Bombay Sapphire gin and Sydney artist Sam Whiteside (director of Soft Centre), will for five weeks, take over The Clock Hotel on Crown Street, Sydney. Why? Because with Covid on the decline there, they can, but also, they wanted to put on a never-before-seen audio-visual art installation, to be paired with cocktail masterclasses and cinematic, live sound performances across multiple nights. From 15 October, the countdown’s on! See the flyer below.
With lockdown ruining our lives, there’s officially a silver lining: We can still go to Chin Chin on Friday 2 October. Well, not “go to” in the pre-Covid sense of the word, but they’re now doing delivery boxes to your place for just $75pp. In conjunction with their other incarnation, Hawker Hall – packs available for $65pp – , your weeknight meals are officially sorted. Appetite need whetting? Think wagyu brisket, butter chicken curry and cauliflower with curry spiced yoghurt cream – and heaps more. We’ve got the Chin Chin menu and Hawker Hall menu for your enjoyment. Pre-orders for delivery on Friday 2 October will cut off on Wednesday 30 September at 12pm, unless sold out prior. Delivery on all orders is a flat fee of $15 and SMS tracking is provided for all orders.
If you’ve been down – and who hasn’t – then, prepared to be brought well-and-truly all the way back up, thanks to a new initiative in London. The Philharmonia Orchestra from London’s Southbank Centre is, this season, bringing out programme for October and November 2020: six online performances in two strands, encompassing live-streamed concerts, pre-recorded performances and radio broadcasts, as the Orchestra continues to build out its new digital performance schedule. Called Philharmonia Sessions, they’re putting on a series of critically acclaimed free, pre-recorded digital performances, conceived and created especially for an online audience! It’ll continue with two new releases, following three films this summer that have reached six-figure audiences in the UK and around the world, and drawn critical acclaim. The next Philharmonia Sessions feature Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting Beethoven’s ballet score, The Creatures of Prometheus (24 November), in a dramatic format filmed at Battersea Arts Centre with Stephen Fry narrating a new script by Gerard McBurney. The project is adapted from the programme that Salonen would have opened with for the Philharmonia’s 2020/21 London Season. Jakub Hr?ša and cellist Alisa Weilerstein follow on 5 November, in an all-Dvo?ák programme featuring his Rondo and Silent Woods for cello and orchestra. Both Philharmonia Sessions will be premiered, free-to-view, on the Philharmonia’s YouTube channel. There’s more, too. Scroll on for the full listing or find more at the Philharmonia Orchestra website. LIVE STREAM: SANTTU-MATIAS ROUVALI – AMERICAN DREAMSMonday 26 October 2020, 7.30pm Santtu-Matias Rouvali – conductor COPLAND Appalachian SpringSTEVE REICH Music for Pieces of WoodPRICE Dances in the CanebrakesSTRAVINSKY Dumbarton Oaks Live streamed from Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, and then available on-demand. Streamed… Read More
It was back in 2018 that the girls at the Imperial Erskineville in Sydney’s inner-west brought out their finest foods and roodest ‘toods for the entertainment of a packed room of diners. Then Covid; but now, we’re back! The Imperial Erskineville’s award-winning Priscilla’s restaurant has announced the return of Rood Food, a seductively designed X-Rated menu by head Chef, Christopher Dale Tolcidas. Think: a hen’s night gone wrong in all the right ways. Top quality food, prepared on site – and visibly – paired with a strictly adults-only drag review by the venues industry-renowned queens designed to stimulate your senses and launching on September 25. Think of it as a sensory experience. Emphasis on looks and tastes. As to be expected from dinner and a show that tantalises your tastebuds while delivering a plethora of tongue-in-cheek sexual innuendos performed by a roster of Australia’s leading drag divas. Priscilla’s head Chef, Christopher Dale Tolcidas has gone all out this round, producing dishes like Pussy Paté, Bring Back the Bush and the return of Rood Food favourites, the Panna-Knockers. “I’ve retained what Priscilla’s is best-known for, our plant-based menu and slow-cooked meats, and given the dishes a colourful dressing-up much like our queens,” says head Chef, Christopher Dale Tolcidas. Directed by The Imperial Erskineville’s resident queen, Etcetera Etcetera and starring favourites Peach Fuzz, Dammit Janet, Dakota Fann’ee and Riot, the nightly stage production consists of a three-part line up including an Uber Eats drag delivery spoof, a self-saucing dinner party, and an erect banana-themed number topped by… Read More
If wedding dresses and renowned designers are in your wheelhouse, then news of Princess Beatrice’s wedding dress available at Windsor Castle is just what you need. The dress is well-and-truly steeped in history and tradition, having been designed by the renowned British fashion designer Sir Norman Hartnell, the dress was loaned to Her Royal Highness by Her Majesty The Queen for her wedding to Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on 17 July 2020. It is made of ivory peau de soie taffeta, and the skirt is trimmed with a band of ivory duchesse satin. The dress is an example of Hartnell’s signature crinoline silhouette and love of embellishment, as seen in the geometric hand embroidery in crystals and diamantés over the bodice, waist and hips. And that’s not even the half of it; with an entire life story all its own, the dress is only one of the most exciting things to see at the famed palace, open all year. Book tickets and make your plans to visit at the Windsor Castle website.
