July 21, 2021 | By Joyce DiMascio
The campaign is called “The performance of a lifetime”, the audience is the public and the call to action is simple – get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Desperate times require desperate measures and now Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has pulled together a who’s who of people from arts and entertainment to call on the community to get vaccinated.
Compelling and beautifully produced, the campaign is a collaboration between the major arts companies of Victoria and a wide range of recognisable artists, actors, performers, musicians and creative people who warmly ask the general public to rise to the occasion and collectively deliver the performance of a lifetime.
Produced by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the campaign is a collaboration with Arts Centre Melbourne, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Opera, Melbourne Theatre Company, Short Black Opera, the Australian Ballet, Victorian Opera and St Vincent’s Hospital.
And loads of people have volunteered as talent – all to add weight to the call to the community to embrace vaccination for the good of the whole community – and of course, ultimately so the artists and entertainers can get back to work.
Among the faces are Meow Meow, Tim Minchin, Rhonda Burchmore and Deborah Cheetham.
It opens with the line “Dear Victoria” and then cuts to about 20 different people, who each have a short and evocative message, it is delivered creatively, with whimsy, but with a strong and clear message about the importance of vaccination for the greater good.
Australia has now administered just over a quarter of the COVID-19 vaccinations needed for all adults in Australia. At the current rate of just under a million jabs a week, the ABC is predicting all adults in Australia will have had the opportunity to be fully immunised by mid February next year.