Select a Country: Australia

After sold out seasons across multiple festivals in 2021, a regional road trip, and a cheeky Matilda Award nomination for Best Mainstage Musical/Cabaret, your favourite girl gang is ready to hit Melbourne/Naarm audiences

‘Lesbian Love Stories’ in an intimate cabaret/verbatim piece performed by three lesbians, and one rockin’ pianist. It features tales of lady love from across the globe, told anonymously through song, speech and prose. LLS is an honest, fun, and heartwarming piece that allows the performers and anonymous contributors to truly be themselves – while providing the audience with an inside glimpse of the lesbian experience. Above all else, it’s a fun night out that’ll bring laughter, rockin harmonies and an awkward moment (or three).

“It’s funny, it’s witty and it’s brave! ★★★★★” – Broadway World

CAST & CREATIVES:

Co-writer / Performer: Natasha Veselinovic
Co-writer / Performer: Chloe Rose Taylor
Performer: Ruby Clark
Music Director / Keys: Luke Volker

Friday 27th January & Saturday 28th January –  7pm

Sunday 29th January –  6pm

Chapel Off Chapel, Prahran VIC

Midsumma Festival

https://chapeloffchapel.com.au/show/lesbian-love-stories/

“The three had delicious chemistry on stage, taking the audience effortlessly from beat to beat and guiding them emotionally as they traversed challenging content interspersed with some classic bangers.”

– Theatre Haus

A financial advisor, a university lecturer and an actor walk into a bar… pick up their instruments and start playing. This is Queen Beaver, a queer band of ladies ‘singing songs and telling jokes in a nightclub’ since 1996.

Beavers at the Butterfly is the trio’s new show, following such hits as Beavers Behaving Badly (Bar 303), Beaver Las Vegas (Melbourne Fringe) and Singalong with Queen Beaver – Everyone’s a Diva! (Darebin Music Fest). In Beavers at the Butterfly, Queen Beaver unleashes a new repertoire of cabaret material for the 2023 Midsumma Festival.

Michelle Brisbane (‘Boss Beaver’) is known for shredding guitar in bands The Houndlings, The Sharons, Nice Girls Don’t Spit and The Woo Band and running her own ethical financial advice company. Stayci Taylor (‘Dr Beaver’) is responsible for ukulele, silly banter and crimes against the tambourine and is a screenwriting lecturer at RMIT. Lucy Schmidt (‘Baby Beaver’) brings the banging lead vocals following a career of over 30 professional stage shows and roles in film and television.

From Northcote to Nevada, Queen Beaver has entertained queers for over 25 years – come let the beavers play!

Trophy Boys is a queer black comedy and drag extravaganza about power, privilege and high school debating. If you’re a fan of intersectional feminist critique, very camp satire and/or drawn on mustaches – this is the show for you! Presented by a team of queer female and non-binary creatives through Midsumma Festival, 2-12 February at FortyFiveDownstairs in Melbourne’s CBD.

Use the promo code TR20PHYBOYS at checkout for 20% off tickets! https://www.midsumma.org.au/whats-on/events/trophy-boys/

It’s a little bit cabaret, a little bit comedy and a whole lot of Katy Perry.

It’s 2008, and 13-year-old Sarah is watching RAGE when Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl‘ comes on, and her obsession with Katy begins. On a cloud of cotton candy, Cherry takes you on an intimate, bubblegum, pop journey from fangirl Sarah’s awkward teenager years to discover the power of Katy Perry’s music to ultimately becoming a confident, bisexual woman and on the way, invites each one of us to embrace who we fully are. Through classic Katy Perry songs such as Wide Awake, Part of Me and Firework, Cherry hilariously and insightfully celebrates the power of music to transform and enlighten in this one woman’s thank you card to her idol.

In 1972, the body of a murdered lecturer floats in the River Torrens, a young woman escapes a lobotomy to ‘cure’ her sexuality, and a single mum struggles to find her place in a society which brands her as ‘abnormal’.

