Great news for opera-goers: Opera Australia needs to know more than just what professional reviewers and occasional emailers have to say about our productions. We want to hear from you!
Every week, the most insightful audience review (not necessarily the most flattering!) will be published on our blog and the reviewer will win a double pass to attend any opera in the 2011 season, be it Sydney or Melbourne.
We invite audience members to post their reviews online and then let us know by linking to their review on our Facebook page, Twitter, or as a comment here in our blog. If you prefer the spoken word, we will also accept YouTube and video reviews posted online. Just let us know and you’ll go in the running.
If you’re seeing a show this week you could be in the running, so get posting and let us know what you think of our productions!
By Anna McDougall, Digital Marketing Officer
What are the competition dates, i.e. when does it end?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the quetion: It will run every week that an Opera Australia show runs. So once the Mikado ends for this Melbourne season the competition will go on pause until the Sydney season starts in early July. It will then pause between the end of the Sydney season and resume once Melbourne starts again at the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteSo basically, if a show is on that week then the competition is on that week!
Dang! so I missed out on posting Boheme, Macbeth and Pearl Fisher reviews from Melbourne!
ReplyDeleteOn Stage and Walls, given this is the first week we're running, I'll accept one review from any of the productions you've seen this season :-)
ReplyDeleteBit of a luddite here here.... saw The Mikado last evening and would love to write a review. Where does one write the review online in the first instance and then how does one link it to Facebook? I have a FB account and have previously indicated that I LIKE Opera Australia. Just not sure where to start writing it??? j
ReplyDeleteHi J, you can write one as a note on your Facebook account or if you go to the Opera Australia page on Facebook you can go to Discussions on the left hand side and start a discussion and type your review in there :-)
ReplyDeleteI saw the G&S opera of Mikado and must say what a sensational performance. Set in a Japanese location, it affords the use of magnificent costumery, and the display of finery and colours are quite remarkable.
ReplyDeleteI cannot think of a better Ko-Ko than Mitchell Butel. He brings to the performance a unique stamp, not only executes the character with the satire it deserves, but also adds his own brand of humour in intent and tone. While following an obvious Mikado set and theme, Mitchell adds a kind of relish that makes this interpretation unmistakable . Listen carefully to the “I’ve got him on-the-list” scene.
The script is of course a fantasy, but the cast’s performance is very real. There is so much going on at once, that it is hard to watch it all. There are surtitles above so that you can read what is being spoken, and to start with this is useful as the delivery is a very lively pace and takes a while to get used to. Soon though, reading the text becomes redundant and one would miss so much of the detail going on all around the stage. In particular check out the equine movements of the actors playing the horses on Katisha’s chariot, truly remarkable.
There is a good dash of local content woven into the script which makes for a very humorous and thoroughly entertaining evening.
Re Mikado. I saw it Fri. night. Music brilliant . Fantastic singing from every one , chorus and soloists. Sets, costumes , stage design, lighting and color the best ever. Very talented comic acting and choreography. HOWEVER , I was disappointed in the over done gay thing with Koko and Nanki poo seeing who could camp it up the most, plus the relentless, blatant inuendos(requiring no talent in and of themselves) throughout the entire production. Foolish to say the least . Why risk losing even a small percentage of the audience for the sake of a cheap laugh when EVERYONE would enjoy the show otherwise on the strength of quality professionalism and the humor that WAS clean. Good jokes don't have to be smutty to be funny.Katashir was simply a nauseating embarrasment. Lets dump the pseudo sophisticated nonsense and allow us to hang on to SOME wholesome entertainment. A fair expectation from G. @ S. I would think.
ReplyDeleteHi, I've submitted a review on your facebook page's discussion board! http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=139825912698553#!/topic.php?uid=139825912698553&topic=345
ReplyDeleteI saw the performance of The Mikado on Friday night and I thoroughly enjoyed the music, the singing, the costumes, the conductor (whom I was sitting very close to) and the general overall performance. The only aspect of the performance that I didn’t particularly enjoy was the overacting and often camp attitude of both Nanki poo and Koko. Given that I have seen several renditions of The Mikado, I found this aspect to be a little unsavoury, especially some of the crudeness that was involved with both of their performances.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, Taryn Fiebig was absolutely gorgeous as Yum Yum and Jacqui Dark was amazing as Katisha. Both their voices soared beautifully throughout the performance. Overall, a very enjoyable night.
I'm not a keen Opera fan - not counting the Pirates of Penzance but including La Boheme, I've been to a grand total of three - the other two being a modern opera in Vienna and the Kirov in what was then Leningrad! I have to say, though, I did enjoy La Boheme. Visually it was a treat and I think moving the story to 1930s Berlin worked really well. The power of opera, or should I say the human voice, is amazing. Full credit to the cast, set designers and the orchestra who delivered an entertaining and compelling show.
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I watched La Boheme this week at the Opera house. As a massive fan of the musical Rent, which (I had been told before I saw the opera) was heavily based on La Boheme, I was very excited to see the opera. However, I found the opera and the musical completely different. Where the musical is heavy and draining, La Boheme was so delicate and intricate, in the musical line, the outstanding set design, and the sumptuous voices of the cast. I was absolutely blown away by the grandeur of the onstage sets, and I especially loved the paintings on the walls of two apartments (at the start and at the end) - truly stunning. I loved the theatricality of La Boheme, and where I was anticipating dullness and limpidness, I was given sparkle and pizazz in the costumes and the entire tone of the opera. Perhaps the most shocking element of the opera was its ending. I was expecting a happy one, where Mimi and Rodolfo living happily ever after, but instead I was given a heartbreaking scene of pure love and deepest sorrow. I was completely enchanted by La Boheme, and I give it my highest recommendation. A bittersweet yet beautiful tale of Bohemian ideology in a rapidly changing world.
ReplyDeleteThis is a test
ReplyDeleteHi i understand you have a comp to win tickets ?
ReplyDeleteMy husband and i have been married 10 years next month over the years we have always tried to go out to the theater on our anniversary and do/see something uniquely special. We have over the years wondered about going to the opera but it has always seemed like a huge risk, of would we like it? It always felt a little to daunting we have heard that La Boheme is the one to start off with ?
we would love to win tickets and give a full review of what we thought of the show from a fresh newbies prospective . hopefully Shelley
Die tote Stadt is a truly world-class production. I'd go as far to say that is Opera Australia's most impressive show ever. Yes. it's that spectacular. From the very first glimpse of that stunning set, it's obvious that Die tote Stadt is indeed to die for! The costumes are divine and the voices, well there aren't enough adjectives in the dictionary. Stefan Vinke and Cheryl Barker make a dazzling duo in this Shakespearean-like tragedy. The entire cast are magnificent, as is the orchestra. The Three Act extravaganza is worthy of it's standing ovation status. This show will source your soul long after you've left the majestic Opera House.
ReplyDeleteKevin John
nielkevin96@yahoo.com.au