Three Shows. Zero Limits. One Wild Summer.
When: Blanc de Blanc Encore: Now showing (Brisbane & Melbourne); extended to February 2026 Late Night Vice: Melbourne 15 Jan – 1 Feb; Sydney 12 Feb – 15 Mar La Ronde: Sydney now showing; Adelaide 13 Feb – 22 Mar.
Where: The Grand Electric, Surry Hills, Sydney, Melbourne. Spiegel Haus, Melbourne CBD. The West End Electric, Brisbane. The Garden, Adelaide.
Website: StrutNFret
If you’ve ever walked into a Spiegeltent, ordered a cocktail, and watched someone breathe fire while suspended from the ceiling, there’s a good chance Strut and Fret was behind it.
Founded in Brisbane in 1997 by Scott Maidment and Sarah Stewart, the production company has spent nearly three decades blending circus, cabaret, and live music into shows that are equal parts glamour and chaos. They’ve toured to 32 countries, created The Garden of Unearthly Delights for Adelaide Fringe, and collaborated with cabaret royalty including Le Gateau Chocolat, Meow Meow, Tim Minchin, and Eddie Perfect.
In 2024, they opened a permanent venue in Surry Hills called The Grand Electric. This summer, they’re running three shows simultaneously, and queer audiences are very much invited.
Blanc de Blanc Encore is the company’s signature champagne-soaked spectacular. It premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 2019 and has been touring ever since. The show mixes French glamour with world-class acrobatics, burlesque, and comedy that lands somewhere between elegant and outrageous. Think vintage aesthetics, plenty of fizz, and circus performers who make the impossible look effortless. It’s currently playing at The West End Electric in Brisbane (extended to February 2026) and at Melbourne Spiegel Haus until 1 February. Hush Hush Biz called it “Brisbane’s must-see event of the season.”
Late Night Vice takes things darker. The tagline sets the tone: “Cocktails. Cabaret. Chaos. No cameras. No phones. No evidence.” This after-hours show sold out Brisbane Festival and is now part of Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival (15 January to 1 February) and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (12 February to 15 March). Spiegel Haus Melbourne is the official artist bar for Midsumma 2026, making it a natural home for the show’s blend of mystery and mischief. Late Night Vice is designed for audiences who want their cabaret with an edge.
La Ronde strips things back. No elaborate sets, just a giant mirror ball, a 360-degree stage, and performers so close you can see them sweat. The show has earned five stars from The Advertiser (“Sensational”) and The List (“All-Killer No-Filler”). It’s currently playing at The Grand Electric in Sydney and moves to The Garden in Adelaide from 13 February to 22 March. The cast includes Ukrainian pole artist Sergiy Mishchurenko, hand-balancer Danik Abishev (whose family has been in circus for generations), and Adam Malone on the Washington trapeze, performing in heels.
What connects these shows, beyond the production company, is an approach to performance that values intimacy. Strut and Fret’s venues are designed to put audiences close to the action. No one sits more than a few metres from the stage. The result is a cabaret that feels personal, even when someone is flying through the air.
For queer audiences, these shows offer something specific: spaces where camp is the point, where gender is played with freely, and where the performers are often part of the community themselves. Late Night Vice’s Midsumma and Mardi Gras programming makes the connection explicit, but even the other shows carry that energy.
Scott Maidment once described the company’s approach as “pushing boundaries while drawing the audience closer.” That balance, between spectacle and intimacy, risk and reward, is what makes Strut and Fret’s work distinctive.
For tickets and full show details, visit strutnfret.com.