CAMP, a new play by Elias Jamieson Brown (Green Park), welcomes you to the punk lands of the 1970s and the birth of Australia’s fierce gay rights movement.

CAMP chronicles the struggles, successes, and legacy of early Pride activists who risked family, careers, and imprisonment to achieve social change in Australia.

It is a story of murder, corruption, love, and liberation, set across five decades of glorious queer history and inspired by true stories from those who were there.

CAMP is written by the talented and provocative young Australian playwright Elias Jamieson Brown, whose Sydney mainstage debut, Green Park (Griffin Theatre Company and Sydney Festival), was a box office smash and shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting.

Sydney WorldPride is taking place between 17 February to 5 March 2023.

Over 17 days, Sydney will host more than 300 LGBTQIA+ events, including the Rainbow Republic presented by Optus, Blak & Deadly: The First Nations Gala Concert, as well as the much-loved Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, which will be returning to Oxford Street for the first time in three years.

WorldPride is a global LGBTQIA+ festival staged since 2000, with cities competing to host the event.

Sydney WorldPride will incorporate all the beloved Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras events, plus a broad festival offering across arts, sport, theatre, concerts, parties, First Nations programming and a human rights conference.

An iconic, top New York piano bar night, Sing out, Louise, is returning to Sydney for its fifth year on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 Feb 2023 at The Polo Lounge, upstairs at The Oxford Hotel on Oxford Street, 7:30 pm – 2 am.

The night is inspired by the NYC basement bar: Marie’s Crisis. It’s a communal sing-along night featuring songs from musicals ranging from popular classics, such as Les Mis, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Grease, to the cult show tunes from the musicals of Stephen Sondheim – and everything in between.

Two pianists from Marie’s Crisis bar are flying in, especially from New York City, to play and lead the crowds.

Kenney Green and Adam Tilford are the talented pianist entertainers flying in for the event. Both are pianists at NYC’s most famous and loved piano bar in the city’s West Village, Marie’s Crisis. They’ll be encouraging everyone to sing along to the show tunes they play.

The night is completely free, with cash tips to the pianists encouraged. No tickets are required.

Event organiser and host Gary Nunn said:

“The last time we ran this event was in 2019; it’s good to bring it back to Sydney, especially for WorldPride. Sing Out, Louise is rambunctious, spontaneous and unique. There’s no set list, stage, microphone, spotlight, or shooshing. Everyone’s welcome to sing their heart out – or stand and enjoy the musical mavens who know all the lyrics. It attracts all ages, sexual orientations, backgrounds and singing levels.”

Pianist Kenney Green said: “After sitting at home and watching the world come to a complete stop, it feels like a dream to be returning to The Oxford in person. Especially during WorldPride. We truly feel like our audiences in Australia are like family to us. So it’s good to be returning home!”

For more info, visit https://fb.me/e/2xhzCrWFB

Seymour Centre’s contemporary music program, Seymour Nights, returns in February and March 2023 for Sydney WorldPride.

Offering free gigs at dusk in the Seymour courtyard and coinciding with eight brilliant Sydney WorldPride events, Seymour Nights @ Sydney WorldPride will champion local LGBTQI artists and new sounds, with appearances by Seann Miley Moore, Tanzer, Dyan Tai, and more.

Join us for free performances from some of Australia’s most vibrant voices, wickedest DJs, and most daring drag artists, all in the leafy, summery surrounds of the Seymour courtyard.

Sat 18 Feb  – Beks, Clara Fable, and Dylan Tai

Sun 19 Feb – Seann Miley Moore, Tanzer, Lavrence, and Troy

Tue 28 Feb – Mowgli May

Wed 1 Mar – Dolly Llama

Thu 2 Mar – Rachel Maria Cox

Fri 3 Mar – Tyoow

Sat 4 Mar – Chela, Jamaica Moana, Etcetera Etcetera, and Beks

Free event. No tickets or registration required.

An iconic, top New York piano bar night, Sing out, Louise, is returning to Sydney for its fifth year on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 Feb 2023 at The Polo Lounge, upstairs at The Oxford Hotel on Oxford Street, 7:30 pm – 2 am.

