Events: Premier Events

See plus size performers dance, strut, shimmy and strip in Australia’s first fat only burlesque show. Everything you thought you knew about fat bodies and who belongs on a stage is about to be shattered.

Created by Kelly Heylen

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Fat, femme and fabulous, Glamazon is new to burlesque but experienced in all the ways that count. She is on a mission to smash tired old stereotypes about who gets to be on stage and isn’t afraid of smashing the patriarchy along the way.

Worship. A moment of transcendence: a moment of reflection on culture, on history, on identity, on community.

This Valentine’s day Worship is thrilled to return to The Red Rattler for a special Mardi Gras love-in. The night begins with a curated line up of Sydney’s hottest emerging performers in a multifaceted cabaret experience hosted by the droll but delightful Tammy.

STAGE: 
Tammy 
Marlena Dalí 
Nova Gina 
Mama Medusa 
Demon Derriere 
Scarlett So Hung-Son 
Chastity  

SOUND: 
Dyan Tai 
JamarzOnMarz (Live) 
DJ Matt Jay (from Fur Coat Club)

At the culmination of these performances we will pack the dance floor for a truly queer form of worship - feeling the power found on a dance floor packed with like minded souls, with Sydney's own Matt Jay returning to town and Worship’s Dyan Tai on music duties, Worship MG is guaranteed to become legend.

Doors open 7:30pm, shows start at 8pm.

Following Ross Watson’s highly successful WorldPride NYC Exhibition and Book Launch, this unmissable exhibition features new artworks and the artist signing copies of his highly anticipated second volume, the new luxurious art book Untitled II.

See why the New York Times included the artist’s exhibition in their top picks for WorldPride NYC, and learn first-hand about his style, intentions and the stories behind the artworks, which possess a distinctive cross-cultural milieu, and celebrate the male form. A full multi-media experience awaits each visitor into the exhibition with video presentations on the artist’s work giving insight into the creative process and final sentiment.

“Ross Watson has become one of the world’s foremost painters of the male figure, creating some of the most stunning erotic art.” - Gay Star News, London

19 February- 1 March
11am - 6pm
Daily

Further details at www.rosswatson.com

MISPLACED AND DANGLING - Linguistic furniture, not for (the) Mass(es). OMG - where the bloody hell is the apostrophe meant to go... and what about the comma! Forget the exclamation mark - that says it all.... and who said brackets were “de rigueur”! “Not Tonight Josephine.” - was it Napo(leon) to Joseph(ine) or Joseph(ine) “Not Tonight, Josephine.” to Napo(leon). and don’t say this was never said or Leon and Joseph will upset the quotation marks! And what’s this about colons having followers and semicolons being joiners? (more embroidery required)

Following a sensational season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, John brings his lounge room back home to Sydney. Get your silly on, get your groove on and come out in style at The John Rowe Show.

WHICH CELEBRITY GUESTS WILL BE JOINING JOHN ON THE LOUNGE?

Join John and his live band in this kitschy kool lounge room party chat show. With his favourite vintage tea set, his mum’s best doilies and a plate of iced donuts, John pulls out all the stops to entertain his guests with a fabulously fun mix of groovy music, daggy dancing, silly segments and internet frivolity. Throw in a surprise visit from a celebrity guest and you’ve got yourself a night of unforgettable fun.

Hosted by Thomas, Mykiii, Kyle and Luke, Australia’s premier queer podcast The Gays Are Revolting will record live in Sydney for the very first time!

Recorded in Melbourne, The Gays Are Revolting is a definitive weekly news source for contemporary gays, bringing you a healthy dose of smutty lovemaking stories and trivial pop culture nonsense, without all that hetero hoopla. Helping you be the best ‘G’ you can be, the boys serve a candid, informative and hilarious take on modern life as gay men. The Gays Are Revolting has been featured by Apple Podcasts and nominated at the Australian Podcast Awards.

Courtyard bar opens at 6:30pm for a 7:30pm start. Pop in before the show for a drink and a mingle!

