Opera

A Masterpiece of Music and Theatre: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame Rating

★★★★★

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The Hunchback Of Notre Dame Musical is now one of my all-time favourite musicals thanks to The Hills Musical Theatre Company. I absolutely loved this powerful production, held at Model Farms High School Auditorium in Baulkham Hills, and thoroughly enjoyed the laid-back cabaret seating with BYO drinks and snacks. Luke Derrick has executed outstanding direction in this fabulous musical, ably assisted by Hannah Aouchan, Assistant Director, along with superb musical direction by Peter Thornton and Gabrielle Lanham. The entire orchestra needs a special mention for animating this magnificent musical score with impeccable professionalism. The music is all-encompassing and written to tingle every nerve and fibre in your body. Notably, a very challenging score, but The Hills Musical Theatre Company triumphed in every aspect.

The absolute shining star, Quasimodo, was played by the brilliant Andrew Schwimmer. Schwimmer blew me away with his one-of-a-kind vocals and held me captive throughout his incredible performance. Schwimmer’s performance was a delight to behold and I don’t believe a better Quasimodo could be found worldwide. The star leading lady, Aya Adel, was resplendent in her role as Esmerelda. She was reminiscent of a Disney Princess. I found her performance thoroughly engaging and sincere. Wonderful singing, fabulous dance movement, and Adel showed strong conviction to her boldly defiant character.

 

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame

 

Dom Claude Frollo was presented by Simon Buchner, who oozed this villainous character with the greatest of sincerity. Buchner’s dedication to his challenging character was steadfast and believable. In contrast, there was the heroic, earnest, and charismatic Captain Phoebus De Martin, who was played by Lenard Chang. Chang conveyed a splendid rendition of his role, charming the audience throughout the show.

The leader of the Gypsies, Clopin Trouillefou, is brought to life by James Waters. Waters injected fathomless spirit and energy into this complex, multifaceted role and delivered a polished and engaging performance.

The enormous ensemble and choir were absolutely brilliant. From start to finish, they exuberated enthusiasm and steadfast dedication. Their harmonies sounded fittingly ethereal and lines were delivered with clear enunciation. The choreography for the ensemble was executed with neat precision and their commitment was unwavering. The choreography by Emily Taylor was perfectly appropriate—simple and impactful, utilising resonating repetition that beautifully enhanced poignant moments.

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame Musical encompasses a stellar professional cast and is definitely one you don’t want to miss. The musical score is phenomenal and the story is as powerful today as ever. Seriously, this production leaves the Disney rendition for dead. Do not miss your chance to see this fabulous performance by The Hills Musical Theatre Company.

To book tickets to The Hunchback Of Notre Dame , please visit https://hmtc.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/153157.

Photographer: Grant Leslie Photography

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The Old Maid, The Thief, The Telephone

The Old Maid, The Thief, The Telephone

The Old Maid, The Thief, The Telephone Rating

★★★★★

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Mopoke Theatre Productions, an Adelaide-based independent theatre company’s presentation of ‘The Old Maid and the Thief, and the Telephone’, is light-hearted and entertaining.

The show opens with The Telephone, an amusing sketch about the hapless Ben (Nicholas Cannon), trying desperately to get a few moments undisturbed with his beautiful girlfriend Lucy (Jessica Mills) so he can propose to her. Awkwardly, Ben just cannot seem to get a word in because Lucy is constantly on the telephone gossiping with her friends. Running late to catch a train, every time Ben is about to nervously pop the question, the phone rings, and once again Lucy is happily chatting and gossiping with a friend on the other end of the annoying contraption. Finally, Ben decides the only solution is to leave the apartment and call Lucy on the telephone. This brilliant idea works, and Lucy is delighted to get the proposal and of course, says yes, making Ben a happy man.

It’s hard to imagine a funny comedy sketch as an opera, but that is what the Telephone is. Jessica (soprano) and Nicholas (Baritone) keep the banter moving with delightful humour, making the audience chuckle along the way.

