We took the hour tour of the Opera House. It was very interesting. We wore individual headsets which made it nice to hear Nick our tour guide. You didn’t have to worry about missing out on anything he said and you could hear the videos he played about the architect and the building of the house. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside any of the auditoriums. We were able to go inside The Studio where a man was tuning the piano so we had to be very quiet. In the Concert Hall they were also tuning the 10,000+ pipe organ, but we were able to go inside and sit. Bob and I were actually sitting in the center seats in the balcony. It holds over 2600 people. The Opera Theater holds around 1500 and they can host larger groups out on the forecourt like they did for Oprah's visit.
At first we weren’t going to be able to go into the building that holds the actual opera hall as they were presenting the “Barber of Seville.” But our guide did take us into the lobby and we could see the opera being performed on the screen displayed there. They close the doors at the beginning of the performance and they are not opened again until intermission. So if you are late you have to watch on the screen in the lobby. That did cause problems for two former prime ministers and the CEO of the Opera House as they were late to a performance. After the afternoon matinee of the opera it was going to be transformed and ready for a presentation of Carmen that night.
I never realized there were three different buildings to the Opera House, although you can get from one to the other from inside. One holds the Opera Theater; one houses the Concert Hall as well as the Studio, the Playhouse and the Drama Theater. The third and smaller building is a restaurant. There is a recording studio as well as cafes, bar, restuarants and shops.
It’s amazing how sometimes you can see the pattern of the million+ white and cream colored Swedish-made tiles while other times the sails look white.
 |
| Approaching from the gardens (this was the way Bob first saw the Opera House on his first visit here.) |
 |
| The Guillaume at Bennelong Restuarant on the left, Concert Hall building in the center, Opera Theater on the right. |
 |
| View of the Harbour Bridge between the restuarant and Concert Hall buildings. |
 |
| Lobby of the Concert Hall building |
 |
| Stairway up the Western side of the Concert Hall (You can just see Nick our guide facing toward windows at the front of the group) |
 |
| A press conference was being held in the foyer on the harbour side of the Concert Hall so we could not go there. (Entrance to the Concert Hall balcony is to the right) |
 |
| View of bridge from inside the Concert Hall building |
 |
| View of Circular Quay and city from Concert Hall building |
 |
| The Swedish made tiles of the Opera House Building. |
 |
| I love the Logo of the Opera House. (This is on the gift shop window) |
 |
| Even the bathrooms were beautiful. The stalls above, the sinks below. |
 |
| Standing on the Forecourt steps looking out at the harbour. |
 |
| Forecourt Oprah's Stage was up against the rock cliff where the white trailer is and the crowd sat on the forecourt steps. |
