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Articles and stories from the Sydney Opera House

Art at the House

Restoring the Coburn Tapestries

John Coburn was at the height of his fame when the artist was pitched to architect Peter Hall to design the Sydney Opera House theatre curtains in 1969. Hall had taken over from Danish architect Jørn Utzon and was ushering the building towards completion.

A women assessing the Tapestry cloth in a warehouse.

The inside story of Olsen’s celebrated Opera House mural

When I went to see Kenneth Slessor, he was working as a journalist, his poetical self long since disappeared, and he told me a story. It was the story of an artist who drowned in Sydney opposite the place where the Opera House now stands.

A Possum Story

Michael Jagamara was born into and revelled in a time of great change and opportunities. Following the end of World War II, abstract expressionism had arrived in the Australian art world and Sidney Nolan completed his Ned Kelly series. Also in that year, in the north part of Western Australia, in an amazingly unread, event, at least 800 Aboriginal pastoral workers walked off the job and began one of the longest industrial strikes in Australian history.

Michael Nelson Jagamara wearing a beige suit jacket over a blue and white checked shirt and wide brim hat, standing in front of an artwork in pastel colours.

Cinema and Screen

What’s new to Stream?

The latest collection of free concert films, performances, and talks has just dropped on Stream, our platform that brings the magic of our stages to the comfort of your home. Turn your Sunday evening into a concerto, transform your living room into a theatre, or let a captivating talk draw you deeper into some of the world's greatest minds.

Surfing at the Opera House: An Unexpected History

Discover the hidden origins of Cinema at the Opera House and its connection with countercultural surf films.

  • Cinema

5 Sydney Opera House near misses (in the movies)

From killer sea creatures to crashing UFOs, the Sydney Opera House has been threatened in the most imaginative and unexpected ways. Here are just a few of our close calls.

  • Cinema

Classical Music

Evolving Traditions: Your Guide to Utzon Music 2025

Ahead of the stellar new season of Utzon Music, curator and musician Genevieve Lacey unpacks what you can expect from the series

There's Something in the Wata

Paul Grabowsky has spent two decades exploring ways to combine ‘Western’ musical tradition with the traditions of the world’s oldest-continuing culture. With Wata, which receives its Sydney premiere this July, he has arrived somewhere new, old, familiar and unique all at the same time.

50 extraordinary ACO moments at the Sydney Opera House

Take a look back at 50 of our favourite ACO moments, inside and outside the House.

  • Classical Music

Contemporary Music

The artists you should be listening to: The Vivid LIVE Official Playlist

This May - June, Vivid LIVE will transform the Sydney Opera House into an electric hub for live contemporary music and art as part of Vivid Sydney. With only two weeks until the festival kicks off, we spoke to Ben Marshall, Head of Contemporary Music, on what it takes to curate a festival lineup, which acts to look out for, and why Vivid LIVE will be an unmissable night out this winter.

  • Contemporary Music

Eavesdropping on Nils Frahm

Cynthia Loh reflects on Nils Frahm's extravagant yet intimate ode to the harbourside city: Music for Sydney.

  • Contemporary Music

The Steve Lacy song for every star sign: a cosmic guide

To celebrate Steve Lacy’s latest album, Gemini Rights and his only Australian headline shows at the Sydney Opera House this Jan – Feb, we thought we’d find the perfect Steve Lacy song for every star sign, not just Geminis.

A person wearing googles and a white long sleeve t-shirt playing a guitar against a bright purple background.

Comedy, Circus & Magic

What’s it really like to run away with the circus?

Ever wondered what it's like to run away with the circus? Jascha Boyce and Darcy Grant from contemporary circus production The Mirror share the high-flying details.

Exposing the fallacy of circus ‘showmen’

Debunking the myth of circus showmen ahead of Opera House original production Natives Go Wild. Learn the truth of a business that coerced and scammed First People, who were put on display and forced to perform.

Vietnam’s villages bloom into a city in À Ố Làng Phố

Tuan Le's new circus challenges how we see Asia.

A woman holding a long pole, performing on stage.

Dance

An interactive guide to DanceRites

Your handbook for the song and dance of Australia's ancient cultures.

  • First Nations
  • Dance

A New Stage

From 2025, Bangarra Dance Theatre will proudly illuminate the Joan Sutherland Theatre, after 20 years of making fire in the Drama Theatre. Watch A New Stage, our new film celebrating this exciting new chapter of Bangarra's story at Sydney Opera House.

