Vienna-based Australian mezzo-soprano Margaret Plummer is beloved by audiences in Australia and Europe. She spent eight years as a principal artist with the Vienna State Opera, and she’s sung with orchestras from the Vienna Philharmonic to the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and at La Scala and Bayreuth. She’s back in Sydney performing again with Opera Australia, for a role she is very familiar with – Hänsel, in Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel and Gretel.

In this conversation, Margaret recounts her journey from Sydney’s Northern Beaches to life as a principal artist at the Vienna State Opera. She speaks of her initial desire to be a jazz singer, the persistence needed to navigate the years through her training, to her time in the Opera Australia Chorus which eventually led to her leap of faith that took her young family to Europe. She offers candid insight into the realities of working in a major European repertoire house, the challenges of language and bureaucracy, which all lead to the artistic and personal freedom she now enjoys as a successful solo freelance mezzo.

Margaret Plummer performs Hänsel, in Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel and Gretel, with Opera Australia from January 27 to February 28.

Award-winning actress, singer, and dancer Caroline O’Connor has spent over four decades performing in Australia as well as in the West End and on Broadway. She came to world attention thanks to her role in Baz Luhrmann’s film Moulin Rouge! in 2001, but she’d already been on stage for the 20 years prior to that in a slew of theatre productions. From Helpmann-winning turns as Judy Garland and Edith Piaf, to Chicago, Funny Girl, Anything Goes, Gypsy, and many others, Caroline has musical theatre in her DNA. On top of that, she has impeccable Stephen Sondheim credentials – not only did she perform at his special 80th birthday celebration at the Royal Albert Hall, but after seeing her in Sweeny Todd, the great composer and lyricist declared her to be the best Mrs Lovatt he’d ever seen. This all makes her the ideal choice to be headlining Sondheim’s Putting it Together, playing now at the Foundry Theatre until February 15.

In this conversation, Caroline reflects on her extraordinary journey in musical theatre, from her early training as a dancer to becoming one of the most respected performers of her generation. From chorus girl to leading lady, she speaks about the resilience required to navigate auditions, setbacks, and on making pivotal career decisions. She recounts her move to London, and the moments of chance and courage that led to major breakthroughs.

In Conversation kicks off 2026 by welcoming an actor who has graced our stages and screens for over 50 years. Andrew McFarlane has appeared in seminal Australian television dramas, including Division 4, The Sullivans, Patrol Boat, The Flying Doctors, and Underbelly. His theatre credits are just as long, appearing in classics such as The Glass Menagerie, Who’s Afraid of Virgina Wolf, and King Lear. He has also appeared in many David Williamson plays, and he returns to the Ensemble theatre later this month for The Social Ladder, the latest work from Australia’s most famous playwright.

In this conversation, Andrew reflects with great humility on his long career, tracing his journey from a comfortable and conservative upbringing through to discovering acting and training at NIDA. He speaks candidly about the formative impact of the Vietnam War era on his political awareness and how it shaped his early adulthood. From managing typecasting by deliberately leaving popular roles, to the irony of not being cast in gay roles despite his sexuality, Andrew remains grateful for the combination of confidence, discipline and a heathy dose of good luck that has brought him long term success as a performer.

Andrew McFarlane stars in David Williamson’s The Social Ladder at The Ensemble Theatre from 23 January to 14 March.