MELBOURNE MUSEUM SUMMER SESSIONS 7 - 24 January, Melbourne Museum Plaza

Melbourne Museum, IMAX Melbourne, Melbourne Music Week—Extended and Melbourne International Comedy Festival have teamed up to present Melbourne Museum Summer Sessions. Across 12 summer nights in January, more than 120 local performers from our iconic, vibrant and beloved arts and culture community will perform live from the Melbourne Museum Plaza.

Melbourne Museum’s Plaza, located between the museum and the World Heritage Listed Royal Exhibition Building, will host a colossal line up of must-see evening entertainment for all ages. Celebrate summer in the city and the much anticipated return of live music and comedy as well as cult and family cinema classics curated by IMAX Melbourne with bites, drinks and beats from cafe Eats.

MELBOURNE MUSIC WEEK—EXTENDED

Friday and Saturday nights | Tickets on sale now

COMEDY AND MOVIE SESSIONS

Thursday and Sunday Nights | Tickets on sale now

Double Denim will take the Melbourne Museum Plaza stage as MC on Thursday 7 January.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival has programmed a lineup of Melbourne’s sharpest comedians including Josh Earl, Double Denim, Geraldine Quinn, Die Roten Punkte, Alex the Magician and Garry Starr who will deliver laugh-out-loud shenanigans on Thursday and Sunday nights in January before a twilight cinematic experience with screenings of cult classics and family-friendly movies.

With a program curated by the team at IMAX Melbourne, head back to the 80s and 90s with E.T., Gremlins, Home Alone, Alien, Back to the Future and the original Lion King under the stars.

Generously supported by Creative Victoria, Melbourne Museum Summer Sessions features an amazing array of artists and performers we love and have missed.

Melbourne Museum Summer Sessions x Plaza Series runs Thursday to Sunday nights from January 7 – January 24 2021
For the full program and to book tickets, visit the Melbourne Museum Summer Sessions x Plaza Series website here

Melbourne Museum Summer Sessions full program:

Melbourne Music Week — Extended

These events are part of a collaboration between MMW—Extended and Museums Victoria for the Melbourne Museum Summer Plaza Series.

Halo Vocal Ensemble. Presented by MzRizk
Friday 8 Jan 2021, 6-10pm | Tickets $18-$20, bookings essential
Featuring: MzRizk and Halo Vocal Ensemble – TATAFU, thando, Michaela Jayde, Strictly DT, KEANU and SOLI + more

Long-time collaborators MzRizk and Liona Tatafu are coming together to welcome 2021 in style, with their friends and family to join them on stage, at the same time. Inspired by American Gospel Music and Contemporary RnB, the Halo Vocal Ensemble presents a modern spin on the definition of a choir and brings a new sound to the masses.

THE DELOREAN PROJECT. Presented by The Operatives
Saturday 9 Jan 2021, 6-10pm | Tickets $18-$20, bookings essential
Featuring: FLYBOY JACK (JORDAN DENNIS X JUJO) + SOPHIYA + KOBI SPICE + DENZEL M + CALEB THE RAPPER + KHIARRA + THATKIDMAZ + YUNG SHOGUN + C00KIE + SWERV

The Operatives return to Melbourne Music week with THE DELOREAN PROJECT, a ride into the future of Hip Hop and RNB from Melbourne from the year 3020.

Bananagun + Primo! + Parsnip. Presented by Anti Fade Records
Friday 15 Jan 2021, 6-10pm | Tickets $18-$20, bookings essential
Featuring: Bananagun, Primo! and Parsnip

Anti Fade Records’ heavyweights Bananagun, Primo! and Parsnip will be joining forces for their first shows since the beginning of the year.

LOODS + Jennifer Loveless + Roy Blues
Saturday 16 Jan 2021, 6-10pm | Tickets $18-$20, bookings essential
Featuring: LOODS + Jennifer Loveless + Roy Blues (live)

Three of Melbourne’s finest electronic artists will present a palette of lush electronics and sublime mid-tempo hustle on the plaza.

The Tony Allen Experience – A Live Tribute directed by Nui Moon
Friday 22 Jan 2021, 6-10pm | Tickets $18-$20, bookings essential
Featuring: Nui Moon + Public Opinion Afro Orchestra + Yoosa Haile + John McCall + Thando + Bobby Alu + NFA Jones + Cazeaux O.S.L.O. + DJ Manchild

Nui Moon, percussionist from the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra and one half of Digital Afrika brings together an all-star band in tribute of one of the world’s greatest drummers and pioneer of the Afrobeat sound, Tony Allen. Featuring members from: Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, Ben Walsh, N’FA Jones, Thando and more.

