Musicals & opera in Sydney

If you love your stage show to come with plenty of musical and theatrical highs – you’re in luck. Sydney hosts an impressive number of musicals each year, from the latest Broadway and West End shows to timeless classics. The best bit? You get to enjoy your entertainment in establishments that are just as alluring as the drama unfolding before you. Here’s what you can look forward to for the rest of the year. 

 

Hamilton

Showing at: Sydney Lyric Theatre
Dates: 30 July to 31 October 2024 

A revolutionary story of passion, unstoppable ambition and the dawn of a new nation, the Tony®, Grammy®, Olivier and Pulitzer Prize-winning Hamilton is returning to Sydney in 2024. An epic saga that follows the rise of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton as he fights for honour, love and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation, this global phenomenon has had a profound impact on culture, politics and education the world over. Based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography and set to a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway, if you missed this smash-hit last time it was in town, this is your chance.

Cast on stage for Hamilton at the Lyric Theatre, Pyrmont

Hamilton at the Sydney Lyric Theatre, Pyrmont - Credit: Hamilton the Musical

Sister Act

Showing at: Capitol Theatre
Dates: 6 August to 26 October 2024

Sydney, your prayers have been answered! Direct from London's West End, the Broadway hit Sister Act is coming Down Under this August. If you aren't familiar with the story made famous by the 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, let's recap: disco diva Deloris’ life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder and is placed under protective custody, hidden in the one place she shouldn’t be found - a convent - where she helps the struggling choir find their true voices while rediscovering her own. 

West End smash-hit Sister Act is coming to Sydney's Capitol Theatre

West End smash-hit Sister Act is coming to Sydney's Capitol Theatre - Credit: Mark Senior

Sunset Boulevard 

Showing at: Sydney Opera House
Dates: 28 August to 1 November 2024

Coming to Sydney stages this August, musical theatre and international recording superstar Sarah Brightman is leading a lavish new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical masterpiece. Weaving a magnificent tale of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition, Sunset Boulevard tells the story of Norma Desmond, a legendary silent movie star who is tortured by her longing for a return to the big screen, and her chance encounter and subsequent relationship with Joe Gillis, a struggling Hollywood screenwriter. Brightman played the original Christine Daae in 'The Phantom of the Opera' on both the West End and Broadway, and is playing her first role in a musical in more than three decades, right here in Australia.

Cast of the musical at Sunset Boulevard, Sydney Opera House

Sunset Boulevard, Sydney Opera House

Titanique

Showing at: The Grand Electric
Dates: 12 September to 3 November 2024

All aboard NYC’s must-sea musical comedy! When the music of Céline Dion makes sweet Canadian love with the eleven-time Oscar®-winning blockbuster film Titanic, you get Titanique, off-Broadway’s award-winning splash hit, which turns one of the greatest love stories of all time into a hysterical musical fantasia. Including hits like 'My Heart Will Go On', 'All By Myself' and 'To Love You More', this one-of-a-kind theatrical voyage is brimming with nostalgia, heart and campy chaos, and coming to Sydney soon.

Titanique is coming to The Grand Electric, Redfern

Titanique is coming to The Grand Electric, Redfern - Credit: Evan Zimmerman/Michael Cassel Group

Well-Behaved Women

Showing at: Belvoir St Theatre
Dates: 28 September to 3 October 2024

How would Cleopatra, Mary Magdalene, Virginia Woolf, Frida Kahlo, Julia Gillard, Billie Jean King and Malala Yousafzai sound if we heard them sing their thoughts? Well-Behaved Women, by award-winning composer Carmel Dean, is a musical feast where legendary women are brought to life through powerful and often hilarious songs, that celebrate the ways in which their behaviour helped them make history. After all, as Pulitzer-Prize winner Laurel Thatcher Ulrich said, "Well-behaved women seldom make history".

Main cast from Well-Behaved Women at Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills

Well-Behaved Women at Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills - Credit: Kabuku

Flat Earthers: The Musical

Showing at: Griffin Theatre
Dates: 11 October to 9 November 2024

Somewhere on the fringes of the internet, Ria e-meets Flick and instantly falls in analogue love… until Ria learns with horror that Flick is a ‘Flat Earther’. And Flick learns with equal horror that Ria is a ‘Globe Earther’. Cue: a beautiful and chaotic musical epic that sees our star-cross’d lesbians plunge into the Dark Web and down YouTube rabbit holes to explore the one thing they know is real—their connection. The irreverent, ingenious minds behind acclaimed musical 'Romeo Is Not The Only Fruit' are back with a West Side Story-meets-QAnon queer pop spectacular. 

