A WEEK IN MELBOURNE

I've been back from Melbourne a week and it is still in my heart. It is my favourite place to visit in Australia. I love it's laid back feel, the fact most places do not open until 10am (I'm so not a morning person), it's streets stay alive at night, the food is remarkable, the people friendly, the shopping excellent (and I call myself someone who does not like to shop!). and it's magnificent architecture. It is a really cosmopolitan city with a European feel.

 

Mostly I just feel at home, especially now I have found a private apartment that I stay at each time I visit.

 

This trip I had fewer 'missions' than previous visit and was meant to be a bit more laid back but I really did pack a lot in! I did manage plenty of quiet, naps, reading, and watching the world go by though.

 

My main missions were to see the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition, Les Miserables (show and exhibit) and the new musical, Once.

 

I saw the movie Once years back and fell in love. It was a little Irish indie musical about an out of work muso and an immigrant who fall in love via their shared love of music. And so years later it is made into a stage musical, and it lends itself so beautifully to that. I headed off to a matinee of it at The Princess Theatre. The cast were superb, most importantly the two main characters. They needed to be able to sing and act and play musical instruments, and they were superb. The set was simple but worked well. It was a full working bar that encouraged the audience to come and order drinks from prior to the show, which was a great concept. Like the movie the show has heart, is funny, and also poignant. If you're in Melbourne, you simply must check it out. Though I am sure it will travel to other states soon.

 

I also caught up with Stop Making Sense on the big screen at ACMI and Intersteller on the IMAX screen. I love a good movie about space and Intersteller is one of the best I have seen in a long time. It's plot is simple in that it is set in the future (never says exactly how far in the future), and the US (where it is set) has returned to the Dustbowl of the 20s. An ex-astronaut (Matthew McConaughey, superb as usual) 'stumbles' across a NASA co-operative (NASA is no longer meant to exist in this future) trying to locate a new planet for earth to inhabit. But it is sooo much more than that, and I kinda wish I had paid more attention to physics at school. With twists and turns including a lot of time bending, this is just a great story with fantastic acting and amazing visual effects.

 

I spent a beautiful sunny day at St Kilda, wandering, shopping, eating, and just sitting in the sun and reading and watching the world go by. I think that is where I would live if I ever moved to Melbs.

 

I did some good shopping, I love the laneways and little alleys in Melbourne, you always come across quirky little stores with interesting things. I also checked out the new H&M and Emporium shopping Centre plus old favourites like the VIC markets, ACMI store, Readings, and Minotaur Books. And of course, the amazing strip of shopping at Acland Street, St Kilda. I managed a fair bit of Christmas shopping this time round plus a few goodies for me.

 

And as always I ate very well. I returned to old favourites, Time Out Cafe, Beer Hut on Fed Square, Caboose Kitchen, E-Dumplings. My friend M is lucky to work near the wonderful Sunny Boy Cafe which is but a block from where I stay, we I caught up with him there a few times and we lunched at the new hip dumpling place at the Rialto Towers, Mr Huang Jin. Oh my and caramel dessert dumplings!!!

And as usual I wandered the city, marveling at it's beauty and architecture.

 

And finally heading to Melbourne at this time of the year wouldn't be the same without Myers Christmas windows:

Les Miserables: the show, the exhibition, and the State Library VIC

Why IS Les so miserable?

 

And so the old joke goes...

 

As a literature lover and a Francophile, of course I knew Les Miserables and Victor Hugo. But I had never read the actual book or seen the stage show. I don't know why, I just hadn't.

 

Then a few years back I saw the Anne Hathaway/Hugh Jackman film and fell in love...completely.

 

I knew all the songs, but never matched them to Les Mis. I knew the story, but didn't really know the full story. I sobbed pretty much the whole way through it, not the silent, quiet type of sobbing, but the blubbery, noise making, embarrassing sobbing...I was by myself and near no one in the cinema!

 

And so Les Miserables came back to Melbourne, along with an exhibition of the story at the VIC State Library and I had to go.

 

The exhibition had the original book, in Hugo's messy French handwriting, but that had gone back to France and replaced but a digital version. And on my second day in Melbourne, the exhibit had it's last day and off I went.

 

I think the State Library of VIC is my favourite library, it's a beautiful old building, with a stunning reading room under a magnificent dome. It holds many amazing exhibits.

 

The first section of the exhibit was a range of items from France, old copies of the story, other writings and papers of Hugo, paintings and etchings of Paris at that time, bits of memorabilia. Quite an exhibition, then it moved into the movies and music from the book, posters, costumes and so forth, again remarkable.

 

The second section was a large area which was enhanced by the stunning architecture of the Library itself, a stage, large props, costumes, dressing rooms, music, and on and on it went. It was a remarkable space.

 

I then had a wander around the library, as I have done many times before. Having a look at the dome, reading room, and the 'book' display around the first floor of the dome. Some items never change, other bits do, it shows the evolution of books and parts of the extraordinary collection held there. There was a lovely section dedicated to Helen Garner this time, including her first typewriter.

 

The outside edifice was undergoing some type of construction, but the front gardens were full of students relaxing and enjoying themselves as always.

 

Later on that week I headed to Her Majesty's Theatre to see the staged musical. I had spectacular seats, front row middle in the Grand Circle (Third tier), however, I had not thought of the drop down to the stage and my vertigo set in a little. But I managed ok, the show was brilliant, so I didn't have much time to think about falling over the edge, lol!

 

I managed to keep myself composed through the first half, eyes wet, but not bubbling over. The set design was perfect and effortless. The cast amazing and the music sublime.

 

The story, Dickensian in style, set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, is dramatic and unrelenting in it's misery. It's a devastating show to watch, but stunning in the strength of the characters, and sublime in the haunting tunes that form the musical itself.

 

The two male leads, Jean Valjean (our hero) and Javert (the man intent on destroying him) were superb, although at times I thought their singing was not right on track. The tragic Fantine was a little weak, although her showstopper, I dreamed a dream, was heartfelt and inspired.

 

The trio of Cosette (Fantine's daughter), Marius (the man who loves her), and Eponine (the girl who loves Marius) were excellent, with Eponine being the stand out. Though I might be biased, she is my favourite character. Gutsy, romantic, and gets what I believe is THE showstopper, On my own. She owns the beginning of Act 2, and had me in tears at her magnificent performance.

 

And rounding out the main players are the comic relief of The Thenardiers - they were outrageously fabulous, mean and nasty, funny and bawdy. I do love Master of the House, it makes me smile so, and much needed comic relief in such a dire story.

 

The set design was bleak, but strong, with some great visual effects that help depict scenes, in particular the sewers and Javert's plummet from the bridge.

 

But ultimately Les Miserables is about the music, and it was divine. Every song a star, every song a friend. I am so pleased to have finally been able to see it.

 

Now I guess I need to read the book!