Striding on the stage, looking rather dapper, Lotte Betts-Dean tells the audience in ACO’s Pier 2/3 that she’s got a Big Idea.

She’s bursting to share it – physically, she can barely restrain it – but as a drifting synth pad gives way to a stretch of intriguing modernist opera writing, she becomes more and more tangled in that moment between thinking and doing. Even with reassurance from her backing band,  she’s stuck among piles of pros and cons lists and can’t bring herself to spit it out. Is it a creative project? A new calling? Will she cut a bob?

Kaylie Melville, Lotte Betts-Dean and Gemma Kneale in The Big Idea. Photo supplied

The Big Idea is Melbourne art music ensemble Rubiks Collective’s present to its east coast audience for its 10th anniversary. Composed by London-based Aussie Matthew Shlomowitz with words from Vid Simoniti, the work’s an hour-long, oddball ‘micro-opera’ that celebrates the rise (and fall, not for lack of trying) of creativity and ambition.

Betts-Dean is brilliant in the role; humour, aplomb and dexterity abound. Donning a lab coat and slapping on a pair of green rubber gloves, she bravely and announces her idea: she will be a dental hygienist (we scramble for our programs, which gave nothing away).

Meting out toothbrushes to the front row, the music and narrative rapidly gains momentum, and fast – dipping its toe into genres including ‘Scandinavian jazz’ and old-school musical dazzle without leaning too hard into each. All performers keep up and it all feels quite coherent, knitted together with Shlomowitz’s polished compositional idiolect.

In spiffy matching suits, Rubiks is a delightfully quirky side cast who are polished performers. Betts-Dean interviews to give air to their own big ideas – playing the kit, Kaylie Melville bemoans creating a planet that’s now too hot but it’s all fine, because she can go and live on the moon.

Chipper flautist (and melodica player) Tamara Kohler keeps her chin up even after falling for a pyramid scheme, as she’s resolved to find another more successful one.

Gemma Kneale is a triple threat on cello, electric bass and with a stint on vocals.

Lotte Betts-Dean in The Big Idea. Photo © Jared Underwood

The Big Idea isn’t all gags. There’s some sophisticated instrumental writing here from Shlomowitz, particularly in instrumental pairing with intricate ornamentations matched in vocals and flute, as well as melodic sharing between flute and cello. Intriguing harmony worms its way into every section of the piece, from Latin groove to contemporary composition.

Simoniti’s words are crisp and wonderfully textural throughout, and Betts-Dean has a field day with the phrase ‘plosive pleasure’, while a later turn paints a tactile picture of melancholy as a human with all of its bones removed.

Guest pianist Alex Raineri serves up some crystalline piano runs, and his synth provides a really fresh texture throughout the work – from mellow pads to sharper, rattling leads. On sound, Tilman Robinson makes the ACO’s intimate studio (an unusual performance venue) sparkle.

Once The Big Idea makes it over the hill, it’s one of those rare pieces that’s so entertaining, you really want more of when it ends.