Performances at Sydney Opera House

SnJ

Hi. This query is for anyone who has taken the Australia tour previously. We will be on the February 13th tour, and wanted to be sure to catch a performance at the Opera House while we are in Sydney. Is it best to purchase tickets prior to leaving, or while we are on the tour?

There is a 90 minute "Great Opera Hits" performance at 5 PM on day 10 that we'd enjoy--this is shown in the itinerary as a "Day at Leisure to Explore Sydney" --but also shows an included dinner.

If anyone knows what that scheduled dinner entails and whether a performance ending at about 6:30 PM would work to get us back in time for whatever dinner is scheduled, we'd appreciate it.

Any other tips for Sydney would be appreciated as well.

Thanks so much!
Sue

British

We went to see South Pacific at the Opera house, the one that was in N Y at the Lincoln center which we saw. we got tickets on the day, but there were only a few left, we loved the experience. I would buy tickets in advance to avoid disappointment and if necessary skip the dinner because it's likely to be a one time chance. There are plenty of reasonable eating places around the Opera house.

joycesw

We saw La Traviata at the Opera House, the only ones in our group able to see an opera as any performance was completely sold out. As soon as the schedule had come out (in November, I believe), I contacted the concierge at the hotel and asked him to secure tickets for us, giving him credit card info and preference for stalls. They were so scarce, that when we arrived in February and we went to secure our tickets, he offered to buy them back at double the price. Of course, we didn't sell them, and the performance was phenomenal. And, it was capped off by fireworks on the harbor as we exited the opera! An unforgettable experience! Others were able to see performances in the smaller theatres, but we were thrilled to see an opera in this famous venue. We would have liked to have gone to an evening performance of the symphony as well (we were able to hear a bit of a rehearsal during our day tour), but time did not allow both.

SnJ

Thanks so much for the advice! We were able to purchase tickets on-line--they will be waiting for us at "hold for collection" at the venue.

joycesw

Don't be nervous about the "hold for collection." We also had to pick up the actual tickets at the venue the day of the performance. And, we were still nervous until we had tickets in hand! When one thinks of Sydney, the Opera House immediately comes to mind, so to experience a performance there truly compliments the experience of the trip!
Now, your next great adventure is to do the bridge climb. We were too chicken as we both hate edges off heights. We did have friends who did this and thought it was quite an adventure. We did not have anyone in our group do this, but one guy did a helicopter ride of the area and took along our TD. They thought it was fantastic!