The Stage Show

ABC
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In-depth conversations with the world's top directors, performers and writers for the stage.

  1. 12 JAN

    Best of The Stage Show

    The Stage Show with Michael Cathcart has wound up after eight years on air. In this highlights of 2025 episode: Playwright Andrea James researched a story from the 1840s, in which colonial newspapers suggested that a 'white woman' – maybe the survivor of a shipwreck – had been taken captive by Gunaikurnai people in what is now eastern Victoria.  Andrea interrogates the legend in a riveting play called The Black Woman of Gippsland. First broadcast April 29, 2025. Jason Arrow is known to many as the titular character in Hamilton where he had an extraordinary run both in Australia and internationally. In April 2025 he put his breeches and coat tails away and donned a 1950s dapper suit for the character of Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Opera Australia’s Guys and Dolls on Sydney Harbour. He sings for us the showstopper Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat! First broadcast April 1, 2025. Damien Warren-Smith is the comedian behind Garry Starr, the (increasingly nude) clown who has toured highly successful shows like Garry Starr Performs Everything, Greece Lightning and Classic Penguins, which won rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe and won him an award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Garry may be a buffoon, but Damien takes clowning very seriously. First broadcast March 11, 2025.

    54 min

  2. 5 JAN

    Best of The Stage Show: Pamela Rabe + a kid's point of view on stage

    It’s one of those roles which great actors have on their to-do list: Winnie in the play Happy Days by Samuel Beckett.  Winnie starts the play buried up to her waist in dirt. In Act 2 she’s buried up to her neck! Acclaimed actor Pamela Rabe tell us what makes this such an iconic play and how she approached it as both co-director and star of Happy Days for the Sydney Theatre Company in 2025. In the play POV (Point of View), 11-year-old Bub directs a pair of adult actors on stage, to re-enact scenes from her life. There's a catch: it's the first time the actors have seen the script, and Bub is filming them for a documentary. This innovative work by collective re:group is all about how a kid experiences the mental illness of a parent. We chat to young actors Mabelle Rose and Edie Whitehead, who play Bub, and director Solomon Thomas. What if Celine Dion wasn't just the torch-bearing soundtrack to Titanic — but the main character? That's the premise of a hilarious musical parody called Titanique, which originated off Broadway and in 2025 proved very popular here in Australia. A cast of 11 joins The Stage Show, led by powerhouse Marney McQueen. First broadcast May 27, 2025.

    54 min

  3. 29/12/2025

    Best of The Stage Show: How Anais Mitchell wrote Hadestown

    The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is retold in the hit folk musical  Hadestown. It's won Tonys, Grammys and is now in Australia. We speak to the singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell, who wrote Hadestown as a concept album, before touring it around in an old bus and then turning it into a remarkable stage show with the Broadway director Rachael Chavkin. First broadcast March 18. Back stage... The make up artist. Meet the veteran head of WHAM (that's wardrobe, hair and make-up) Fiona Cooper-Sutherland as she transforms Christine Anu into Hermes, the silver god for Hadestown. First broadcast May 20. How would you create a play that a four year old could understand? How about a four month old? Sally Chance and Stephen Noonan do just that, carefully creating works of theatre for the very early years. Stephen's the Boy & the Ball is on as part of the Dream Big children's festival in South Australia. Composer of The Thing That Matters: Heather Frahn. First broadcast April 15.

    54 min

  4. 22/12/2025

    Best of The Stage Show: Stephen Rea + the soul of Butoh

    More highlights from The Stage Show. We meet Irish screen and theatre actor Stephen Rea, who talks about meeting Samuel Beckett early in his career. Rea so wanted to perform Beckett's play Krapp's Last Tape, he had the foresight to record his youthful self reading it. In his  production at Adelaide Festival, the audience got to hear those recordings.We head Back Stage to the hat maker's studio! In fiction there are lots of characters who are famous for their hats. Robin Hood. Sherlock Holmes.  Lady Bracknell (she needs a ridiculous hat). In our new series Back Stage, Michael meets theatre milliner Phillip Rhodes, who reveals how hats bring a character to life. Butoh is a dance form that started in Japan in the 1950s and was called 'the dance of darkness'. Dancers often wear white body paint and explore raw psychological states. But it can also be outrageous and funny, as veteran performer Yumi Umiumare tells us about her own life practising Butoh. Yumi's latest show was Butoh Bar: Out of Order II for Asia TOPA. First broadcast March 4 2025.

    54 min

  5. 15/12/2025

    Best of The Stage Show: Robyn Nevin and Patricia Cornelius

    In 2025 Australian theatre legend Robyn Nevin directed And Then There Were None, a classic murder mystery by Agatha Christie. She talks to Michael about the darkness in Christie's stories, her view on changing acting styles and how Robyn finds her 'inner clown'. Playwright Patricia Cornelius explains why she had five actors playing the world's most famous hacker — Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, in her 2025 play TRUTH. She's joined by director Susie Dee. And you’ll discover a ballet about the great Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. Michael speaks to Australian Ballet principal artist Callum Linnane, who first danced the part nine years ago in the ballet Nijinsky. First broadcast Feb 11.

    54 min

  6. 08/12/2025

    Farewell friends: Denise Scott, Bernadette Robinson and Love Actually? the musical

    Michael Cathcart and the team farewell you from The Stage Show. In front of a studio audience, Michael interviews the remarkable Denise Scott, who's about to tour her new comedy show ; songstress Bernadette Robinson (with pianist Mark Jones) gives us a taste of the grand dames who sang at Carnegie Hall. Theatre director and actor Rachael Maza reflects on her 18 years at the helm of the groundbreaking Ilbijerri Theatre Company. And singer and pianist Ian Andrew brings it home with the parody musical .

    54 min

  7. 01/12/2025

    A look back at Michael Cathcart's 25 years on air

    For 25 years Michael Cathcart has been presenting arts and culture shows on Radio National, bringing listeners stories and conversations with writers, performers, musicians, poets and playwrights, from across Australia and the world. On our second-final ever Stage Show, Michael revisits some of his most memorable interviews. From authors Salman Rushdie and Esther Freud, to playing the organ at the Melbourne Town Hall, Philip Glass, Genevive Lacey, Audra McDonald, a special performance of Macbeth in Noongar language. And an encounter with horse riding mother-and-daughter Gladys and Quitta Docking, on the road for Bush Telegraph.

    1h 2m

  8. 24/11/2025

    West End's Alfie Boe + Meow Meow puts on The Red Shoes

    Cabaret star Meow Meow interprets Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales in inimitable style. Returning with her brilliant show The Red Shoes, about a girl possessed by a pair of vivid red shoes that won't stop dancing. Meow Meow explains why the story resonated with Andersen and discusses some of her favourite female performers from the era of the Weimar republic. The Glass Menagerie is perhaps one of the most visceral and intimate plays from Tennessee Williams and is about to open in Adelaide at State Theatre Company of South Australia. Prepare for the full intense pantheon of emotions; failed aspirations, family dysfunction and unreliable memories all set in a claustrophobic, dingy St Louis apartment during the 1930’s depression. Ksenja Logos and Laurence Boxhall join us. West End star Alfie Boe is the voice that for many years has been synonymous --for international audiences-- with the character Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. An operatic tenor who is a true crossover artist, finding massive popularity for his interpretations of musical theatre standards and pop music. He is touring Australia next year.

    48 min
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About

In-depth conversations with the world's top directors, performers and writers for the stage.

Information

  • Creator
    ABC
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    329
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Stage Show

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