‘Our blood runs in the streets and in the parks and in casualty and in the morgue...
‘Our own blood, the blood of our brothers and sisters, has been spilt too often…
‘Our blood runs because in this country our political, educational, legal and religious systems actively encourage violence against us…
‘We are gay men and lesbians.’
- From the ‘One in Seven’ Manifesto, Sydney Star Observer, 5 April 1991

OUR BLOOD RUNS IN THE STREET is a new verbatim physical-theatre work inspired by Bondi’s true gay and transgender hate crimes of the late 20th century. Constructed from interviews with individuals who have had first-hand experience with gay and transgender hate crimes the show investigates how cultural prejudice and bias has contributed to violence against gay and transgender people in Australia. The real words of family members of victims, witnesses, historians, police officers, journalists, researchers and more will feature, shining a powerful light on a dark chapter in Sydney’s history.

OUR BLOOD RUNS IN THE STREET is a creation of physical poetry and an ode to human resilience. The show is a recognition of past injustice and trauma and a celebration of cultural shifts and community hopes. Our Blood Runs in the Street was developed with the assistance of Metro Arts and NIDA Open Pilot Program with creative development residencies in 2019. We acknowledge ACON for their generous support in the development of this production.

Burlesque ain't just for girls anymore! Now the boys are bringing brash, ballsy and bombastic brilliance to the newly refreshed Stonewall stage.

Come and see some of Sydney’s best and upcoming Boylesque performers, featuring Mr Boylesque Australia 2018 Rhys Lighting plus special interstate guests this Mardi Gras season. A night unlike any other in Sydney to tickle your funny bone and titillate your senses.

From traditional burlesque to contemporary performance art you’d best leave all expectations at the door but come curtain call you’ll beg for more. Addictive personalities be warned... you’ll soon be OBSESSED!

Darlinghurst Theatre Company is proud to present the World Premiere of Fluid by international icon, Courtney Act. Dive into a cool refreshing ocean of fluid sexuality and gender with famed drag artist and cultural provocateur, Courtney Act, as she explores and pours her creative juices into her latest pop-cabaret: FLUID. In a world just beginning to tear down the cultural dams of the past, we are all now being flooded with ever changing and flowing ideas of who we are, what we are, and what we might become. Take the plunge with Courtney into the rapids of our times and the reflective ponds of her own journey with FLUID, an evening of song, soul, sexuality, and perhaps a little saliva (for those who sit too close). Playing for one-week-only

In 1998 Matthew Shepard, a first-year college student in Wyoming, was kidnapped, beaten and left to die. This brutal anti-gay hate crime inspired anguish and outrage. Nearly 20 years later it inspired composer Craig Hella Johnson to contemplate suffering, death and the flame of love and led him on a challenging creative journey. “In composing Considering Matthew Shepard,” he says, “I wanted to create, within a musical framework, a space for reflection, consideration and unity around his life and legacy.”

The result is a fusion-oratorio, stylistically eclectic music that moves between Lutheran hymnody, chant, blues, cowboy songs and Broadway as it captures the fullness of Matthew’s life and the legacy of his death. In the background are the Passion settings of JS Bach – offering musical comfort as their listeners reflect on a story of intense suffering. And Considering Matthew Shepard begins with Bach: the serene sounds of the first prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier (the music that underpins Gounod’s Ave Maria).

Considering Matthew Shepard will be performed by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' VOX choir – some of its members the same age as Matthew himself when he died – in a semi-staged presentation that reverberates with hope and serenity.

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

"It's only terrorism if it doesn't work. When it works, we call it a revolution."

A revenge story and a cautionary tale of good gay guys gone bad.

Bennett is really trying to keep it together right now. He's broken up with his boyfriend, and moved in with his best friend Cooper, and he's under the pump at work.

His boss, an openly lesbian Georgia state senator, is up for re-election. Her female opponent is a moderate conservative who’s aligned herself with alt-right fundamentalist Christians. They’re locked in a tight race in which each side dog-whistles to its base and any event can become politicized in an instant.

When Bennett's ex is bashed in the car park of a gay bar and left for dead, the senator refuses to label it a hate crime - because, under Georgia law, hate crimes against homosexuals don't exist.

