Observer

OBSERVER: Beyond the Baton

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Tycho! Beyond the Baton is the remarkable story of a post-war immigrant whose music infiltrated the ears of most Australians.Tommy Tycho became a household name in Australian television as conductor, composer and orchestrator of the music for a wide range of shows, from the Mavis Bramston Show to Number 96, not to mention creating the…

OBSERVER: Death of Derryn Hinch, 82

Saturday, July 11, 2026

BY ASH LONG, EDITOR So long, mate. Vale Derryn Hinch, dead at age 82. Derryn and I shared lunch just a few weeks back at the Survivors bi-annual gathering at the Emerald Hotel, South Melbourne. We always shared war stories about leg wounds. Derryn had started to be a regular at the luncheons at my…

OBSERVER: Death of a Salesman

Saturday, July 4, 2026

Some of Australia’s finest actors are set to take the stage in GWB Entertainment and Andrew Henry Presents’ production of Arthur Miller’s timeless Pulitzer Prize-winning classic Death of a Salesman for a strictly limited season in Melbourne, August 11-22.Award-winning Anthony LaPaglia, will reprise his role as Willy Loman alongside Australian actor Alison Whyte, re-creating her…

OBSERVER: Next Generation

PLOS Musical Productions has a long history of presenting musicals with youth members in the casts, and now the theatre company is introducing something new and exciting for young people with a passion for musical theatre.The Next Generation musicals will continue the tradition of presenting productions at the Frankston Arts Centre, giving young cast members…

OBSERVER: Drag Roast

Friday, July 3, 2026

ITD Events announce that Kween Kong has officially joined the cast of Drag Roast 2026, being presented as a national tour and performing at the Melbourne Town Hall on Friday, July 24, from 7pm to 10.30pm.Fresh from taking on the world in RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars and recently announced as part of the…

OBSERVER: Pride and Prejudice (sort of)

Writer Isobel McArthur has given the full pantomime treatment to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, in this (sort of) reimagining.Complete with slapstick, physical comedy, sight gags and contemporary song, lovers of Austen may well claim the caricatures who inhabit the novel were the forerunners of the genre such is the comic timing and enthusiasm of…

OBSERVER: Break Of Day

Acclaimed Australian director Sarah Goodes is reuniting with AACTA award-winner Kat Stewart for the premiere of Steve Rodgers’s Break of Day. This new Australian classic will play at Malthouse’s Merlyn Theatre from August 7–29.Stewart, recipient of the 2025 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Mainstage Production for Who’s Afraid…

OBSERVER: Evocation

The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic will be spreading its musical magic beyond Melbourne, with its forthcoming concert called Evocations, which is a program of short choral works from around the world.Over the weekends of July 11-12 and 18-19, the RMP will perform this concert in Melbourne, Ballarat and Castlemaine.RMP Artistic Director Andrew Wailes (pictyured) has chosen…

OIBSERVER: A Beautiful Noise – The Neil Diamond Musical

PHOTO: Broadway star Will Swenson plays Neil Diamond in A Beautiful Nose: The Neil Diamond Musical. Producers Paul Dainty and TEG Dainty, Ken Davenport and Bob Gaudio, have announced the new release of tickets for the Melbourne season of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, following overwhelming demand.The season has been extended by two…

OBSERVER: Local Theatre Report

Shows Leongatha Lyric Theatre: Billy Elliot the Musical Until July 18 at the Memorial Hall, Leongatha. Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1576537 sGeelong Repertory Theatre Company: The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark (William Shakespeare) June 26 – July 11 at The Woodbin Theatre, Coronation St., Geelong West. Director: Greg Shawcross. Bookings:  Geelong Arts Centre 1300 251 200 geelongartscentre.org.auEltham…