Melbourne’s stages have seen a slew of jukebox musicals tread the boards over the past few years. They’ve ranged from the powerful (Tina – The Tina Turner Musical) to the cheesy-yet-crowd-pleasing (Mamma Mia! The Musical) and the glossed-over tributes (MJ the Musical).
Thankfully, at a time when it feels more important than ever to encourage people to get out and support the local arts industry, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical arrives at the Princess Theatre full of razzle-dazzle, an abundance of infectious energy and a stacked setlist guaranteed to appeal to the masses.
What is A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical about?
Written by Anthony McCarten, directed by Michael Mayer and created in collaboration with Neil Diamond himself, A Beautiful Noise opens on a dour therapy session between an older Diamond (played with commanding gravitas by Terence Crawford) and his doctor (Monica Sayers). It’s an unflinchingly sharp first introduction to the musical legend – all the more surprising given the heavy involvement of Diamond and his wife Katie – who is being particularly stubborn about revealing anything about the “clouds” that darken his demeanour.
Enter the doc whipping out a book of all his lyrics, and suddenly, in true musical theatre fashion, the songs are quite literally spilling onto the stage in the form of the ensemble singing a teasing medley of hits to come.
From there we’re transported back in time as a young Diamond (Will Swenson) gets his big...
It's official: Winter is (finally) over and spring has sprung! Well done, everybody – we survived another chilly season in Melbourne. And now, it's time to welcome longer days, more sunshine, warmer temps and an action-packed events calendar.
Starting with what could be the biggest sporting event of the year. No, we're not talking about the AFL Grand Final (although that's coming up on September 26). The NFL is rolling into town and the MCG will be playing host to the San Francisco 49ers and the LA Rams in the first-ever regular-season game to be held Down Under.
It's all going down on September 11, but you can join in the festivities at the three-day Kickoff Festival, which will feature NFL exhibits, team activations, retail pop-ups, official watch parties and a stacked live music program.
On the flower front, the Tesselaar Tulip Festival returns in a sea of colour, and you can see cherry blossoms in full bloom at Cherry Hill Orchard's Blossom Festival. Two major environmentally focused events are also taking place, with RESET Festival and Birrarung Riverfest returning to celebrate biodiversity, nature and sustainability.
Over at the Australian Museum of Performing Arts is Encore! 50 Objects. 50 Years. One Collection. This brand new exhibition will showcase 50 extraordinary pieces of Australian performing arts history – think Kylie Minogue's gold hot pants, the maracas that Peter Allen shook in his 1977 performance of ‘I Go To Rio’ and costumes worn by Olivia Newton-John and Hugh Jackman.
And with the school holidays running from September 19 to October 4, it's set to be a busy month. See you out there!
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