In February, I saw the opening night of the musical Hadestown in Sydney, co-produced by Opera Australia. It’s an odd choice for an opera company, as there is nothing operatic about its singing or musical style. 

Hadestown

Adrian Tamburini and the cast of Hadestown. Photo © Lisa Tomasetti

Meanwhile, this year’s Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour is Guys and Dolls, which is surprising as I didn’t think it was an opera. I checked online thinking it might have been Guys and Dolls by Gluck or Jean-Baptiste Lully, but apparently it is the traditional musical by Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows set in New York. 

Meanwhile, inside the Sydney Opera House, OA presented another musical in February – Candide. At least that is close to an operatic experience, featuring music by Leonard Bernstein and knockout coloratura arias like Glitter and Be Gay. Then, at the end of September, Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent also opens there.

So, the national opera company is producing four musicals in Sydney (Hadestown also plays in Melbourne). In what seems to be a courageous marketing decision, the first three not only competed with each other, but also...