Returning after twelve years, The Old Maid and the Thief was the first show from Mopoke Theatre Productions’ early beginnings. Laetitia (Jessica Mills) who works at the home of lonely spinster, Miss Todd (Catriona Barr), brings a charming stranger, Bob (Macintyre Howie-Reeves) into Miss Todds home. Bob, a drifter just passing through, infatuates Laetitia and so she persuades Miss Todd to let him stay.

The Old Maid, The Thief, The Telephone
The Old Maid, The Thief, The Telephone
The Old Maid, The Thief, The Telephone

The local gossip, Miss Pinkerton (Rachel McCall) pays a visit with disturbing news that an escaped prisoner, who’s description sounds very much like Bob, is at large somewhere in the area. Miss Todd, already under Bob’s charming spell, ignores the similarities, and lets Bob continue to laze around the house, taking advantage of Miss Todd’s hospitality.

To keep up with Bod’s appetite for liquor, Miss Todd and Laetitia begin stealing from the local liquor store, oddly making them thieves in the process. Miss Todd realises what she has done, embarrassed she confronts Bob and tells him to leave. Bob leaves with Laetitia, leaving Miss Todd alone, to face the consequence of what has happened.

The combined singing talent of Catriona Barr (mezzo soprano) Rachel McCall (mezzo soprano), Jessica Mills (Soprano) Macintyre Howie-Reeves (baritone) make this an enjoyable operatic experience.

Directors Nicholas Cannon and Macintyre Howie-Reeves, Musical Directors Sachiko Hidaka and Penelope Cashman, Set and Costume Designer James Nicholson and Lighting Designer and Technician Tom Hannagan work together to bring the fantastic production to life.

This is a great production, sung in English, and a good choice for first-time opera attendees. My daughter joined me for this production, and it was her first time at an opera, and she was surprised how much she enjoyed it. It’s exciting to watch a show that is locally produced, featuring local talent. A thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The State Opera Theatre at Netley is a suitable venue, well-suited for its purpose. Easy to access with plenty of parking spaces makes for a hassle free evening out.

To book tickets to The Old Maid, The Thief, The Telephone, please visit https://www.mopoketheatreproductions.com/the-telephone-the-old-maid-and-the-thief.

Photographer: Alex Craddock

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Aphrodite: Beauty Disassembled

Aphrodite

Aphrodite Rating

★★★★★

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In Sydney Chamber Opera’s Aphrodite, the act of looking becomes its own kind of violence. Composed by acclaimed American composer Nico Muhly with a libretto by Laura Lethlean, and presented in association with Omega Ensemble, this striking new work reimagines the goddess of love not as a figure of desire but as a symbol of distortion; a mirror in which the modern self dissolves.

The story follows Ava, a thoughtful academic whose book, The Aphrodite Complex, catapults her to sudden fame after being adapted into a hit documentary. As her public image grows, her personal life fractures. Ava becomes consumed by the pursuit of perfection, sculpting herself for the gaze of others while losing touch with intimacy, authenticity, and selfhood. When the goddess Aphrodite herself appears, cool, composed, and elusive, Ava’s carefully constructed world begins to collapse.

Aphrodite
Aphrodite

Director Alexander Berlage’s use of live video is both conceptually and theatrically masterful. Cameras flank the stage, embedded in mobile phones, and hang from the ceiling, capturing the performers in extreme close-up. These images, not just of faces but of hands, feet, clothing, trembling skin, are projected on a large screen above the stage, which simultaneously displays the libretto. What emerges is a fragmented portrait of each character: isolated body parts, captured and magnified, turned into objects of scrutiny and aesthetic judgement.

Rather than drawing the audience closer, these hyper-intimate visuals create distance. We are not watching the characters as whole people; we are dissecting them. The body becomes content. Ava becomes an image. Even her moments of vulnerability are caught, cropped, and curated. The overhead camera is particularly cruel: it frames her from above like an anatomical specimen, cold and clinical, as if the goddess herself were observing.

