27 Best Performing Arts in Australia

Watching a movie beneath the stars while relaxing on canvas deck chairs with a glass of wine at this outdoor, 400-seat movie theater is one of Darwin's quintessential experiences. Australian, foreign, art house, or classic films are screened every night from April through November. Gates open nightly at 6 pm, and picnic baskets (no BYO alcohol) are permitted, although there is a hot food kiosk and a bar. The first movie usually screens at 7:30 pm, with a second showing at 9 or 9:30 pm on Friday and Saturday nights offered for A$10 instead of the usual A$16. Make sure you hold onto your belongings—especially your food!—while you're watching the movie, as there are possums that roam the grounds and love to rummage through things.

The permanent home of the acclaimed Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, this 1,100-seat tiered auditorium welcomes touring musicians and speakers and is adjacent to the Hotel Grand Chancellor. The acoustics here are excellent.

With music, fireworks, indigenous performances, and world-famous artists, this energetic, big-name summer festival brings the city to life. The highly anticipated festival is held February and March in venues throughout the city, and its more highbrow shows are tempered with the raucousness of the Perth Fringe World Festival, which runs in January and February. While most shows for both festivals are ticketed, there are also plenty of free outdoor performances. PF is Australia's oldest and biggest annual arts festival, running for more than 50 years.

Perth’s first—and only—rooftop cinema opened after a summer trial run sold out night after night. It's now one of the city's anticipated seasonal venues. Crowning a seven-story car park, it shows mainstream blockbusters—with the odd cult or classic film thrown in for good measure—on a giant movie screen. It's the perfect date night, complete with a romantic sunset. There's a booze, food, and candy bars, but self-packed picnic baskets are welcome. No BYO alcohol. 

Movies run each night, except Monday, during the warmer months of November through March, weather permitting.

A steel whale's tail sticking out of the ocean and retro kettles cunningly disguised as penguins strapped to a huge rock being lashed by waves are some of the imaginative artworks that have wowed visitors to the annual show called Sculpture by the Sea. Since 1996, artists have positioned more than 100 sculptures on and under rocky outcrops and on hilltops along the much-trodden Bondi-to-Bronte Coastal Walk. This free exhibition runs for two weeks beginning in late October.

Australia's oldest arts festival takes place annually for 2½ weeks in February and March. It's a cultural smorgasbord of outdoor opera, classical music, jazz, art exhibitions, film, a writers' festival, and cabaret presented by some of the world's top artists; it's held across the city at a variety of venues.

The Fringe Festival, held over four weeks during mid-February and mid-March, is the second largest of its kind in the world. It's an open-access arts festival, featuring cabaret, street performances, comedy, circus, music, visual art, theater, puppetry, dance, and design, all across Adelaide and its surroundings, while regional offshoots take the party all around the state.

This agency sells tickets for most live performances: ballet, comedy, dance, theater, and more.

Housed in a grand, former coal power station, the Heritage-listed Brisbane Powerhouse hosts frequent, often-free, art exhibitions, live performances, and children's events in its flexible 200- and 400-seat theaters. Cafés, restaurants, bikeways, boardwalks, and picnic areas complement the spacious, contemporary riverside hub, which also adjoins beautiful New Farm Park. A recent renovation added a new café-bar, a roof terrace, and enlarged theater spaces.

Thirty minutes out of the city, the Bungendore Wood Works Gallery exhibits the work of Australian wood artists, whose sculpture and contemporary furniture are made from the finest native timbers.

The city's main live performance space has two different theaters that host productions by the Australian Ballet Company, touring theater companies, and overseas and local artists.

This 2,300-seat venue has regular mainstream theatrical and musical productions from around the world—think Cats, Wicked, and The Lion King. Note that parking can be difficult on weekends.

Darwin Entertainment Centre has hosted some of the biggest shows from around the world, including many Broadway-level productions. Tickets generally start around A$35 and go up to A$100 depending on the show.

Smaller stage and musical companies perform at neighborhood venues like this one.

This is Melbourne's premier concert venue and home to Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

The Australian National University's School of Music has classical recitals and modern-style concerts on-campus at Llewellyn Hall. The Australian Chamber Orchestral also performs here six times a year.

A starkly rectangular building overlooking the Swan River in the city center, the Perth Concert Hall stages regular plays, comedy acts, musicals, and recitals by the excellent West Australian Symphony Orchestra, as well as Australian and international performers. It's particularly busy during the Perth Festival. Adding to the appeal of the fine auditorium is the 3,000-pipe organ surrounded by a 160-person choir gallery.

The hall is said to have the best acoustics in Australia.

For outdoor performances, the grass terraced Quarry Amphitheatre is a unique and popular venue, particularly during the Perth International Arts Festival and warmer months.

The 1930s-era Regal Theatre hosts local and visiting performances, ranging from comedy to musicals.

The flashy, gilded State Theatre Centre of Western Australia is home to the 575-seat Heath Ledger Theatre and Studio Underground, a flexible performance space. Outdoor events are held in the multipurpose Courtyard. The State Theatre Centre presents contemporary performing arts, both theater and dance, and is the home of the Perth Theatre Company and Black Swan State Theatre Company.

This theater near the Australian National University campus showcases the best in local talent with excellent productions ranging from musicals to avant-garde plays.

This 1834 architectural gem with portraits of composers painted on its magnificent dome stages classic and contemporary plays by Australian and international playwrights. The renovation and development of the site has seen extra theaters added to the precinct. It's fabulous.

This is the main booking agent in Perth for the performing arts. It operates solely online, though there are several physical box offices at arts venues such as the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, the State Theatre, and His Majesty's Theatre in the CBD. Booking fees will be added to the price of tickets. 

Ticketek is the major ticket reservations agency, covering most shows and performances.

This world-class ballet company has earned an international reputation for excellence due to its overall innovation and creativity. Its diverse repertoire includes new, full-length story ballets, cutting-edge contemporary dance, and classical and neoclassical ballets. Performances are held throughout Perth, including at His Majesty's Theatre, the atmospheric Quarry Amphitheatre, and the State Theatre Centre. They can even organize adult ballet classes. 

The West Australian Opera Company presents three seasons annually—generally in February, July, and October, though this may change each year—at His Majesty's Theatre. It also performs the free Opera in the Park in Perth's Supreme Court Gardens each February. Although it is a free event, you must register online for a ticket to present upon arrival. The company's repertoire includes classic opera and operettas.

The annual four-day festival of world music, arts, and dance takes place in early March and attracts top musicians from all over the world to its multiple stages in the picturesque Botanic Park.