Tenor Jonathan Abernethy was unexpectedly called to take over the role of Nadir, mid-way through the show.

The humble understudy is an often neglected, but nonetheless invaluable role. We know they exist, but we rarely have the opportunity to see or hear them in action – and if we do, it’s usually announced a few hours before the opening scene of the show. It’s little wonder then that a performance at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday night made headlines when an understudy was called onto stage halfway through a performance of Bizet’s The Pearlfishers.

Young New Zealand tenor and understudy Jonathan Abernethy was mid-way through a plate of lasagne at a nearby restaurant when he received the call. “To get a call after curtain up saying to come in was highly unusual but so exciting,” Abernethy shares. “Still, the thoughts are running through your head that it’s too late, the show has already started, it could be a false alarm, etc. When I got into the theatre, there were still many unanswered questions and some uncertainty as to if anything was going to happen at all.”

Unexpectedly, Nikhil Navkal, playing the role of Nadir, was struggling to sing due...