A 2000-patron live performance precinct in Melbourne has been installed next to, and on top of, a city car park.
The top level of Spiegel Haus Melbourne features a 250-seat theatre in a tent, two black-box venues each seating several hundred people, plus a rooftop beer garden with views of the city.
On the ground floor, there's the 400-capacity Spiegeltent. It's all been built next to Chinatown's Celestial Ave and on top of Lonsdale St's Golden Square Car Park.
At a media preview on Tuesday, tradesmen were still putting the finishing touches to the entertainment precinct ahead of its opening at the start of November.
The venue will launch with the Melbourne premiere of cabaret show Blanc de Blanc Encore, featuring UK aerial hoop performer Danielle Summers, and remain open until July next year.
"We're racing the clock to get things open, it's going to be amazing, and a bunch of really amazing performers are on board," said producer Chris Mitchell.
Mitchell was looking for a 400-capacity venue for a musical theatre show, when he found there wasn't a single venue in the city that fit the bill, and decided to make one.
"One per cent inspiration, 99 per cent lunacy, I think is probably the right take," said Mitchell, who explained the idea was to bring an off-Broadway vibe to Australia's performing arts capital.
It's hoped that filling the gap in the market for smaller venues will boost the development of new theatre works.
It takes four to six months for a fresh commercial show to turn a profit, explained Mitchell, and many smaller theatres are in the suburbs, and only available for short runs.
"I think it's very important that there are mid and small scale venues that are willing to take a risk on longer runs of new work, it's really important to have that stepping stone," he said.
With ticket prices cheaper than for large-scale productions, it's also hoped Spiegel Haus Melbourne will create new audiences for live performances.
Producers are working with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival as well as arts festival Rising to negotiate how the space could be used for those events.
While the Melbourne City Council has been supportive, the venture has not secured any government funding and is entirely financed by private investors, said Mitchell.
