Are You Lonesome Tonight
Opera Queensland Regional Tour
4 May – 25 June
Regional locations (see full list below)
Opera Queensland has partnered with Beef Australia to premiere its genre-crossing new production, Are You Lonesome Tonight, in almost 30 regional and remote Queensland communities through May and June. The seven-week season traverses more than 7000km, making it the most significant regional tour in the company’s history and a fitting centrepiece to Opera Queensland’s 40th birthday celebrations.
Rockhampton will host the world premiere of the cabaret-style production that explores the extraordinary qualities and surprising similarities of Opera and Country music on Tuesday 4 May as part of Beef Australia 2021, a triennial celebration of the nation’s cattle industry. Under the partnership, Opera Queensland becomes Beef Australia 2021’s artistic company-in-residence, entertaining visitors and delegates with a series of recitals, pop-up performances, community engagements and activations from 2 – 8 May.
Are You Lonesome Tonight weaves a story about life on the road through arias by composers such as Puccini and Verdi and songs by Slim Dusty and Dolly Parton. It bursts onto the Rockhampton Showgrounds stage backed by a 70-member Beef Australia Community Chorus comprising amateur singers from the Rockhampton region and a guest performance from country music superstar and 21-times Golden Guitar winner Sara Storer.
Opera Queensland Director of Learning, Regional and Community Mark Taylor said the company planned to celebrate its 40th birthday by engaging with audiences across Queensland and providing arts, culture and education opportunities to more people in more locations.
“Opera Queensland’s partnership with Beef Australia sprang from our shared belief in the importance of delivering culture, entertainment and joy across regional Queensland, particularly following such a profound period of drought,” Mr Taylor said. “Pairing Opera and Country music is not a gimmick; the two genres have a great deal in common. Artists, composers and librettists across both artforms understand the power of storytelling sharing many common themes of profound love, heartache, and triumph in the face of adversity. It’s said country music is about lovin’, fightin’, drinkin’ and cussin’ and aside from the cussin’, that nicely sums up opera too.”
Are You Lonesome Tonight will eschew traditional theatres and halls to perform in some of Queensland’s most iconic locations including the Roma Saleyards, the Australian Stockmans Hall of Fame in Longreach, Winton’s Waltzing Matilda Centre and from the try-line of Townsville’s new 25,000-capacity Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
“This show is designed to be experienced outdoors, whether that’s under stars in the state’s Central West, by the ocean on The Whitsundays coastline or in the wetlands of tropical North Queensland,” Mr Taylor said. “Come in your jeans and boots or your tuxedos and ballgowns – this is opera at its most diverse, accessible and exciting.”
Are You Lonesome Tonight’s regional tour also includes a community engagement program with customised events and activities planned for each location. Community engagement initiatives include school workshops, community choir events, recitals in aged care facilities and pop-up performances and activations in unexpected locations.
Mr Taylor said these events allowed Opera Queensland to engage deeply with the communities it has such a strong connection with while also discovering new audiences.
For ticketing and further information, visit the Opera Queensland website
To apply for the Beef Australia Community Chorus (Rockhampton performance only), click here
Are You Lonesome Tonight Tour Dates
Rockhampton Tuesday 4 May
Bowen Friday 7 May
Charters Towers Saturday 8 May
Cairns Tuesday 11 May
Innisfail Wednesday 12 May
Ingham Thursday 13 May
Townsville Friday 14 May
Mount Isa Tuesday 18 May
Winton Thursday 20 May
Longreach Sunday 23 May
Barcaldine Monday 24 May
Blackall Tuesday 25 May
Windorah Thursday 27 May
Quilpie Saturday 29 May
Charleville Sunday 30 May
Cunnamulla Monday 31 May
St George Tuesday 1 June
Warwick Friday 4 June
Stanthorpe Saturday 5 June
Redlands Sunday 6 June
Toowoomba Wednesday 9 June
Beaudesert Thursday 10 June
Caloundra Saturday 12 June
Maryborough Wednesday 16 June
Bundaberg Thursday 17 June
Gold Coast Saturday 19 June
Redcliffe Wednesday 23 June
Roma Friday 25 June
Backstreet Brisbane 
Leave a Reply