Renowned New Zealand tenor Simon O Neill said, while he was not opposed to that remit, the topic was wrong. This is using precious taxpayer money, which could be used better elsewhere in our art form. The new director has promised reimagination of the opera and he is not delivering that at all, O Neill said.
He called poking fun at the group middle-class snobbery and said while he was not opposed to new and improved ways to grow the audience, the direction of the Opera company had gone downhill since the appointment of general director Thomas de Mallet Burgess in 2018. He comes in with these disruptive ideas, which are not out to help opera.
Media pursue an unruly tourist outside the court in Hamilton.
Photo: screenshot
It is aiming to portray the group s infamous campaign, as it reportedly stole, littered, and verbally abused its way through the North Island in 2019.
NZO general director Thomas de Mallet Burgess said inspiration struck when the ordeal unfolded, shortly after he had moved to New Zealand. It struck me as extraordinary, the amount of interest that they garnered as they moved around the country.
He said the show would primarily be a comedy, although more weighty aspects of the event would be examined. Aside from the essential comedic value of the unruly tourists being hunted by the media and people of New Zealand. there was also possibly a more serious theme about people coming from abroad and rampaging across the country.
Ihitai Avei a - Star Navigator is a new work composed by Tim Finn with Tahitian monologues by Célestine Hitiura Vaite.
Kiwi music icon Tim Finn has co-composed his first opera, with the Pasifika themed production breaking new ground as the first in Tahitian, Māori and English languages.
Ihitai Avei a - Star Navigator, was composed by Finn – of Split Enz and Crowded House fame – with Tahitian monologues by Célestine Hitiura Vaite. The project will feature at Manukau’s Vodafone Events Centre in March, opening New Zealand Opera’s 2021 season. This beautiful and haunting production tells the story of Tupaia, a Tahitian star navigator, and his time on board James Cook’s