Are You Lonesome Tonight

Opera Queensland's regional tour of Are You Lonesome Tonight has been the largest and longest tour mounted by the organisation to celebrate its 40th birthday this year. The tour started on 4 May in Rockhampton and has covered more than 7000 kilometres and reached 30 regional and remote Queensland communities. Performance spaces included under the stars at Roma Saleyards, and iconic venues such as the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach and the Waltzing Matilda Centre in Winton. The tour ended in Brisbane on 27 June at Eagle Farm Raceway – a treat for music fans as well as a showcase performance by way of thanks to major sponsorship partners including Beef Australia and the Brisbane Racing Club.

The concept for Are You Lonesome Tonight was to orchestrate a meeting of the history of Opera with songs inspired by the Grand Ole Opry songbook. The result was a wonderfully entertaining program that highlighted the multi-talents of its three sensational home-grown, world-class performers:  Irena Lysiuk, Marcus Corowa and Jonathan Hickey. Irena and Jonathan are both graduates from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University with extensive experience in opera and musical theatre. Jonathan also plays violin and Irena picks up a guitar and percussion throughout the performance. Marcus Corowa, is an award-winning singer/songwriter from Bowen with First Nations heritage. As well as being a smooth tenor, he also plays guitar. His past performances on the 2016 album of the opera The Rabbits by Kate Miller-Heidke. He has performed with Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. 

Music Director Steve Russell, whose performing credits include a range of international and Aussie talents,  joins the trio on stage on piano and bass guitar to perform a catalogue of interesting (and some unexpected) favourites, with pieces including Hank Williams' 'I Saw The Light', Mozart's 'Marriage of Figaro', Puccini's 'La Boheme', Bizet's 'Carmen' and Nancy Sinatra's 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin''. A collection of Australian Country tracks are also covered, and for me the highlights were Kate Miller-Heidke's 'Where?' from her opera The Rabbits and Troy Cassar-Daley's 'Take a Walk in My Country'. These performers are faultless and it was so satisfying that the program maximised the chances to hear all three voices performing together. After all, that is the key common denominator of both Opera and Country – the power of blended voices.

The artists encouraged the gathering to expand their musical listening, and I'm sure that some people will be inspired to search their streaming service of choice for some of Opera's greatest hits alongside their Country classics. I really hope that Are You Lonesome Tonight becomes a regular part of Opera Queensland's repertoire.

While the linking script and jokes in between songs sometimes tried a tad too hard, the crowd gathered at the outdoor event at Eagle Farm were highly engaged by the banter. And the mash-up of 'Brindisi' ('The Drinking Song') from Verdi's 'La Traviata' by and Slim Dusty's 'Duncan' really did go down a treat (although it may have contributed to a lengthier-than-planned interval with many in the audience heading for the bar!) and the Opera-inspired version of Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' had everyone singing along. The crowd were also in fine supportive voice and all stood to an enthusiastic ovation at the program's end.

The three performers had a hand in creating the show with their director, Laura Hansford and Opera Queensland's creative director, Patrick Nolan. You can find out more about the process in our interview with Jonathan Hickey:

Beth Keehn

Photos: Jade Ferguson

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