Twenty things to hear, see and do this weekend
From seeing original Sex Pistols bass player Glen Matlock and Stray Cats' drummer Slim Jim Phantom together at Ding Dong Lounge in the city, to Sunday's annual Sydney Road Street Party, we've got your weekend covered.
Tim Minchin meets Melbourne Matildas as hit musical opens at Princess Theatre
6:22pm Dusty Bursill, Tiana Mirra, Alannah Parfett and Ingrid Torelli are all playing the role of Matilda in the Royal Shakespeare Company's smash hit musical, based on the beloved children's book by Roald Dahl.
Dancing Umbrellas review: diverse interpretations of brollies at Heide exhibition
Robert Nelson Belle Bassin isn't a crazy lady but an artist looking like a crazy lady, brandishing her bouquet of brollies, a prolific posy of parapluies, to ward off the shower of ennui in daily life.
Sandra Parker returns to Melbourne to premiere new dance work Small Details
John Bailey Choreographer Sandra Parker brings together dance and kinetic sculpture as performers engage with mechanical creations.
Clergy sex abuse focus of new play Redemption at La Mama
John Bailey Redemption follows a young priest sent to investigate his retired mentor, a monsignor, who has been accused of a sex crime 30 years ago.
Caroline O'Connor kicks off The Production Company's 2016 season with Funny Girl
John Bailey The Production Company's annual trio of shows offers a wonderful mix.
Australian as: Comedian Nick Cody's sweary, self-deprecating shtick wins fans
STEPHANIE BUNBURY Nick Cody is about as Australian as a hard-earned thirst, this audience has only a sprinkling of expat among the Londoners. And they were all loving him.
What's on this weekend
Sean Wilson Highlights of a chock-a-block weekend include The Necks, a Windsor party and SAM in Shepparton.
Our pick of what's happening around town
Sean Wilson Singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers will perform songs from her extensive back catalogue at the latest instalment of the Zoo Twilights series.
Cate Blanchett: the messenger and the medium
John McDonald Video artist Julian Rosefeldt speaks of the "beauty" of the manifesto and says his project is an act of homage. To bring his message to the masses he had help from an unrecogniseable Australian icon.
Urthboy talks the contested past on new album The Past Beats Inside Me Like a Second Heartbeat
BERNARD ZUEL One of Australia's premier rappers blends history into the personal and the modern on his new album.
An hour-by-hour guide to White Night Melbourne
ANNABEL ROSS Make your way from north to south of the city on a dusk-until-dawn, 12-stop White Night adventure.
White Night survival guide: how to make the most of Melbourne's all-night party
Annabel Ross and Dewi Cooke Worried about navigating the crowds pouring into Melbourne's CBD on Saturday for White Night? Then don't be an early bird: the best way to avoid them is to get there at 4am.
From the hollers to the plains
Dave Rawlings Machine review: Three sides of a musical diamond
BERNARD ZUEL The third leg of a series of shows which took us from Kentucky hollers to Los Angeles canyons.
Thirty years of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival
ANNABEL ROSS The raucous launch of the 1987 Melbourne International Comedy Festival was to set the tone for the next thirty 30 years.
The good life: your guide to the best offerings around town and beyond
Feel the love this Valentine's weekend with events for romantics, families and funsters.
A burden lifted when shared
Sufjan Stevens finds peace by sharing the pain - his and ours
BERNARD ZUEL The American singer says performing emotional songs helps him through the pain of losing his mother.
The quick and the gutted
Prince Australian tour tickets prove too hot to handle - and too expensive
BERNARD ZUEL You don't have to be rich to get Prince tickets, but it helps.
Woodcourt Art Theatre emerges from the lounge for La Mama shows
John Bailey The rise of the creative economy means that these days anyone with a coffee and a crowdfunding campaign can call themselves an artist. But once upon a time you had to earn your stripes via no-budget backyard shows that you lured your friends to with cheap goon in plastic cups.
Berg's Lulu: Glorious snapshots of William Kentridge's Met Opera show, but not the big picture
Michael Shmith The Met is always keen to say there is no substitute for live opera, and there is no better example than this Lulu.
Death of composer Alan Curtis cast shadow over Victorian Opera season opener Voyage to the Moon
BARNEY ZWARTZ The biggest hurdle was emotional for Victorian Opera's cast and crew when composer Alan Curtis died before completing Victorian Opera's season opener just months before its premiere.
Highlights
Eight days: your guide to what's on this week
Hit up a cider and pork festival or take your pick of great gigs around town.
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Post Melbourne Festival: Where to slake your thirst
Devotion to detail, and to serving a diversity of drinks in spaces both small and curated or large and loud, is what makes Melbourne's bar scene so enticing.
