Oz Opera La traviata Blog Series: Week 1, Geelong

Written by Tom Hamilton: Tom is a baritone with Opera Australia. This is his second Oz Opera tour, performing La traviata throughout Australia.


Tom Hamilton (Germont) and
Leah Thomas (Violetta) in Oz Opera's
2010 La traviata



You know that feeling you get when you find yourself returning to an old stomping ground that you vaguely recall from your childhood? The tree house you swung from? The swimming hole you backstroked in?

That's how I felt getting on the tour bus for our first trip of Oz Opera’s 'hot tour' –taking Verdi's La traviata through Queensland, Northern Territory and WA.  There is the same comfy fully reclining bus seat waiting for me.  The soothing grey of the carpet-lined interior and, above all, the smell!



"We hurtled through the day
to our next town"



The smell of the hot morning coffee as we pulled into a servo on the highway.  The faint whiff of hot pie and chips in Wagga Wagga.  The fond remembrance of birthday strudel shared in the tiny rest area on the side of the road as we hurtled through the day to our next town (and of the well-earned champagne doled out in coffee mugs after the show).

The cast, orchestra and crew are made up of faces both new and old, who are forming enduring friendships as we settle into Geelong Performing Arts Centre for rehearsal leading to our grand opening on Saturday.  We are playing to a sold-out house of 800 opera lovers eager to see and hear our version of this great work.



Practice, practice, practice



This is the blog of our tour in 2011.  Stay tuned... the company of "trav" always have a story to tell!

Next stop Cairns – break out the sunscreen!!!!!!!