Turning 70, Opera Australia returns to milestone shows
Liz Hobday |
As Opera Australia releases its 70th anniversary slate, featuring tried-and-true favourites, new productions, and musical theatre money-spinners, the company is in a state of flux.
It’s recruiting a new chief executive, director of opera, and music director, as well as trying to turn around 2024’s box office slump and operating deficit of $10.6 million.
There are some positive signs so far in 2025, according to acting chief executive Simon Militano, including a record number of new ticket buyers over the summer season.
The offering for 2026 aims for a balance between artistic requirements and financial imperatives, after a giant collective effort by the company, he said.
“Whilst it’s not sustainable to do it this way, a massive shout out to the entire company who worked together,” Militano said.
As it tries to move forward following the departures of artistic director Jo Davies and chief executive Fiona Allan, Opera Australia is marking its 70th anniversary by returning to some of its milestone productions.
The Sydney program opens with Moffatt Oxenbould’s production of Madama Butterfly, and features Graeme Murphy’s The Merry Widow.
There’s also Elijah Moshinsky’s Hansel & Gretel and his version of Rigoletto, Kasper Holten’s Eugene Onegin, and the world premiere of a new version of Turandot from director and choreographer Ann Yee.
By contrast, the company’s offering of fully-staged productions at its temporary Melbourne home in the Regent Theatre, is again about half the size of its Sydney slate.
It includes Opera Australia’s first new production of La Bohème in 15 years, as well as La Traviata directed by Sarah Giles.
As for contemporary opera, there’s Leah Purcell’s adaptation of Henry Lawson’s classic tale The Drover’s Wife, in an Opera Australia co-production with the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
The Drover’s Wife will have its world premiere in QPAC’s new Glasshouse Theatre in May, followed by shows at the Sydney Opera House.
Billed as an intersection of grand opera traditions and First Nations storytelling, Purcell’s version has already been made into a play, a novel, and a film.
It’s a thrilling tale – and a harrowing one, according to Opera Australia’s head of music Tahu Matheson, who has been in some of the show’s development workshops.
“We’re hoping that in this latest incarnation, it’s going to be so powerful that you’re just going to be a wreck at the end of the night,” he said.
Neil Armfield’s hit production Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan will also have its Melbourne premiere.
The city will also host the company’s 70th anniversary gala, while the Sydney Opera House will host La Stupenda, a celebration of the 100th birthday of the late Dame Joan Sutherland starring Jessica Pratt.
The Broadway musical Anastasia will premiere in Sydney and Melbourne, while Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour sees the return of The Phantom of the Opera.
Director Michael Gow’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni will tour nationally.
AAP
