Sydney Opera House v HATS Theatre
When I (Trevor House) was in Sydney, during a recent visit to Australia, I had an early morning (7 a.m.) back stage tour of Sydney Opera House. “Opera House” is actually a misnomer – it’s really a performing arts centre with five performance venues inside, plus restaurants, cafes and bars, an Aboriginal artists’ gallery and a stash of upmarket souvenir shops on the lower concourse. The performance venues are, the Concert Hall, the Opera Theatre, the Drama Theatre, the Playhouse and the Studio.
There were five people, including myself, taking the back-stage tour. At the start our guide asked if any of us were ‘performers’. Of course, I immediately owned up to working with HATS and said that we have our own little theatre. ‘How many does that seat?’ asked our guide.“Two hundred and fifty three!!!” Well, that’s pretty good for an amateur group.
We started off in the orchestra pit of the opera stage and I found myself posing on the conductor’s podium (really Mike Wonnacott’s territory) with a baton in my hand. The orchestra pit seats eighty musicians and extends well back under the stage. Later, as we stood in the centre of the opera stage our guide asked, “Will any of you give us a little song? I didn’t dare, but I could imagine the auditorium resounding to “Now Ali Baba had them forty thieves …….!”
“How many does this auditorium seat?” I asked“One thousand five hundred and forty seven!” The concert Hall, which we later visited, seats two thousand six hundred and ninety! The Green Room is huge – at least twenty times the size of the Green Room at HATS – with self service food counters and a large bar - plenty of room to dish out the tea, cakes and buns during the interval.
I asked about the dressing rooms. “We will go into this one”, said our guide, stopping at the door. “This would be for a principal – someone like Pavorotti or the Conductor of the orchestra – just the one person” The door opened to reveal a huge, thickly carpeted lounge complete with grand piano, a large three piece lounge suite, dining table and chairs – a separate make-up room with a large fitted wardrobe, large mirror and lights – and a separate en-suite shower and toilet. The view from the window was out over the harbour and Sydney Harbour Bridge.
I had noted a number 75 on the door and asked, “Do you really have 75 dressing rooms?”
“Oh no! It’s more like 85 or 90, I forget exactly how many!”
Ask a silly question!
Heigh Ho! – Give me HATS theatre any time!
Trevor House.