Opera pimp

As part of my ploy to get more people to appreciate the art form that is Wesern Opera, I was very much helped along by Opera Australia deciding to perform Bizet’s The Pearlfishers (Les Pêcheurs de Perles) free at the Bowl! I wasn’t planning on going because, lets face it, while Au Fond du Temple Saint was apparently voted best moment in opera, its not exactly my favourite opera or one that I’d use as an introductory course. But since it was free, I used it as an option for people to go to if they wanted to know what they were getting into before shelling out. That and the fact it was supposed to be raining.

However, I did not count on the enthusiasm of Nickyliou, Dancing Hula or Kt for wanting to go check it out. And so some haphazard planning of blankets, rugs and picnic food later, we four had a marvelous night out in the park! Although the performance wasn’t supposed to start until 8pm, we rocked up at 6 to stake out our patch of lawn, only to find the place was already packed with people. We managed to get at place where we laidout two rugs that, while not affording the best view of the stage, sure gave us a nice view of the giant screens. Lovely.

In any case, everyone seemed to enjoy the performance immensely despite several points:

1. The guy playing Nadir was cock-eyed and when you’ve got the close up, it’s mighty distracting!
2. Makeup! Lay off the fake tan! I understand the need for all the eyeliner but it made the wonky eye all the more obvious
3. The guy playing Zurga looked like George Michael! The beard, the haircut, the mandarin collar…

But as Dancing Hula said, nights with haphazard planning are often the best and Opera in the Bowl sure was a highly enjoyable night out.