly between comedy, corporate menace and rock-concert flair, giving each part of the world its own visual punch. Ben Cooke and Angelina Mustafay’s sound design was also excellent, not only supporting the sci-fi setting but landing some of the jokes itself. Sound design being funny is not something I get to write often, so I was very pleased to enjoy the rare treat. The audience was completely hooked. Laughter constantly echoed around the theatre, and by interval, people were already swapping favourite moments and predicting where the story might go next. We were invested and we wanted answers! I had a great time with Factory Made. It had its own strange beating heart and was packed with songs I wanted to hear again.

Title: Legally Blonde The Musical Presented By: ROCKIT Productions Genre: Musical Theatre / Youth Production Program Synopsis: Elle Woods appears to have it all until her boyfriend, Warner, ends their relationship so he can attend Harvard Law School and find someone more “serious.” Determined to win him back, Elle charms her way into Harvard, where she faces dismissive classmates, demanding professors and assumptions about who she is capable of becoming. With support from unexpected new friends, Elle begins to realise that she does not need to change herself to earn respect or success. Packed with pop-infused songs, energetic choreography and comedy, Legally Blonde The Musical follows Elle’s transformation as she challenges stereotypes, discovers her own abilities and learns to pursue her dreams on her own terms. Audition Date: Sunday 12 July 2026 Audition Time: Auditions: 10:00am–3:00pm Callbacks: 3:30pm–7:30pm Auditionees will be allocated a 90-minute group session. Not all auditionees will be required at callbacks. Audition Location and Address: ROCKIT Launchpad Studios, 36 Old Cleveland Road, Capalaba QLD 4157 Audition Requirements: Auditions will be conducted in small workshop-style groups and will assess singing, acting, dancing and suitability for available roles. Participation in one weekly technical dance class is also a prerequisite for joining the Senior Program. This may be a streamed ballet or jazz class, or an adult introductory ballet or jazz class. Audition Registration: Enrol in the ROCKIT Senior Musical Theatre Program Performance Dates: Thursday 10 December 2026 Friday 11 December 2026 Saturday 12 December 2026 Sunday 13 December 2026 Performer Age: Students in Grades 10–12 Other information: This production forms part of ROCKIT’s Elite Senior Musical Theatre Program. The program runs across two school terms. A costume-hire fee of $42 per term applies, totalling $84. Students may also need to provide basic costume items, undergarments and footwear. Payment plans and multi-class discounts are available. Enquiries: hello@rockitproductions.com.au or 0435 115 339.