All stories by Cassie Tongue on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

The Dismissal review – Gough Whitlam musical both delights and drags by Cassie Tongue

Seymour Centre, SydneyNarrated by Norman Gunston, this musical about the former prime minister and the events of 1975 is often funny – but it’s messy and overstuffed Get our weekend cult…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:55AM
Saturday, July 15, 2023

Jailbaby review – Prima Facie’s spiritual successor is heart-thumping but heavy-handed by Cassie Tongue

SBW Stables Theatre, SydneyOlivier-winning playwright Suzie Miller’s new work tackles the justice system from another direction – but its power is cheapened by melodrama The percussive b…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:07PM
Thursday, June 1, 2023

Music of the night(club): my enchanted evening at the party that plays only show tunes by Cassie Tongue

Australia’s new pop-up party might sound like your nightmare, but for some of us, to hear the people sing is just sublime Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email There’s something ab…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Friday, April 7, 2023

Julia review – new play about Julia Gillard misses an opportunity by Cassie Tongue

Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera HouseJustine Clarke is electrifying delivering the former PM’s misogyny speech, but the work fails to reckon with the complexities of her legacy Get our weekend…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24AM
Monday, October 31, 2022

Godspell review – good tunes can’t save a deeply uncool musical by Cassie Tongue

Hayes Theatre, SydneyThis new take on the famously earnest biblical musical spends so much time apologising for its religious elements, it falls flat Get our weekend culture and lifestyle em…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42PM
Saturday, March 27, 2021

Sydney greets Hamilton with rapture and some misgiving – review by Cassie Tongue

A triumphant performance as musical moves from Broadway and the West End to Australia If the world is looking to Australia to lead its primary theatre markets into the future, then it need l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:18PM
Sunday, October 20, 2019

Billy Elliot the Musical review – the sweetest spots are still the strongest by Cassie Tongue

Sydney Lyric theatreDance is the rightful soul of a show that reminds us we’re stronger, and better, when we look out for each other There might not be a musical easier to love than Billy …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12PM
Monday, July 22, 2019

The Torrents review – Celia Pacquola breathes new life into forgotten newsroom comedy by Cassie Tongue

Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera HouseHugely enjoyable revival of a play equal to Summer of the Seventeenth Doll gives a taste of what might have been A hefty chunk of contemporary Australian pla…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:03AM
Friday, February 23, 2018

The Empire Strips Back: how a Star Wars parody took the burlesque world by storm by Cassie Tongue

Luke Skywalker twerks to Nicki Minaj. A dominatrix Darth Vader struts her stuff. Film fans are packing out performances of a show that combines cosplay with comedyLights flash like laser bea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:19PM
Thursday, February 15, 2018

Mamma Mia! review – thank Abba for the music (and leave your cynicism at home) by Cassie Tongue

Capitol Theatre, SydneyMamma Mia! is not a great musical, but for an audience that still holds a candle for Abba, that’s beside the pointThe jukebox musical behemoth that is Mamma Mia! ope…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02PM
Thursday, January 25, 2018

Sea Sick: can a science journalist save the world through the power of theatre? by Cassie Tongue

Sydney festival, CarriageworksAlanna Mitchell has turned her book about climate change into a mesmerising one-woman showA journalist is preparing to enter a submersible vessel that will trav…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:14PM
Monday, December 18, 2017

Barbara and the Camp Dogs: how one woman's anger became a rock show by Cassie Tongue

Alana Valentine and Ursula Yovich have created a show that defies categorisation: a buddy comedy and a family tragedy, all backed up by an electrifying soundtrackBarbara and the Camp Dogs is…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06AM
Saturday, November 4, 2017

Merciless Gods – Christos Tsiolkas adaptation is brutal, tender and unsentimentally queer by Cassie Tongue

SBW Stables Theatre, SydneyMelbourne theatre company crafts a worthy stage performance using eight of the writer’s 2014 collection of short storiesWhen Christos Tsiolkas, the multi-award-w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:33AM
Monday, September 25, 2017

Beautiful review – Carole King musical a hit thanks to star's earth-moving performance by Cassie Tongue

Lyric Theatre, SydneyEsther Hannaford brings gravitas and heart in an inspiring production that shows just what the jukebox musical can accomplishThe standing ovation began before the final …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:05AM
Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Mr Burns: The Simpsons meets a post-apocalyptic world in a dizzyingly clever production by Cassie Tongue

In the aftermath of some future disaster, a group of strangers reach for a shared language. The result is comic, melancholy and deeply unsettlingIn the first line of Joan Didion’s 1979 ess…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:36AM
Thursday, May 11, 2017

Black Is the New White review – Nakkiah Lui brings politics to Christmas in hilarious family farce by Cassie Tongue

Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney Theatre CompanyA refreshing take on sitcom tropes, this cinematic new play dishes out big social issues with a whole heap of goofballIt’s Christmas in May at Sydney…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12PM
Monday, April 3, 2017

Dance Academy: it's time to rediscover this lovable, refreshing TV series for teens | Cassie Tongue by Cassie Tongue

As the spin-off movie hits cinemas, we celebrate the series about ballet dancers coming of age that was really about showing compassion for misfitsDance Academy was the show with biggest hea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:02AM
Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Eddie Perfect to score bound-for-Broadway Beetlejuice musical by Cassie Tongue

It’s showtime! Our own Eddie Perfect (Shane Warne: The Musical) will write the score of Warner Brothers’ new musical adaptation of cult faovurite movie Beetlejuice. This new ver…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 07:38PM
Thursday, March 23, 2017

It’s coming back! Hidden Sydney – The Glittering Mile: Photo Feature by Cassie Tongue

Immersive cabaret Hidden Sydney – The Glittering Mile will return in May 2017 for a strictly limited season presented by Live Ideas and Working Management with Vivid Sydney. Celebratin…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 08:20PM

Superhal – NIDA Parade Theatre by Cassie Tongue

In a world that cannot deny the current pop-culture obsession surrounding comic book superhero film adaptations, Puzzle Collective’s Superhal – advertised as a “Superhero Origin Story�…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 12:09AM
Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Carmen on Sydney Harbour creatives release damning statement ahead of opening night by Cassie Tongue

Yesterday afternoon lauded creatives (between them they’ve won Helpmanns, an Emmy, and a Tony) Brian Thomson AM, Julie Lynch, and Gale Edwards released a statement regarding Opera Aust…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 07:29PM
Thursday, March 2, 2017

Richard III: to make Shakespeare feminist, you need more than just a woman in the lead | Cassie Tongue by Cassie Tongue

Kate Mulvany is astonishing in the title role of Bell Shakespeare’s latest Richard III, but that doesn’t make it politically radicalRichard III, Shakespeare’s tragi-history about a tyr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42AM
Monday, February 27, 2017

Cast announced for Only Heaven Knows at Sydney’s Hayes Theatre by Cassie Tongue

The 30th anniversary production of Alex Harding’s Australian musical (set in Kings Cross!), Only Heaven Knows, is all set to open at Sydney’s Hayes Theatre Co in May 2017. And no…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 05:33PM
Sunday, February 26, 2017

American Idiot review – Green Day's rock opera premieres in Australia with a Trumpian twist by Cassie Tongue

Playhouse, QPACLead singers of Grinspoon and the Living End share a role in the 90-minute thrill ride through protest-punk and rock’n’roll despairWhen young dirtbag punk trio Green Day s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12PM

Paris: A Rock Odyssey to hit Melbourne stages by Cassie Tongue

In tribute to the late Jon English, his rock opera passion project, PARIS: A Rock Odyssey is set to return in a Melbourne concert series for just four performances in July 2017 at Melbourne…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 09:15PM
Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Newsies: a powerful and surprising call to arms in the age of Trump | Cassie Tongue by Cassie Tongue

The filmed staging of the hit Broadway musical comes thrillingly close to replicating the live show – and its message is more relevant than everWho would have thought that one of the most …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42AM
Thursday, February 9, 2017

You and Me and the Space Between – Sydney Festival by Cassie Tongue

Good children’s stories usually have deeper meaning beneath the surface. Often our favourite childhood tales contain messages for bigger issues. The Harry Potter series is about learning t…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 08:09PM
Monday, February 6, 2017

Jasper Jones – Belvoir Return Season by Cassie Tongue

We go to the theatre for the stories. We go to practise empathy and experience the lives of people whose stories are both similar and different to our own. Theatre’s mainstream sibling, ci…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 04:09PM
Sunday, February 5, 2017

Cabaret – Hayes Theatre Co by Cassie Tongue

“Life is a cabaret, old chum!” It’s one of the most recognisable lines in the history of musical theatre. Even the title, Cabaret, rings a bell to those unfamiliar with musicals. Openi…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 07:45PM

Todd McKenney will transform into Captain Hook for Bonnie Lythgoe panto by Cassie Tongue

The ‘Bonnie Lythgoe Pantomime’ is becoming something of an annual tradition. This British-import, family-style form of entertainment keeps coming back, and after last year’…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 05:34PM
Thursday, February 2, 2017

Huff – Sydney Festival by Cassie Tongue

Wind is attempting to commit suicide with a plastic bag over his head. It’s a shock laced with black humour; he’s tried this before, he tells us wryly. He even details the process at whi…

SOURCE: AussieTheatre at 08:49PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards