Page 78 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sydney

76  SY DNEY AREA B Y AREA

r Sydney Opera House

No other building on earth looks like the Sydney Opera House.
Popularly known as the “Opera House”, it is, in fact, a complex of
theatres, performance spaces and concert halls linked beneath
its famous shells. Its birth was long and complicated. Many of
the construction problems had not been faced before, resulting
in an architectural adventure which lasted 14 years (see p79).
As well as being Australia’s most popular tourist destination,
the Sydney Opera House is also one of the world’s busiest
performing arts centres, hosting nearly 2,000 performances
for more than 1.4 million audience members every year. . Joan Sutherland Theatre
With a seating capacity of up to
1,507, the venue’s second-largest
theatre is home to Opera Australia
and The Australian Ballet.

Detail of Possum Dreaming (1988)
The mural in the Joan Sutherland Theatre’s
northern foyer is by Michael Tjakamarra Nelson,
an indigenous Australian painter from Papunga,
in the central Australian desert.

Opera House Walkway
Extensive public walkways
around the building offer
the visitor views from many
different vantage points.
KEY
1 The Joan Sutherland Theatre
ceiling and walls are painted black
to focus attention on the stage. Northern Foyers
With spectacular views over the
2 The Monumental Steps and harbour, the Utzon Room and
forecourt are used for outdoor the large northern foyers of the
performances. Joan Sutherland Theatre on the
3 The Playhouse, seating almost eastern side of the building, as
400, is ideal for intimate productions well as the Concert Hall on the
while also able to present plays with western side, can be hired for
larger casts. conferences, lunches, parties
and weddings.

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