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Final Tickets For Sydney Season Of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical Released

22/09/2026 Breaking News

Feature-A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL

Producers Paul Dainty AO and TEG Dainty, Ken Davenport and Bob Gaudio are thrilled to announce the final release of tickets for the smash-hit Broadway musical A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL. Due to overwhelming demand, the season has been extended by five weeks through to Sunday 14 February 2027, with ticket presales commencing today and tickets to the general public going on sale Friday 25 September from ticketmaster.com.au.

The musical is currently playing at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre and has received extraordinary praise from critics and audiences alike.

“Full of spectacle and humour, emotion and nostalgia, and of course, the music.” – The Age
“An abundance of rich, memorable songs, and energy to burn.” – The Guardian
“A Brilliant Show” – The Today Show (Richard Wilkins)
“This is a dazzling blockbuster of a show that honours the singer-songwriter’s career and legacy.” – Time Out
“A thrilling, nostalgic and deeply moving celebration of the man behind the music.” – Stage Whispers

The Australian cast of A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is led by Broadway star Will Swenson in the titular role Neil Diamond – Then, bringing his acclaimed, award-winning performance to Australia for the very first time. Joining Swenson is an exceptional company of Australian talent, featuring principal cast members Terence Crawford (Neil Diamond – Now), Ashleigh Rubenach (Marcia Murphey), Monica Sayers (Doctor), Alana Tranter (Jaye Posner), Tim Wright (Fred Weintraub / Tommy O’Rourke), Paul Hanlon (Bert Berns / Kieve Diamond), Hannah Fredericksen (Ellie Greenwich / Rose Diamond), with Rob Mallett (Standby Neil Diamond – Then), and Mark Owen Taylor (Standby Neil Diamond – Now, Fred Weintraub / Tommy O’Rourke, Bert Berns / Kieve Diamond).

Rounding out the company as “The Beautiful Noise” ensemble are Katrina Bickerton, Cameron Davey, Paul Leandre Escorrido, Matt Hourigan, Alana Iannace, Jerome Javier (Swing), Joshua Kobeck, Etuate Lutui (Shilo soloist), Anna Mallows (Swing), Jordan Malone, James Maxfield (Swing), Isabella Roberts, Sophie Tzioumis, Emma Wilby (Swing), and Erica Wild (Swing).

Created in collaboration with Neil Diamond himself, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is the uplifting true story of how a kid from Brooklyn became a chartbusting, show-stopping American rock icon. With 140 million albums sold, a catalogue of classics like “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “Forever in Blue Jeans,” and “Sweet Caroline,” an induction into the Songwriters and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and sold-out concerts around the world that made him bigger than Elvis, Neil Diamond’s story was made to shine on Broadway – and the world.

Like Jersey Boys and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical before it, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL — from the Australian producers of TINA – The Tina Turner Musical — is an inspiring, exhilarating, energy-filled musical memoir, that tells the untold true story of how America’s greatest hitmaker became a star, set to the songs that defined his career.

Neil Diamond’s connection with Australia spans nearly half a century of music and memories. He has toured here seven times with promoter Paul Dainty AO, from the landmark Thank You Australia tour in 1976 through to 2015, with his music resonating deeply with audiences. His iconic 1972 live album Hot August Night spent 29 weeks at number one and 65 weeks on the chart, making it the third-longest-charting album of its era in Australian music history.

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), choreographed by Olivier Award winner Steven Hoggett (Once, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), and written by four-time Academy Award nominee Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Two Popes). The design team for A BEAUTIFUL NOISE features Tony Award winner David Rockwell (Scenic Design), Tony Award nominee Emilio Sosa (Costume Design), four-time Tony Award winner Kevin Adams (Lighting Design), Tony Award winner Jessica Paz (Sound Design), and Luc Verschueren (Hair, Wig and Make Up Design). The production has Music Supervision and Arrangements by Sonny Paladino, Incidental Music and Dance Music Arrangements by Brian Usifer, Vocal Design by AnnMarie Milazzo, and Orchestrations by Bob Gaudio, Sonny Paladino, and Brian Usifer.

