Five blockbuster Arts and Culture dates to get in your diary

Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour

2017 is shaping up to be another huge year in Sydney for arts lovers and culture vultures. There’s breath-taking Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, a bold large-scale art exhibition held across three leading cultural institutions, the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas and two premiere musicals.

Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, 24 March – 23 April 2017

Set against the spectacular backdrop of Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Opera House and the city skyline, Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour is a huge part of the city’s cultural landscape, combining all of the things Sydney does best: world-class opera, sunset drinks, fine dining, and spectacle all on the harbour's edge.

In 2017, visitors will fall in love with Opera’s favourite femme fatale, Carmen in Opera Australia’s vivacious and passionate production of Bizet’s Carmen.

The National: New Australian Art – 30 March - 18 June

The National: New Australian Art presents the latest ideas and forms in contemporary Australian art, curated across three of Sydney’s premier cultural institutions including the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Carriageworks and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA).
Connecting three of Sydney’s key cultural precincts – The Domain, Redfern and Circular Quay – the exhibition is the only large-scale recurring exhibition in the city focused solely on contemporary Australian art.

The AGNSW will present contemporary artists who are engaging with marginal narratives and contested histories. The curatorial approach at Carriageworks will focus on the current fluidity of identity, and at the MCA artists will be working with key concerns through time.

Vivid Sydney 2017, May 26 – 17 June 2017

The world’s largest event of Light, Music and Ideas, Vivid Sydney will return on 26 May 2017 to light-up winter nights. Owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, Vivid Sydney is an annual celebration of creativity that attracted a record 2.3 million visitors to Sydney in 2016. With innovative light installations and grand-scale projections, a cutting-edge contemporary music program, and thought-provoking creative forums Vivid Sydney is a highlight on the annual events calendar that visitors and locals can’t afford to miss.

Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, From September 2017

This September Beautiful: The Carol King Musical will premiere in Sydney at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. The highly acclaimed production tells the inspiring story of Carole King’s rise from schoolgirl to superstar. The production on Broadway won two Tony Awards, as well as the 2015 Grammy for Best Musical Theatre album. The show will be packed full of Carole King classics including ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’, ‘(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman’, ‘Locomotion’ and many more.

Muriel’s Wedding the Musical, 6 November - 30 December 2017

One of the most loved Australian films of all time, Muriel’s Wedding, will make its world premiere in an exciting new musical adaptation this November. Directed by Simon Phillips (Dream Lover – The Bobby Darin Musical and Priscilla Queen of the Desert) it has been scripted by PJ Hogan and will feature new music from home-grown singer-songwriters Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall. Muriel’s Wedding the Musical will be produced by Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures (Strictly Ballroom The Musical and Walking With Dinosaurs).