Sondheim, as always, has to make things difficult. If it’s not in his chords then it’s the subject matter of his musicals. However Assassins, one of the more rarely performed of the Sondheim repertoire, finds itself locked and loaded in good hands with Dean Bryant at this latest production at the Hayes. Superb casting all…
Read More
I was a week late to the game on seeing this one, as I was overseas during opening week, and try as I might I couldn’t help watching as the glowing reviews went up one by one. I mean really, with the likes of Hayden Tee and Matthew Backer I knew Hayes was on another winner,…
Read More
Only Heaven Knows is a beloved musical set in the 1940s and 1950s, telling the story of one young man’s discovery of love and life in Sydney. Playing the dual role of Lea/Lana is Hayden Tee. This will mark Hayden’s return to Australia after his multi award-winning performance of Javert in Les Misérables, which he reprised on Broadway and will soon be…
Read More
Only Heaven Knows is a beloved musical set in the 1940s and 1950s, telling the story of one young man’s discovery of love and life in Sydney. Having just finished his critically acclaimed Puck in STC’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Sydney Opera House, Matthew Backer will now make his Hayes Theatre Co. debut as Alan in Only Heaven Knows….
Read More
Not too often can you honestly say that a smaller independent production of a musical is undeniably better than a full-scale Broadway production, but Big Fish at the Hayes Theatre has surely got to be one of those times. The signature intimate theatre and the sincerity of the performances gives this musical the biggest of…
Read More
A new take on a theatrical classic makes this Calamity Jane a must-see. And the classic I’m referring to is not the musical – it’s the oft ridiculed theatrical style of ‘Broadway dinner theatre’. Everything bar the meal is here: interactions with the audience, contemporary references (insert Trump joke here), entrances and exits through the…
Read More
Legendary frontierswoman; notorious daredevil; profane storyteller; unwomanly radical – CALAMITY JANE is one of the most immediately recognizable figures of the old American West. And now, after a sell-out performance in August last year as part of Neglected Musicals, The Hayes Theatre is bringing the Wild West back in a “stripped-back, rough-and-ready reimagining” of the classic musical….
Read More
Mack and Mabel is a musical that I hadn’t yet gotten around to listening or paying much attention to. When the Hayes announced that they were producing it however, I decided to take a nosy into what it was all about. From what I could garner the musical was a bit of a well-known, somewhat…
Read More
You can always rely on Hayes Theatre Co to bring the shows that you’ve always wanted to see but know in your heart that they’ll be a tough bring. Side Show is precisely one of these shows- with its big number “Who Will Love Me As I Am” and its notable conjoined twin role, it’s a rarely-performed…
Read More
Fresh from covering the role of Jean Valjean in the recent national production of Les Misérables and previous international tours as a member of The Ten Tenors, Daniel Belle is now taking on the role of ex-vaudeville talent scout and agent Terry Connor in Hayes Theatre’s Side Show. We caught up to chat about this premiere production and his experience as a finalist…
Read More
Side Show is a stunning story of sisterhood based on the remarkable real-life story of Daisy and Violet Hilton- identical ‘Siamese twins’ who were joined at the hip. The sisters grew up touring America in a travelling ‘freak show’. But when their spectacular talent and charm was discovered, they became a national sensation and the highest-paid stars of…
Read More
After a very popular season in Melbourne, Songs For A New World has finally made its way to Sydney and we were ready! Well, sort of. Songs For A New World is one of those “musicals” that you kind of need to see in person, and its difficult to get a sense of really anything…
Read More
What a time to be alive and witness the magnitude of talent we have here in Australia. If you have yet to experience the incredible gifts of our young Aussie guys and girls, then Heathers: The Musical is the best way to ease you in. Amidst a sea of scrunchies, yes that’s right scrunchies, the Arts…
Read More
Who knew the old trope of the hard-boiled detective paired with eager up-and-coming youth set to solve crime and make safe the streets could be so smoothly re-imagined as a musical? An utterly hilarious musical at that! Ian Ferrington, writer of “The Detective’s Handbook” sure did. For hilarious it is. The audience could hardly save…
Read More
Set in the Chicago 1950s The Detective’s Handbook follows Frank Thompson and his young partner Jimmy Hartmann as they investigate the murder of two policemen. Rob Johnson plays Hartmann, a new recruit determined to do it “by the book” who clashes hilariously with the world-weary Thompson. We caught up with Rob during rehearsals to find…
Read More
Little Shop of Horrors, the musical where a giant man-eating plant takes center stage (or majority of the stage really). Oh, and it sings. Very sassily. If that doesn’t sell it for you then maybe you need to revisit your theatre needs. This is a quirky dark comedy is brought to you by the very…
Read More
The Fantasticks has become the longest running production of any kind in the history of American theatre, no small feat, and yet I hadn’t heard of it. So noticing we were getting a production here in the wonderful Hayes Theatre I went to listen on Spotify. I wound up a good deal confused- what is…
Read More
