‘Love Actually? The Musical Parody’ Heads to Australia With Three Bespoke Casts

A modern Christmas ritual is getting a wickedly irreverent makeover.

Love Actually? The Musical Parody – the Off-Broadway send-up of Richard Curtis’ 2003 festive juggernaut – is heading back to Australia this season, and it’s thinking big. Rather than touring one ensemble, the producers have unveiled three separate casts for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, each tailored for its city and stitched together from musical-theatre favourites, stand-up comics and cabaret regulars.

They call the result “pure festive chaos”. It’s hard to disagree.

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Love Actually? The Musical Parody Australia – who’s on stage?

Following nationwide auditions, the show has assembled three line-ups that feel more like curated comedy troupes than conventional musical casts.

Sydney – Darling Quarter Theatre

At Sydney’s Darling Quarter Theatre, the company features:

• Ellis Dolan (The Rocky Horror Show 50th Anniversary Tour, School of Rock)

• Tommy James Green (The Fox and the Hunter, Scratch)

• Hamish Pickering (Hello, Asteroid)

• Gracie Rowland (Josephine Wants to Dance)

• Bash Nelson (Once on This Island)

• Brittany Morton (Into the Woods)

It’s a mix that reads part West End-ready, part late-night comedy club – exactly the energy a parody of a comfort-watch rom-com requires.

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Melbourne – Athenaeum Theatre

Down in Melbourne, performances at the Athenaeum Theatre will star:

• Mitchell Groves (Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical)

• Belinda Jenkin (Friends! The Musical Parody)

• Jeremy Harland (A Zoom Group Project: The Musical)

• Ian Andrew (Midnight: The Cinderella Musical)

• Sophie Loughran (50 Shades of Grey — The Musical Prody)

• Massimo Zuccara (Opera Australia’s West Side Story)

With several performers already seasoned in parody work, expect the Melbourne run to lean into theatrical in-jokes and razor-sharp timing.

Brisbane – Brisbane Showgrounds

For Brisbane, the spotlight turns to:

• Dylan Hodge (Legally Blonde The Musical)

• William Kasper (Rate of Decay)

• Benjamin Hambley (Godspell)

• Nicole Kaminski (Urinetown)

• Stephanie Beza (Chicago)

• Ashton Simpson, a multi-award-winning Gold Coast actor known for Romeo & Juliet 

Together, they promise a slightly rowdier, big-top energy that suits the Showgrounds setting.

As Associate Producer Ashley Tickell puts it:

“This show is like Christmas dinner after a few too many champagnes — loud, ridiculous, and way too much fun.”

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What to expect from the show

Forget misty-eyed doorstop declarations and slow-dance snowfalls. This is Love Actually twisted through a funhouse mirror.

The musical follows nine off-beat couples ricocheting around London, riffing on the film’s most famous plotlines with a fresh, self-aware wink. Original numbers such as “He’s the Prime Minister of Rom Coms” and “Keira Knightley Actually” skewer iconic scenes while still indulging the guilty pleasure of the source material.

Created by the team behind Friends! The Musical Parody, the show is pitched at audiences 15+ and plays like a high-energy hybrid of musical theatre, sketch comedy and fan commentary. Think carols by way of cabaret – with more innuendo than mistletoe.

Premiering in Australia in 2024, the production earned glowing notices, described as “fabulously hilarious and laugh out loud entertainment” and “a surefire way to get into the festive spirit”.

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Dates, cities and where to book

For this year’s tour, Love Actually? The Musical Parody Australia will play:

• Sydney – Darling Quarter Theatre

  • 27 November – 23 December 2025

• Melbourne – Athenaeum Theatre

  • 5 – 23 December 2025

• Brisbane – Brisbane Showgrounds

  • 11 – 21 December 2025 

Tickets start from $69, available via loveactuallymusicalparody.com, with additional allocations through major ticketing partners.

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An untraditional Christmas tradition

For some, Love Actually is sacred comfort viewing; for others, it’s the film they love to hate. This musical sits beautifully in the middle – affectionate, merciless and very aware of every trope the movie helped cement.

With its rotating casts, sly songbook and defiantly un-solemn take on holiday romance, Love Actually? The Musical Parody feels poised to become the ultimate “untraditional tradition”: the show you book with the same friends each year, precisely because it refuses to play Christmas straight.

As Tickell cheerfully promises:

“Whether you love Love Actually, love to hate it, or have never even seen it, you will actually love this musical.”