In Conversation with Lyndon Terracini

John Frost

You may not know John Frost, but if you’re a musical theatre fan living in Australia, there’s a good chance he’s been responsible for some of your favourite nights out.

Known in the industry as ‘Frosty the Showman’, John is Australia’s most prolific theatre producer, having been in the business of producing large-scale musicals since the 1980s.

Since 2012, we’ve collaborated with Frosty on some of our most successful musicals: South Pacific, The King and I, My Fair Lady, Anything Goes and Evita. Frosty has also staged countless national tours of beloved musicals, including The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, The Sound of Music, Chicago, Cabaret and The Book of Mormon. In 1996, he won a Tony Award for his revival of The King and I on Broadway, and in 2003 won again as a co-producer of the original Broadway production of Hairspray.

In this interview with Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, Frosty recalls how he broke into the theatre industry as a 15 year old in Adelaide and built his showbiz empire. He also talks about what motivates him as a producer and reveals the one musical he’d love to stage.

Shanul Sharma

Long before Shanul Sharma fell in love with opera, he was headbanging to Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and Metallica. In this interview with Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, he explains how his path led him to Opera Australia, where he's a member of the Young Artist Program, tackling some of the most fiendishly difficult tenor roles.

Born in India, Shanul moved to Australia to study IT before joining a heavy metal band. Eventually he encountered opera and decided to audition for Opera Australia on a whim. Since then, he's covered and taken on some fabulous roles that are perfect for his talents.

This video ends with two unique socially distanced performances of Nadir's Aria from The Pearlfishers.

Emma Matthews, Jonathan Summers and Brian Castles-Onion

In 2012, we set off on an adventure of operatic proportions: Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour.

Celebrating opera in all its beauty and spectacle, the event brings together some of the world's greatest opera artists to create extraordinary productions staged in a one-of-a-kind outdoor venue. But the first year involved an enormous leap of faith for the cast, musicians and crew alike, as we brought Verdi's La Traviata to an enormous harbour-side stage.

Conductor Brian Castles-Onion and singers Emma Matthews and Jonathan Summer share their experiences in this conversation with Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini. They recall the thrill of seeing the first Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour take shape and the challenges they had to overcome to deliver an unforgettable experience and launch this annual event.

Clif Bothwell

Technical director Clif Bothwell is responsible for bringing all of our large-scale productions to the stage and ensuring they run smoothly at every performance. His job is to oversee the teams who make the seemingly impossible possible every night.

In this interview with Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, Clif explains how his path led him to working in the theatre, via a stint as a pilot and studying engineering. He also reveals what happens backstage at an opera, and how the technical team and state management keep everything on track. And he discusses how our new digital productions are changing the way his team works as they prepare to bring a digital Ring Cycle to Brisbane in 2021.

Paul Fitzsimon

Paul Fitzsimon has been with Opera Australia since 2013, fulfilling a variety of roles including conductor and répétiteur. He’s currently our Chorus Master, responsible for ensuring that the glorious chorus you see and hear on our stages is prepared for any task. He’s also conducted performances for us, including Metamorphosis and The Merry Widow.

In this interview, Paul talks to our Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, about how he came to work at Opera Australia and explains the job and daily life of a Chorus Master. He explains how a chorus is constructed and the particular set of skills required to be a chorus singer.

Gale Edwards

Gale Edwards has had the sort of career most stage directors dream of. For more than three decades, she's been one of Australia's most influential theatre-makers, having worked across all variety of performances; from large-scale operatic spectaculars, including our Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour productions of Carmen and Aida, to the most intimate of plays.

She's directed for all of Australia's major theatre companies, on Broadway and the West End, and was the first female director to create a work for the Royal Shakespeare Company's mainstage. She also won an Emmy Award for her filmed version of Jesus Christ Superstar.

In this conversation with our Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, Edwards revisits the first opera she ever directed, The Labours of Hercules, performed in a circus tent and featuring Terracini. She also reflects on her 20-year working relationship with Andrew Lloyd Webber, which had a less-than-auspicious beginning, and explains why she approaches Shakespeare and opera with a similar process.

Alexander Lewis

Alexander Lewis is currently rehearsing for our production of The Merry Widow, returning as Count Danilo after originating the role in this production to great acclaim in 2017.

The Australian tenor, known both for his performances in opera and musical theatre, has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, The Metropolitan Opera and Komische Oper Berlin.

In this interview with our Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, Lewis talks about growing up with Australian operatic royalty, returning to rehearsals after an eight-month break, and finding his own way into the world of music.

Stacey Alleaume

Australian-Mauritian soprano Stacey Alleaume is one of our busiest singers, with an ever-growing list of leading roles to her name. She was rehearsing to star as Violetta in our production of La Traviata on Sydney Harbour when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the season.

In this interview with Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, Stacey talks about her very musical upbringing, the opera traditions in Mauritius, and her recent experiences playing Gilda in Rigoletto at the prestigious Bregenz Festival in Austria. She also reveals what she’s been getting up to while in isolation, and performs a beautiful song by the Mauritian-born composer Francis Thomé.

Tahu Matheson

Tahu Matheson has been with Opera Australia since 2007, and in 2017 became our Head of Music. In his time on our music staff, he’s taken on a diverse workload across a wide range of operas, overseeing rehearsals, preparing singers and conducting performances.

In this interview with Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, Matheson looks back to his early encounters with music and theatre, and explains how he came to be working in the world of opera. He also recalls his first few years working at Opera Australia, flying by the seat of his pants as he came to learn the great works of the canon and how to work effectively in a fast-paced opera company. More recently, Matheson has been working as a conductor, and explains how he works with the Opera Australia Orchestra to create magical musical moments for our audiences.

The interview ends with a special performance.

Vladimir Fanshil

Since completing his masters of operatic and symphonic conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatoire in 2012, Australian conductor Vladimir Fanshil has built a richly varied career with some fantastic orchestras, including the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Odessa National Philharmonic and the State Hermitage Orchestra.

In this interview, Fanshil talks about swapping the warm beaches of Bondi for the bitterly cold St Petersburg winter, studying with tough teachers in Russia, and the intersection of art, literature, poetry and music. He also talks about the differences in music culture between countries, and being based in Vienna.