Arts Centre Melbourne Sets Morning Melodies 2016 Lineup

Australian music greats Colleen Hewett, Athol Guy and Mitchell Butel are among the entertainment icons joining Arts Centre Melbourne's 2016 Morning Melodies program. The feel good concerts held each month at Hamer Hall will showcase an eclectic array of acclaimed Australian and international artists performing a range of musical and dance styles.

Highlights in this year's program include Australian great Colleen Hewett, acclaimed musician Athol Guy and three-time Helpmann award winner Mitchell Butel. Colleen Hewett, star of the stage and screen, is set to take audiences on a musical journey of her career from growing up in Bendigo to Queen of Pop. Athol Guy and Friends: The Seekers Story, written and narrated by Seekers member Athol Guy, follows his adventures from his teenage years through to his life today. It will feature stories, unseen footage from his personal library and all The Seekers' big hits.

Dance fans won't want to miss the all-singing, all-swinging, all-dancing show The Tap Pack in March. Four of Australia's best tap dancing performers bring their hit show to Morning Melodies, covering all the hits from Sinatra to Timberlake. International star Steve Ross will delight audiences when he pays tribute to Fred Astaire and Cole Porter in I Won't Dance and The Australian Ballet School celebrate the sublime meeting of dance and music in its annual concert.

In August international soprano sensation Mirusia will make her Hamer Hall debut. Born in Australia to Dutch parents the singer's dreams came true when Andre Rieu invited her to tour the world with him as his star soprano and named her the "angel of Australia". Mitchell Butel will channel his heroes Dean Martin and Tony Bennett in his performance Croon Tunes and Arts Centre Melbourne will celebrate some of the biggest songs of the musical hall era in the Best of British through the 50s and 60s.

Arts Centre Melbourne's acclaimed Morning Melodies started in 1985 when performer Betty Pounder and producer Sandy Graham decided it was time to make good use of the empty Playhouse on a Monday morning. They had a brainwave to break theatre tradition and invite people in during the day. Thirty one years on Morning Melodies has presented more than 450 concerts and welcomed almost half a million audience members, making it a quintessential Melbourne experience.

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