Sydney Opera House
Contact Information
Bennelong Point Phone 02/9250 7111 for guided tours and inquiries
02/9250 7777 for bookings Fax 02/9250 7624 or 02/9251 3943. Web site
www.soh.nsw.gov.au. E-mail bookings@soh.nsw.gov.au.
Hours: Box office open Mon-Sat
9am-8:30pm, Sun 2 hrs. before performance. Regular 1-hr. tours Mon Sat 9am-4pm, subject to
theater availability (tour sizes are limited, so be prepared to wait) Transportation:
CityRail, bus, or ferry: Circular Quay. Sydney Explorer bus: Stop 2. Prices:
Tour prices A$10 (U.S.$7) adults, A$7 (U.S.$4.90) children (family prices available on
application) Parking daytime A$9 (U.S.$6.30) per hr.; evening A$19 (U.S. $13.30)
flat rate.
Only a handful of buildings around
the world are as architecturally and culturally significant as the Sydney Opera House. But
the difference between, say, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, and the Great Pyramids of
Egypt, for example, is that this great, white-sailed construction caught mid-billow over
the waters of Sydney Cove is a working building, not just a monument. Most people are
surprised to learn that its not just an Opera House, but a full-scale performing arts
complex with five major performance spaces. The biggest and grandest of the lot is the
2,690-seat Concert Hall, which has just about the best acoustics of any man-made
building of its type in the world. Come here to experience opera, of course, but also
chamber music, symphonies, dance, choral performances, and even on occasion rock and roll.
The Opera Theatre is smaller, seating 1,547, and is home to operas, ballets, and
dance. The Drama Theatre, seating 544, and the Playhouse, seating 398,
specialize in plays and smaller-scale performances. In March 1999 a new theater, the
Boardwalk, seating 300, opened on the site of the old library. It will be used for dance
and experimental music.
The history of the building is as intriguing as the design. The
New South Wales Government raised the money needed to build it from a public lottery.
Danish Architect Jørn Utzon won an international competition to design it. From the
start, the project was controversial, with many Sydneysiders believing it was a
monstrosity. Following a disagreement. Utzon returned home, without ever seeing his
finished project. and the interior fell victim to a compromise design, which, among other
things, left too little space to perform full-scale operas. And the cost? Initially the
project was budgeted at a cool A$7 million (U.S.$5.6 million), but by the time it was
finished in 1973 it had cost a staggering A$102 million (U.S.$71.4 million), most raised
through a series of lotteries. Since then, continual refurbishment and the major task of
replacing the asbestos-infected grouting between the hundreds of thousands of white tiles
that make up its shell has cost many millions more.
Tours & Tickets: Guided tours of the Opera House last
about an hour and are conducted daily from 9am to 4pm, except Good Friday and Christmas.
Though guides try to take groups into the main theaters and around the foyers, if you
don't get to see everything you want it's because the Opera House is not a museum but a
workplace, and there's almost always some performance, practice, or setting up going on.
Reservations are essential. Tours include approximately 200 stairs (tours for people with
disabilities can be arranged). Specialized tours, focusing on the building's architectural
and engineering configurations, for example, can also be arranged.
The Tourism Services Department at the Sydney Opera House can
book combination packages, including dinner and a show; a tour, dinner, and a show; or a
show and champagne. Prices vary depending on shows and dining venues. Visitors from
overseas can buy tickets by credit card and then pick them up at the box office on arrival
, or contact a local tour company specializing in Australia. Tickets for performances vary
from as little as A$9.50 (U.S.$6.65) for children's shows to A$150 (U.S.$105) for good
seats at the opera. Plays cost between A$35 (U.S.$24.50) and A$45 (U.S.$31.50) on average.
Free performances are given outside on the Opera House
board-walks on Sunday afternoons and during festival times. The shows range from musicians
and performance artists, to school groups
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