Final tickets for the Sydney season of A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL, through to Sunday 14 February at the Sydney Lyric, go on sale this week.

SEASON DETAILS SYDNEY
Venue: Sydney Lyric, Pyrmont
Season: Previews commence on Saturday 14 November
Performance Times: Wed-Sat 7.30pm, Wed/Thu/Sun 1pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 6.30pm
Prices: From $69 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: Visit ticketmaster.com.au or phone 02 9509 3600
Groups 10+: Visit ticketmaster.com.au or phone 1300 558 878 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm
Groups 10+: Email groups@ticketmaster.com..au

SEASON DETAILS MELBOURNE
Venue: Princess Theatre
Season: Playing now through to Saturday 7 November
Performance Times: Wed-Sat 7.30pm, Wed/Thu/Sun 1pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 6.30pm
Prices: From $69 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: Visit ticketek.com.au or phone 1300 665 915
Groups 10+: Visit ticketek.com.au or phone 03 9299 9873 Mon-Fri 9am-4pm
Groups 10+: Email groups@marrinergroup.com.au

SEASON DETAILS BRISBANE
Venue: Lyric Theatre, QPAC
Season: Previews commence on Saturday 20 March, 7:30pm
Performance Times: Wed-Sat 7.30pm, Wed/Thu/Sun 1pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 6.30pm
Prices: From $69 (Transaction fees apply)
Tickets: Visit qpac.com.au or phone 136 246
Groups 10+: Contact QPAC Groups Department qpac.com.au or phone 07 3840 7466
Groups 10+: Email groups@qtix.com.au

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Anastasia: An Elegant, Enchanting Enigma

21/09/2026 Paul Ellicott🥈🎭

Anastasia The Musical Rating

★★★★★

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According to Anastasia’s writer Terrence McNally, a fairy tale is a story that even if it isn’t demonstrably true, tells us something very truthful about who we are. So even if modern DNA testing has concluded any claim about a runaway Romanov, the rumour, legend and mystery of Anastasia rightly endure and find luminous life in a Broadway show, now performing at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre in Brisbane. Set largely within economically shattered early 1900s Russia, Anastasia avoids excessive sentimentality, canvassing a society struggling to survive, and haunted with loss. Street sweeper Anya is groomed by conmen Dmitry and Vlad to pose as Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, rumoured to have escaped and survived her Imperial family’s execution, so they can pocket a reward. However, as the story develops, the grift turns to gratitude, and the fiction may not be so far-flung.

Every facet of Anastasia is impressively crafted, creating a musical that is spirited and spellbinding, yet sombre. Of the performers, Georgina Hopson is an admirable Anya, exuding the guts and grace to embody both the peasant and the princess with authentic likeability, not to mention pitch-perfect vocals, delivered with power and tender restraint. Robert Tripolino is eye catching as the resourceful rogue, Dmitry, a conman with a conscience. The magnetism between Anya and Dmitry is evident earlier than the characters realise it, and their burgeoning romance provides them with satisfying realignment and redemption, respectively. Rodney Dobson brings lived-in levity to the character Vlad, wily associate of Dmitry, and ex-member of the Imperial Court, sharing good connection and timing, particularly in his scenes with Tripolino, and Rhonda Burchmore – who is a giddy, glamourous and genial Countess Lily. Joshua Robson stands out as Gleb, capturing the complexity and ambivalence of the character, with velvet, vibrato-rich vocals, while as the Dowager Empress, Nancy Hayes commands with gravitas and regal decorum. The entire ensemble is highly commendable, vivacious and versatile.