Jessica O’Donoghue gives a deeply affecting performance as Ava, vocally assured and emotionally transparent. Her portrayal balances intellect and fragility, making Ava’s descent into disconnection feel both inevitable and tragic. Puerto Rican soprano Meechot Marrero, in her Australian debut, brings an arresting stillness to Aphrodite. Her presence is magnetic and inscrutable, her voice radiant. She is not temptation incarnate but myth personified; unknowable, unmoved.

Aphrodite
Aphrodite

Muhly’s score is luminous and precise, shifting between shimmering textures and silences that seem to stretch time. The Omega Ensemble plays with clarity and control, amplifying the opera’s psychological tension without overwhelming its introspective tone.

Aphrodite is a cool, elegant gut-punch of an opera, a work that refuses sentimentality in favour of scalpel-like insight. It’s about beauty, yes, but more importantly, it’s about the cost of being seen only in parts. By disassembling its characters on screen and in sound, it delivers a quietly devastating truth: there can be no connection until we are allowed to exist as whole.

To book tickets to Aphrodite, please visit https://www.sydneychamberopera.com/2025/02/17/aphrodite/.

Photographer: Daniel Boud

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The Class Of 85 – Bach Akademie Australia

The Class Of 85

The Class Of 85 Rating

★★★★★

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Last night I experienced something absolutely incredible: “The Class of ’85” by the Bach Akademie Australia featuring the divine voices of mezzo-soprano Hannah Fraser and soprano Susannah Lawergren.

The remarkable performance was held within the exquisite grandeur of St James’ Anglican Church Sydney, which was consecrated in February 1824 and named in honour of St James the Great. It is the oldest standing church in Sydney and reminiscent of a bygone era. The walls are adorned with plaques in memory of people from hundreds of years ago. I felt engulfed in the memories and rich history and I couldn’t resist pondering on all the events that might have taken place in the majestic building.

The Class Of 85
The Class Of 85
The Class Of 85

Initially, I was longing for the pipe organs standing before me to come to life but I was quickly comforted by the rare sound of a live harpsichord accompanying the orchestral melodies played by ten immensely talented musicians. One of the amazing violinists, Madeleine Easton, is the Artistic Director and founder of Bach Akademie Australia, she has graced international stages and was even invited to perform at King Charles’ coronation, performing on her 1682 Giovanni Grancino violin.

“The Class of ’85” is a tribute and exploration of four of the world’s most significant composers- Bach and his contemporaries Handel, Rameau, and Scarlatti. It is almost unfathomable that Domenico Scarlatti, George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach were all born in the same year-1685 and only within a few hundred kilometres of each other. These remarkable musicians have continued to shape the world hundreds of years later with their incredible compositions.

But how did three such remarkable musicians, all born in the same year, become so noted in the same Baroque period? Was it that they influenced each other, or urged the other to succeed, or was it a simultaneous opportunity seized to create in the same musical movement? Either way, they are still impacting the world hundreds of years later and their influence on music and the arts has remained overwhelmingly steadfast. They have left behind a legacy that will surely live on indefinitely.

The Class Of 85
The Class Of 85
The Class Of 85

The vocal performances of Hannah Fraser and Susannah Lawergren were absolutely spellbinding. The perfect resonating acoustics in the church added to what I felt was an ethereal experience. My feelings were obviously shared by the entire audience whose chins were arched and heads visibly swaying, rendered overcome with emotion. So much so, that there was a compelling desire to close your eyes as to absorb the music in its entirety.

The entire church was engulfed by the beauty and spectacular experience. A pin drop could be heard. Not a soul spoke or whispered; it was as if a spell had been cast upon the room and only broken by intermittent applause.

I feel so humbled and honoured to have been invited to review this incredible performance: a cultural experience that has surely marked myself and other audience members for life. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to experience your excellence and witness a musical performance of the highest imaginable calibre.

To learn more about the Bach Akademie Australia, please visit https://www.bachakademieaustralia.com.au/.

Photographer: Keith Saunders

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