As they prepare for their final year as Artistic Directors, Richard Carroll and Victoria Falconer today announced Hayes Theatre Co’s biggest season yet for 2027, taking its acclaimed brand of musical theatre beyond its home in Potts Point with a program of ambitious new work, bold reimaginings, beloved classics and major theatrical events.
Under the banner Hayes in New Places, the season sees Hayes Theatre Co venture into two larger Sydney venues while continuing to deliver an expansive program at the Hayes Theatre – marking an exciting new chapter for the company as it looks beyond its home while keeping sight of what makes Hayes unique.
Leading the season is Steven Kramer’s Phar Lap: The Electro-Swing Musical, starring Joel Granger, returning to Sydney for an expanded staging at Carriageworks from 8 July to 8 August, ahead of a national tour, culminating at Melbourne Theatre Company. In 2025, this unique, blisteringly funny musical received rave reviews, sold out its season and cleaned up at the Sydney Theatre Awards. Now, Phar Lap returns on a bigger scale, bringing its electro-swing sound and larger-than-life Australian story to a new home.
In another landmark event for Hayes, the Foundry Theatre will be transformed into an underground bar in October for Mack The Knife, a major new work created by Richard Carroll, Victoria Falconer and Jordan Shea, which re-imagines the world of The Threepenny Opera. Beginning as an immersive promenade experience, the work evolves into a rock-cabaret musical shaped by the audience each night, pushing the boundaries of what a music theatre experience can be.
Back at its home in Potts Point, Hayes Theatre Co presents a thrilling and varied season of eight productions, spanning cabaret, comedy, opera, contemporary musical theatre and emotionally charged drama.
The year opens with Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door, a new cabaret-concert honouring the legacy and songbook of Australian showbiz legend Peter Allen. Directed by Hayden Tonazzi with arrangements and musical direction by Steven Kramer, it plays a three-week season from 13 January.
The season continues in February and March with Claudia Barrie’s outrageously hilarious production of the musical farce Lucky Stiff, before House of Rot returns following its sell-out success at the 2026 Winter Cabaret Festival. May brings the Australian premiere of the heart-wrenching folk epic Swept Away, directed by Drew Livingston, followed in July by a new production from director Jacinta John of the Pulitzer Prize and three-time Tony Award-winning emotional masterpiece Next to Normal.
In August, opera gets the Hayes treatment with Matthew Barclay’s vibrant, Bridgerton-style, technicolour reimagining of Mozart’s beloved opera buffa Così fan tutte or The School for Lovers. September sees Sydney Theatre Award winner and Hayes favourite Cameron Mitchell return to direct and choreograph the achingly cool sci-fi satire Be More Chill, before the season comes to a close with the heartwarming, intimate storytelling of Flowers for Mrs Harris, starring Rachael Beck and directed by Julia Robertson.
Hayes Theatre Co will once again bring audiences and artists together through two major festivals. The Festival of New Work returns for its fourth year, extended to three weeks. The Winter Cabaret Festival also returns in June in a new form and with a blazing new name: Flare.
Many regular Hayes events return including three new Neglected Musicals: 1776 in March, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in May and Dames at Sea in October. In time for Mardi Gras 2027 are Theys at the Hayes and cabaret special Victoria Falconer’s Parlour Night. Also returning in 2027 are audience favourites Musical Bang Bang, Home Grown, An Evening With and Carols by Cabaret with tickets on sale in 2027.
“2027 is the year Hayes goes bigger than ever. In addition to another full, varied, and thrilling season at the Hayes Theatre itself, we’re expanding far beyond, with a national tour of Phar Lap, and new musical Mack The Knife premiering at Foundry Theatre. Australian music theatre is some of the best in the world – these are the stories we tell ourselves about who we are, and we believe they deserve to be heard by as many people as possible.” Richard Carroll and Victoria Falconer – Artistic Directors, Hayes Theatre Co
With its most expansive program yet, Hayes Theatre Co’s 2027 season is an invitation to discover music theatre in new places, in new forms and at every scale, while continuing to champion the artists, audiences and Australian work.
Subscriptions are on sale from tonight, Monday 14 September, with single tickets on sale at various times in coming months. Phar Lap single tickets are available now from https://hayestheatre.com.au/event/phar-lap-2027-carriageworks/
Hayes Theatre Co 2027 Season
