Nellie Small was a mainstay of the Tivoli circuit in Australia from the 1920s until her final performance in 1964. There was a catchcry on the variety circuit: if your show was falling flat, send for Nellie. Largely absent from our performing arts history books, Send for Nellie at the Sydney Festival thrusts Nellie Small back into the spotlight.

Also, a new Australian production of Death of a Salesman has enticed Anthony LaPaglia back to the stage for the first time in over a decade, and we learn how, after being a flop in its native Russia, Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker became a permanent fixture of the Christmas season at ballet companies everywhere.