The night is inspired by the NYC basement bar: Marie’s Crisis. It’s a communal sing-along night featuring songs from musicals ranging from popular classics, such as Les Mis, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Grease, to the cult show tunes from the musicals of Stephen Sondheim – and everything in between.

Two pianists from Marie’s Crisis bar are flying in, especially from New York City, to play and lead the crowds.

Kenney Green and Adam Tilford are the talented pianist entertainers flying in for the event. Both are pianists at NYC’s most famous and loved piano bar in the city’s West Village, Marie’s Crisis. They’ll be encouraging everyone to sing along to the show tunes they play.

The night is completely free, with cash tips to the pianists encouraged. No tickets are required.

Event organiser and host Gary Nunn said:

“The last time we ran this event was in 2019; it’s good to bring it back to Sydney, especially for WorldPride. Sing Out, Louise is rambunctious, spontaneous and unique. There’s no set list, stage, microphone, spotlight, or shooshing. Everyone’s welcome to sing their heart out – or stand and enjoy the musical mavens who know all the lyrics. It attracts all ages, sexual orientations, backgrounds and singing levels.”

Pianist Kenney Green said: “After sitting at home and watching the world come to a complete stop, it feels like a dream to be returning to The Oxford in person. Especially during WorldPride. We truly feel like our audiences in Australia are like family to us. So it’s good to be returning home!”

For more info, visit https://fb.me/e/2xhzCrWFB

Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir in association with Sydney WorldPride is delighted to present Out & Loud & Proud, a major international LGBTIQA choral festival from 19 – 23 February 2023.  

Out & Loud & Proud will be an expansion of the Out & Loud Festival, where Australian, New Zealand and Pacific LGBTIQA choirs regularly gather, to include choirs and individuals from across the globe.  Up to 500 singers from around the globe will gather together, dream big and amplify their voices by participating in five days of singing, workshops, concerts, pop-up performances and social events culminating in a Gala Concert on Thursday 23 February in the magnificent Sydney Town.

Choirs from across Australia have registered including, Melbourne Gay & Lesbian Chorus, Canberra Qwire, Brisbane Pride Choir, True Colours Chorus Darwin, Perth Pride Choir and South Gippsland Queer Quoir. International choirs include Lian Esperansa from Timor Leste, Tokyo Pride Choir and the GALA Choruses Singers from the USA. 

Individual singers from around the world are invited to join the Individual Voices Choir led by internationally renowned queer chorus director, Dr Kathleen McGuire with 40 singers from Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain already registered.

There is an amazing line up of workshops by some of Australia’s best musicians and choral specialists including Brett Weymark, Margi de Ferranti and Jonathon Welch.  It also encourages singers to expand their skills with workshops including Beatboxing for Beginners and Mongolian Throat Singing.

Participating choirs will sing at some of the city’s iconic spaces with pop-up performances in the Calyx in the Botanic Gardens, the Maritime Museum, the Museum of Sydney and many more.

The Out and About program, on Monday 20 February evening, takes the festival to the Inner West of Sydney, igniting the Enmore Road precinct with pop up performances in various pubs and venues by visiting and local choirs and performers.  

The concert will feature performances by each participating choir, the Individual Voices Choir and special guests. The highlight will be the amazing power of the massed choir of all singers premiering two specially commissioned works supported by our Commission Partners, OrthoBoutique and Oceania Cruises; an Acknowledgement of Country by Yuwaalaraay storyteller and performer, Nardi Simpson, and a Festival Anthem by award winning composer, Joseph Twist with lyrics by Wiradjuri poet, Jazz Money.

Out & Loud & Proud will be an amazing opportunity to experience the power of the human voice raised in harmony to celebrate equality and inclusion with pride. 

The first four shows to be staged at Sydney WorldPride’s Marri Madung Butbut (Many Brave Hearts): The First Nations Gathering Space have gone on sale.

The shows include Miss First Nation: Supreme Queen, an electric battle of the queens staged over three nights, and Klub Village, a dazzling variety
exhibition curated by Drag Race Down Under star Kween Kong.

