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2011 – Perth’s cultural coming of age? ABC News

Posted 2nd January, 2011 by

2011 – Perth’s cultural coming of age?

By Claire Nichols

Posted Thu Dec 30, 2010 1:57pm AEDT

The inside of the new state theatre, Northbridge

Workers have been finishing off fittings at the state theatre with performances soon to hit the boards

  • MAP: Perth 6000

Melanie Bruyer will bring in the new year at the ultimate costume party.

Surrounded by swing dancers, hula hoopers and chair twirlers, she’ll perform to hundreds of revellers in the middle of Northbridge, with co-stars from her acclaimed burlesque group, Sugar Blue.

Performing is her passion and she couldn’t think of a better way to ring in 2011 – a year that promises to be an exciting one for Perth’s often maligned cultural scene.

“I think it’s Perth’s coming of age,” says Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, who will oversee the city’s continuing physical transformation in 2011.

Changes to St Georges Terrace and the long-awaited upgrade to Forrest Place will be complete by mid-year. The upgrades will complement work already done at the Northbridge Piazza and the Cultural Centre, as well as the creation of trendy new laneways throughout the CBD.

Ms Scaffidi is proud of how the city’s looking and hopes the new year will bring a change of attitude about what Perth has to offer.

“I do tire of people always comparing us to Melbourne and Sydney,” she said.

“Those cities are far bigger and a little older than us. We’re at a different stage in our development but we are catching up quickly and I just want to hear people being more upbeat about Perth and what Perth has to offer.”

Fringe benefits

Melanie Bruyer is more than upbeat.

Instead of a major new development, she’s most excited about a temporary addition to the city which will bring a host of weird and wonderful performers to Perth.

February will see the return of fringe theatre to WA, and with it, a major cultural coup – a 95-year-old Spiegeltent, a mirrored tent in Dutch.

Ms Bruyer will help co-ordinate the performances inside the unique venue, as well as treading the boards as her alter-ego, A’dora Derriere.

“We’re having some international performers come through to inspire us as well as well as the local performers who are doing some shows,” she said.

“It’ll be amazing.”

She says the one-of-a-kind performance venue will introduce a brand new audience to the arts.

“I think that anyone who just walks past it will want to have a look and be curious about what’s happening inside.

“It’s mysterious and quirky and sort of different and exciting but also it’s a very warm atmosphere as well.”

Centre stage

While the small tent is sure to draw crowds, all eyes will be on a much bigger venue set to open its doors early in 2011.

The State Theatre Centre is the first theatre to be built by a government in Western Australia and is a state of the art development.

Brendan Ellmer is the venue’s manager and will spend an anxious new year making sure every is ready for its opening at the end of January.

“We’re very close, the house curtain’s just been installed,” he said.

He says while the finishing touches are being put in place, venue staff are in rehearsal mode, making sure they’ll be able to deal with a rush of audience members on opening night.

“From the 10th of January we’re doing our soft openings, we’ve invited guests so we can test out our front of house and back of house, all in time for our opening on the 27th,” he said.

It’s hoped the venue, with a large upstairs theatre and underground studio space, will bring a new sense of importance to Perth’s arts scene.

The theatre is already close to booked out for its first year, with leading Australian companies including Bangarra Dance Theatre and Bell Shakespeare set to tread the boards.

Lisa Scaffidi is counting down the days until the curtain goes up.

“It’s another opportunity for us to celebrate our city and how it’s growing in the 21st century,” she said.

“You’d have to be blind or really not just out and about to realise that Perth is truly changing at this time.”

See article here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/30/3103859.htm

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