Arts Centre Melbourne

EVITA becomes highest selling show ever at Arts Centre Melbourne

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s EVITA, one of the most celebrated musicals of all time, became the highest selling show ever staged at Arts Centre Melbourne.

The original West End and Broadway production, directed by Hal Prince, followed up a spectacular sold out season at the Sydney Opera House with more than 142,000 tickets sold in an extended season in Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre between December 2018 and March 2019.

The remarkable Tina Arena starred in the Australian production of the musical, with her portrayal of Eva Perón recognised as the role of her lifetime.

Tina Arena as Evan Peron in the Sydney season of EVITA, 2018. (Photo credit: Jeff Busby)

“I am so proud this production has resonated with audiences, especially in my home town of Melbourne breaking records at our amazing Arts Centre Melbourne. Playing Eva Perón has been an exquisite experience for me and sharing it with this beautiful cast and our incredible audiences has truly been one of the most gratifying moments of my career,” said Tina Arena.

“It is fantastic to have such an accomplished cast, including cherished global star Tina Arena perform EVITA at Arts Centre Melbourne. Tina is particularly close to our hearts as one of the Patrons of the Australian Music Vault at Arts Centre Melbourne. We are thrilled to be able to host this summer musical that audiences clearly adore,” added Claire Spencer, CEO, Arts Centre Melbourne.

The stellar cast was led by Australian icon, singer, songwriter and musical theatre star Tina Arena in the role of Eva Perón, opera superstar Paulo Szot as Juan Perón and Kurt Kansley as the young revolutionary Che.

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s EVITA is iconic, with more than 20 major awards to its credit including the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Musical, a Golden Globe and an Oscar for the film version starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas.

Featuring some of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best loved songs including Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, On This Night of a Thousand Stars, You Must Love Me and Another Suitcase in Another Hall, EVITA charts the story of Eva Perón, wife of former Argentine dictator Juan Perón, from her humble beginnings through to the extraordinary wealth, power and status which ultimately led her to be heralded as the ‘spiritual leader of the nation’.

EVITA’s record-breaking Arts Centre Melbourne season eclipses the mark set last year by the award-winning Dream Lover – The Bobby Darin Musical, which surpassed 120,000 ticket sales.

Celebrating 60 years of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Arts Centre Melbourne’s iconic Sidney Myer Music Bowl has been part of Melbourne’s entertainment scene since 1959, and on 12 Feb, the venue celebrated 60 years. Officially opened by Prime Minister Robert Menzies in 1959, the Bowl has seen many of the world’s greatest entertainers perform live.

‘Music for the People’, Sidney Myer Music Bowl 1960 (Photo credit: Laurie Richards, Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne)

“At Arts Centre Melbourne, we take our role as custodians of this extraordinary venue as both a privilege and a joy. We are proud to offer an incredible range of events and artists from the beloved Carols by Candlelight to our adored local heroes such as Kylie Minogue,” said Claire Spencer, CEO Arts Centre Melbourne.

“Celebrating 60 years of high-calibre performances has meant that hundreds of thousands of audiences have had the opportunity to enjoy live music in a stunning outdoor venue, thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the Sidney Myer Fund, which was established upon Mr Myer’s passing in 1934.”

In 1967, The Seekers performed their homecoming concert, wowing an estimated 200,000 people that spilled over into the lush grounds of Kings Domain. Listed in the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest attendance at a concert in the Southern Hemisphere, this extraordinary event is part of Australia’s rich and varied musical heritage.

Over its long and hallowed history, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl has had highly acclaimed local and international artists rock the stage, including: AC/DC, Sir Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Kanye West, Lorde, Florence and the Machine, Bob Dylan, Blondie, Pearl Jam, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Lenny Kravitz, Crowded House, Beach Boys, Bon Jovi, Daft Punk and most recently Missy Higgins and John Butler.

Tropfest, Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne.

Its namesake, Melbourne businessman and philanthropist Sidney Myer (himself a violinist), established free open-air symphony concerts in 1929 where thousands of Melburnians and visitors came to enjoy classical music. To this day, these concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra are a much-loved and regular part of music-lover’s calendar.

Bowl facts:

• Originally presented to Melburnians on 12 Feb 1959 by the Sidney Myer Charity Trust.
• Handed over to (then) Victorian Arts Centre by Kenneth Myer, Sidney Myer’s son, in 1980.
• Acoustic canopy protects the audience and stage from outside noise.
• Capacity of 13,000 (2,000 under cover).
• For more than a decade, the Bowl was transformed during the winter months into an ice skating rink.

Architects appointed to redesign Melbourne Arts Precinct

Melbourne design practice HASSELL, in partnership with New York’s SO-IL (Solid Objects Idenburg Liu), will lead a local and international team to design the new public space that will form part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct redevelopment.

The Melbourne Arts Precinct transformation project will include an elevated inner-city park and new pedestrian connections into and throughout the area, enabling visitors to move seamlessly from Southbank and the Yarra, through Melbourne’s iconic St Kilda Road cultural institutions.

The project will deliver 18,000 square metres of new and renewed open public space in what is one of Australia’s most densely populated suburbs.

HASSELL is an award-winning design practice with extensive experience in public space design, from Darwin’s waterfront to Sydney Olympic Park. The team is currently working on the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project, as well as major new public spaces in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Based in Brooklyn, SO-IL has previously worked with New York’s MoMA and Frieze Art Fair. SO-IL is currently creating a new waterfront in Paris.

The architects will lead a rigorous, collaborative design process to make sure that this massive new public space is the beating heart of Melbourne as a cultural capital.

The winning bid puts a strong focus on nature and will include seasonal gardens by world-renowned horticulturalists Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough, who transformed London’s Barbican Centre.

Artist’s impression of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Public Realm, courtesy HASSELL

The Labour Government has invested $208 million over two years in the first phase of the project, to kick-start planning and enable the NGV and Arts Centre Melbourne to begin raising philanthropic funds for the revitalisation.

Overall, the project will create 10,000 jobs during construction, and 260 ongoing jobs. Once complete, it is expected to draw an additional 3 million people to the area each year.

“This project will reshape Melbourne’s cultural and creative precinct, bringing more people than ever into a fantastic new public space and improving access to everything that Arts Centre Melbourne and the NGV have to offer.” – Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley

“This is a rare opportunity to help shape how Melburnians and millions of visitors from across the globe experience the cultural offering within the Melbourne Arts Precinct, and enable them to connect with nature as they experience this part of the city on a day-to-day basis.” –Project Directors Ben Duckworth (HASSELL) and Jing Liu (SO–IL)

Click here to visit Arts Centre Melbourne’s website.