Sydney
Since 1975 the ACO has been making chamber music sexy and adventurous, especially under the tutelage of artistic director and lead violinist Richard…
Must-see entertainment in Australia
St Kilda, Elwood & Elsternwick
Featuring a company of top-drawer talent, Red Stitch is one of Australia's most respected actors' ensembles, staging new international works that are…
Sydney
Musica Viva is the largest presenter of ensemble music in the world, providing over 2000 concerts around Australia annually in a number of musical styles …
St Kilda, Elwood & Elsternwick
The Prince is a legendary St Kilda venue, with a solid line-up of local and international acts spanning hip-hop, dance, rock and indie. It's been going…
Circular Quay & The Rocks
Australia’s number-one contemporary-dance company has been staging wildly modern, sexy and sometimes shocking works since 1979. Performances are usually…
Circular Quay & The Rocks
Bangarra is hailed as Australia’s finest Aboriginal performance company. Artistic director Stephen Page conjures a fusion of contemporary themes,…
Brisbane
What was a 1920s power station is now a hub of nationally and internationally acclaimed theatre, music, comedy, dance and more. The complex also hosts a…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
Focusing on jazz, roots, reggae, funk, gypsy and Latin music, this small, relaxed venue is run by artists and thoughtfully programmed. The space features…
Sydney
The Melbourne-based Australian Ballet performs a wide repertoire of classical as well as contemporary works. See them twinkle their toes at the Sydney…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
Indie kids party against an arty backdrop at this two-room multipurpose venue modelled on Andy Warhol's NYC creative base. There's a gallery, a bar and a…
Sydney
Opera Australia is the big player in Oz opera, staging over 600 performances a year. The company's Sydney shows are performed in the Sydney Opera House,…
Circular Quay & The Rocks
The excellent SSO plays around 150 concerts annually with famous local and international musicians. Catch them at the Sydney Opera House (not until 2022),…
Canberra
Canberra's longest-running live-music venue has been spruced up a little, but remains the city's same old darling of dirty rock. There are pool tables and…
Sydney
Take a picnic and join the bats under the stars in magnificent Centennial Park; enter via the Woollahra Gate on Oxford St. A mix of new-release…
Adelaide
In summer pack a picnic and mosquito repellent, and sprawl out on the lawn to watch old and new classics under the stars. 'Gold Grass' tickets, which cost…
Darwin
This venue is Darwin's leading place for live music. A not-for-profit venue for musicians run by musicians, you won't hear cover bands in here. Original,…
Sydney
Australia's Shakespeare specialists stage their Sydney performances in the Opera House. Their repertoire occasionally deviates from the bard to the likes…
Sydney
Return to cinema’s golden age at this fab art-deco gem (1935). It still has its original Wurlitzer organ, which gets a workout at special events.
Warrnambool
Warrnambool's premier live-music venue, Loft hosts Aussie indie bands like You Am I as well as DJs and local acts.
Newtown & the Inner West
In increasingly hip Marrickville, this eclectic little venue hosts jazz, world music, blues, folk, comedy, cabaret and various other offbeat genres. There…
Adelaide
In Adelaide’s inner-southwestern suburbs, the art-deco Capri hosts everyone from local jazz big-bands to touring Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute acts…
Adelaide
This enduring, good-time late-nighter operates under a broad live-music remit of Friday and Saturday nights, swinging from swing, funk and jazz to salsa,…
Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts
Fortitude Valley
The Valley's free-thinking arts incubator hosts an eclectic array of cultural treats, including contemporary dance, circus and visual arts. It's also the…
Adelaide
Now this old stager has got soul! Vaguely art deco, the 1928 'Thebby' is an iconic Adelaide live-music venue with great acoustics and buckets of charm…
Perth
A low-key, late-night cafe that's been running for more than 20 years and is regarded as a local institution, particularly by students. It has singer…
Sydney
This likeable theatre and cinema lives up to its name and has a program of high-quality drama, concerts and other performances. A major redevelopment of…
Fortitude Valley
A haven of metal, hard-core and punk: black-clad musos of menace from around Australia, the US, the UK, Europe and Japan, in-yer-face and unrelenting…
Adelaide
Just off Rundle St, handily poised down the alley next to the Exeter Hotel, this plush city complex screens new-release art-house, foreign-language and…
Adelaide
We were deeply unimpressed when the charming old Glenelg movie house on Jetty Rd was bulldozed a few years ago. But now there's the shiny new six-screen…
Perth
The majestic home to the West Australian Ballet and West Australian Opera, as well as lots of theatre, comedy and cabaret.
Sydney
This urbane four-screen cinema has a cool cafe and bar, useful for discussing the merits of the arty flick you’ve just seen. This and its sibling cinemas…
Newtown & the Inner West
Australia’s oldest continuously performing theatre (since 1932), Newtown’s eclectic New Theatre produces new dramas as well as more established pieces…
Adelaide
A beaut old art-deco cinema on the main North Adelaide strip, with a sexily curved street frontage and chevron-shaped windows spangled across the facade…
Newtown & the Inner West
Originally a vaudeville playhouse, the bohemian art-deco Enmore now hosts medium-sized touring bands, plus theatre, ballet and comedy.
Great Ocean Road
This art-deco theatre (built 1937) shows new-release films daily in peak season.
Cairns
CoCA was undergoing a major refurbishment in 2018, but should reopen in mid-2019 – check the website for updates.
Adelaide
Around 12,000 indoor bums on seats for everyone from the Wiggles to Keith Urban to Stevie Wonder.
American Express Openair Cinemas
Brisbane
From mid-July to mid-August, watch recent-release films and retro favourites in Brisbane's City Botanic Gardens. You can hire loungers ($9) and blankets (…
Brisbane & Around
Toowoomba's cultural heart beats stridently inside the magnificent Empire Theatre, sections of which date back to 1911 (the facade is from 1933). The…
Limestone Coast
Beyond a nondescript black doorway on the main street is Mt G's very own jazz club, named after legendary Australian jazz trumpeter and all-round good guy…
