“Vivacious, playful and delightfully effervescent.”
I hadn’t experienced an operetta before, and if The Merry Widow is anything to go by, I’ve clearly been missing out.
Opera Australia’s sumptuous new production is an absolute delight. Set against the glamour of the Jazz Age, each of the three acts unveils another breathtaking set that somehow surpasses the last. The scale is astonishing, but it’s never spectacle for spectacle’s sake. Every design choice serves the wit, romance and exuberance of Franz Lehár’s beloved work.
What surprised me most, however, was just how funny it is.
The comic timing is razor sharp, the performances embrace the operetta’s playful spirit with infectious energy, and the audience spends as much time laughing as admiring the glorious score. Vivacious and effortlessly charming, this is a production that never loses its sparkle.
Beneath the glamour and champagne lies a timeless truth: love has always been wonderfully complicated. Pride, misunderstanding and social expectation have tied people in knots for generations, and The Merry Widow delights in reminding us that the human heart has never been particularly sensible.
Like a fine French champagne, this production is crisp, elegant and delightfully effervescent. It leaves you buoyant long after the final curtain falls.