Anastasia’s projection and videography are remarkable, adding depth and cinematic spectacle to the stage, immersing us in the adventure even more thoroughly. Dance is another special feature, with effervescent group numbers and stirring contrast between Russian waltzes, beautiful but bygone, and the up-tempo jazz stylings of 1920’s Paris. There is some phenomenal ballet added in for good measure, which provides a dazzling link between the old and new. The stylistic changes in costume, dance, and music achieve a marked tonal shift from the repression of revolution era Russia to the joie de vivre of Paris – and the possibilities of a new dawn. The costumes are stunning, the women’s regal dresses in particular draw gasps of appreciation, and the music is sumptuous and memorable, with undertones of melancholy befitting the fallen who at once grace and haunt the stage.

Anastasia shares many elements with the animated 1997 film, including five of the songs, but it achieves something new and more grown up, with each aspect combining beautifully. Director Darko Tresnjak and the entire creative team truly sweep us away in the journey. Overall, the legend of Anastasia endures, and this production is an elegant and enchanting enigma, telling many truths, including about how serendipity leads us where we are meant to be. Highly recommended.

To book tickets to Anastasia The Musical, please visit https://anastasiathemusical.com.au/tickets/brisbane/.

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Where Harmony Meets Healing: The Heartbreak Choir

14/09/202614/09/2026 Jules Hart🥉

The Heartbreak Choir Rating

★★★★★

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Opening to a robust audience at Brisbane’s PIP Theatre, The Heartbreak Choir by the late playwright Aidan Fennessy explores the healing power of song while deeper tensions simmer beneath the surface of a country community.

Deftly directed by Sherryl Lea Secomb, The Heartbreak Choir invites us into the world of a small group of choristers who splinter from their established choir, incensed over a matter of principle. With a new name, a new space to rehearse and a public debut looming, the newly formed choir is determined to right the wrongs of the past. As the first act unfolds, snippets of dialogue and moments of interaction hint at an undercurrent of tension, gradually revealing the basis of this moral divide by Act One’s conclusion.

The play opens in a tired community hall on the outskirts of a rural Australian town. Hannah Page’s sound design is immediately immersive as a woman enters, flicks on a buzzing fluorescent light and coaxes the only radiant bar heater to life. The simple set features a kitchenette, worn metal fold-up chairs and a stock standard piano. It’s not too long before the eclectic mix of characters arrive for their first breakaway choir rehearsal under their leader Barbara (Catarina Hebbard).
Anchoring the choir group is Barbara, exuding a faded elegance and grounding warmth. She is level headed and guides the group with gentle authority.

Straight talking and bustling farmer Mack is brought to life by Gemma Galley. Her refreshing authenticity and ability to burst into a room and inject it with a bombastic energy sets you back in your chair. There’s a stark contrast between Mack and child Savannah (Micheal Enright), who selectively communicates non-verbally. Similarly affected by anxiety, this contrast highlights how differently people can express their inner turmoil.

Though often quiet, Savannah carries a presence impossible to ignore; sassy and stubborn, yet intensely observational. With angelic singing voice and signing, Enright’s portrayal compels you to lean in further to interpret their messages.

Diedre Grace portrays Totty—frighteningly organised, a delightfully brazen inability to read the room, and getting about in Hi-Viz gear for no obvious reason. Diedre’s unfiltered delivery of lines in tense situations never fails to pop the bubble of tension, bringing a fresh swell of energy to the scene.

Assini, the soulful, heavily pregnant Zimbabwean woman emits the necessary warmth to the group. Through her poignant stance and pragmatic reactions, Brightholly Nininahazwe is unafraid to quietly stand her ground in spaces of moral division.

Nervously gatecrashing this new tight knit bubble of choristers is senior police offer Peter (played by Bradley McCaw), burdened with both the weight of his past and reservations about what his future holds. There’s a humble vulnerability McCaw brings to the role, which ultimately acts as a catalyst for the choir to deal with their past.

Benjamin Cole, as son of Peter, perfectly aids McCaw in displaying the contrast between the different impacts of grief on a person. Both racked with shock from recent events; they convey the significance that trauma holds in shaping who you are and how you act.

