Opera in the big house can be distancing for an audience sitting three hundred seats away, squinting themselves blind for three hours trying to make out the shapes on stage while attempting to understand what in the Pavarotti is going on. Step into an Underground Opera Company production however and you will be treated to an intimate and welcoming experience of outright awe without losing any of the grandeur expected of the genre. On the auspicious evening of Friday the 13th, this inspired company opened a rousing new season of Opera in the Reservoir (Sean Denehy, Director) in Brisbane at the historic Spring Hill Reservoir on Wickham Terrace and the audience couldn’t have been more delighted with the show. 
Launched in 2014, Opera in the Reservoir was realised when Producer and Founder Bruce Edwards undertook the massive task of cleaning up the 150 year old reservoir which had stood untouched for several decades. Edwards’ mission is to remove concerts from the sterility of purpose-built theatres taking them to breathtaking spaces such as abandoned mines, natural caves and castles just to name a few. Unsurprisingly the first Opera in the Reservoir was a sell-out hit paving the way not only for the continuation of this wonderful event but also the establishment of the reservoir as a full time venue, supported by the Brisbane City Council. So a huge thank-you must go out to Bruce for this awesome gift to our city.
As we descended scaffolding that lead us underground, the orderly brick archways of the reservoir are revealed with a small number of chairs gathered around a central ‘stage’ area for it’s guests and a possum in the rafters who was also ready for the show; the faint mustiness of history creeps up into your nose and you sense that you are somewhere out-of-time. Edwards is our emcee for the evening and as he explains the format of the show it is immediately evident that there are no airs about this tuxedo.  His manner is more that of a charming sports announcer that an Opera “toff” and he easily pleases the crowd with his amiable way. 
We were treated to a program of Opera and Musical classics ranging from Pagliacci to Don Giovanni to Mary Poppins and there are two possible programs (two casts) that run through the season. The yellow cast were in full swing this evening, comprising of Ashleigh Crain (Soprano), Louise Doorman (Mezzo Soprano), Glenn Lorimer (Tenor) and Darian Di Stefano-Johns (Baritone) with Brendan Murtagh accompanying on piano. All performers are seasoned professionals with impressive backgrounds.  
Not only was it thrilling to be close enough to the performers to enjoy their facial expressions and the way their mouths manipulated the lyrics, but it was also a fun education into the conductivity of natural acoustics. The venue loved the voice of Tenor Glenn Lorimer, his vocals seeming to swim around the space with the liquidness of the water it once held and as the four performers moved around and through the audience, sometimes out of sight, secreted behind a wall, their disembodied voices were haunting and absolutely alluring. Sitting immersed in this subterranean splendour, I couldn’t help wondering what could be heard above ground. What a magic moment it would be to hear these wonderful sounds emanating from beneath the ground and beneath the old haunted mill at that.
Stand-out numbers were Il Mio Tesoro (Mozart, Don Giovanni) by the revered and founding member, tenor Glenn Lorimer and Soave Sia Il Vento (Mozart, Cosi Fan Tutti) and of course, the finale Nessun Dorma (Puccini, Turandot) was impossible to surpass even with a sensational encore as the gorgeous performance of Tenterfield Traveller from ‘Boy from Oz’ and I Still Call Australia Home.    
Opera in the Reservoir is absolutely for everyone, aficionado’s and opera-novices alike. Having seen opera performed all over the world from Paris’ Palais Garnier to a 13th Century Palazzo in Venice, Opera in the Reservoir rates high up on my experiences. Showing now until November 29, tickets range from $59 to $69 and are available at Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com.au). Such high calibre opera is unlikely to be found at a more reasonable price. 

The ​Blue Roo Theatre Company has rounded out another year of triumphant performance with the launch of Australia’s first ever inclusive opera. The result of their second dynamic collaboration with Opera Queensland (OperaQ) under the Open Stages program, The Bulimba Opera has opened to a packed house at The Judith Wright Centre (5-7 November) and will fittingly close the season on November 14 at Lourdes Hill College not far from where the Bulimba Hotel once stood; the old hotel (predating the current building) is the setting for this history-inspired libretto.
 
Fly-guy Jimmy is sent off to WW2 leaving his girl, his family and his community heartbroken and desperately awaiting news as they negotiate the economic and emotional toll of war. As tensions in the community rise, spilling over into racist attacks on Chinese labourers some bad news is delivered to the family by General MacArthur himself (the best character yet of crowd-favourite Carlos Heron); Jimmy is missing and presumed dead.
 
Arguably the tightest Roo production to date Writer/Creative Director Clark Crystal, who began working with troupe in 2009, must be applauded for lifting the Company to a new level of creativity this year. The Bulimba Opera is an epic production; not only in cast size (28 Blue Roos, 4 OperaQ and a live orchestra of 7) but also in dramatic clout. The cast perform with gusto, a plethora of unique songs inspired by the ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ format of writing libretto (the Opera text) to the tunes of famous songs - Crystal uses classic Australian folk tunes here that easily take us home to the old country.   
 
The opera format sits really well with the Blue Roo cast whom all experience disability or impairment in one form or another meaning that to ensure the successful delivery of the text, spoken lines are usually repeated as titles above the stage – much like the surtitles used to translate opera. So this simple device of inclusivity travels really seamlessly into this production. With the OperaQ performers, Susan Ellis, Sebastian Maclaine, Jason Berry-Smith, Jessica Low taking the main roles, the Rousing Roo ensemble are largely in supporting roles but that does not subdue their spirits. Stand-out performances by Liam Maloney and Caitlin Manktelow. Manktelow surprising with such a voice that for a moment it was thought there were five OperaQ performers on stage. I hope to see more from this new Roo.
 
Once again the Roos have proven that creativity is a great enabler as they continue their journey through performance to thrilling applause of their family and fans.