Ever thought the history of opera sounded a bit boring? Would it appeal more if it were told in an irreverent and funny manner, with immodestly dressed attractive young women? 

The full house at the opening night of Oh! Is for Opera would seem to suggest the answer is a resounding yes! 

This is Opéra Risqué’s second Auckland Fringe Festival, performing what it calls “a review show based on operatic absurdity”. It takes us through a brief history of some of opera’s most popular composers and arias, often placing them in a completely different context. This beginner’s guide to opera helps debunk the myth that opera is boring and for old people.  

The venue, Galatos, has a dark, sexy, sinful feel to it and Opéra Risqué uses this to good effect. There are tables and chairs scattered throughout the room. The stage is dressed like an intimate French cabaret club, with antique chairs and a threefold screen, all back-dropped with a red velvet curtain.

Tarver Graham plays the club owner, a Frenchmen with a roguish grin and wayward hands, who links the show together. He does extremely well breaking up the arias with engaging commentary, well-crafted wit and timely introductions that keep the pace of the show driving along. 

The cast all have their strengths and each gets their turn to shine. Cassandra McCowan’s ‘Un Voce Poco Fa’ is hilariously orgasmic. Tizane McEvoy and Elizabeth Mandenos, dressed as sheep, mock the repetitiveness of ‘Happy We’. Tamsyn Machett’s sultry dominatrix in ‘Mon Coeur S’ouvre a Ta Voix’ is terrifyingly seductive. Milla Dickens plays an Australian chick with like, totally, now, like, surtitles to ‘Quando m’en vo’. And Jessie Graham’s ‘When I Am Laid’ is tragic and beautiful.

Interestingly Opéra Risqué reach true operatic absurdity with no music at all but with a melodramatic, child like telling of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. It is acted out with plastic swords, still walks and everyone playing multiple characters with great humour and gusto.

The band, made up of two keyboards and a cello, are all fine musicians. The focus is clearly on the singers and so the band often acts more as an accompaniment than a feature in its own right. Not surprisingly, the times it does shine are when the orchestration is simple such as the solo cello in ‘Una Macchia’ or when they keys are used as a harpsichord.  

There is something for everyone to enjoy in this show. Even the most diehard opera purists would be glad that young people are endeavouring to prove that opera is not a dying art form. The risqué state of dress is tasteful, artistic and beautifully handled. Actually there are more wonderful costumes to behold than nudity.

If you feel like a night at the theatre with some of the greatest music ever written, comedy and a bit of naughtiness then this is the show for you.

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