  • Dance

What you need to know about… Romeo and Juliet Suite

In a dazzling new production, the L.A Dance Project is set to make their Australian Debut in Benjamin Millepied’s bold and contemporary reimagining of Shakespeare’s masterpiece Romeo & Juliet Suite. This multilayered show fuses together cinema, dance and theatre to tell the classic story through a daring new lens.

  • Dance

First Nations

Tubowgule

Ever since it was a place for ceremony, gathering and celebration in Aboriginal Australia, Tubowgule has always reflected the society tucked in around Sydney Cove.

Why NAIDOC matters

We ask some of our Opera House family – performers and artists who take centre stage during this week of celebration – to discuss this year's NAIDOC theme and to unpack why the week matters to them.

Music for... Love by Budjerah

Teen R&B sensation Budjerah has themed his playlist around love, and all the daydreaming and sweet talking that comes with a budding romance. Listen in, then tune in to his exclusive Opera House show for Liminal.

  • Playlist

Kids & Families

Stage Direction: Grug & Magic Beach

How does a treasured childhood classic become a living, breathing three-dimensional theatre tale? Lenny Ann Low looks at the art of adapting two iconic picture books for the Opera House stage.

  • Stage Direction
  • Kids & Families

School holidays survival guide

Our guide to surviving the school holidays with your sanity, and your kids' imagination, intact.

Opera House parents on what we’ve learnt from Bluey

To many the mum and dad, Bluey is a beacon of how families can be: honest, forgiving, patient, fun. It's also a reminder to embrace creativity, in a world in short supply. With Bluey's Big Play around the corner, we've asked parents of the Opera House to share what they've learnt watching Bluey with their kids.

Musical Theatre & Cabaret

Stage Direction: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard

From the silent era to the talkies, get to know the story that defined Hollywood fame forever, and the stars that made it along the way. Stephen A Russell uncovers Sunset Boulevard's long road to the Joan Sutherland Theatre stage from its origins in Billy Wilder's classic 1950 film.

  • Stage Direction
  • Musical Theatre & Cabaret

Stage Direction: In the Heights

Your step-by-step guide to dancing like you’re in Washington Heights, the setting of Lin Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical In the Heights.

  • Stage Direction
  • Musical Theatre & Cabaret

Stage Direction: The Phantom of the Opera

Unmask Phantom, the original ‘mega-musical’, from its humble beginnings in a French newspaper to being part of our cultural DNA over 100 years later.

  • Stage Direction
  • Musical Theatre & Cabaret
A man in a suit holding a white mask.

Opera

Love List: Great Opera Hits by Guy Noble

Know your Nessun Dormas from your Habaneras? Find out what makes a ‘great opera hit’ in this special playlist curated by conductor, composer and broadcaster Guy Noble.

  • Playlist
  • Opera

Cheat sheet: La Bohème

Everything you need to know about the original bohemian love story

Brett Whiteley: A life, an opera

A rebel. An icon. Learn about one of Australia's greatest artists.

Talks & Ideas

Why your next computer may be a lab-grown brain

We interview Dr Brett Kagan, Chief Scientific Officer at Cortical Labs, a Melbourne-based biological computing startup trying to revolutionise the AI industry by replacing current computer chip technology with biological alternatives, offering far more processing power for significantly less energy usage.

Yellow purple and red cortical cells spread out against a dark background grown by Cortical Labs Melbourne

The recipes that made her famous: Alison Roman’s internet-breaking meals

From the flavourful Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut and Turmeric to the legendary Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, Alison Roman’s simple but oh-so-delicious creations have amassed millions of shares, likes, and followers around the world.

A white ceramic bowl with black ornate edge pattern holding spiced chickpea stew with coconut and turmeric on a tabletop. Five smaller bowls surround the edge of frame holding ingredients.

Dancing with Zadie Smith

Sisonke Msimang on the playful call and response of the British writer

Theatre

Stage Direction: Amadeus

In this edition of Stage Direction, Stephen A Russell delves into the irresistible appeal of a feverishly imagined operatic tragedy.

  • Stage Direction
  • Theatre

Stage Direction: The Little Prince

In the first of our new series on page-to-stage adaptations, Neha Kale looks at how Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s poignant tale of a young prince lives on in the 21st century.

  • Stage Direction
  • Theatre

John Bell in seven acts

To celebrate Bell Shakespeare’s 30th anniversary we highlight seven of the best John Bell moments on stage with the Bard.

  • Theatre