In our final (for now) episode we have a yarn with Dave Moore — director of 'The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Production of Macbeth' for Te Awamutu Light Operatic Society (TALOS). And we finally get to the one musical that's on Mel's liist of faves (but nobody else's)... Love Never Dies.

And as the lights dim and the curtain begins to fall... we pause for applause, bow and say adieu. And thanks for joining us Backstage. See you next year.

Theatrical superstitions abound and we give a bit of background on four of the most common ones this week. And our Musical of the Week is Singin' in the Rain – based on the evergreen and much-loved movie of the same name.

Some called it 'hell on wheels' but others really love Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1984 train story 'Starlight Express'... so we decided to see for ourselves by making it our Musical of the Week.

We also revisit the question of who should get to play trans-gender or other diverse characters. It's a conversation that will never end.

The bells... The bells... Our Musical of the Week is the timeless story of Quasimodo – The Hunchback of Notre Dame – developed from the Disney animated film into a very successful musical production. It's also a favourite of one of our studio guests this week. Kate Martin-Booker (Mel's wife) loves the show and tells us why, then she and Nick Hall tell us all about the play they're in at Cambridge's Gaslight Theatre, 'The Things I Know to be True' by Andrew Bovell.

We talk this week about challenging content... whether there's an audience (we say absolutely yes), and even whether there's a place for challenging content on stage (again, absolutely, yes from us!)... It's an on-going discussion and it also leads into our Musical of the Week — Jagged Little Pill.

It's the Greatest Show on Earth! Backstage, of course! Coincidentally, our Musical of the Week is 'Barnum' — all about the man who used that cachphrase for his own entertainment empire, PT Barnum. And we have a yarn about those who aren't necessarily theatre-doers but who still like to particpate as theatre-goers... and a bit about Agatha Christie's ageless mystery thriller, The Mousetrap.

Our Musical of the Week tells the story of the show that beat the odds when it came to the pandemic — 'Six' relates the stories of the six wives of Henry VIII (with a few twists) and has been wowing audiences since its debut. Relevant, clever and the must-see show in the UK right now. And we talk about the issue of how you handle unpalatable dialogue on stage. Cut it? Leave it in? Paraphrase...? What about the playwright's intentions?

The Riff Raff statue's champion, and erudite man-about-town, Mark Servian lets down his guard and tells us what keeps him excited about the Waikato theatre scene after nearly 30 years, and we explore the world of Mean Girls in our Musical of the Week.

We started a discussion this week about the Waikato Regional Theatre – the pros, the cons – and hope to keep it going over the weeks ahead. We also talked about 'Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars', and 'An Oak Tree'... plus our Musical of the Week is the little-known 'Tuck Everlasting'. Curious? Check it out.

One of the Waikato region's most recognised theatre practitioners, Nick Wilkinson is our special guest, discussing acting, directing, Shrek, ballroom dancing and hating auditions. He also chose our Musical of the Week (a personal favourite of his) The Full Monty.