MELT FESTIVAL – October 24, 2025
Brisbane Convention Centre
On a warm October night in Brisbane, the incomparable Bernadette Peters took to the stage at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre for the city’s annual queer arts festival, Melt, and delivered something far greater than a concert. What unfolded was an evening shaped by memory, gratitude and queer cultural lineage, a performance anchored by heartfelt tributes to two towering figures in musical history: Stephen Sondheim and Peter Allen. Through these dedications, the icon of screen and stage transformed the night into a shared act of remembrance and celebration, deeply attuned to the festival’s LGBTIQIA+ spirit.
Backed by Camerata (Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra), Peters entered to sustained applause that felt less like polite acclaim and more like collective affection. This was her first Australian appearance in more than a decade, and the sense of occasion was unmistakable. Melt Festival provided an ideal context for an artist whose career has long intersected with LGBTQIA+ audiences through musical theatre, iconic screen appearances as well as tireless advocacy and emotional truth.
Early in the evening, Peters spoke movingly about her relationship with Stephen Sondheim, describing him as a collaborator who reshaped not only her career but the very grammar of musical storytelling. Her words were quiet at times, deliberate and deeply personal. She spoke of his trust in performers, his belief in emotional complexity, and his insistence that songs could hold contradiction, doubt and longing all at once. Her delivery of his masterpieces reverberated with guttural emotion, the connection to the material purely emanating from her own soul. For queer audience members in attendances many of whom have found their inner lives reflected in Sondheim’s work, this acknowledgment landed with profound resonance. These were not juke-box interpretations of “museum pieces” or nostalgic recreations; they were living texts, rendered with the depth that only time and the unique experience Peters can bring. Each lyric felt considered, each pause intentional, yet not forced.
Camerata’s accompaniment was elegant and like they had been playing with her for her entire career, allowing Peters’ phrasing and emotional clarity to take centre stage. The audience listened with rapt attention; aware they were witnessing definitive interpretations from a performer most closely associated with his works. If this is an example of keeping Sondheim’s legacy alive, then this was the masterclass on how to do it.
Yet the evening was not solely about Broadway or New York. In one of the night’s most affecting moments, Peters turned her attention homeward to the one and only Peter Allen, the Australian songwriter and performer whose work and life hold deep significance for local audiences and the queer community in particular. Speaking with warmth and unmistakable affection, Peters acknowledged Allen’s extraordinary musicality, his generosity of spirit, and the courage it took to live authentically in an era far less forgiving than our own.
Her tribute to Allen was delivered without sentimentality, but with deep respect. She spoke of his ability to write songs that were joyful, aching and unapologetically emotional. When she launched into his music, the reaction from the Brisbane audience was immediate and visceral. This was recognition, gratitude and pride rolled into one.
The inclusion of Peter Allen in the program felt especially meaningful within the context of Melt Festival. Here was an international star acknowledging a queer Australian artist whose legacy has not always been afforded the space it deserves. For many in the audience, this moment carried a sense of homecoming, a reminder that queer cultural history is both global and deeply local.
Throughout the night, Peters balanced these tributes with her signature humour and generosity. Her storytelling between songs was relaxed and intimate, often self-deprecating, always engaging. Her spectacular ‘lounge on top of the piano’ segment was fun, frivolous and fantastic. She spoke directly to the audience, acknowledging Melt Festival’s role in creating space for queer joy, reflection and visibility. Her remarks were met with enthusiastic applause, particularly from LGBTQIA+ attendees who understand the importance of such recognition from artists of her stature.
Musically, the concert was meticulously structured. Emotional depth was offset by moments of exuberance; introspection gave way to playful bravura. Peters’ voice, still remarkably agile and expressive, carried both strength and vulnerability right to the back of the massive hall, never forcing a note, never sacrificing meaning for power. Camerata matched her sensitivity throughout, creating a rich but unobtrusive sonic foundation. The joy Peters had playing with her ‘new’ bunch of musicians was obvious, and yet they had only recently met, she treated them like family and it showed.
The audience itself became part of the performance. Longtime theatre devotees sat alongside younger queer attendees discovering Peters’ work in real time. There were tears during the tributes, laughter during lighter moments, and collective stillness during the most emotionally charged passages. This was not a passive audience; it was an engaged, responsive community sharing something rare.
Beyond the individual performances, the concert stood as a defining moment for Melt Festival, and LGBTQIA+ festivals across Australia should take note. Peters’ presence anchored the festival in lineage and legacy, connecting contemporary queer celebration with the artists who paved the way. Her acknowledgements of Sondheim and Allen underscored a throughline of queer creativity, resilience and emotional honesty that continues to shape artistic expression today.
As the evening drew to a close, Peters returned once more to the idea of legacy, not as something fixed or finished, but as something carried forward through performance and remembrance. The final standing ovation was immediate and prolonged. Audience members lingered long after the lights came up, reluctant to leave a space that had felt so affirming and emotionally generous. Luckily for myself I got to venture backstage to meet her, making it a full circle moment for me, from initially meeting her on the red carpet at the Tony Awards to finally getting to see her perform live, she was always someone I wanted to see, and if this show was anything to go by, please go an witness this icon for yourself.
Bernadette Peters’ concert at Melt Festival 2025 was many things at once: a masterclass in musical interpretation, a love letter to Stephen Sondheim, a deeply respectful tribute to Peter Allen, and a powerful act of queer cultural communion. For Brisbane’s LGBTQIA+ community, it was a night that honoured the past while celebrating the present, and in doing so, reminded everyone in the room why these songs, these stories and these artists still matter.
This was not simply a concert. It was a shared memory in the making. One that will endure as part of Australia’s queer cultural record, carried forward in song, story and the collective knowledge that legacy lives when it is sung.
Rob is the founder of GTG. Launching the GTG-Sydney brand in 1995, it has gone from a VHS tourist guide for Sydney to a global phenomenon, partnering with Pride events and special events and charities all over the world, raising millions of dollars for the LGBTQIA+ communities and showcasing our big gay world to anyone who wants to join in the fun.
Rob is a trained marketer and journalist. An Emmy award winner, a NIDA-trained TV Presenter who has been on digital channels, cable and terrestrial broadcast television globally as a presenter, producer and creative.
He is currently editor-in-chief and producer of GTG and the co-host of The Unfashionably Late Podcast.