Melbournians will miss out on their yearly ritual of pretending to be a 1920’s bohemian, as the Famous Spiegeltent will not be returning for it’s regular season in the Arts Centre Melbourne forecourt. The Spiegeltent’s regular Autumn season has been cancelled as the Arts Centre desperately tries to cut costs in the face of an $8 million operating loss for this financial year.
The ABC reports that “The budget blow-out follows an operating loss
of $1 million in the previous financial year on total revenue of $60.4
million” An anonymous ex-Arts Centre senior staffer says that “zero
money for programming” has resulted in the Arts Centre having “no
cultural or artistic imperative” this year “because the focus is
entirely on trying to make a profit.”
Chief Executive Judith
Isherwood has also told staff that redundancies would be rolled out
across all departments, and is applying to the Victorian State
Government for funding assistance to deal with the Centre’s financial
issues. Other companies, such as the Melbourne Theatre Company and the Sydney Dance Company have reduced their use of the Arts Centre performance spaces, while several major productions mounted at the Arts Centre this year reported losses.
The Spiegeltent has spent the last two Autumns playing host to music, arts, theatre and comedy shows, from acts as diverse as Tex Perkins, Kate Miller-Heidke, Katie Noonan, Lior, First Aid Kit, Frank Woodley and Tripod, as well as transforming into a nightclub space which ran into the wee hours of the morning. All of these will be sadly replaced with Autumn leaves blowing in the wind of an empty forecourt, and crane-necked tourists wondering why Melbourne chose to build a tiny version of the Eiffel Tower.
Via abc.net.au
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