Danielle de Niese started life in suburban Melbourne, appearing on Young Talent Time at the age of nine before pursuing singing in the US. She is now a star soprano, performing many of opera's most famous roles and married into a famous opera-loving family — with  their own opera house! She's back in Australia to perform the character Opera Australia are billing as “the most dangerous women in opera” — Carmen.  In the musical play Cowbois, a sleepy wild west town populated by women whose husbands have left for the gold rush, is interrupted by a ​charming bandit who sparks a ‘gender revolution’. Written for actors across the gender spectrum, Cowbois' Australian production has added a whole new set of songs, and we're joined by Clay Crighton, Jules Billington, Zachary Alexander and Nelson Fannon to perform one of them. Athol Fugard wrote influential plays about the injustices of South Africa’s racist Apartheid system on everyday people, for decades. Fugard died this year and fellow playwright and scholar Anthony Akerman tells Michael about his work and impact. First broadcast April 2025.

Why would two actors,  who are married in real life, pretend to eviscerate each other night after night in the emotionally brutal play Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? Kat Stewart and David Whitely first performed this Edward Albee classic on the small, indy stage of Melbourne's Red Stitch Theatre and it was a hit. Now it's being remounted by Sydney Theatre Company. Composer, musician and director Lamine  Sonko is a guewel, a traditional custodian of cultural knowledge in West Africa. Over seven years, Lamine has travelled to remote and sacred places in Senegal to better understand how ancient cosmology and metaphysical knowledge influence guewel traditions. The result is a show called Guewel, at Melbourne's Arts House and made in collaboration with the National Theatre of Senegal. Smallpox was eradicated from the planet in 1980 -- the only human disease which has been totally wiped out! But for centuries before this, an inoculation against smallpox was already in existence in different parts of the world and it was practised mostly by women. Playwright Melanie Tait has used this medical history for the basis of her latest play The Royal Experiment, performed on stage by third year NIDA students.

The new musical Tivoli Lovely is Eddie Perfect’s return to the grand days of what was known across Australia as the Tivoli Theatre circuit. He's written it especially for second and third year music theatre students at WAAPA, his alma mater. He joins Michael along with director Dean Bryant, who's made a string of entertaining shows as a director and writer, including writing the lyrics for  the 2024 hit musical My Brilliant Career. This Halloween, academics and dancers are gathering in Melbourne/Naarm for a national ballet symposium on the theme of haunted. Dance researcher Yvette Grant is an organiser and has delved into the largely forgotten story of the dancer and choreographer Valrene Tweedie, whose unconventional career saw her study with the greats of the USA and Cuba. Dylan Van Den Berg's acclaimed play Whitefella Yella Tree is a tender love story between two young men and set in the early days of an invasion that will transform their worlds forever. It's being re-mounted by Brisbane's La Boite and has elements of a theatre genre that Dylan is also writing a PhD on, Aboriginal gothic.

Bernadette Peters is the Tony award winning actress who has reigned on Broadway for decades. She is famous for originating roles in Stephen Sondheim musicals -- like the witch in Into The Woods and she's coming to Brisbane for the Melt Festival of Queer arts and culture. The Shiralee is the story of the tough, itinerant labourer Macauley and his equally tough young daughter Buster, who loves him fiercely.  Together they endure drought and flood and often sleep on the ground.  Kate Mulvany  has adapted this Australian classic for the stage with Sydney Theatre Company — is it still an inspiring tale of love and survival, or a story which has passed its use-by date?  Two Blood is a new dance work about the meeting of a Tagalaka woman from North Queensland and a Cantonese man headed for the goldfields, and inspired by the family history of choreographer Jasmin Sheppard. Australian Dance Theatre's Daniel Riley explains why this overlooked history is told through a combination dance and the spoken word. It's part of Adelaide's OzAsia festival.

Rebecca is a 1938 gothic suspense story by Daphne Du Maurier that's never been out of print. It's also a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock. Now it's a play starring Nikki Shiels as the unnamed Young Woman and Pamela Rabe, in the iconic role of Mrs Danvers. How does this story of dark infatuation translate to the stage, and how does Melbourne Theatre Company treat its complicated romance? Phar Lap is a new electro-swing musical with no puppetry or SFX, just talented people hoofing it on stage. Joel Granger (Phar Lap) who may or may not wear hoof gloves on his hands, sings us a duet with Justin Smith (trainer Harry Telford). Lyricist and composer Steven Kramer explains why the world's greatest racehorse is ideal fodder for a comedy musical. Audiobook narrators reach audiences of millions, bring bestsellers to life and perform multiple character changes, but does AI threaten their craft? Audible has already announced plans for its AI technology to narrate audiobooks. Actors Caroline Lee and Humphrey Bower are two popular narrators, and Justine Sloane-Lees is senior audio book director at Square Sound.  Audiobook at the start of the interview is Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty, narrated by Caroline Lee and produced by Bolinda Audio.

