Category: MELBOURNE

Victorian Opera is producing the epic production, William Tell this July

Opera William Tell

In what is proving to be the largest production undertaken by the Victorian Opera to date, the Melbourne-based company will be producing the Rossini epic William Tell this July. On from 14 July at the Palais Theatre, St Kilda, the production will make history, marking the first time in over a century that the epic opera, with its unmistakably iconic overture, has been staged in Australia. Here’s the overture that you’ll recognise… Three performances will hit the Palais, appearing on 14, 17, 19 July, sure to be staged with grit and grandeur, the rarely performed opera will grip modern audiences with a dystopian costume design inspired by The Hunger Games and The Handmaid’s Tale. A set evoking the Swiss Alps forms the backdrop to the conflict between a technologically superior conquering force and a simple rural community. The opera focuses on the legendary tale of the sharp-shooting hero on a quest for freedom from tyrannical rule and the courage that victory demands. But it’s beyond the most famous piece of music from the story that will set-up this production by the Victorian Opera to be its largest and most thrilling yet. The opera contains thrilling arias and ensembles, musical scene painting, and vocal virtuosity that highlight Rossini’s extraordinary talents as a composer. Premiering in Paris in 1829, William Tell marked his final opera following earlier triumphs such as The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola. The production even comes with a cast of international and Australian singers perform the epic opera, including the Australian debut of Paris-based Argentinian baritone Armando Noguera as William Tell. Armando’s long-standing history performing… Read More

Good Food Month with Melbourne’s awesome Italian restaurant Tipo 00

Tipo pasta

It’s Melbourne Good Food Month this June, and if the likes of Mister Bianco and what they’re doing for it isn’t your flavour, then perhaps the likes of Tipo 00 will do the trick. Presented by Citi, the festival returns with favourites like Let’s Do Lunch, presented by Peter Lehmann Wines of the Barossa, and Friends of Good Food Month now added to the exciting event programme. This year, Melbourne Good Food Month features heaps of foodiful events, showcasing the very best of Australia’s restaurant industry over 30 delectable days. We spoke with Andrea Papadakis of Tipo 00 of Little Bourke Street in Melbourne, who this year is serving-up some quality activity for the month-long celebration. As for why Melbourne has something special to offer this Melbourne Good Food Month Andreas agrees Melbourne is where it’s at, saying, “Melbourne is home to a host of cultures and ethnicities, the product of waves and waves of immigration, especially in the post-war period. These communities have all made their own mark on Melbourne’s cultural and culinary landscape, which, combined with the unique layout of our city, has made for a wonderful mix of food offerings.” And Melburnians agree. With a penchant for pasta, their menu of a very generous variety of it – “done well, with love,” Andreas assures – means Tipo 00 is where it’s at this year. A post shared by Tipo 00 (@tipo_00) on Apr 19, 2018 at 7:00pm PDT A post shared by Tipo 00 (@tipo_00) on Nov 8, 2017 at 6:22pm PST “Melbourne Good Food Month allows restaurants like ours… Read More

MoMA comes to the NGV this winter: 130 years of modern and contemporary art

NGV gallery

The NGV is throwing it back this winter with 130 years of modern and contemporary art at their latest, major exhibition. Straight from the New York iconic museum that is the Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA, the new exhibition opens on 9 June at NGV International in Melbourne. Co-organised by the NGV and MoMA, the exhibition features more than 200 works – many of which have never been seen in Australia – from a line-up of seminal nineteenth and twentieth-century artists, including Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali?, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Louise Bourgeois, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Diane Arbus, Agnes Martin and Andy Warhol. Bringing the exhibition up to the present are works by many significant twenty-first century artists including Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Olafur Eliasson, Andreas Gursky, El Anatsui, Rineke Dijkstra, Kara Walker, Mona Hatoum and Camille Henrot. Basically, there’s a lot. It will be the largest instalment of the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition series to date, for the first time encompassing the entire ground floor of NGV International. MoMA at NGV will explore the emergence and development of major art movements, and represent more than 130 years of radical artistic innovation. The exhibition will also reflect the wider technological, social and political developments that transformed society during this period, from late nineteenth century urban and industrial transformation, through to the digital and global present. Head to the NGV website ad sort out your tickets here.

