On now ...

The new Waterfront Theatre in Auckland is a beautiful thing: the seats are roomy and all have great sightlines, the theatre is intimate and they’ve put a lot of thought into the little things like toilets and the bar. There’s a beautiful LED light sculpture wrapping around the exterior by Leo Villareal. The Auckland Theatre Company’s opener in the new space fortunately matches up to the venue – I haven’t liked all of their recent output, but Billy Elliot: the Musical is exceptional, thanks to some very talented kids and the steadying hands of stage veterans Stephen Lovatt and Rima Te Wiati. But one minor issue the designers probably didn’t think of: the stylish wooden floors don’t seem so stylish when people knock over their drinks glasses at key moments (which happened a lot on opening night of Billy).

Waterfront Theatre, Auckland until November 27.