From 23 to 28 February 2023, the six-day showcase of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIA SB creativity will take over Carriageworks during Sydney WorldPride with an electrifying line-up of exhibits, theatre, dining and drag.

Free to enter, explore and connect, Marri Madung Butbut (Many Brave Hearts): The First Nations Gathering Space will also host a range of ticketed events where audiences can experience the rainbow heart of the oldest surviving culture on the planet.

The first four shows now on sale are:

·     Klub Village – Curated by Kween Kong, this high-octane variety show and dance party will feature deadly drop drag, daring circus acts and camp Blakcabaret. The hottest acts will be performing, including Haus of Kong, Casus, Humxn, Aboriginal Comedy All Stars, House of Alexander, Thicc Shake, Prinnie Stevens and more.

·     Miss First Nation: Supreme Queen – Miss First Nation has become a fixture on the Australian drag circuit, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander queens battle it out to be crowned drag royalty. With two heats and a grand final, this battle will be staged over three huge nights and will bring back their Royal Highnesses to see who will be crowned drag royalty supreme.

·     Daddy – A journey of loss, grief, growth and resilience, proud Wiradjuri artist Joel Bray presents an enthralling, provocative and hilarious story of his cultural and sexual identity and how he navigates the world, connected to those who came before.

·     Chase – Artist Carly Sheppard has been developing and performing the character of Chase for nearly a decade. A macro metaphor for Australia’s colonial shame, this compelling, repelling, and funny show sees Chase sift through the weeds of contemporary culture with a handy cam and her YouTube subscribers for the company.

More acts as part of Marri Madung Butbut (Many Brave Hearts): The First Nations Gathering Space will be revealed later in the year. 

Tickets for Marri Madung Butbut (Many Brave Hearts): The First Nations Gathering Space performances are available now via SydneyWorldPride.com.

Discounted tickets are available for this event via MobTix for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (click here).

Sydney WorldPride 2023 runs for 17 days, from 17 February to 5 March 2023, incorporating Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Tickets for official events via SydneyWorldPride.com. Tickets for community events at prideamplified.au.

The entire festival program over 300 events across WorldPride Official, WorldPride Arts, WorldPride Sports and Pride Amplified will be revealed in November 2022.

Flights, accommodation and Sydney WorldPride event ticket packages for domestic and international visitors are available at: https://sydneyworldpride.com/travel-providers/

In 1972, the body of a murdered lecturer floats in the River Torrens, a young woman escapes a lobotomy to ‘cure’ her sexuality, and a single mum struggles to find her place in a society which brands her as ‘abnormal’.

CAMP, a new play by Elias Jamieson Brown (Green Park), welcomes you to the punk lands of the 1970s and the birth of Australia’s fierce gay rights movement.

CAMP chronicles the struggles, successes, and legacy of early Pride activists who risked family, careers, and imprisonment to achieve social change in Australia.

It is a story of murder, corruption, love, and liberation, set across five decades of glorious queer history and inspired by true stories from those who were there.

CAMP is written by the talented and provocative young Australian playwright Elias Jamieson Brown, whose Sydney mainstage debut, Green Park (Griffin Theatre Company and Sydney Festival), was a box office smash and shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting.

Sydney WorldPride is taking place between 17 February to 5 March 2023.

Over 17 days, Sydney will host more than 300 LGBTQIA+ events, including the Rainbow Republic presented by Optus, Blak & Deadly: The First Nations Gala Concert, as well as the much-loved Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, which will be returning to Oxford Street for the first time in three years.

WorldPride is a global LGBTQIA+ festival staged since 2000, with cities competing to host the event.

Sydney WorldPride will incorporate all the beloved Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras events, plus a broad festival offering across arts, sport, theatre, concerts, parties, First Nations programming and a human rights conference.

Seymour Centre’s contemporary music program, Seymour Nights, returns in February and March 2023 for Sydney WorldPride.