Tipped over the edge, Bennett and Cooper embark on a vendetta of sabotage and assassinations, reasoning that if gays aren’t respected enough to win equal justice and rights, fear will achieve what good intentions and politics cannot.

Whip-smart and breath-takingly funny, this deliciously subversive political satire – part Fight Club, part Oscar Wilde, with more than a nod to the films of Quentin Tarantino - pushes all the buttons.

Please note: this production features nudity, drug use, adult themes, and strong language

You won’t find a radio edit here - you’re gonna get the full 12” remix. Harbour City Bears is a not-for-profit community group that caters to large, hairy gay men, their friends and admirers.

This year for their festival Bear Essentials, they are serving a mix tape of party tracks such as Wet Furr and the largest event on the HCB calendar Underbear, old favourites like our regular nights at Kinselas and afternoons at The Bank, intermingled with a few easy listening social events when the music gets too loud.

There's bound to be an event that you will like in this set list - so come along, bears and admirers, and socialise and party with the bears this Mardi Gras!

The FABalice Festival is a three day rainbow celebration in the beating heart of Australia, Alice Springs, for Kings, Queens and everything in-between. 6-8 March 2020, the weekend after Mardi Gras, extend your LGBTQI celebrations across the country and head to outback Northern Territory.

The festival pays homage to the iconic Australian film, 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert', which was filmed in Alice Springs over 25 years ago. However Alice Springs is not the community portrayed in the film, we are a diverse and accepting community. Bucking the sterotype of an outback Northern Territory town, Alice Springs has one of the highest proportions of lesbian couples in the country, and same-sex couples represent about one in 100 of all co-habiting couples in town. The celebrations include a Drag Crawl, Paint the Town, Festival Pageant, Drag Racing, ExDRAGvaganza, Pool Party and an Outdoor Cinema with shows set amongst the glittering landscape of Alice Springs. Alice Springs is a melting pot of diversity and multiculturalism and the proud home of the FABalice Festival.

For more information and to grab your tickets, head over to www.fabalice.com. It won't be a drag!

FRIDAY 6 March 2020:
DRAG CRAWL featuring comedy and cabaret across a few venues including the famous Lasseters Casino where the movie Priscilla was filmed $55pp or Rainbow Wristband

SATURDAY 7 March 2020:
PAINT THE TOWN - This is where we colour the Todd Mall in a fabulous rainbow Free Community event
FESTIVAL PAGEANT - Camp and glittering colour featuring our performers alongside the community of Alice Springs Free Community Event
DRAG RACING - These are hilarious running races, dressed in drag, for the entire community Free Community Event
EX-DRAG-VAGANZA - an outdoor party at an outback quarry, layered with drag performances and DJs $65pp or Rainbow Wristband
THROB ON TODD - The iconic NT Nightclub features in Alice Springs as part of the FABalice Festival $10-$20 or Rainbow Wristband

SUNDAY 8 March 2020:
POOL PARTY - Time to de-wig and cool down Free Community Event
OUTDOOR CINEMA - Featuring a screening of 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' alongside healding act drag performances (Free Community Event)
RAINBOW WRISTBAND - all access pass to the FABalice Festival celebrations - $99pp

Sydney! Are you ready for one HOT SIZZLING NIGHT full of sexy gyrating men on the dance floor dressed in their best swimwear, footywear, underwear, jockstrap or butt-less briefs? With the success of Sydney’s BIGGEST annual UNDERWEAR PARTY in 2019, our 2020 party is going to go off just as big, as Underwear Party presents: SUCK IT.

PERVERT makes its Australian debut with a night time closing party at super club HOME, featuring international guest producer DJ Alex Acosta (Mexico) and Matinee’s newest all-star DJ GSP (Greece). Join 1000s of party-goes from across the globe and round your Mardi Gras off the only way you should. Expect nothing less than the biggest production, sexiest performers and dancers along with state of the art visual, lighting and so much more. We raised the bar last year with La Leche and we plan to take you even higher at PERVERT by bringing you the freshest world class DJs and blowing your mind at this infamous party.