"The King and I" at the Opera House

For my birthday this year, Rob bought me tickets to see a childhood favourite, "The King and I"! On September 14, we got a little bit swanked up and headed out to Circular Quay and down the boardwalk to the Sydney Opera House.

It was really busy, since it was one of the first really lovely spring days we had had in Sydney. Tourists snapped photos and locals met up for drinks at the lounges lining the boardwalk, and once we got to the Opera House itself, it was a flurry of activity. We found our theatre (as there is more than one performance space at the Opera House) and milled around with the other ticket holders in a foyer decorated with rich, oriental-esque pillows and wall hangings and props.

Rob and I took a moment for a photo op, and to pre-purchase an intermission cocktail so it would be there waiting for us when we were ready to take a break halfway through the play. Then we made our way up to our seats. They weren't the best seats in the house, but they were much more affordable than other seats. The tickets claim to have an 'obstructed view', which is true since we were so far over to the left that the left side of the stage we pretty much impossible to see. For the most part, it didn't totally destroy our ability to enjoy the show, only missing out on a certain symmetry that I know Rob can be a stickler about *wink*. 

The King and Queen of Siam!

...And a little more saucy, for good measure!

The left gives an idea of where we sat, and the right is a photo we took of our vantage point before the production started.

The acting was pretty good, the woman who played Mrs. Anna was lovely, had a fantastic voice, and very believable performance. I also really liked the King, but he was no Yule Brenner... I imagine it'd be like seeing Les Miserables with Colm Wilkinson and then watching the role of Valjean as some other person...

During intermission, we enjoyed our lovely festive drinks and a great view of the harbour.

But the Costumes! And the Set! I wish we had been allowed to take photos, because the costumes were exquisite (the silvery-gold gown for the "Shall we dance" number was absolutely breath-taking) and the intricate details on all the props, especially during the Kabuki scene, were an absolute delight.

I wish I could afford to go to the Opera house for all their plays, but even so, I definitely enjoyed experiencing a production at this very famous venue.

Next up, we have a blog post from our whirl-wind 36 hour trip to Brisbane (Anthony Bourdain
style!)