what's going on with shows in Australia?! | why so many touring musicals have been closing early
what's going on with shows in Australia?! | why so many touring musicals have been closing early  
Podcast: MickeyJoTheatre
Published On: Thu Jul 02 2026
Description: In the last few weeks, two more musicals have cancelled forthcoming dates of their Australian tour, citing low ticket sales and economic challenges.Waitress and Beetlejuice will close early, with Back to the Future the Musical and Dear Evan Hansen having shuttered similarly in the last couple of years.In this conversation, Mickey-Jo is trying to figure out what's going wrong in the Australian theatre industry and whether there is hope for improvement for commercial musicals...•00:00 | introduction02:48 | Dear Evan Hansen / Back to the Future12:29 | Beetlejuice / Waitress20:13 | the problem / the solution29:53 | conclusion About Mickey-Jo:As one of the leading voices in theatre criticism on a social platform, Mickey-Jo is pioneering a new medium for a dwindling field. His YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MickeyJoTheatre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is the largest worldwide in terms of dedicated theatre criticism, where he also share features, news and interviews as well as lifestyle content for over 95,000 subscribers. With a viewership that is largely split between the US and the UK he has been fortunate enough to be able to work with PR, Marketing, and Social Media representatives for shows in New York, London, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Toronto, Sao Pãolo, and Paris. His reviews and features have also been published by WhatsOnStage, for whom he was a panelist to help curate nominees for their 2023 and 2024 Awards as well as BroadwayWorldUK, Musicals Magazine and LondonTheatre.co.uk. Instagram/TikTok/X: @MickeyJoTheatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.