Family, friends, date nights – get your summer sorted with a show at QPAC
From Christmas favourites, comedy, and blockbuster musicals to a circus for grown ups, music legends, family shows and more, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) is the place to be for the best in live entertainment this summer.
FESTIVE FAVOURITES
Celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with Queensland Ballet’s annual production of Tchaikovsky’s Christmas classic, The Nutcracker from 2 to 23 December 2022. Christmas favourite QPAC’s Spirit of Christmas opens in QPAC’s Concert Hall on 16 and 17 December 2022 starring musical theatre artists Courtney Monsma and Alex Rathgeber. Although the popular concerts are now sold out, a free digital broadcast of Spirit of Christmas will be available on Christmas Eve on QPAC’s Digital Stage anytime between 5.00pm and midnight AEST. And for a quirky take on Christmas, The Kransky Sisters from Esk are bringing their off-the-wall new festive celebration A Cracker Kransky Christmas to town from 13 to 24 December 2022 in QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre.
BLOCKBUSTER MUSICALS
Since its arrival in QPAC’s Lyric Theatre, Disney’s Mary Poppins has won the hearts of audiences young and old garnering rave reviews. “…a joyful explosion of feel-good entertainment, its magic heightened by polished vocals, terrific sets, a dazzling array of special effects and practically perfect dance.” (The Courier-Mail). The world’s favourite Nanny must leave after 15 January 2023.
From 30 December 2022, SIX the Musical will storm into QPAC. Remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak, the six Tudor Queens turned Pop Princesses retell their story in this high-octane 75-minute pop musical that has taken the world by storm.
And from 27 January 2023, get set for the arrival of the Tony®, Grammy®, Olivier and Pulitzer Prize winning musical HAMILTON at the Lyric Theatre, for its highly-anticipated, strictly-limited Brisbane season. This “theatrical landmark transformed theatre and the way we think about history.” (The New York Times) and is not-to-be missed.
MUSIC GREATS
An impressive line-up of acclaimed music stars and iconic artist tributes is set to hit QPAC’s stages this summer.
Damien Leith in Concert – Roy Orbison Orchestrated kicks off the summer music concerts on 9 December 2022. The award-winning singer will perform with a 28-piece concert orchestra taking audiences on a nostalgic journey through the legendary music of Roy Orbison.
A favourite of QPAC’s Clancestry – A Celebration of Country festival, Biggest Mobs of 2022 on 10 December will feature the talents of QPAC’s 2022 BlakBeats cohort, Alinta, Rudy Matoy and SOLCHLD entertaining with soulful melodies and healing voices in this free live music event full of yarns, laughter and deadliness. Capacity is strictly limited.
On 27 January 2023 Aria Hall-of-Famers, Daryl Braithwaite and Russell Morris will join forces with music giants Jack Jones (Southern Sons) and Rai Thistlethwayte (Thirsty Merc) as The Fabulous Caprettos, to reimagine some of Australian rock music history’s most memorable moments from the 60s to the 00s.
Direct from the UK, two smash sell-out shows, Queen by Candlelight (1 February 2023) and Meat Loaf by Candlelight (2 February 2023) will present Queen and Meat Loaf anthems, performed in the Concert Hall by candlelight, featuring a cast of West End singers, accompanied by an incredible live rock band.
To Barbra With Love (3 to 4 February 2023), the highly successful celebration of the inimitable Barbra Streisand, is set to be remounted in Brisbane with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra. Having premiered with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Hamer Hall earlier this year, the concert was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. Two of Australia’s hottest musical theatre talents – Elise McCann (Matilda The Musical, Merrily We Roll Along) and Ryan Gonzalez (they/them) (Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Jersey Boys) – join Australia’s own musical theatre royalty Caroline O’Connor and genre-hopping vocalist Katie Noonan for these not-to be-missed concerts celebrating Streisand’s 80th Birthday year in 2023.
On 16 February, acclaimed New Zealand singer/songwriter Marlon Williams will come to QPAC for the first time ever with a special one-night-only concert celebrating the release of his new album, My Boy. Often compared to Leonard Cohen, Roy Orbison and Elvis, Williams has the unique ability to traverse genres on both his award-winning records and in his famously captivating live show.
Rounding off the legendary artists this summer at QPAC, Grammy® award-winning singer, songwriter Richard Marx returns to Brisbane on 24 February 2023, in support of his new multi-genre-spanning album, Songwriter.
