Tribute to Springsteen: New edifice is born to run

Fans of Bruce Springsteen will want to note that the new Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University opens next month.

The Springsteen Center will be officially inaugurated on June 13 on the college campus in New Jersey. 

The 30,000-square-foot structure is largely inspired by Springsteen's music and includes a 240-seat theatre for intimate performances.

The Center promises to "preserve the legacy of Bruce Springsteen and celebrates the history of American music and its diversity of artists and genres". 

As the home of the Bruce Springsteen Archives, the Center serves as the official repository for materials related to Springsteen and the E Street Band, including photographs, historic memorabilia, and oral histories. 

The Center also explores American music more broadly by producing exhibitions, concerts, and educational programming that interprets and honours the cultural impact of American music past, present, and future.

The collection consists of thousands of rare photographs, documents, recordings, artefacts, and more related primarily to Springsteen and The E Street Band.

It stands just a short walk from the New Jersey shore where Springsteen wrote Born to Run.

Robert Santelli, the centre’s founding executive director, said the building places Springsteen within the wider story of American music rather than treating him in isolation. 

Recalling the moment he first put the proposal to the musician, Santelli said Springsteen told him he would prefer to be seen as a chapter in that ongoing story.

See https://springsteencenter.org/

Tragic Titanic remains a tourism drawcard

For a ship that sank on its maiden voyage, the Titanic still generates a lot interest.

The tragic story captivates the world 112 years on and the TITANIC: The Artefact Exhibition is a summer drawcard in Melbourne.

Now open at Melbourne Museum, the immersive exhibition showcases over 200 original objects recovered from the wreck site of the ill-fated luxury steamship.

TITANIC: The Artefact Exhibition offers insights into the human side of the tragedy through the personal stories of passengers and crew who unknowingly set off on a journey on April 14, 1912, that ended in disaster.

Recovered from the wreck site four kilometers below the surface of the North Atlantic by RMS Titanic, Inc., the only company in the world authorised to do so, the authentic artefacts include an unopened bottle of champagne with a 1900 vintage, luggage, china, a filigree ring with diamonds, and a window frame from the Verandah Café.

With their boarding pass in hand, visitors will step through recreated ship interiors - including the Grand Staircase, First Class Parlour Suite, and Verandah Café – and touch an iceberg to feel how cold the water was that night.

Visitors also have the opportunity to experience a taste of the Titanic through a high tea menu inspired by the the ship.

At the time of the Titanic’s maiden (and last) voyage, French cuisine was considered the height of fine dining.

First-class guests would have been treated to French-influenced dishes, made with the best of British produce. The High Tea Lounge executive chef Keith Higginson has re-imagined some classic dishes.

TITANIC: The Artefact Exhibition will run at Melbourne Museum until April 14.

For more information and to book tickets go to: Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition - Melbourne Museum (museumsvictoria.com.au)