Performers holding synthesizers in Flat Earthers: The Musical, Potts Point

Flat Earthers: The Musical at Griffin Theatre, Potts Point - Credit: Flat Earthers: The Musical

Dear Evan Hansen

Showing at: Roslyn Packer Theatre
Dates: 12 October to 24 November 2024

Sydney Theatre Company and Michael Cassel Group, the company that brought Hamilton and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to our shores, are joining forces for the Australian premiere of this Broadway musical sensation. Telling the inspiring story of a socially anxious highschooler who is suddenly thrust into the spotlight when he inadvertently invents an important role for himself at the centre of a local tragedy, Dear Evan Hanse has been hailed a “breathtaking knockout of a musical” by The New York Times and has been the winner of six Tony Awards. 

Dear Evan Hansen by the Sydney Theatre Company, Walsh Bay

Dear Evan Hansen by Sydney Theatre Company, Walsh Bay - Credit: Sydney Theatre Company

SIX the Musical

Showing at: Theatre Royal Sydney
Dates: 25 October to 28 December 2024

Following sensational sell-out seasons across Australia, the pop musical phenomenon SIX the Musical is returning to Theatre Royal Sydney in October 2024. Having now won 35 major international awards, including two prestigious Tony Awards and a Grammy nomination, and with a global audience of 3.5 million people per year and a staggering 600 million soundtrack streams, this high-octane 80-minute musical experience has become a cultural sensation.

Performers on stage at SIX The Musical at Theatre Royal, Sydney CBD

SIX The Musical at Theatre Royal, Sydney CBD - Credit: James D Morgan/Getty Images

Jesus Christ Superstar

Showing at: Capitol Theatre
Dates: 13 November to 1 December 2024

After garnering an unprecedented amount of accolades and positive reviews during its US and UK tours – including winning an Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival – Jesus Christ Superstar is coming to Australia in 2024 with a mesmerising new production. Featuring lyrics and music by Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winners Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, the sung-through rock opera, which has been wowing audiences for over 50 years, is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks of the life of Jesus Christ, as seen through the eyes of Judas. 

Performers on stage at Jesus Christ Superstar at the Capital Theatre, Haymarket

Jesus Christ Superstar at the Capital Theatre, Haymarket - Credit: Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

MJ the Musical

Showing at: Sydney Lyric Theatre
Dates: 1 to 28 February 2025

He is one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Now, Michael Jackson’s unique and unparalleled artistry is heading to Australia in the multiple Tony Award®-winning new musical MJ. Created by Tony Award®-winning director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, the story is centred around the making of MJ's 1992 Dangerous World Tour, going beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, and taking a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Jackson into legendary status.

MJ the Musical - Credit: Matt Murphy | Michael Cassel Group

MJ the Musical - Credit: Matt Murphy/Michael Cassel Group

The Book of Mormon

Showing at: Capitol Theatre
Dates: 15 July to 28 September 2025

In 2025, the Tony®, Olivier®, and Grammy® award-winning production The Book Of Mormon is returning to Sydney once more. For those who have yet to see this outrageous musical comedy that took the world by storm after it debuted on Broadway in 2011, the international sensation follows the misadventures of a mismatched pair of young missionaries sent on a two-year placement in Uganda, a place that's about as far from Salt Lake City as you can get. The tongue-in-cheek show is simply a must-watch: The New York Times calls it "the best musical of this century" and Entertainment Weekly claims it to be "the funniest musical of all time".

Cast performing on stage during the The Book of Mormon at the Capitol Theatre, Haymarket

The Book of Mormon is coming to the Capitol Theatre in 2025 - Credit: ACMN - Sydney

Where to eat and drink pre/post-show

Looking for the perfect spot to fuel up or enjoy a tipple before or after your show? Follow our guide below for nearby fine-dining, cheap eats, cocktail bars and more. 

