All posts tagged: culture

Two on the Night Train

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We’re on the train to nowhere “Two strangers wake up on a mysterious train one morning. They have no idea how they got there, no sense of their ultimate destination, and can only tell one thing for sure – day is turning  to night, and the train is not stopping.” The description sounds like a metaphor for life,  and Two on the Night Train is just that. A play about nothing, but yet also so much at the same time. Two-person cast Katherine Pearson and Frazer Lee lead a never-ending train journey, time and time again switching and changing situations and possibilities as each part of the story runs parallel with the other. The ‘who’ and the ‘where’ remaining steadfastly consistent, yet the ‘why’ never seeming to become clear to either. They are tortured in by the notion that simply ‘existing,’ being neither good nor bad, travelling closer to, other further away from one’s final destination, being uncertain, vague and not knowing what you want, who you are or what your purpose is, is in fact …

THE EUROPEAN NIGHT MARKET RETURNS BIGGER THAN EVER WITH A NOD TO DISCO

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 After welcoming more than 20,000 visitors in 2018, The European Night Market returns to Madame Brussels Lane every Friday night this July with a 30% bigger footprint, more stalls than ever before, and neon-drenched entertainment.  Running every Friday 5pm – 10pm, the Euro disco inspired market will stamp your culinary passport with bites from Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Turkey and Greece, as well as looping performances from Tanya George and retro beats by Fleiss. Dating back to 1853, the infamous Oddfellows Hotel will reopen its doors for four weeks only to peddle custom-made Hot Toddies and Mulled Wine.  Taste buds will be transported to Europe’s hotspots – a stop to Italy with Café Babbo’s Nutella-stuffed doughnuts, crisp pastries from Eat Cannoli, panzerotti from Il Panzerotto Taste of Puglia and delicious riffs on the classics from Tiramisu Lift Me Up. Sweet French favourites will be served up by Pop Up Crepe, The Brulee Cart, and Degani, while Frencheese will sling bowls of oozing, melted raclette. The Eurotrip continues with German sausages smothered in cheese, sauerkraut …

DON’T BRIE SAD, HIGH CHEESE RETURNS TO THE WESTIN MELBOURNE

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The Westin’s ever-popular High Cheese has returned for winter, dishing up its cheesy take on High Tea in collaboration with Maker & Monger.Launching for the first time in June last year, High Cheese was originally set to leave The Westin Melbourne at the end of August but after a stampede of Melbournians and tourists alike, it was extended to Christmas and saw more than 5,000 people try the high cheese delight. High Cheese returns in 2019 running from the 24th May until the end of August with new and exciting dishes to refresh the much-loved favourites from last year. The Westin Melbourne Executive Chef, Michael Greenlaw has worked alongside Anthony Femia, the acclaimed cheese monger and owner of Maker & Monger at the Prahran Market, to create a menu worthy of the high expectations, sourcing only the best cheeses from across the world. The menu includes a deliciously gooey Baked Normandy Camembert aux Calvados, served with lavosh, guaranteed to tempt the most extreme cheese lovers out there. Other dishes on the menu include Black Truffle, porcini and walnut layered Brie Fermier la Tremblaye; Swiss Gruyere …

May Contain Traces of Reading

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Mitchel E Roberts is not your average stand up comedian. His show, ‘May Contain Traces of Reading, is performed without uttering a single word and it’s back for another season at the Butterfly Club this Jane – June. We spoke to Mitch about what audiences can expect this time around, and what’s next for the young rising star. Mitch, you talk about the concept for this show as ‘coming to you in a golden moment’ – but is there a back story or inspiration behind the idea? The back story to this show is basically that I’ve been having silly ideas since I was 8 years old, and within a couple of weeks, I’d move on to the next grand plan, or huge scale scheme. This idea was different though. For one, I wasn’t actively trying to come up with something. I was just working in a job that didn’t require a lot of brain power or attention, and while my mind was wandering, this show walked into my head, with a fully formed premise. …

Verdi’s Rigoletto

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 In an opera trifecta, the people’s baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat, award winning tenor Liparit Avetisyan and local rising star Stacey Alleaume come together to star in Elijah Moshinsky’s resplendent production of Verdi’s Rigoletto in Melbourne.  Making his Australian debut in the role of Rigoletto is booming Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat. Mongolia’s first ever entrant to the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2015 where he was crowned the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize Winner, Enkhbat was named the Honoured Artist of Mongolia in 2010 at the age of 24 and has since performed in cities around the world including Paris, New York, Seoul and Kiev.  Joining Enkhbat onstage will be arguably one of the most exciting young singers performing today, remarkable Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan, in the role of the Duke of Mantua singing the classic aria ‘La donna è mobile’. Recipient of the 2017 Golden Mask Award (Russia’s highest theatre award) for best opera actor, Avetisyan made his Australian debut with OA in 2017 performing the role of Alfredo Germont in Moshinsky’s production …