Space Echo Plaza presented by Crown Ruler and Wondercore Island
Saturday 23 Jan 2021, 6-10pm | Tickets $18-$20, bookings essential
Featuring: Found Heads Collective – Perrin Moss, Javier Fredes, Julien Wilson and Barney McCall, plus Maria Moles, Aarti Jadu and DJ Shio Otani

Some of Melbourne’s biggest music heavyweights join forces for a stand-alone improvisational performance, with PBS presenter and DJ Shio Otani will set the mood between sets. Featuring: Found Heads Collective – Perrin Moss, Javier Fredes, Julien Wilson and Barney McCall, plus Maria Moles, Aarti Jadu and DJ Shio Otani

Comedy and movie sessions

Melbourne International Comedy Festival + Gremlins
Thursday 7 Jan 2021, 6-10pm | Tickets $8-$15, bookings essential
Featuring: MCs Double Denim, Alex The Magician, and more special guests to be announced

Double Denim are Melbourne’s favourite denim-clad duo. Since debuting in 2017, Michelle Brasier (cast member of Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell, and Aunty Donna collaborator) and Laura Frew (Fringe Wives Club) have created three critically acclaimed touring shows that loosely follow the journey of two Millennial girls as they grow into women.

Alex the Magician is one of Melbourne’s most mind-bending magicians, creating some amazing feats of magic. Alex was a grand finalist on Australia’s Got Talent in 2016 and he is also a regular guest on Kids’ WB.

Gremlins is the classic Christmas comedy horror movie starring a horde of mischievous gremlins. Classification: PG

Melbourne International Comedy Festival + Home Alone
Sunday 10 Jan 2021, 5-9pm | Tickets $8-$15, bookings essential
Featuring: MCs Double Denim, Garry Starr, Alex The Magician and Die Roten Punkte.

Garry Starr is the alter-ego of Australian/British actor and comedian Damien Warren-Smith.

Die Roten Punkte is a wild, rock‘n’roll cabaret ride, full of hilarious, truly catchy and award-winning pop songs, constantly interrupted by the squabbling of the dysfunctional siblings.

The classic holiday movie Home Alone, returns for its 30th anniversary! Classification: PG

Melbourne International Comedy Festival + Alien (1979)
Thursday 14 Jan, 6-10pm | Tickets $8-$15, bookings essential
Featuring: MCs Die Roten Punkte, Garry Starr, Hayley Hoopla, and more special guests to be announced.

Hayley Hoopla, world-renowned for her effervescent stage charisma, is a vivacious and versatile Melbourne based performer, professional hula hooper, choreographer and award-winning costumier.

Alien (1979) is the first in Ridley Scott’s 1979 Science Fiction horror film series. After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as a distress call, one of the crew is attacked by a mysterious life form. Classification: M

Melbourne International Comedy Festival + E.T
Sunday 17 Jan 2021, 5-9pm | Tickets $8-$15, bookings essential
Featuring: MC Geraldine Quinn, Hayley Hoopla, and more special guests to be announced.

Geraldine Quinn is a Multi-award-winning, rock comedy goddess, performing her original style of pop/rock songwriting in Australia and UK since 2005. A self-taught songwriter, comedian, guitarist, singer, ginger and wit-slinger who’s black humour has local and international sell-out audiences in stitches as she and her bands carve up the stage.

One of the most enduring science fiction movies ever made, E.T. is an adventure story about an unlikely friendship. Classification: PG

Melbourne International Comedy Festival + Back to the Future
Thursday 21 January 2021, 6-10pm |Tickets $8-$15, bookings essential
Featuring: MC Josh Earl, Clara Cupcakes, Alex The Magician, Geraldine Quinn.

Josh Earl is an award-winning comedian, TV host, and creator of the hugely successful and hilarious podcast Don’t You Know Who I Am? He hosted Spicks and Specks for a season and was a Breakfaster on 3RRRFM in Melbourne, you may even know him as a writer for The Project or from headlining comedy rooms all over Australia.

Elly Squire aka Clara Cupcakes is inspired by the vaudeville acts of the 1920s, the comedians of the silent film era and jazz music, she combines authentic jazz dance, circus, clowning and old-fashioned sensibilities, to create her own unique and quirky style of burlesque.

Back to the Future is the ultimate adventure movie, with the help of a wacky scientist, a young teen travels back to 1955 in a DeLorean turned time-machine. Classification: PG

Melbourne International Comedy Festival + Lion King (1994)
Sunday 24 Jan 2021, 5-9pm | Tickets $8-$15, bookings essential
Featuring: MC Geraldine Quinn, Clara Cupcakes, Garry Starr and more special guests to be announced.

A young lion prince is cast out of his pride by his cruel uncle and must find his way back. The original Disney classic The Lion King can be enjoyed by fans of all ages.
Classification: G

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