Sydney Lyric Theatre

Head across from The Star to LuMi for a fine dining degustation based on seasonal ingredients and Italian inspiration. The waterfront location is the cherry on top. For a relaxed pre-show dinner, Bar Zini  in Pyrmont does simple but high-quality Italian, and wine bar Mister Percy offers a modern taste of the Mediterranean underneath the Woolstore 1888 by Ovolo hotel. 

State Theatre 

Named Gourmet Traveller’s NSW restaurant of the year in 2023, AALIA is a Middle Eastern restaurant that explores dishes and techniques from Arab and North African cuisines. Alternatively, head to French brasserie Manon for classics like mussels, steak frites and beef Bourguignon (and a TikTok-famous hot chocolate!). 

Chef preparing pasta at LuMi Dining, on a Pyrmont wharf
Friends enjoying food and drink at waterside restaurant LuMi Bar & Dining in Pyrmont
The Woolstore 1888 by Ovolo - Credit: Mister Percy
TikTok-viral French hot chocolate at Manon Brasserie
AALIA in City Centre, Sydney City
Credit: AALIA

Capitol Theatre 

The Capitol Theatre is located at the intersection of two of Sydney's most delicious neighbourhoods: Chinatown and Thaitown. Down some dumplings at Nanjing Dumpling off Dixon Street, or try authentic Thai noodles, soups and curries from Yok Yor, Show Neua, or award-winning Porkfat. Head down George Street to Regent Place, a food-focused shopping centre home to some of Sydney’s most underrated Asian eateries.

Just across Belmore Park will take you to the ever-trendy neighbourhood of Surry Hills. Try Nomad for elegant dishes cooked with fire or Pellegrino 2000 for intimate Italian (also a favourite post-show restaurant of Taylor Swift). Tio’s Cerveceria can provide the margaritas. 

NOMAD Feast at Surry Hills, Inner Sydney
Nomad in Surry Hills, Inner Sydney
Pellegrino 2000 in Surry Hills, Inner Sydney

Theatre Royal Sydney 

This CBD theatre is close to plenty of good eating and drinking options. Go where the locals are lining up: Soul Dining for modern Korean fine dining and Caterpillar Club for late-night drinks and live jazz in an underground speakeasy. 

The YCK Laneways are a five-minute walk from the theatre and a hidden maze of small bars and lively restaurants open until late. Try award-winning Mexican at Esteban, rum flights at The Lobo, New Orleans-style soul food and jazz at The Swinging Cat or artful Japanese and sake cocktails at Kuro. Not sure where to start? Try a secret bar tour here with Local Sauce. 

Credit: Local Sauce Tours
Kuro Bar & Dining - Credit: Oba | Kuro | Lounge 368 Pty Ltd
Kuro Bar & Dining - Credit: Oba | Kuro | Lounge 368 Pty Ltd

Seymour Centre 

Just down the road you’ll find award-winning Kindred, with a menu of hearty and shareable Italian dishes and freshly made pastas. Or head to Ester in Chippendale, a much-loved and constantly evolving fine diner that deserves to be on your bucket list. 

ICC Sydney 

Spend your pre- or post-show meal among the buzz and good vibes of Darling Square, a dining precinct adjacent to Darling Harbour. Top restaurant picks are XOPP, a next-generation venture from now-closed Chinese institution Golden Century; Nakano Darling, a lively Japanese izakaya; or 789 Korean BBQ, where you can cook your own dinner over a charcoal grill. 

Ester Restaurant at Chippendale, Inner Sydney
Dining room at Ester Restaurant, Chippendale
XOPP, Darling Square - Credit: Steven Woodburn
Dining area at XOPP, Haymarket
Nakano Darling - Credit: Nakano Darling
Credit: Nakano Darling

Grand Electric
Sandwiched between the eat streets of Redfern and Surry Hills, the Grand Electric is walking distance from innovative award winners like Ester, mid-range dining like Kindred (expect homemade pastas in a homey dining room) and Bush (sustainability-focused modern Australian), as well as casual eats like Japanese Juan Bowl and Tea and Pakistani Lal Qila. Before dinner, drop into a local bar. Moya’s Juniper Lounge specialises in gin, Noble Hops in craft beer and Arcadia in good vibes.

People enjoying a drink at The Noble Hops, Redfern
Dining room at Ester Restaurant, Chippendale