Media Release

Steel Magnolias Returns To Stages Across Australia In 2026

Feature-STEEL MAGNOLIAS

The iconic story that made us laugh, cry, and fall in love with six extraordinary women is back — live on stage in a dazzling new Australian production. Written by Robert Harling, the timeless tale of STEEL MAGNOLIAS will come alive under the direction of Lee Lewis and a cast of six powerhouse actors. STEEL MAGNOLIAS will tour to QPAC, Brisbane from April 2026, Theatre Royal Sydney in May 2026, Wollongong and Canberra in June 2026, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth in July 2026 and Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre from July 2026.

Step inside Truvy’s beauty salon, the heart of a small Southern town, where local women share their joys, struggles and a little neighbourly gossip. From weddings and babies to divorces and funerals, they face life’s highs and lows with humour, courage and impeccably styled hair. When tragedy strikes, it’s in these familiar walls that they find comfort, support and the unbreakable bonds of friendship that carry them through.

“Following our recent tours of The Woman in Black, Shirley Valentine and The 39 Steps, we’re thrilled to bring STEEL MAGNOLIAS to Australian audiences,” said producers Neil Gooding and Alex Woodward. “The fierce, funny and resilient friendships in the story have always inspired us. It’s a privilege to work with Lee Lewis again, whose direction of Shirley Valentine we so admired, and to bring the heart, humour and spirit of STEEL MAGNOLIAS to the stage with a stellar ensemble of Australia’s most exceptional talent.”

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STEEL MAGNOLIAS originally opened in Australia at the York Theatre at Sydney’s Seymour Centre in May 1988 and toured to Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre, featuring a cast which included Maggie Dence, Nancye Hayes, Melissa Jaffer, Genevieve Lemon, Pat McDonald and Nicole Kidman making her professional stage debut. The 2026 Australian tour cast will be announced in coming months.

Bursting with sass, warmth and Southern charm, STEEL MAGNOLIAS delivers laughter, love and unforgettable heart.

STEEL MAGNOLIAS
By Robert Harling
Director – Lee Lewis
Composer & Sound Designer – Brady Watkins
Producer – Neil Gooding Productions and Woodward Productions
By Arrangement with ORiGiN Theatrical
On behalf of Samuel French Ltd, A Concord Theatricals Company

SEASON DETAILS

BRISBANE
Venue: Playhouse Theatre, QPAC
Season: 30 April – 10 May
Performance Times: Tue-Thurs 7pm, Fri-Sat 7:30pm, Wed, Thurs & Sat 2pm, Sun 1pm & 6pm (times vary weekly)
Prices: From $89 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: qpac.com.au
Tickets on sale from 9am (Brisbane time) today

SYDNEY
Venue: Theatre Royal Sydney
Season: 13 – 31 May
Performance Times: Tue-Thurs 7pm, Fri-Sat 7:30pm, Wed, Thurs & Sat 2pm, Sun 1pm, 3pm & 6pm (times vary weekly)
Prices: From $59 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: theatreroyalsydney.com
Tickets on sale now

WOLLONGONG
Venue: Illawarra Performing Arts Centre
Season: 3 – 11 June
Performance Times: Tues 6:30pm, Wed 11am or 1:30pm, 6:30pm or 7:30pm, Thurs 1:30pm & 6:30pm, Fri-Sat 7:30pm, Sat & Sun 1:30pm (times vary weekly)
Prices: From $89 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: merrigong.com.au
Tickets on sale now

CANBERRA
Venue: Canberra Theatre Centre
Season: 17 – 21 June
Performance Times: Wed 6:30, Thurs 7pm, Fri-Sat 7:30pm, Thurs 2pm, Sat-Sun 1pm, Sun 6pm (times vary weekly)
Prices: From $55 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: canberratheatrecentre.com.au
Presale from 25 November 10am, General Public sale from 26 November 10am

PERTH
Venue: His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth
Season: 7 – 18 July
Performance Times: Tue-Thurs 7pm, Fri-Sat 7:30pm, Wed & Sat 2pm
Prices: From $59 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: artsculturetrust.wa.gov.au
Tickets on sale from 10am (Perth time) today

MELBOURNE
Venue: Athenaeum Theatre
Season: 23 July – 9 August
Performance Times: Tues- Thurs 7pm, Fri -Sat 7:30pm, Wed & Sat 2pm, Sun 3pm
Prices: From $55 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au
Groups 20+ visit ticketmaster.com.au

 

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On This Sunday! Sydney Writers’ Festival Family Day At The State Library Of Nsw

Feature-Sydney Writers’ Festival Family Day

Sydney Writers’ Festival will present its first Family Day as part of the new year-round program at the State Library of NSW on Sunday 23 November 2025. Part of the Festival’s landmark partnership with the State Library of NSW and supported by the NSW Government, Family Day will transform the Library into a hub of storytelling, creativity and play. With a mix of free sessions and low-cost workshops, the program invites children to read, write, draw, sing and imagine alongside some of Australia’s most loved storytellers and illustrators, making it the ideal day out for families. “Family Day is all about celebrating the joy of stories and sparking kids’ imaginations,” said Sydney Writers’ Festival Manager of Children’s & YA Programs, Nathan Luff. “We want to give children the chance to laugh, sing, read, write and create alongside their families – and discover that books and storytelling can be playful, exciting and fun.”

