This Month
Lessons in ambition from Lady Macbeth
The actress Bojana Novokovic admits to admiring the chutzpah of Shakespeare’s most scheming wife ahead of playing her in a new theatrical production.
- Peter Craven
‘Like Vivid without the crowds’: seeing Adelaide’s Illuminate Festival
Adelaide’s compact nature makes visiting its annual winter festival of light, technology and art a pleasurable experience.
- Michael Bailey
The all-in-one physical, mental and emotional workout
Kimbali Harding began learning piano as a toddler. The hobby has not just guided her career choice – she can’t imagine her life without it.
- Life & Leisure
What makes Queen the most valuable rock band of all time
Expect to hear even more of the songs that have become anthems after the band sold the rights to Sony Music and the private equity giant Apollo for $1.9 billion.
- Liam Kelly
Shows you must see for NAIDOC Week
From a trans-Tasman tour de force for Bangarra Dance Theatre, to a Vincent Namatjira retrospective featuring ‘that’ portrait of Gina Rinehart, there are plenty of shows to get you into the spirit of the week.
- Michael Bailey
This 59-year-old play about broke divorcees oddly suits the times
Two of Australia’s great comedic actors make this revival of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple a funny, relatable affair.
- Michael Bailey
June
Seven shows you must see in July
From Dracula to Hamilton, to a gallery tour led by a cat – yes, a cat – here is Life & Leisure’s monthly selection of unmissable shows around the country.
- Michael Bailey
A Las Vegas residency is a nice little earner for top stars
When flamboyant pianist Liberace settled in for a prolonged stay in 1955, it started a trend that’s proved lucrative for performers and the city as a whole.
- Christopher Palmeri
When Maria Callas went from diva to teacher
By 1971, the celebrated soprano’s voice was worn out. This made for a febrile mood at her series of Juilliard masterclasses that year, now immortalised in a play.
- Michael Bailey
Renaissance renditions of Bee Gees? Only at one festival
With portraits ‘singing’ Aussie pop classics, fires in the botanic gardens and dinosaurs at the zoo, Adelaide’s Illuminate Festival wants to lure you out this winter.
- Michael Bailey
A cello or a house? The answer was easy for this virtuoso
Two airfares to get anywhere. A mortgage-sized outlay on a new instrument. The cello is an expensive addiction for Nicolas Altstaedt, who is touring with the ACO.
- Michael Bailey
Chicago The Musical gets away with murder
Review: The latest Australian production of Chicago is all big-city sass and swagger, set to hyper-mobile jazz age choreography and a bagful of great period-inspired songs.
- Michael Bailey
The unlikely father and daughter paying for King Lear
Barrister Katherine Brazenor has a taste for the darkly comic. No wonder she’s enlisted her father as a co-patron of the Bard’s play on a fatally dysfunctional family.
- Michael Bailey
Finally, a documentary about Midnight Oil
Paul Clarke’s ‘The Hardest Line’ is largely a celebration of the Oils that never ventures a word of criticism.
- John McDonald
Middle Kids make their case for the top
Review: If ever guitars, clever lyrics and winding melodies come back into chart fashion, Sydney’s Middle Kids will - by the sounds of Friday night’s hometown show - be in great shape to capitalise.
- Michael Bailey
Juggling your day job with a hobby after hours? This exec pulls it off
He’s a fan of actor Jack Nicholson but has to fit in his own passion for the stage with an executive role at a branding agency. How does he do it?
- Life & Leisure
The creative force who persuaded Malala to appear in a comedy show
The creator of “We Are Lady Parts’, a show about an all-girl punk band, wants people to see Muslim women as more than trauma victims.
- Alexis Soloski
May
TikTok video about finance bros is a viral hit
A 19-second song poking fun at old stereotypes has become a viral hit.
- Crystal Tse
Why Demi Moore’s gory new film is generating so much buzz
The actress’s moving and brutal Cannes sensation, ‘The Substance’, ends her retreat from stardom and reveals her vulnerability after a challenging career.
- Tim Robey
Shows you don’t want to miss in June
From the original ‘Evita’ to Coppélia set in the Adelaide Hills, here’s our pick of the top performances and exhibitions around Australia.
- Michael Bailey