In my experience, when you go to a Shakespeare with fellow Shakespeare lovers or a Chekhov with a Chekhov lover there is something that happens beyond shared engagement. Reverence is too trite a word, communal too overused, immersion too visceral. The word that springs to my mind is quietude. There’s stillness where understanding meets art. The 1995 New York Times review of the first performance of HARVEY MILK the Opera, noted the cheers of the audience. In Sydney’s Town Hall this evening there was no such reaction. Like the aforementioned classics, everyone in the hall knew the story and why it needs testament.

HARVEY MILK is a 3 act opera, music by Steward Wallace and lyrics by Michael Korie. The man of the title was a San Francisco hippy camera shop owner turned politician. On his third attempt, after a change in the laws to allow district elections, Milk became a San Francisco City-County Supervisor on January 9, 1978. This was a milestone for what was then the LGBT community. One of his fellow supervisors was Dan White. Continue reading Left Bauer Productions presents Harvey Milk: The Opera in Concert @ Sydney Town Hall →