The Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour series has gone from strength to strength, with the annual event now a permanent fixture, and a highlight of the Australian cultural calendar, attracting more than 330,000 attendees from around Australia and across the globe over the past seven years.
Opera Australia is bringing one of the world’s greatest pieces of theatre, West Side Story, to the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour stage in 2019.
The Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour series has gone from strength to strength, with the annual event now a permanent fixture, and a highlight of the Australian cultural calendar, attracting more than 330,000 attendees from around Australia and across the globe over the past seven years.
Tourism Australia chief marketing officer Lisa Ronson, speaking at a Singapore launch event for Undiscover Australia, a marketing campaign that encourages visitors to travel beyond the country’s tourism icons, said events that should make travellers hop on a plane to Australia include Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour.
The rollout of the campaign will be supported by an online marketplace ‘Australia on Sale’, later in September where multiple airlines and travel agents will come together to offer competitive fares to help promote the campaign.
“I’ve always loved West Side Story, it’s one of the greatest pieces ever written, and I’ve been wanting to include it in the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour repertoire since we started the programme seven years ago,” said OA’s artistic director Lyndon Terracini.
“The setting is perfect, with the city skyline in the background, you won’t get a better stage backdrop in the world.”
Performance dates
March 22–April 21 2019 Excluding Mondays and Good Friday on 19 April
Performed in English. Ticketing: opera.org.au/harbour