For any performer, taking on a leading role in a musical is a big deal. When you’re one of the main people in the spotlight, the pressure is on. But aside from learning lines, hitting all the right notes and nailing all the steps, the stars of Opera Australia’s West Side Story on Sydney Harbour must also contend with Mother Nature. Yep – wind, rain, fluctuating temperatures, seagulls – all whilst navigating a slanted stage that’s more than twice the size of any indoor stage in Australia. But when Arts & Culture Editor Alannah Le Cross went behind the scenes at the harbourside stage to meet award-winning soprano Nina Korbe and triple-threat tenor Billy Bourchier, who are both making their lead debut, it was clear that they’re both revelling in the opportunity of a lifetime.
“It's mind-boggling and very humbling, and something that I'm incredibly grateful for as an opportunity. I'm really trying to take it by the reins and run with it,” says Nina. A proud Koa, Kuku Yalanji, Wakka Wakka woman, Nina is actively involved in the championing of First Nations voices. She began performing with Opera Queensland at the age of just 15, and has gone on to perform with some of the country’s most esteemed orchestras and opera companies. Playing the role of the wistful young Maria, West Side Story is her professional debut.
Alongside her, Canberra-born Billy Bourchier steps into the spotlight as Tony, the former gang member who seals his fate when he locks eyes with Maria across a crowded dance floor. This isn’t his first skirmish, however – Billy steps into the role directly following his multi-city run in the ensemble of Opera Australia’s acclaimed production of Miss Saigon in 2023, in which he covered the role of protagonist Chris. Billy says that as a tenor, Tony is one of five dream roles he has hoped to play, in part because of “the beautiful music of Leonard Bernstein and the wonderful lyrics of Stephen Sondheim”. He also adds: “I think the cool thing is, Nina has got a heck of a lot of opera experience, and I've got a heck of a lot of theatre experience. So we've been able to bounce off one another.”
Mother Nature, outdoor theatre’s scene-stealing diva
Nina and Billy are two of five principal performers, who are joined on-stage by an ensemble of 39. With the performances in good harmony, the next frontier is the physical conditions. Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour [HOSH] has been bringing a touch of spectacle – and a boatload of fireworks – to the floating stage for more than a decade now, so luckily the stars are in experienced hands. For one month every autumn, the entire Opera on the Harbour site is assembled from scratch – from the stage to the audience seating, to the five-storey bar and restaurant hub, and the (surprisingly decent) public toilets.
The over-water grid that supports the stage weighs 80 tonnes, and it takes 12 semi-trailers to deliver it to site – and that’s just for starters. The sound and lighting towers provide 12 tonnes of rigging capacity, accommodating 140 moving lights, six follow-spots, and more than 223 speakers that carry the music and arias into the open night air. Beneath the 3,000-seat theatre, the “backstage area” is like a secret underground village that most visitors to the site will never see – that is, aside from the cast, the crew of more than 50 people, and 28 members of the Opera Australia Orchestra.
“You're contending with heat, sun, rain and wind. We change the show depending on a certain amount of [rain] water, or a certain amount of wind. And then you also have nature, you have the animals – there's been bat poop, there's possums, spider webs, all of the above!” explains associate director Eric Sean Fogel. (He’s one of 13 members of the creative team.)
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While this is his HOSH debut, Eric is perhaps the most qualified person to be calling the shots on this show. He has worked on large-scale outdoor productions around the world, recently including one at the 10,000 seat Muny Theatre in St Louis, as well as a production on the Linz Harbor in Austria for an audience of 100,000 people. While HOSH’s seating capacity is comparatively much smaller, he says that Sydney Harbour is one of the more beautiful locations he’s ever worked at – gesturing towards the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, he describes it as “a bucket-list moment”.
Helpfully, Eric also knows West Side Story inside out – hailing from South Carolina, his career in music theatre actually started as a performer in a European tour of West Side in the ’90s. “This will be my 15th round with the production,” he says. “I've been everything from a dancer to a choreographer, and now the associate director. I never get tired of working on West Side Story. Unfortunately, it's always relevant.”
