Opera House Open Day Enthralls Sydney
Storms Don't Deter Thousands Of Vistors For Free Self-Guided Tours
Oct 29, 2009
Public relations officer Steven Reilly said to Suite101 that last time they got about 20,000 to 40,000 people. Sydney, not a city who’s inhabitants sniff at a free show, gave them over 50,000 on October 25, 2009.
Between 10am and 4pm tourists and locals donned rain coats for the dash across the forecourt from Circular Quay and into the cavernous covered vehicle drop-off area.
Open Day Unlocks Opera House Secrets
The reason for the free open day was to open the whole building up and allow people to see the inner workings of the world-famous building.
Sydney Opera House CEO Richard Evans said in a press release they wanted to show people that a wide range of events were showed than just opera. "Sydney Opera House is a place for everyone. It’s our aim to ensure that the broadest possible audience has access to the wide range of activities and experiences we offer from classical music to comedy, and everything in-between.”
A row of stalls that had been set up to advertise upcoming shows and to sell discounted ‘Open Day’ tickets were doing a roaring trade. They also helped fill the plastic bags full of advertising guff that were thrust into peoples’ hands as they came in out of the rain.
Quick Queues Equalled A Happy Crowd
By mid-afternoon thousands were following the three queues snaking around metal barrier fences, but the Opera House had made full use of its army of volunteers and people were moving quickly through the guarded entrance points.
There were three main areas on display for self-guided tours: the Utzon room, opera theatre (the left ‘sail’ of the building) and concert hall (the right ‘sail’); backstage; and the studio, playhouse and drama theatre underneath the right side of the building.
Mr Reilly said pre-registrations had netted just over 9,000 people, who gained priority entrance to the opera theatre and concert hall and received a discount for tickets to certain shows that were purchased on Sunday.
Behind The Scenes
The longest queue was for backstage.
There was a wait of sometimes an hour for this section, but small and large children alike were kept entertained by the side shows. Erth, a visual arts company associated with the Opera House, provided costumed Lord of The Rings-style characters and a disturbingly lifelike baby dinosaur being ‘cared for’ by a woman dressed as a zoo-keeper.
The backstage tour was a trail through the warren of hallways that led from the set changing area, upstairs past the boardroom, dressing rooms, the rehearsal room where young ballerinas were exhibiting, and past various musical duos and trios who had been positioned in stairwells.
Trente Parke's 'Please Step Quietly Everyone Can Hear You' Exhibition
Australian photographer Trente Parke's backstage exhibit was part of the open day.
Sydney Opera House technical director David Claringbold approached Mr Park to capture the behind-the-scenes action of everyday life at the Opera House.
The exhibition opened just before the open day on October 22 and runs until January 31; the photo stands are on the footpath running past the studio, drama theatre and playhouse.
His photos focused on the details of working life at the Opera House, such the bottle labelled 'blood' sharing kitchen shelf space with bench wipes, hand wash and windex.
Mr Reily said there was talk of making the open day an annual event but nothing had been set in concrete.
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