An Australian-Exclusive Performance by Broadway Icon Bernadette Peters Is the First Event on Melt Festival's 2025 Lineup
She originated the role of The Witch in 'Into the Woods' and starred in TV's 'Mozart in the Jungle', and now she's heading to Brisbane.
As Brisbane's annual LGBTQIA+ celebration, Melt Festival has seen Sophie Ellis-Bextor grace its stage, and Chappell Roan as well. It has also hosted Spencer Tunick's nude photography works, including shutting down the Story Bridge for one installation. They're just some of the event's highlights from recent years, but it's about to add another in 2025: a Brisbane-only show by Broadway icon Bernadette Peters.
In New York's famous theatre district, she originated the role of The Witch in Into the Woods, and of Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. She has two Tonys, for Song and Dance and Annie Get Your Gun. She won a Golden Globe for Pennies From Heaven on the big screen, and featured in The Jerk and Annie as well. On TV, she boasts Smash, Mozart in the Jungle, The Good Fight, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist and High Desert on her resume. Now, Peters is doing an Australian-exclusive performance in the Queensland capital — and it's her first Aussie gig in more than a decade.
An Evening with Bernadette Peters has a date with the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday, October 24 — and is also the first event announced for Melt Festival, which runs from Wednesday, October 22–Sunday, November 9. The star kickstarts the lineup not just as a Broadway legend, but as an icon of the LGBTQIA+ community, including thanks to her work with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS to raise funds for AIDS patients and research.
How will a talent with six decades of performing to draw upon — including the current Broadway season of Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends — whittle that down into one Brisbane show? You'll need to head along to find out.
Melt takes place in spring, and returns in 2025 after being reborn in 2024 as a fringe-style celebration of queer arts and culture that not only fills Brisbane Powerhouse, but spreads across the city. Last year, more than 120 events popped up in 70-plus venues across southeast Queensland, complete with a Wicked-themed Halloween ball, a pool party and plenty more.
In her Brisbane performance, Peters boast support by Camerata — Queensland's Chamber Orchestra.
Dylan Evans
An Evening with Bernadette Peters will take place on Friday, October 24, 2025 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre as part of Melt Festival 2025. Head to the festival website for more information, and to join the waitlist for tickets.
Melt Festival 2025 runs from Wednesday, October 22–Sunday, November 9. Hit up the festival website for more details.
Top image: Drama League via Wikimedia Commons.