Offering free gigs at dusk in the Seymour courtyard and coinciding with eight brilliant Sydney WorldPride events, Seymour Nights @ Sydney WorldPride will champion local LGBTQI artists and new sounds, with appearances by Seann Miley Moore, Tanzer, Dyan Tai, and more.

Join us for free performances from some of Australia’s most vibrant voices, wickedest DJs, and most daring drag artists, all in the leafy, summery surrounds of the Seymour courtyard.

Sat 18 Feb  – Beks, Clara Fable, and Dylan Tai

Sun 19 Feb – Seann Miley Moore, Tanzer, Lavrence, and Troy

Tue 28 Feb – Mowgli May

Wed 1 Mar – Dolly Llama

Thu 2 Mar – Rachel Maria Cox

Fri 3 Mar – Tyoow

Sat 4 Mar – Chela, Jamaica Moana, Etcetera Etcetera, and Beks

Free event. No tickets or registration required.

Following continually sold-out cabaret shows nationally, ‘Australia’s Premier Live Singing Drag Queen’ and Soiree Cabaret Producer, KARA ZMATIQ brings the best of circus, dance, live-singing drag and burlesque to The Vanguard Newtown for World Pride 2023.

About The Show

Experience a star-studded mix of queer nightlife dance and club classic hits sung by a LIVE-SINGING DRAG QUEEN as you feast your eyes on the sexiest circus and dance performers in this highly interactive and completely ADULTS-ONLY Drag Circus Cabaret.

Expect the unexpected in a truly interactive, raunchy and sensory cabaret show.

Soiree Cabaret will “blow” your minds darlings!

Reviews

“A Dream Come To Life, The Show Is That Good!” – Richard Reid (Celebrity)

“Elevated, Enlightened and So Entertaining!” Sydney Arts Guide

“Kara Zmatiq Sings better than Madonna” – Stage Whispers

Important Information

• Adults-Only Cabaret Show (18 Years Of Age)

• Soiree Cabaret Show is part of Sydney WorldPride 2023 Festival

• Proudly presented by Pride Amplified & Sydney Mardi Gras

• Interactive Drag Circus Cabaret Show

• Ticketed Event (from $65/each)

Picture it: Victoria Park from 8pm, lit up like a firefly, it’s Ballroom Blitz! DJ Eddie (NSW) will warm up the floor with special guests DJ Du Jour (VIC), PARKER (TAS), and 90s rock legends The Lost Girls (VIC).

Crack your chrysalis for the weekend ahead.

Early bird ticket bundles now on sale. Individual event tickets on sale from November 2022.

This new event is for gals and your pals. We celebrate all things femme with this saloon lounge event for women and their non-binary and gender-queer friends.

Join a phenomenal lineup of incredible acts from all over the country! Featuring PARKER (TAS), Tuck Shop Ladies (VIC), Jude Perl (NSW), Hussy Hicks Trio (SA), This Way North (ACT), DJ Eddie (NSW), Holly Kercheval (NT), Michelle Parsons (VIC), DJ Casio (VIC), and special burlesque guests.

These acts will get you all hot and sweaty… from dancing.

Secure your spot with an Early Bird Ticket bundle! Individual event tickets will go on sale in November 2022.

Find your wings at Carnivale – set up a picnic for a day of community, laughter, singing and joy hosted by our fave MC duo – the way-beyond-fabulous Nate Byrne and Art Simone.

Featuring Kate Miller-Heidke, DJ Eddie, Cerulean (Miss First Nation 2021), with special guests Dean Arcuri,  Elektra Lite, Tuck Shop Ladies, Freddie Merkin, Gabriella la Bucci, Best In Show dog show, tug of love, Jude Munroe, Rudy Jean Rigg, Karen From Finance, the stunning Jude Perl and Diva Flores, Diamond and York, Greg Gould and DJ Du Jour!

Visit our beautiful Rainbow Square with face paint, glitter lips, trans clothes swap, and rainbow story time.

Plus, market stalls, food vans, and a live radio broadcast from Joy FM and Sally Goldner from 3CR.

Secure your spot with an early bird ticket bundle now. Individual event tickets go on sale in November 2022.