In 1986, Filipinos launched a peaceful revolution to overthrow their president, Ferdinand Marcos. In the new play Malacañang Made Us, these events live on in the memories of two brothers who were in the crowd that flooded the palace. Jordan Shea is the playwright behind this show, which won the Qld Premier’s Drama Award – and which is about to open at Queensland Theatre. The Village Square is an enchanting place where eccentric souls meet to tell their stories and make music. Richard Piper is the narrator, alongside musicians Zoe Knighton and Robbie Melville. They join us in the studio to weave tales, ahead of their Melbourne Fringe show. Baalbek is the ancient city in Lebanon where Greek and Roman ruins stand alongside a temple to Baal, the Phoenician goddess of fertility. This is the rich setting for a new play called Ruins, by Emily Ayoub, drawing from her own family’s story of migration. Read about the Palmyra Hotel.

The Stage Show is back from sabbatical! On this episode, star playwright Suzie Miller speaks to Michael about Inter Alia, her gripping new play that takes you into the mind of a feminist judge, who’s also a mother, forced to confront a terrible reality. It’s just wound up a big season at London’s National Theatre, starring Rosamund Pike. Lisa Pellegrino is part of a family that migrated from Italy and Scotland to Australia and recorded everything. From having funerals professionally photographed, to recording each other singing, reminiscing and celebrating. So how has she turned that archive of memories and migration into a story for the stage? Her one-woman show We Keep Everything is on at Darwin's Browns Mart Theatre. Karen and Natasha Vickery are mother-and-daughter performing in a gender-reversed Taming of The Shrew. How does this transform Shakespeare's problematic comedy -- and what does their own dynamic bring to the play? It's a production by the Playwrought Project.

Your guide to what's happening on stages across the country and beyond.

Pianist Keith Jarrett is one of the most captivating and controversial musicians of the last 50 years. He's a rare breed - a musician who has mastered the art of jazz improvisation and a fine classical player too.  It’s been 50 years since the Köln Concert, which became the best-selling piano and solo jazz album of all time. But as we find out, that concert nearly didn't happen! You’ll hear all the back stories to this iconic artist in our tribute to Keith Jarrett.  This episode was presented by bass player and ABC Jazz host, Eric Ajaye, and written and produced by ABC Jazz producer Henry Rasmussen. It was created by ABC Jazz, originally being broadcast on 2 June 2025. Find out more information on Keith Jarrett here.   ABC Jazz features a Jazz Legend each month on the radio, with historic moments, significant albums and a full-length feature to immerse into the important history of this music and culture.  Hear more Jazz Legends episodes here, including significant artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Quincy Jones, Joni Mitchell, Keith Jarrett, Mary Lou Williams and Herbie Hancock.

Much like Duke Ellington before him, Charles Mingus' output was prolific. Over his near four-decade career, Mingus was behind a number of jazz firsts: he composed and recorded arguably the first jazz ballet - labelling his iconic LP 'The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady' as "ethnic folk-dance music." He also brought together elements of swing, bebop and R&B in ways that had never been heard before. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Mingus never shied away from his roots in gospel music and the blues. Rather, these textures became an integral part of his sound - often juxtaposed against elements from the free jazz movement. 

This week we're honouring the late, great Billie Holiday. From her early ascendancy as a weaver of song in the 30s to her outspoken truth telling with records like 'Strange Fruit' to her downfall and decline in the 1950s, her tale is one of the more captivating in jazz. Across this episode, we recount Billie's life, and you'll hear from Lady Day herself from various archival interviews.

If you were to put together a list of jazz’s most influential names, then it’d be hard to look past Quincy Jones’s contributions. He was a giant of the music industry, with an influence that spanned from the bop era right up to modern music today. 

In the '70s, Joni Mitchell looked to jazz to inform her creative style. She would collaborate with many of the genre's leaders, but as we'll discover, jazz also was key in her formation right from the start. This episode was presented by bass player and ABC Jazz host, Eric Ajaye, and written and produced by ABC Jazz producer Henry Rasmussen. It was created by ABC Jazz and originally broadcast on 5 Mar 2024. Find out more information on Joni Mitchell, here.   ABC Jazz features a Jazz Legend each month on the radio, with historic moments, significant albums and a full-length feature to immerse into the important history of this music and culture.  Hear more Jazz Legends episodes here, including significant artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Quincy Jones, Joni Mitchell, Keith Jarret, Mary Lou Williams and Herbie Hancock.

