Do you have a secret talent? Pipes like Lizzo, Bruno or Babs? Maybe you can bust a move worthy of Dancing With The Stars, or air guitar with the best of them?
Many of us have dreamt of taking centre stage and soon a lucky few will be able to do exactly that on one of the city’s grandest stages this weekend. The Melbourne Recital Centre will welcome a select group of visitors to live out their showbiz dreams in DUET feat. You & Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, as part of this year’s Open House Melbourne.
This weekend the Melbourne Recital Centre will allow a few lucky members of the public the chance to get on stage to sing, dance or scream.Credit: Wayne Taylor
There are no guidelines as to what you can do – screaming, star jumps and meditating are all options. You could simply howl into the – admittedly beautiful, architecturally designed – abyss.
Tickets are on sale now for Sunday but be quick – only 18 are available. There will be a waitlist once the initial round have sold out.
Director of programming at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Marshall McGuire says the idea came from the internal visitor experience team. Each Monday and during Open House Melbourne, the centre is open for guided tours and this initiative is devised to take that a step further. “Literally anyone can jump on our stages,” he says.
For the centre’s mid-winter festival last year, a show was staged featuring one performer and one audience member. “People responded incredibly powerfully to that – it’s permission to be yourself really,” McGuire, who is also a trained harpist, says.
Can you see yourself treading thee boards at the stunning Elisabeth Murdoch Hall?Credit: Peter Glenane
Programming at the centre crosses all genres: in the next few months, audiences can see Bic Runga, Melbourne pianist Steven McIntyre and Brazilian bossa nova, as well as resident company the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.
Open House Melbourne is best-known for allowing Melburnians a peek inside well-loved buildings including the Shrine, Trades Hall and Werribee Park and recent additions such as the ABC’s Southbank Studios and Collingwood Yards. An array of activities runs alongside the main program, including guided tours, self-guided tours, expert talks and workshops.
Opened in 2009 and winner of that year’s National Award for Public Buildings, the Melbourne Recital Centre was designed by Ashton Raggatt McDougall. Named for Dame Elisabeth Murdoch who helped fund it, the main hall is lined with Australian Hoop Pine timber, which helps create its extraordinary acoustics; it is designed to mirror the inside of an instrument.
“We know that even the smallest, quietest singing voices can reach the back rows,” says McGuire. “We have music from a hundred decibels down to the opposite of that. You can almost sing in a whisper and the impact on the audience is very powerful. The audience and the artist feed on each other’s energy.”
“It’s really for you to fulfil your dreams: one of those intimate moments we are trying to provide.”
Open House Melbourne runs July 29 and 30.
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