SET SAIL ON A CELTIC ODYSSEY WITH THE IRISH FILM FESTIVAL 2019

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This May, The Irish Film Festival returns to Melbourne with an award-winning program, studded with gems all the way from the Emerald Isle. This year’s all-inclusive Festival is home to seven full length feature films, five documentaries and six shorts, ranging from compelling dramas, hilarious comedies and hard-hitting real-life stories. Feature Films:The official opening night film  is the internationally acclaimed Float like a Butterfly, an uplifting drama from the producers of Sing Street and the Oscar winning film Once. Set in 1972 when Muhammad Ali was set to fight in Dublin, the film follows Frances, a young Irish traveller girl, with big dreams of becoming a champion boxer. Comedy: No Party for Billy Burns follows a would-be cowboy Billy, an innocent farm hand about to leave his dreary life behind him for big dreams of excitement, adventure and romance on the open road. Another offering is Metal Heart, a poignant coming of age comedy that follows twin sisters Chantel and Emma who couldn’t be more different. One Goth and one beauty queen, the sisters’ sibling rivalry …

Game of Thrones

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Game of Throne is returning this April, so get ready to raise a glass to the Game of Thrones Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection as it officially hits Australian shores this week. To celebrate the eighth and final season of the critically-acclaimed TV series, Game of Thrones, DIAGEO and HBO have released a limited-edition collection of Single Malt Scotch Whiskies. The collection features seven Scotch whiskies paired with six of the iconic Houses of Westeros, as well as the Night’s Watch, giving fans an authentic taste of the Seven Kingdoms. Diageo’s unparalleled diverse range of distilleries in Scotland, much like in Westeros, each have their own unique characteristics and produce a distinctive whisky representative of its local terroir. These similarities were the inspiration behind the collection, drawing an authentic storyline between each House and single malt pairing. Whether you want to collect them all or represent your chosen House, be sure to pick up a bottle before they leave the realm. For more information on The Game of Thrones Collection Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection, …

NEON PLAYGROUND – Light and Art for Wildlife Conservation

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Lions and tigers and neon lights, oh my! For two weeks only this April, the city’s vibrant arts scene will come to life inside the lush grounds of Melbourne Zoo for its inaugural Neon Playground spectacular. Experience the zoo after dark as it is transformed by lights, projections, art installations and interactive performances. Large-scale projections will adorn the historic Melbourne Zoo mate gate façade, with the work of Kit Websterlighting up the art deco features. Journey through Awareness Alley along the historic Main Drive, where you will be engulfed in dynamic laser art by internationally renowned artist Robin Fox. Along the way, learn about Zoos Victoria’s fighting extinction species through the colourful neon artwork of Carla O’Brien. Transport yourself into the world of Graeme Base’s Waterhole, where giant illuminated puppets from the beloved book magically come to life. Explore the giant neon maze, inspired by the distinctive yellow and black pattern of the Southern Corroboree Frog, with 600 metres of LED neon suspended from the ground to create a labyrinth of light … and a …

50/50 Melbourne Comedy Festival

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Michael Shafar is a self-proclaimed Jewish atheist, who loves a bargain, hates hugs, and always likes to be right. All jokes aside though – Michael has a really interesting story to tell about his diagnosis and survival of testicular cancer in 2017 through his new Melbourne International Comedy Festival show – 50/50. Not one to appear to throw a pity party for himself, Michael’s jokes are dark, raw and very personal – however he has a warm, sweet style of humour which engages with his broadly diverse audience, despite the hilarious but sometimes R-rated content. His knack for finding the humour in every situation, however dark and unhappy has armed him with a lot of quality laughing material and allowed him to add a positive spin on what most of us would find a terrifying and painful experience. For example, as a male with only half of his, err… nuts to worry about – he now enjoys the comfort of skinny jeans, something many men could not attest to – a silver lining, and so …

Kids’ Hot Cross Bun Decorating Activity

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Pran Central’s free hot cross bun workshop will be held in the centre’s food court on Tuesday, April 9 and Thursday, April 11 between 11am and 2pm. All budding little bakers will be shown how to mould their dough into a hot cross bun shape after choosing to fill their buns with a choice of Cadbury chocolate chips, smarties or sultanas. Once the outside has been decorated in either a cross shape or their initials, Bakers Delight will bake the buns in the oven, ready for them to take home. EVENT DETAILS: When: Tuesday 9th and Thursday 11th April Where: Pran Central food court between 11am-2pm. Approx 20 minutes to bake.