Celebrated operatic couple Cheryl Barker AO and Peter Coleman-Wright AO play out the perfect marriage in Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti but behind the glossy veneer of American suburbia, lurks their loneliness and longings.
Bernstein penned the stinging words and vibrant score during his own honeymoon in 1952.
Trouble in Tahiti leads a high-energy Endangered Productions double bill, Bernstein and Busoni, opening at the Eternity Playhouse, Darlinghurst on Friday, November 28.
Ferruccio Busoni’s whirlwind opera, Arlecchino, revives Italy’s traditional mischievous clown of Harlequin with a modern twist on his compulsive womanising and deceits.
Arlecchino (Andy Leonard, well-known for his title role in Keating!) conceals his pleasures by convincing his village that they’re at war – ironic for audiences at the premiere when the Great War was raging outside.
Arlecchino turns operatic conventions on their head. It’s why artistic director Christine Logan leapt to stage Busoni’s slapstick comedy, and in stunning fantastical costumes.
“With so many grand-scale musicals and well-worn operatic staples, Endangered Productions cherry-picks often little-known musical gems and reworks them for a modern audience in intimate settings,” she says.
Logan directs both productions with her partner Peter Alexander as music director. Barker and Coleman-Wright fill out the family with their son, Gabriel on sax, among a 14-piece orchestra and a satirical vocal trio.
Both singers have been community theatre fans since they met as young teens playing opposite in The Boyfriend. And they’re still battling or swooning over each other – notably in Kiss Me Kate, Tosca, Don Giovanni, Il Tabarro, Arabella and Onegin – and together, they mentor and train young singers.
“Major theatre venues won’t take risks these days,” says Barker. “This gives us a chance to do something different. Vocally, it’s a real challenge which we love. This company shines a light on a vast, overlooked repertoire well beyond the familiar.”
Season details
BERNSTEIN AND BUSONI
Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst
Fridays: 28 Nov & 5 Dec – 7pm
Saturdays: 29 Nov & 6 Dec – 3pm
Sundays 30 Nov & 7 Dec – 3pm
www.trybooking.com/DEFZT Prices $30 – $70
Concessions: Students, Under 30s & Seniors
For a more insight in to this very engaged opera company here are some thoughts on opera and how ‘it can sing sing for everyone’ from Christine Logan, the Artistic Director of Endangered Productions.
Endangered Productions is more than a theatre company—it’s a living laboratory for musical rediscovery, community building, and creative empowerment. It believes that:
• Artistic treasures shouldn’t be lost to time
• Talent deserves opportunity, regardless of age or background
• Audiences will respond if given high-quality, imaginative and welcoming performances.
In a time when major arts organisations often focus on commercially safe repertoire, Endangered Productions likes to celebrate curiosity, risk, respect for tradition, and the power of small-scale theatre to change minds and hearts.
Opera has been criticised as distant, grandiose, and perhaps elitist. But there’s a shift underway: small companies, engaged communities, curious new arrivals, and volunteers are bringing opera back into a space where it can be vibrant, personal, and alive. We are at the forefront of this revival, encouraging the craft of opera singing and opening doors to audiences and participants who might never have considered it before.
Some say they don’t like opera — due perhaps to preconceptions of large, formal theatres, overly dramatic singing, or simply fearing it won’t speak to them. Yet, opera’s beauty lies precisely in its variety: different voices, languages, stories that span cultures, historical periods, and styles. When opera is seen up close, in more intimate settings, it can feel wildly different — physically exciting, emotionally powerful, immediate.
Beyond the “greatest hits” opera’s repertoire is broad – it contains rare works, modern reinterpretations, cross-genre experiments. For first timers (or those re-trying opera with a new company) it can be an adventure — discovering stories, languages, music you never knew you loved. For performers and musicians, it is the opportunity to explore neglected gems (have a look at some we have performed ) https://endangeredproductions.org.au/services/
Opera isn’t just about producing shows — it’s about training, mentoring, and providing space for learners and seasoned artists alike. Opera demands precision: vocal control, language, breathing, musicality. And beyond the performers, there is an ecosystem — stage management, costumes, lighting, set design, marketing.
Volunteers play a vital role in this supporting cast. Ours include new arrivals — migrants, refugees, people settling in from elsewhere. Fifteen of the 21 volunteers working on the current production were not born in Australia and have English as their second language. Most have never experienced opera before and were awe-struck when they sat in on the first sing-through. One said:
“I never imagined that I would enjoy operatic singing this much. Everyone’s singing was captivating, powerful. But as you know, this was my first time attending an operatic performance. Thank you again for the wonderful experience.”
Opera doesn’t have to be intimidating and doesn’t have to stay in grand opera houses; its power is strongest when it’s close, when it’s lived, when it’s shared. In encouraging the craft, opening up the performance, and welcoming those new to opera, organisations like Endangered Productions are helping ensure that opera sings for everyone.