The National Gallery London first announced the display of some work by the famed Italian female artist, Artemisia back in 2019 and now, she’s back again. At a time when female artists were not easily accepted, Artemisia Gentileschi was exceptional. Her career spanned more than 40 years and she gained fame and admiration across Europe, counting leading rulers among her patrons. She was the first woman to gain membership to the artists’ academy in Florence. Although Artemisia was greatly admired during her lifetime, she was essentially rediscovered in the 20th century. Certain elements of her biography – particularly her rape as a young woman and the torture she endured during the trial that followed – have sometimes overshadowed discussions about her artistic achievements, but today she is recognised as one of the most gifted painters of the Italian Baroque period. Her art and life continue to inspire novels, films, documentaries, musical and theatrical productions. The earliest work in the exhibition will be her first signed and dated work, Susannah and the Elders (1610, Kunstsammlungen Graf von Schönborn, Pommersfelden) painted when she was just 17. Artemisia returned to this subject throughout her career, approaching its story afresh with each retelling, and her last-known painting, of the same subject, dating from 42 years later, will also be included in the exhibition (Susannah and the Elders, 1652, Polo Museale dell’Emilia Romagna, Collezioni della Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna). Arranged chronologically and complete with supporting texts, documents and other gathered works, the exhibition is not one to miss. Book in advance at the… Read More
The Australian Chamber Orchestra will return to the concert hall for the first time in six months to present ‘ACO Transfigured’, a limited week-long season performed in front of a live audience. It’ll be socially distanced and take to the stage at Sydney’s City Recital Hall from 5-11 September 2020. The Covid pandemic hit the orchestra in a way they couldn’t have predicted, with artistic director Richard Tognetti having retooled and found himself increasingly behind the camera, working to present an innovative and engaging digital season for audiences around the world. “We have been waiting for this moment since March and are thrilled to be able to share our music with a live audience once again. The COVID-19 pandemic compelled us and orchestras around the world to find new ways to bring music to a world in lockdown. ACO is a national orchestra and although we are grateful that current restrictions allow us to reunite with our audience in Sydney, we will continue to develop and expand our digital offering to reach our audiences across the country and overseas, until we can begin touring again,” he said. The orchestra will perform among other pieces, Mendelssohn’s beloved String Quartet in D major Op.44 No.1 arranged for strings, and Schoenberg’s masterpiece, Verklärte Nacht (‘Transfigured Night’), which will bring the one hour concert with no interval to an exquisite close. See more at the ACO website Tickets start from $59 and will go on sale to ACO Donors and Subscribers 10am Thursday 27 August and to the general public 9am Friday 28… Read More
If Monarchy is your thing and taking a peek behind the walls of how they live is on your list of UK ‘must dos’, then get excited, because the Royal Collection Trust has some good news. The official residences of Her Majesty The Queen will reopen to the public from Thursday 23 July! After the good news about the UKs reversing of lockdown was released, the RCT has been ready to go with throwing open the doors to some prized locations, like: Windsor Castle the Palace of Holyroodhouse the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, and The Queen’s Galleries in London and Edinburgh You’ll need to wear masks and adhere to the Covid-19 rules as you peruse collections, peek behind doors and enjoy exhibitions, like: George IV: Art & Spectacle, which explores the life and collecting of arguably the most magnificent, and certainly the most flamboyant of British monarchs. Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace, 11 December 2020 – February 2022, which brings together some of the most important paintings in the Royal Collection from the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace. As well as Japan: Courts and Culture, originally due to open in June 2020, is now expected to open in Spring 2022 For more of what’s on and to buy tickets to the spaces, visit the RCT website here from 8 July.
Could there be a better way to celebrate World Chocolate Day than with a packet of limited-edition lamingtons from Koko Black and Tokyo Lamington? All we can say is, thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing this incredibly decadent offering to chocolate lovers for one day only. One of Australia’s favourite chocolate brands, Koko Black has collaborated with Tokyo Lamington, which was co-founded by Eddie Stewart, the mastermind behind Black Star Pastry, the creators of the famous Strawberry and Watermelon cake. For one day only, you can get your hands on these delicious lamingtons on World Chocolate Day, which is on Tuesday 7th July. But be quick, as there is a limit of one pack per person (which contains three lamingtons) and they will only be available for one day only for $21 per pack at the following Koko Black stores: VICTORIA: Carlton, Chadstone, Como Centre, Doncaster, Highpoint, Town Hall, Royal Arcade, The Glen. NSW: Strand Arcade & QVB While Tokyo Lamington is based in Tokyo and Singapore, there are plans for more collaborations on the horizon in Australia, so hopefully, we’ll see more of Tokyo Lamington in the near future. Here’s some more mouth-watering details about each lamington: Caramelised Coconut Lamington: Celebrating a Koko Black favourite, the Caramelised Coconut Praline, this decadent lamington features almond and caramelised coconut cremeux coated in delicious white chocolate with a caramelised coconut finish. Davidson Plum and Sao Thome Lamington: This unique lamington delivers an exquisite sweet and sour flavour, combining Australia’s native, sour Davidson Plum, with Koko… Read More
From Saturday 4 July, Kew Gardens’ world-famous glasshouses will open their doors once more and welcome visitors to step inside and explore the botanical treasures hidden within. Highlights include the Palm House, Temperate House, Waterlily House and the Princess of Wales Conservatory. Even The Hive will open; the one famous for its recreation of life inside a beehive. Limited routes and one-way systems will be in operation, of course, but you’ll still enjoy woodland walks and spectacular meadows at their best this time of year. For more, head to the Kew Gardens’ website. Images courtesy, RBG Kew.
