One of my highlights from my 2023 trip to Sydney was seeing "Miss Saigon" in the Sydney Opera House. It was a last minute decision, with tickets purchased through the TodayTix app. I felt so glamorous sitting in their plush velvet seats surrounded by 1,500 other theater goers. The musical would not have been my first choice, but unlike Broadway, the options are limited to "take it or leave it." The opera house only has one six-week run of a grand scale musical. The production starts in mid-September and ends the beginning of November.
This year's musical was "Sunset Boulevard," again a show I would not choose if there were other options. Broadway is currently having a revival, one I thought about seeing before we went to Australia, but it is a bit controversial in its minimalism. This version was anything but minimalistic. The set for her home was jaw dropping, evoking the silver screen era in aged grandeur.
The show stars Sarah Brightman, Phantom of the Opera's original Christine Daae, and Andrew Lloyd Weber's ex-wife, as aging silent film star Norma Desmond. A Broadway legend who rarely performs. The real standout was Tim Draxl who played Joe Gillis. That is someone to keep an eye on. As with Abigail Adriano, the lead in last year's production, Draxl hails from Sydney. It must be amazing to perform at home.
After lunch, we walked up to the box
office and asked if there were any seats. I did not see any on TodayTix, but it didn't hurt to ask. The answer was still no. I then asked if they had any standing room tickets. During my tour last year I learned they have about a dozen standing room tickets, again it didn't hurt to ask. This time he said they had some. Exhausted from a long travel day, we figured there was less chance of falling asleep if we were standing up. After the show, Don admitted there would have been no chance of staying awake in the comfy seats.
The standing section is immediately behind where I sat last year. I knew the view would be good. Talking to the usher, she said that was the first night she saw anyone in the SRO section. There were six on our side, and maybe another 4 on the other. Our usher was fun to talk to. With six production spaces, plus outside, she sees a variety of productions. She also mentioned that night all of the spaces were being used. Being in a city, it is easy to arrive on foot or by mass transit, still I can't imagine how insane the parking lot must be.
The view out the back windows onto the harbor is amazing. The Harbour Bridge and Luna Park are the main landmarks. After the show, Don said he "almost" enjoyed watching the giant cruise ship leave its dock. It was guided by the tiniest of boats. I'm sure there is a metaphor in there about how you don't have to be the biggest to be the most important. Size doesn't matter. The large cruise ships would never be able to turn around and navigate the tight space without their tiny leader.
It was a full first day Down Under. We gave in and took mass transit back to the hotel, cutting the 40 minute walk down to half an hour, but minimizing the amount of distractions along the way.
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