Arts Centre Melbourne Will Be Open All Day for ANZAC Day

Arts Centre Melbourne will be open all day this ANZAC Day public holiday Thursday 25 April. With tours and shows, including the Aperitivo Tours of our venues and the Aussie Rules epic Barassi The Stage Show, there will be plenty to keep visitors entertained in the city after the iconic ANZAC Day celebrations conclude.

Visitors can take part in the informative and delicious Aperitivo Tours of the Theatres Building at 11am and Hamer Hall at 5:30pm, which includes a guided tour of each building's secret treasures followed by refreshments. In the Theatres Building, explore the resident exhibition Performative Prints of the Torres Strait, which includes a variety of indigenous artworks such as monumental prints, masks, headdresses and artefacts, before being guided into our theatres. Over at Hamer Hall, learn how the Hamer Hall Redevelopment by Ashton Raggat McDougall built upon the classic interiors designed by Academy Award-winner John Truscott.

Theatre-goers can enjoy the uniquely Australian story Barassi The Stage Show, a timeless expose of Australia's favourite sport and one of its most important figures, Ron Barassi Jr. Showing 8pm Fairfax Studio, Barassi The Show traverses Australian Rules history from WWII to Barassi's glory years.

In the lead up to ANZAC Day on Monday 22 April, the diggers of ANZAC legend will be celebrated on stage by two of Australia's leading entertainers, Anne-Maree McDonald and Stuart Maunder. Presented as part of Arts Centre Melbourne's eternally-popular Morning Melodies concert series in Hamer Hall at 11am and 1:30pm, We'll Meet Again: Aussies At War celebrates the triumphs and hardships of our wartime heroes.

During this special hour of music and memorabilia, audiences can reminisce with stories of mateship and sacrifice, and revisit the great war songs of the period, including We'll Meet Again, Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye and Kiss Me Goodnight Sergeant Major. Iconic Aussie favourites complete the line-up, including When a Boy From Alabama Meets a Girl from Gundaghai, Chin Up! Cheerio! Carry On! and Brown Slouch Hat.

The pair will be joined by their daughter Lucy Maunder, best known as the leading lady opposite Anthony Warlow in the world premiere of Doctor Zhivago, and Alex Rathgeber from the recent production An Officer and a Gentleman.