The literally huge, steep path to a 'Harbourside Story' success
In addition to all the other unique variables, the HOSH stage is also two-and-a-half times wider than any indoor stage in Australia. Eric explains that because of this, the team has had to change certain timings in the show, to allow for how much further the performers have to travel. There’s also “lots of different tricks” to make sure that the audience’s attention is directed at the person who is talking at any one time. “We’re definitely asking all the performers to do everything bigger than they ever thought they would do,” he adds.
Eric can also wholeheartedly describe the Sydney cast as “phenomenal”, and he’s particularly impressed with how they’re handling the show’s choreography. (You’ve almost certainly seen the big action of West Side’s ballet-like dance-fighting referenced somewhere.) He adds: “This is one of the best casts I've ever been a part of out of 15 productions. The Jet boys in particular are fearless. So hard-working, so dedicated. It's it's such a pleasure. It's been so humbling.”
Oh, and the stage isn’t flat either, it slopes backwards at a nine-degree angle, affording the audience excellent views of the iconic dance formations. As Billy explains: “Being on a rake stage outside is not always a smooth sailing experience, particularly for our wonderful dancers who are doing their best with Jerome Robbins’ very challenging choreography. For me, the main difference has been the sheer scale of the production. But I think for most of the part of it, we're relishing the opportunity and the challenges, because it's just something so different that we never get to experience in a traditional theatre.”
Meanwhile, Nina is relishing in a technical adjustment that you might not have considered: “I've quite enjoyed the process of adapting my technique to a rake – there are certain things with your stance and with your posture and how you're going to engage your muscles to best support your singing. Things are going to change when you're on an angle, so that's a really fun dynamic to interact with as well.”
But what happens when it rains at Opera on the Harbour?
Of course, the biggest question we have about any Opera on the Harbour production is: What do they do when it rains?! Opera Australia is committed to going ahead with a performance “even in doubtful or unfavourable weather conditions”. Shows will only be cancelled in the case of electrical storms or during times of extremely high winds and/or rain. In the rare case of a cancellation, it will only be called at the last minute, perhaps even during the performance. The most notorious case of this is from the 2022 production of Phantom of the Opera on Sydney Harbour, when videos of Georgina Hopson’s starring turn as Christine Daaé went viral. The audience roared as Georgina defiantly sang on as she was pelted by rain – it was so heavy that rainwater was splashing back into her face from her prop wine goblet.
“Thank goodness we don't have to contend with corsets and petticoats and crinolines and all the other paraphernalia,” Nina told me, laughing. (The costumes for West Side Story are much simpler in comparison to the regalia of Phantom.) “But a lot of the contingency plans [for rain] are hinged around our costumes. So we switch into shoes that have a higher grip and a higher tread so that we're safe on the rake. And then costumes might be altered a little to make sure our core temperatures stay higher to protect our voice and protect our wellbeing.”
Additionally, the backstage crew also has warm dressing gowns, towels, and hot tea stations at the ready. The performers also have the option to wear skin-coloured thermals if the weather turns significantly cold and windy.
“There's been a lot of preventative maintenance going into the production,” Billy explains. “The stage is a special non-slip surface. Once we get our wet weather shoes on becomes surprisingly grippy. At no point have I ever felt super unsafe on stage or anything like that. And from a technical aspect, all of our microphones are waterproof as best they can to keep the show running in light or mild inclement weather.”
With all of the cogs turning both on and beneath the suspended stage (which can support up to 150 tonnes), there’s no denying that Handa Opera on the Harbour is a world-class feat. As Eric explains: “Well, Francesca [Zambello], who's the original director of West Side Story, said it best – we actually have a story that matches the challenge of this gigantic outdoor production.”
“We have a gigantic, classic story of two warring factions with two lovers in this gigantic, almost Grecian or Roman-style theatre. And you can feel that, it's palpable. When you combine the force of Sydney, of this theatre, and of the story, it's really fantastic.”
West Side Story on Sydney Harbour is playing until April 21, 2024. You can read our critic’s review here. Find out more and snap up your tix at opera.org.au/harbour.
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