To celebrate 30 years of wild and transformative art, Finucane & Smith have been invited by Melbourne’s iconic Luna Park to reopen Luna Palace, with a carnival of hot divas, hot chips and all sauce.

The company that’s burned the genre envelope and redefined cabaret for new generations; made 36 full-length shows, presented in 19 countries, toured and love-bombed 160 Australian towns, with 1,000,000+ audience members, and won 21 awards, with not a penny of ongoing funding, are thirty and fully ready to party.

A crash-curve cabaret of hot divas that only Finucane & Smith can dream up: pub rock queens and Bollywood love gods, torch singers and clothes flingers, First Nations genius, eye-bursting burlesque, toe tapping and swinging from the rafters, gothic legends (alright let’s just say Moira), artists painting live, pants flying (also live!); art with an ahhhh.

Queen of Provocative Variety Moira Finucane, Icon Absolute Maude Davey, Transcendent Diva Mama Alto, Butoh Goddess Yumi Umiumare, Indian Love God Govind Pillai & Temple of Desire, Yorta Yorta Taungurung legend Glennys Briggs & country star Ian Muir, Showgirl-Showghoul Bendy Ben, Roof-raising Soprano Piera Dennerstein, pop dragon Zitao Deng, siren Mandeera, artist-in-wild-residence Jacqui Stockdale & more! 30 hot divas over 12 hot August nights.

To help this show run with a small carbon footprint, Fifteen Trees is delighted to sponsor the planting of 360 trees right in the centre of Melbourne – Westgate Park.

One tree for every table, every night, over the course of the show. 

Westgate Biodiversity at Westgate Park, is a not-for-profit organisation located at the base of one of Melbourne’s most iconic landmarks and busiest gateways to the city – the Westgate Bridge. Nestled beneath this urban landmark, the group is working to create something quite extraordinary – a thriving pocket of bushland that provides both sanctuary for wildlife and a green escape for people.

This community-based organisation plays a vital role in the west of Melbourne. Not only do they grow and sell locally indigenous plants to support home gardeners, schools, and revegetation projects, but they are also passionately restoring Westgate Park. Their vision is to transform what was once a degraded and industrial area into a natural, bush-like haven, filled with diverse plant species that will flourish for decades to come.

Recently, a wide variety of native trees and shrubs have been planted at the site on behalf of Moira and her troupe. Species planted included – wattles (Heath, Golden, Lightwood and Coastal), sheoaks (Black, Swamp and Green), saltbushes (Grey and Marsh), correas (White, Smooth and Common) and eucalyptus (River Red Gum, Yellow Gum, Ironbark, Swamp Gum and Manna Gum).

This impressive diversity of plantings will help create a rich and resilient ecosystem. As the species flower and fruit at different times of the year, they will provide a continuous supply of food and shelter for local wildlife – from birds and insects to small mammals. Over time, these plantings will not only enhance the biodiversity of Westgate Park but also ensure it becomes a vibrant, living landscape where both people and nature can thrive side by side.

Are you also interested in supporting community tree planting projects? We love you to consider joining Moira and becoming a A Subscriber for the Planet. For the cost of a coffee a week, over the course of one year, we can plant 60 native trees on your behalf. Every season, we send you an update about your trees.

Find out more about A Subscription for the Planet here. 

Writer: Colleen B. Filippa

With a background in Environmental Science (Melbourne Uni), Colleen is the Founding Director of Fifteen Trees. In 2009, after 20 years in secondary and tertiary education institutions, Colleen left the classroom to start the company. Fifteen Trees is a ‘profit for purpose’ company assisting individuals and companies to reduce their carbon footprint by supporting community groups such as Friends of Westgate Park.