With over 70 years of playing jazz under his belt, Sonny Rollins has seen a thing or two. He was present at so many turning points in the music: from bebop to modal jazz, post bop to fusion... and beyond. Now days at the age of 93, Sonny Rollins is one of the last of his generation and a true elder statesman. His contribution to music in both the 20th and 21st centuries is immense, and to this day, many aspiring tenor saxophonists still look to Sonny as a source on inspiration. He was a powerful player with a dominating sound - but he's also a gentle giant too, someone who was always looking to collaborate and pursue new avenues in jazz. Discover Sonny's life and music across this episode, with archival highlights from the ABC's vault, as well as excerpts from pianist Ben Sidran's Talking Jazz series on CD. This episode, presented by bass player and ABC Classic host, Eric Ajaye, was originally broadcast 3 July 2024 

The name Nina Simone can mean many things to many people. Casual fans of her music will no doubt remember her hits like 'I Loves You Porgy', or 'My Baby Just Cares For Me'. For others, though, Nina Simone was one of the most defiant and outspoken performers in the jazz field for much of her career. After an initial rise to fame in the 1950s, Nina started to use her music as a form of protest in the 1960s, becoming one of the most prominent artists involved in the civil rights movement in America. With her lengthy gigs and probing albums, Simone sought to tackle racism and segregation head on, and some of her most powerful works came from this era. On this episode, we wind back the years on the singer and pianist's incredible career. You'll hear from Simone herself and we'll touch on why her music was and still is so important to this very day. This episode,  presented by Eric Ajaye, was originally broadcast 5 Nov 2024 on ABC Classic 

We continue our journey into the life and work of Stephen Sondheim, the composer and lyricist of some of the most well-regarded musical theatre ever made. We are joined by performer Philip Quast, authors Joanne Gordon and Robert L McLaughlin, directors of several Sondheim productions Dean Bryant and Sonya Suares, and we speak with the New York Times' chief theatre critic Jesse Green about Here We Are, Sondheim's posthumous final musical.

Stephen Sondheim is the composer and lyricist of some of the most well-regarded musical theatre ever made. We delve into his life, work and impact on the form. We hear archival interviews with Sondheim himself and are joined by performer Philip Quast, author Joanne Gordon (Art Isn't Easy: The Theatre of Stephen Sondheim), director of several Sondheim productions, Dean Bryant, and Sonya Suares, founding artistic director of the Sondheim repertory company Watch This.

Choreographer Stephanie Lake and composer Robin Fox are partners in work and life, though they come from 'different worlds' artistically.  Their latest collaboration is the joyful The Chronicles, which follows the rhythms of a life cycle, from birth to death — or is it renewal? Eddie Perfect's Broadway musical Beetlejuice has received rave reviews for its re-interpretation of Tim Burton's classic 1988 film. Karis Oka plays Lydia Deetz and tells Michael what it's like channelling her inner Goth eight nights a week! Botis Seva is a London choreographer who dug deep into his most difficult times to create an acclaimed dance work called BLKDOG. From his start at a local youth club in Dagenham, Botis founded his own Hip Hop dance company Far From The Norm when he was still a teenager and is now bringing BLKDOG to Australia.

It’s one of those roles which great actors have on their to-do list: Winnie in the play Happy Days by Samuel Beckett.  Winnie starts the play buried up to her waist in dirt. In Act 2 she’s buried up to her neck! Acclaimed actor Pamela Rabe tell us what makes this such an iconic play and how she approached it as both co-director and star of Happy Days for the Sydney Theatre Company. In the play POV (Point of View), 11-year-old Bub directs a pair of adult actors on stage, to re-enact scenes from her life. There's a catch: it's the first time the actors have seen the script, and Bub is filming them for a documentary. This innovative work by collective re:group is all about how a kid experiences the mental illness of a parent. We chat to young actors Mabelle Rose and Edie Whitehead, who play Bub, and director Solomon Thomas. What if Celine Dion wasn't just the torch-bearing soundtrack to Titanic — but the main character? That's the premise of a hilarious musical parody called Titanique, which originated off Broadway and has since proven popular here in Australia too. A cast of 11 joins The Stage Show, led by powerhouse Marney McQueen.

What does it take to write a Tony-winning musical? Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are the friends and songwriting team behind big Broadway musicals like Ragtime and Anastasia. They're also voting members for New York City's famous theatre industry prize, the Tony Awards. They join us as Tony Awards season takes off. Back stage... The make up artist. Meet the veteran head of WHAM (that's wardrobe, hair and make-up) Fiona Cooper-Sutherland as she transforms Christine Anu into Hermes, the silver god for the musical Hadestown. Hear Michael's interview with Anais Mitchell the creator of Hadestown. In the classic play The Maids by Jean Genet, two servant sisters act out a sinister game -- playing at murdering their mistress. Then the mistress herself enters the plot. Canberra theatre company The Street is staging this absurdist and chilling drama. We hear from actors Christina Falsone, Sophia Marzano, Natasha Vickery and director Caroline Stacey. The original sound design is by Kimmo Vennonen.