Although Beau’s transformation is slow, his character arc feels rewarding to watch unfold. And with few lines, Cole successfully utilised body language and unspoken interpersonal dynamics to illustrate his unacknowledged emotional story.

The plays’ darker themes are balanced remarkably well with humour and quirky characters, testament to the strong ensemble cast. It’s difficult to pick a clear standout performer—each brings such heart and believability to their role that the play wouldn’t feel complete without any of them.

While the underlying message of this production is quite a serious one, most of the show is surprisingly funny, with plenty of classic Aussie slang, humorous ramblings, and raw character interactions sparking moments of laughter around the room.

With the finale song Our Little Town, composed and arranged by Bradley McCaw, and in collaboration with local choir Ignite, led by Harmony Woollet, the production provides a joyous tribute to the power of connection through community.

PIP Theatre’s The Heartbreak Choir is performing till the 19th September. For tickets please visit: 2026 | The Heartbreak Choir | PIP Theatre

To book tickets to The Heartbreak Choir, please visit https://piptheatre.org/heartbreak-choir/.

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Scenes with Girls: Complex, Contemporary Tragicomedy

10/09/202610/09/2026 Paul Ellicott🥈🎭

Scenes with Girls Rating

★★★★★

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Salad Days Collective return rowdily with Scenes with Girls by Miriam Battye, a story exploring the contradictions of friendship between three younger women, living lives alone, together. Set primarily in the intimate setting of a share-house lounge room and adjoining bathroom, Scenes is a chaotic, compelling and a non-linear romp which traverses the entire emotional spectrum, successfully balancing both light and dark themes throughout. The play is a thoughtful choice, which seems well aligned with the Salad Days Collective, a fast and fiercely evolving creative company, guided by the principle that theatre can’t be polite to be powerful.

A noted playwright and screenwriter, Miriam Battye writes unapologetically and with freedom; In interviews, she acknowledges her tendency to actively complicate her plays, and Scenes with Girls is a likely example of that, perhaps deliberately evasive in parts (what is the actual deal with Fran’s relationship?!) leaving the audience a lot to contemplate and resolve, and the performers plenty of wonderful space to play in. While certain plot points don’t all wrap up clearly or fairly, this adds honesty and texture to the tale; It is fair to say that sometimes friendship is the greatest love story of all, and the path to true love never did run smoothly. Themes and dialogue come from a reality of twenty-something females, yet Scenes with Girls transcends gender and age, boasting belly laughs to boot.

The central performers each bring their own magnetic madness to the stage. Lou and Tosh (Hannah Ward and Jasmine Prasser) are the main protagonists, and regular antagonists here; Fran is certainly part of the story, but she is typically on the outside looking in. It’s not entirely clear how much she deserves that based on the past, but she might do – there are of course different subjectivities and recollections within any friend drama! Hannah Ward and Jasmine Prasser shine on stage, projecting honest emotional connection in their individual ways, committed to their characters, and each other. Lou and Tosh each embody the contradictions of the play itself, which the performers have embodied beautifully – vulnerable yet vicious, funny and fallible, brave but not always. As Fran, Georgina Sawyer brings sympathetic restraint, winning the audience’s loyalty and concern. Fran cares and tries in a world where such qualities can be construed as failings – or is it that she forces things too much?

Director Ruby Sanders and the entire Creative team have done a fine job with Scenes with Girls, putting their guts out on stage with courage, style and humour. I enjoy the girl grunge of the set and mood-making sound and lighting design, operated with impressive precision. Scenes with Girls is altogether a play worth seeing and makes me reflect on the transformative and provocative power of both theatre and friendship. A complex, contemporary tragicomedy that is enthusiastically recommended.

To book tickets to Scenes with Girls , please visit https://queenslandtheatre.com.au/plays/scenes-with-girls.

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