The Australian Musical Theatre Festival ran from May 20 to 24 at Launceston's recently refurbished Albert Hall, presenting more than 40 events across five days.
The opening show was Well Behaved Women, a new 75-minute musical by Australian composer Carmel Dean. The work was written for the festival and received its world premiere.
The centrepiece production was The Frogs by Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove, and Nathan Lane, presented in a production that combined community players with industry professionals, a casting approach the festival has used in previous years to expand the pool of talent on stage.
The intimate favourite for many attendees was Seeing Is Believing, an evening of story and song tracing the career of theatre director Delia Hannah, performed with Tyran Parke. The work drew on fan letters Parke once sent to Hannah during his early career.
The festival's program director said the 2026 edition's attendance was the strongest in the event's history, though exact figures were not released.
The 2027 program has not yet been announced. Applications for the festival's emerging-artist program open later this year.