IMAX Celebrates 20 Years at the Top with Everest

Mount Everest, aerial shot

IMAX Melbourne celebrated 20 years of wowing its audience with an exclusive screening of the 1998 documentary Everest, presented on IMAX 1570 film. As the first film showcased at IMAX and still in the top ten most viewed, it features the first giant screen images ever brought back from Mt. Everest. Released in IMAX theatres in March 1998, it became the highest-grossing film made in the IMAX format and still has a meaningful impact to all its viewers. IMAX offers the most immersive cinematic experience and is the world’s largest at 32 metres wide and 23 metres high. An American documentary film, Everest is the dramatic true story of a group of courageous individuals who dared to climb to the highest mountain peak in Nepal. This was filmed during and after the infamous 1996 tragedy in which eight climbers lost their lives in a deadly storm, never making it back down the mountain. Directed by Greg MacGillivray and narrated by Liam Neeson, the film educates its audience on how the mountain was formed and how it continues to evolve, how high-altitude challenges a climber’s physical and mental capabilities, and how Sherpa culture and tradition permeates the Mount Everest experience. Although a special screening, you can still read the newspaper articles featured in The Age framed as a proud reminder of where IMAX began to what the cinematic experience has evolved to today. To another 20 years and beyond – congratulations IMAX. To view the latest movies and book tickets visit them here.

Hoyts takes LUX to new heights with a menu by Manu

Hoyts Lux Manu Feildel sliders

It’s one thing to watch favourite Frenchman Manu Feildel’s innovative cooking skills and judging on television, and it’s another to experience his creations yourself. So what happens when you combine his culinary style with the most comfortable and cutting edge sound and visual cinematic experience? HOYTS LUX has crafted the perfect collaboration to take your cinematic experience to the next premium level with colourful, flavoursome dishes inspired by Manu’s French heritage. As the latest 2018 Brand Ambassador, Manu shares, “My current passion is to bring restaurant quality food to a casual dining experience and what better way to do this than as part of the HOYTS LUX cinema experience”. We couldn’t agree more, because once you’ve sat in LUX and tasted the new gourmet food and wine menu, you’ll never want to watch a movie without the French twist! A mutual favourite is duck bao: a trio of steamed buns filled with crispy confit duck, house made shiitake, cucumber pickle, ginger mayo and a smoky hoisin sauce. Other starter options include Southern Style Fried Chicken (best we’ve ever tasted!) and classic Mac ‘n’ Cheese Balls. Menu options also include slider trios, nam duck and grilled chicken salads for the health conscious, and for the hungry, beef bourguigon pies, encased in short crust pastry and topped with creamy potato purée and rosemary leaves. We highly recommend you don’t leave out satisfying your sweet tooth; the delectable trio of éclairs, French lemon cheesecake smash and chocolate & hazelnut Malteser sundaes with a French wine will complete the… Read More

Underground Cinema Melbourne is back this May with DELIRIUM

Underground Cinema Delirium nurse

Breaking news: after years of attendance, I finally guessed an Underground Cinema film when I received the first email about it. And you know what? I didn’t enjoy it any less. Loved it, in fact. The theme of the first Underground Cinema for 2018 was DELIRIUM. We lucky cinema-goers were assigned the role of US marshals and reported for duty one suitably chilly night at Jack’s Magazine, a bluestone former ammunition storage facility used in colonial Victoria on the Maribyrnong River, which became the site of a hospital for our purposes; and our mission. Dressing in sharp 1950s suits, trench coats and hats, we reported to wardens, received instructions and spoke to some concerned (and some eerily-calm) nurses and doctors about a patient who had gone missing. As always, Underground Cinema did an amazing job in immersing us into this thriller- like environment. Wandering through dark tunnels to lavish offices and derelict dormitories, with the Underground Cinema actors making us question was what real and not, I have to admit to grabbing my plus one’s arm in fear (and being laughed at for it). Luckily there were Jameson cocktails, food trucks and popcorn for us to break the tension. As we finally sat down to the film (guessed yet? Scorsese’s Shutter Island), the audience cheered as the opening title came up. It happens every time at Underground Cinema, and I’m pretty sure it keeps the audience coming back. Get involved with the Underground Cinema movement here.

How to get free burritos in Australia on 23 May

Zambrero_Barbacoa Beef flat

If there’s one thing we don’t have enough of in Aus, it’s Mexican food. Good thing Zambrero is about to play the proverbial jalapeno and blow your socks off with the news that this 23 May, they’re whipping out all sorts of free burritos to Mexicana food lovers around the country. It’s gonna be good. But, why? To celebrate the launch of Zambrero’s smokin’ new Barbacoa Beef, they’re treating the masses to thousands of free burries across nine cities. Check out Zambrero’s Facebook, which is where they’ll reveal the locations as they unfold from tomorrow. As part of the launch as Zambrero is also looking to answer the ‘big and beefy’ questions on the day, and people will also get the chance to voice their ‘biggest beef’ with their city. If people aren’t near one of the locations, 168 participating Zambrero restaurants across the country will be offering a buy-one-take-one deal on the 23rd, too. Yum.