FAMILY SHOWS
Live on stage, the family classic from the wacky mind of one of the world’s best storytellers, Roald Dahl’s The Twits by shake & stir theatre co. is back from 20 to 24 December 2022 this time in QPAC’s Concert Hall and is not-to-be-missed.
The fun continues as TV’s favourite doctors return from the UK to Australia with all-new crazy experiments, mind blowing illusions, and amazing facts in Operation Ouch! Live on Stage from 3 to 4 January 2023.
QPAC favourite Slava’s Snowshow rolls back into QPAC from 11 to 15 January 2023. This universal and timeless theatrical spectacle celebrates winter and snow and is perfect for all ages.
LAUGH OUT LOUD COMEDY
First-off the comedy rank this summer at QPAC is Jimeoin LIVE on 10 December 2022. Starring popular Irish born comedian Jimeoin, it is sure to be a great night out and perfect way to wind down to end of the year.
Kicking off the New Year, on 5 January 2023 audiences are in for a bewitching night of showbiz, tunes, and life-affirming laughs with the Olivier and Tony Award-winning Scottish/American actor, Alan Cumming.
The fun keeps coming as the hilarious Sarah Millican is back on tour with Sarah Millican – Bobby Dazzler, a new stand-up show on 7 and 8 February 2023 promising laughs a plenty.
Touted as the comedy event of the year, four comedy superstars will take to the Concert Hall stage in one massive show on 11 February 2023. Mick Molloy, Lawrence Mooney, Sam Pang and Marty Sheargold, team up for a night of no holds barred, good old-fashioned stand‑up comedy for this once in a lifetime comedy experience. Radio, television, film, podcasts, they’ve done it all and now, they bring all the laughs to the stage.
The summer fun continues as The Wharf Review: Looking for Albanese hits QPAC’s Playhouse from 21 to 25 February 2023 bringing fake news, fake hair and real laughs in abundance. After more than two decades of hilarious irreverence and a little COVID-related hiccup, The Wharf Revue comedy powerhouse, created by the masters of political satire Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott, returns to Brisbane playing for the first time at QPAC.
CHORAL AND CLASSICAL MUSIC
An extraordinary meeting of cultures, song and history will take place at QPAC when Andrew Kay and Desert Song Festival proudly present the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir on 11 December 2022 for a special one night only performance in QPAC’s Concert Hall.
Audiences are invited to ring in the New Year with Queensland Pops Orchestra’s New Year’s Eve Concert (31 December 2022) offering a night full of passion, colour, remembrance, and exuberance in QPAC’s Concert Hall.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra will kick off 2023 at QPAC with Ode to Joy on 17 and 18 February. The exhilarating program will feature two Australian works – didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton and violinist Véronique Serret performing the orchestral premiere of their work Kalkani and Sculthorpe’s Earth Cry, followed by Beethoven’s magnum opus, his 9th Symphony, with its mighty Ode to Joy choral finale.
On 25 February 2023 audiences will be transported through the romance of music in the passionate season opener HeartStrings performed by Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra. Featuring Tchaikovsky’s beloved Serenade for Strings, this pinnacle of string music is dazzlingly romantic.
Continuing the romantic theme in February, acclaimed Brisbane chamber music ensemble, Southern Cross Soloists will sweep audiences away in a program that explores the allure and pull of the most romantic city in the world, Paris. City of Lights: From Paris, with Love in QPAC’s Concert Hall on 26 February 2023, explores the elusive magical essence of Paris, that inspired composers such as Gluck, Mozart and Prokofiev as well as the revered French masters Debussy and Ravel.
STRICTLY FOR THE GROWN UPS
A non-stop celebration of the surprising, subversive and the supremely sexy, award-winning circus sensation BLUSH will bring an outrageous brand of adult circus to QPAC from 5 January 2023.
Following the success of QPAC’s sizzling summer shows like Club Cremorne and The Kaye Hole, BLUSH – Circus for grown ups will push the boundaries and scandalise in the intimate Cremorne Theatre.
Winner of Best Circus Adelaide Fringe 2020, and weekly awards for Best Circus at Adelaide Fringe 2018 and Fringeworld 2019, the circus for grown ups is strictly 18+ and promises an unforgettable night out.
From music, dance and storytelling to an adult circus, festive shows and comedy, QPAC is the place to be this summer – with something for all ages and tastes.
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