The annual Sidney Myer free concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra return. Admission is free and gates open at 4.30pm, entry is on a first in, best dressed basis. You may bring your own picnic and drinks but White Hat strongly advises you read the Terms & Conditions of Entry before deciding what to bring (e.g. professional cameras and selfie sticks are not permitted).

A Symphonic Celebration features Veriko Tchumburidze (violin), Calvin Bowman (organ) and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with Benjamin Northey (conductor).

White Hat would add the caveat that nothing replaces experiencing the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony in a large resonant concert hall or cathedral with a grand pipe organ. However as you lay on your back and look at the stars you  can add the reverberation in your own musical imagination. 

• Holdsworth A Hero’s Journey – 2019 Cybec Young Composer in Residence
• Dvořák Carnival Overture
• Bruch Scottish Fantasy
• Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
• Saint-Saëns Symphony No.3 ‘Organ’

Our rating - 4 Hats

Opera Australia presents the original West End and Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, directed by Hal Prince and featuring Tina Arena.

Featuring some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best-loved songs including Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, On This Night of a Thousand Stars, You Must Love Me, and Another Suitcase in Another Hall, Evita charts the story of Eva Perón, wife of former Argentine dictator Juan Perón, from her humble beginnings through to the extraordinary wealth, power and status which ultimately led her to be heralded as the ‘spiritual leader of the nation’.

Jersey Boys is the story of how a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music success stories. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide – all before they were thirty!  Worldwide hits include Big Girls Don’t Cry, Sherry, Walk Like A Man, Oh What A Night and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.

Based on an original new story by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a new play by Jack Thorne. It is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage.

The critically acclaimed play has won 24 major theatre awards in the UK and is the most-awarded production in the history of Britain’s prestigious Olivier Awards, winning a record-breaking nine awards including Best New Play and Best Director. The play opened on Broadway in April 2018 to rave reviews and won 6 Tony Awards including Best Play, 6 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 5 Drama Desk Awards and many more.

The Australian Shakespeare Company's productions of Shakespeare in the wonderful surrounds of the Royal Botanic Gardens has become a Melbourne favorite. This year they present a new production of Macbeth.

Featuring Nathaniel Dean as Macbeth and the much-lauded actor Alison Whyte in the infamous role of Lady Macbeth, experience Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy under the stars in the iconic surroundings of the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Built by arguably Australia's finest musician, Percy Grainger, to house his collection of music-related instruments, scores and other items associated with his life and career. more info > >