Young creatives can book into special workshops to sharpen their storytelling skills. Budding authors will learn how to turn real life into fiction in a Writing Workshop with Deb Fitzpatrick, while comic lovers can step into the world of characters and cliffhangers in a Graphic Novel Workshop with Andrew Cranna. For crafty minds, the Pop-Up Book Workshop with Freda Chiu shows kids how to design their own fantastical three-dimensional creations to take home. These ticketed sessions have limited places and are recommended for ages 7 and up.

The day also bursts with big free events for families to enjoy together. Storytime Spectacular kicks things off with a lively mix of readings, music and drawing that will have kids singing and dancing along. Animal lovers can meet Dozer the golden retriever live on stage in Storytime with Nagi Maehashi, Adam Simpson & Dozer, celebrating the playful picture book Row, Row, Row Your Boat (with Monsters). Fans of feathered heroes won’t want to miss Real Pigeons Bin Baddies, as the creators of the hit series reveal the secret life of crime-fighting pigeons. Adventure awaits at Seafaring with Amelia Mellor, a pirate-themed session filled with tall tales, sea shanties and games. And to close out the day, The Totally Epic Kids Book Gameshow takes storytelling, drawing and spelling to chaotic new heights – with the kids in the audience helping to decide who wins.

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For those who like to get hands on, Craft Stations will run all day with drop-in activities where kids can cut, colour and create their own story-inspired artworks. And out the front of the Library, Russ the Story Bus will be open for curious readers to climb aboard, pick a book from his jam-packed shelves and cosy up in his colourful mobile library.

Family Day underscores the Festival’s commitment to making reading and writing part of Sydney’s everyday life. Registration is required for most free sessions and places are limited for workshops. The full Sydney Writers’ Festival 2025 Family Day program can be found online at swf.org.au. Tickets are available via presale on Wednesday, 24 September and on sale to the general public on Thursday, 25 September. Book-loving families are encouraged to sign up to the SWF eNews for exclusive presale ticket access.

What to Expect:
Storytime Spectacular: A joyful opening session featuring live readings, music and drawing with Jazz Money, Jason Phu, Stephen Michael King and Josh Pyke, sharing The Frog’s First Song and Some Days You’ll Have Days Like These.

Workshops for Young Creatives: Writing Workshop with Deb Fitzpatrick – Learn to turn real life into fiction. Graphic Novel Workshop with Andrew Cranna – Interactive “choose your own” storytelling adventure. Pop-Up Book Workshop with Freda Chiu – Craft fantastical 3D creations to take home.

Live Story Sessions: Storytime with Nagi Maehashi, Adam Simpson & Dozer – Featuring the picture book Row, Row, Row Your Boat (with Monsters) and an appearance from Dozer the golden retriever. Real Pigeons Bin Baddies – Meet the creators of the bestselling Real Pigeons series in a fun-filled, feathered crime-fighting session. Seafaring with Amelia Mellor – Pirate tales, sea shanties and games inspired by Oceanforged.

The Totally Epic Kids Book Gameshow: A live, chaotic competition between bestselling creators Eva Amores, Matt Cosgrove, Jol Temple and Kate Temple, hosted by Nathan Luff, with kids helping decide who wins.
All-Day Activities: Craft Stations – Drop-in creativity with story-inspired crafts led by authors Amanda Lieber and Jo Staker. Russ the Story Bus – mobile library.

 

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Gasha – Cirquework’s Newest Contemporary Circus Work Fringeworld 2026

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GASHA is Cirquework’s newest contemporary circus work — a vivid, sensual, and chaotic vision of near-future Japan where bodies, cultures, and aesthetics collide.

The production imagines a world reminiscent of a futuristic pleasure district: a labyrinth of neon haze, fragmented memories, and digital noise. Performers of diverse backgrounds enter this strange landscape, their bodies marked by different histories and physical vocabularies. As they gather, clash, and intertwine, the stage becomes a living organism — shifting between seduction and volatility.

Japanese aesthetics appear only as flickering traces: the shadow of a traditional silhouette, the rhythm of a ritual gesture, the sharp geometry of ink-black light. These fragments merge with digital projections and pulsing electronic sound to create a world where tradition is not preserved, but fractured and reassembled.

Aerials slice through beams of cold light. Acrobatics unfold with both tenderness and danger. Bodies spiral through fog and color, moving like circuitry brought to life.

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The cast brings an array of kinetic languages: aerial technique, acrobatics, contemporary dance, and object manipulation — refracted through a distinctly Japanese filter that makes the movement feel both ancient and futuristic.

Lighting sculpts shadows into sharp silhouettes. Video projections shimmer like unstable memories. Digital sound pulses with a seductive urgency.

GASHA is not a narrative. It is a state — a fever dream of identity, intimacy, and transformation. A place where beauty emerges from friction, and chaos becomes its own form of poetry.

This is the beginning of a new style of Japanese circus: bold, borderless, and irresistibly alive. Perth’s Fringeworld:- https://fringeworld.com.au/

 

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Final Tickets Now On Sale For The 40th Anniversary Tour Of Cats In Brisbane

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Final tickets have been released for the Brisbane season of the 40th Anniversary Australian tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical CATS which will play at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC for two weeks only from 6 to 22 February. Tickets have been released on pre-sale today with general public sales from Friday 21 November. Due to huge demand, one extra final performance has been added to the Brisbane season, on Tuesday 10 February at 7pm, and it is on sale now. The record-breaking, iconic production is currently playing in Perth after rapturous audience response and rave reviews in Sydney and Adelaide. ★★★★★ “Fun, energetic and nostalgic – CATS is the purrfect night at the theatre” – GlamAdelaide “Inexplicably magical” – First Class Magazine “Bursting with talent” – Stagenoise “This fresh production is a great way to celebrate 40 years” – AUReview “An immersive spectacle” – Sydney Morning Herald “Electrifying. A spectacle of transformation” – Theatre Thoughts

The coveted role of Grizabella, the former “glamour cat”, is played by Gabriyel Thomas (“Gabriyel Thomas’s rendition of Memory is so hauntingly beautiful it sends shivers down the spine” – Theatre Thoughts), while audience favourite Todd McKenney plays the dual roles of Bustopher Jones and Asparagus the Theatre Cat (“Todd McKenney has the audience in his paw thanks to his comic timing” – Adelaide Advertiser), and classical performer Mark Vincent returns to the musical theatre stage as Old Deuteronomy, the patriarch of the Jellicle tribe (“Mark Vincent brought sonorous gravitas” – Sydney Morning Herald). Recently seen as Roxie Hart in the sold-out national tour of Chicago, Lucy Maunder has taken on the role of Jellylorum, while the rebellious cat Rum Tum Tugger is Des Flanagan. WAPPA graduate Jarrod Draper plays Munkustrap, and returning to CATS after many years is Leigh Archer as the motherly character Jennyanydots, also known among the tribe as the “Gumbie Cat”.

The remainder of the company includes Sarah Bourke (playing Tantomile), Olivia Carniato (Demeter), Mia Dabkowski-Chandler (Bombalurina), Tom Davis (Skimbleshanks), Ella Fitzpatrick (Jemima), Charlie Follows (Bill Bailey), Joshua Gordon (Coricopat), Chaska Halliday (Cassandra), Dominique Hamilton (swing), Tim Haskayne (Mr Mistoffelees), Claudia Hastings (Victoria/ White Cat), Aimee Jones (swing), Savannah Lind (Rumpleteazer), Joe Miller (swing), Jake O’Brien (Mungojerrie), Xavier Pellin (swing), Guy Pik (Carbuckety), Rania Potaka-Osborne (Alonzo), Edward Smith (Admetus/ Macavity), Thalia Smith (swing) and Tod Strike (swing).

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“I’m thrilled to bring this 40th Anniversary Australian tour of CATS to Brisbane with the most fabulous cast,” said producer John Frost for Crossroads Live. “CATS was revolutionary when it began 40 years ago and Australia has an enduring love for the show. Now it’s time to let the memory live again. Melbourne, queue up to grab your tickets before they sell out as it’s only in town for five weeks!”

Based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, CATS has been captivating audiences around the globe since it opened at the New London Theatre (now known as the Gillian Lynne) in 1981, where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances, winning both the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. Since then, CATS has been presented in over 50 countries, translated into 23 languages and has been seen by over 81 million people world-wide. On Broadway, CATS played for 18 years and won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical.

The musical tells the story of the Jellicle cat tribe. On just one special night of the year, all Jellicle cats meet at the Jellicle Ball where Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, makes the Jellicle choice and announces which of them will go up to “The Heaviside Layer” and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life.

The timeless musical score includes the hit song Memory, which has been recorded by more than 150 artists including Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Nicole Scherzinger, Johnny Mathis, Liberace and Barry Manilow. With “timeless music, spectacular sets and a superb cast” (Daily Mirror), breathtaking choreography and of course the unforgettable Memory, CATS is a magical musical like no other.

Get your tickets now for this iconic musical at catsthemusical.com.au and let the memory live again.

BRISBANE SEASON
Venue: Lyric Theatre, QPAC
Season: 6 – 22 February
Performance Times: Tues-Thurs 7pm, Fri-Sat 7.30pm, Wed 1pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 1pm & 6pm
Bookings: catsthemusical.com.au

PERTH SEASON
Venue: Crown Theatre
Season: To 6 December
Performance Times: Tues-Sat 7.30pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 1pm & 6pm (schedule varies weekly)
Bookings: catsthemusical.com.au

MELBOURNE SEASON
Venue: Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
Season: 21 December – 31 January
Performance Times: Tues-Thurs 7pm, Fri-Sat 7.30pm, Wed 1pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 1pm & 6pm (schedule varies weekly)
Bookings: catsthemusical.com.au

 

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