Live Business Breakfast: Variety Australia, Twilio Presents ‘Best Australian Theatre Tour’

Australia’s premium youth publisher, The Brag Media, presents Variety Australia and Twilio’s inaugural Live Business Breakfast, June 13 at Sydney’s 12-Micron. On the morning, seven special awards will be handed out for excellence in live entertainment.

Variety Australia now unveils the shortlist for Best Australian Theatre.

Forget Broadway and the West End, Australia’s theatre-land creates its very own buzz and business.

The numbers tell part of the story. According to Live Performance Australia’s most-recently available “Ticket Attendance and Revenue Report,” musical theatre recorded nearly $520 million in revenue for 2022 (up 156.5% from a pandemic-interrupted 2021) and packed in nearly 4.3 million guests (up 139.2%). Those results surpassed pre-pandemic levels, and were the highest-ever recorded for the category.

When the curtains came up in 2023 and 2024, theatre fans came out for such spectacles as “Wicked,” “Beauty & The Beast,” and many others.

Three shows leapt out.

“Hamilton” (Michael Cassel Group):

There are hits. And there is “Hamilton.” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical is a monster on Broadway; it continues to power along, selling-out like few others — and collecting a staggering collection of trophies including 11 Tony Awards, Grammys, Olivier Awards, the Pulitzer Prize and more. Based on Alexander Hamilton, a “Founding Father” of the United States, told in song and rap, “Hamilton” translated to Australian audiences when it made its Australian premiere at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in 2021 and went on to play in Melbourne, Brisbane and New Zealand, concluding in June 2023. Producers Jeffrey Seller and Michael Cassel are bringing “Hamilton” back in July 2024 for another run at Sydney Lyric Theatre.

“& Juliet” (Michael Cassel Group):

“& Juliet” is the pop musical jukebox that keeps giving. And it’s been pumping out the goods around Australia. The nine-time Tony Awards-nominated show reimages the most famous love story of them all, retelling the tale with an infusion of tunes created by Swedish pop maestro Max Martin. “& Juliet” completed runs in Melbourne, Perth, and in Sydney, beginning Feb. 27, 2024 and led by a cast featuring Rob Mills, Casey Donovan and more.

Audiences in Australia were “blown away by the show,” says “& Juliet’s” Australian producer Michael Cassel. Critics were, too. The Australian company also played Singapore’s Sands Theatre.

“Moulin Rouge” (Global Creatures):

All good things come to an end. Some good things smash records along the way. “Moulin Rouge! The Musical Australia” did just that, wrecking the Regent Theatre record in 2021 for the biggest single biggest day of pre-sale tickets sold (doing so in about 100 minutes). The Australian tour of Baz Luhrmann’s beloved film went out with a bang on Feb. 4, 2024 in Melbourne, roughly three years after producers Gerry Ryan and Carmen Pavlovic greenlit the production in the middle of a pandemic. All told, “Moulin Rouge” played 800 sold-out shows, producers say, and welcomed audiences of close to 1.4 million across the country, creating 330 direct jobs.