Boasting more than 40 events over five days, the Australian Musical Theatre Festival returns to Launceston. Carmel Dean’s Well Behaved Women, which shines a light on some of history’s trailblazing women, launches the festival, while the Opening Night Gala features a cast led by Jarrod Draper. The centrepiece is a production of The Frogs by Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove and Nathan Lane. In another highlight, Delia Hannah reflects on her life in Seeing Is Believing, in which she is joined by the festival’s Artistic Director Tyran Parke. Following a sold-out performance last year, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra returns for the concert Broadway Showstoppers with singers Draper, Hannah, Lisa Crosato, Nadine Garner, Rob Mallett and Lorinda May Merrypor.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

The Frogs is Sondheim’s splashiest, silliest comedy – complete with bickering gods, opinionated frogs, and an underworld that feels far too familiar. Dionysus drags his long-suffering sidekick to Hades on a hare-brained rescue mission, only to find himself in a showdown between Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw.

Based on the Ancient Greek comedy of the same name written by Aristophanes in 405 BC, with a witty score, trademark Sondheim harmonies, and a ton of slapstick comedy, The Frogs is a rollicking musical that offers a serious message on the important role of the arts in a struggling world.

It’s absurd. It’s tuneful. It’s unapologetically weird — and enormous fun from first splash to final bow.