Opera Australia, not limited to just opera, has been bringing classic musicals to the Australia for years now. To celebrate their 70th anniversary, they’ve put together a spectacular showcase as part of the Melbourne season titled Opera Australia: Encore! Songs from the Musicals.
With a star-studded and well-dressed cast consisting of Caroline O’Connor, Ashleigh Rubenach, Nigel Huckle, Abigail Adriano, Jarrod Draper and Raphael Wong, each cast member of this gorgeous three-show concert has a wonderful story to share about their careers and their own musical journeys with Opera Australia, all the while serenading us with gorgeous renditions of songs from the classic musicals that we’ve grown up with.
That’s right! Every song performed at this concert is from a musical that Opera Australia has brought to the Australian stage, including but not limited to Phantom of the Opera, Hadestown, Miss Saigon and Sunset Boulevard. Some of the cast members are even from these beloved musicals you have recently seen on stage, with many reunited, yet all happily collaborating and making wonderful music together!
Directed by Mark Sutcliffe, accompanied by Orchestra Victoria, conducted by Vanessa Scammell, every moment of the two hour and twenty-minute concert felt like an enriching musical delight for everyone lucky enough to be in the venue. Patrons of all ages attended, keen on listening to their favourite songs from their favourite Opera Australia musicals.
Growing up, I have had the honour and privilege of seeing all these musicals. It felt so special to hear cast members sing songs from roles that they’ve played or even hear unique renditions of songs from musicals that you wish that they played!
Highlights of the evenings include finally hearing Abigail Adriano sing ‘Flowers’ from Hadestown (I unfortunately didn’t get to see her in the role when the show came to Melbourne), Jarrod Draper ace ‘Sunset Boulevard’, Draper reunite with his Sunset Boulevard cast member Ashleigh Rubenach to perform ‘All I Ask of You’ from Phantom of the Opera. Draper recently performed the role of Raoul at Opera Australia’s Phantom of the Opera production on Sydney Harbour and is by far the best Raoul I’ve ever seen. It was a joy to hear Draper sing this song again and Rubenach’s vocals are sublime. I couldn’t help but think she would make a wonderful Christine.
Rubenach is glorious every moment she’s on stage, but I adored when she performed a duet with Raphael Wong, ‘I Have Dreamed’ from The King & I. Wong was also phenomenal with his rendition of ‘Music of the Night’ from Phantom of the Opera. I have been lucky to have seen Wong play the role of the Phantom during the previous Melbourne season of Phantom of the Opera and he is an incredible Phantom. Truly.
As a massive Miss Saigon fan, I was highly anticipating this performance the most. Abigail Adriano and Nigel Huckle are no strangers to the international stage, playing Kim and Chris not only in Australia but in Asia too, when the beloved musical toured overseas. I still miss Opera Australia’s production of Miss Saigon, so to witness Adriano and Huckle reunite to perform ‘Last Night of the World’ was a gift for Melbourne theatre fans. It felt like the world stopped, all the static noise melted away and nothing else existed but them when they were on stage together. I’ve been blessed to have seen different productions of Miss Saigon but these two remain my favourite Kim and Chris. Also, fingers crossed Opera Australia bring Miss Saigon back to the stage someday, particularly on the Sydney Harbour. Can you imagine how amazing that could be?
Last but not at all least, we have the incomparable Caroline O’Connor. I have the distinct core memory of seeing O’Connor perform in Opera Australia’s Anything Goes, long before I started writing reviews. Actually, I wanted to write reviews for theatre because I saw her in the role of Reno Sweeney! So, it was a dream to see her perform ‘Anything Goes’ again, although unfortunately minus the tap-dancing, of course.
However, the highlight of the evening would be when O’Connor performed the Sunset Boulevard song, ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’, which was undisputedly the pinnacle of the concert. The quiet pauses in between lyrics and notes, not only you could hear a pin drop, but the loudest distracting noise would only be your heartbeat. That’s how captivated the Melbourne audience were with O’Connor’s performance of the iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber number. I would have loved to have seen her in the role of Norma Desmond!
To conclude the concert, it was great to see the cast unite to sing a fun rendition of ‘Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat’ from Guys & Dolls.
Overall, Opera Australia’s Encore! Songs from the Musicals was wonderful evening which gathered voices, stories and songs in celebration of Opera Australia’s journey thus far. Here’s to many more musicals and years to come. Congratulations on your 70th birthday, Opera Australia.
Opera Australia’s Encore! Songs from the Musicals is currently playing in Melbourne at the Regent Theatre for three dates only from the 28th to the 30th of May.
For the purpose of this review, we attended on Thursday the 28th of May.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://opera.org.au/productions/encore-melbourne
https://opera.org.au/features/encore-songs-from-the-musicals-program
https://marrinergroup.com.au/shows/opera-australia-encore
https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=ENCORE26
Photography by Jeff Busby.
