This past Sunday, the Sydney Opera House held an Open Day. Just like last time, it decided to pour on this trip as well. Still, Kate, Day, and I decided to brave the downpour in order to get a glimpse of the Opera Houses' many venues. (Poor G was studying hard at home.)
Tours are offered every day, but this seemed like a good way to avoid the fee. Of course, the trade-offs were that there was no tour guide to give us the background and historical info -- although there were signs providing the broad strokes-- and we had to work our way through the long lines. We hoped that because it was raining there would be fewer people; but it turned out that many other people were of the same mind, and the cues were still pretty long. Luckily, they moved really quickly and they had many costumed characters weaving through the masses to provide entertainment.
The event was set up so that visitors could see the Opera House via three different tours. The first allowed you see the Utzon Room (dedicated to the Opera House's architect, John Utzon), as well as the two main venues – the Opera Theatre and the Concert Hall, where we saw the symphony. The second tour gave you a glimpse behind the scenes, weaving through the scenery dock, the backstage and administration areas, the rehearsal spaces, and the Green Room --- which has a very nice bar. I'm kind of jealous of those performers. The third tour took you through the small performance venues: The Studio, The Playhouse, and The Drama Theatre. They set up small performances throughout all the tours to entertain and give a glimpse of how things might be during performances and rehearsal periods. Despite the lines, we managed to make it through all three tours.
It's a beautiful and impressive complex. More than anything, it really made miss my days of working in the theatre in college. Single tear. * Sniff * *Sniff*
I've set up my flickr set so that you can follow the same route we took. Lighting was not on my side, however, so there are some blurry pics in there.
Or, of course, you can go back to G's shots from symphony day.
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