THE UNRULY TOURISTS

Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland

22/03/2023 - 26/03/2023

Auckland Arts Festival | Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki 2023

Production Details


Composer: Luke Di Somma
Libretto: The Fan Brigade – Livi Reihana (Ngāti Raukawa and Te Arawa) and Amanda Kennedy
Director: Thomas de Mallet Burgess
Music Director: Luke Di Somma

Presented by New Zealand Opera and Auckland Arts Festival


THE UNRULY TOURISTS 

“a piece of commissioning genius… There has already been more hype and interest in The Unruly Tourists than anything New Zealand Opera has done in years.” (NewstalkZB)

In a tale from living memory, a flock of badly-behaved tourists spread a trail of rubbish, fuel a national obsession, make international headlines and land the visitors in local courtrooms…

Written by the award-winning comedy duo of Livi Reihana and Amanda Kennedy (The Fan Brigade), composed by Luke Di Somma (That Bloody Woman), directed by Thomas de Mallet Burgess and designed by Tracy Grant Lord (NZ Opera’s The Marriage of Figaro), The Unruly Tourists promises to be an entertaining and thought-provoking work that you won’t want to miss.

Expect raucous comedy, satire, action and good old-fashioned Kiwi humour intertwined with soaring melodies and riveting chorus ensembles. A much-loved Kiwi cast joins Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in a re-imagined round theatre cabaret-style set up at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna.

Presented by New Zealand Opera and Auckland Arts Festival in an immersive production at the Bruce Mason Centre, The Unruly Tourists takes you to Takapuna where it all started and then smashes all the stereotypes you think you know about opera. This witty, irreverent and caustically observed work will spark conversation and debate long after the curtain goes down.

Sung in English

This opera is an artistic and critical work. Not all depictions or statements are based on true events. 
Parental guidance recommended. Contains strong language.

Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland
22 – 26 March 2023
8pm
+ 2.30pm Sat 25 March
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DESIGNER: Tracy Grant Lord
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Matthew Marshall
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/MOVEMENT DIRECTOR: Megan Adams
DRAMATURG: Riley Spadaro
PRINCIPAL RÉPÉTITEUR: Ben Kubiak
ASSISTANT MOVEMENT DIRECTOR: Emma Broad (Kai Tahu)
DIALECT COACH: Perry Piercy
TIKANGA & CULTURAL ADVISOR: Mikaere Paki (Ngāti Apa, Ngā Wairiki, Tūwharetoa, Irish, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu, Tūmatakōkiri, Ngāti Poua, Welsh)
CULTURAL ADVISOR: Mary Bourke

CAST / NGĀ KAIWHAKAARI
(subject to change)
MANAIA: Ebony Andrew (Ngāti Maniapoto)
PADDY MURPHY: Andrew Grainger
TOMMY MURPHY : Joshua Cramond
BUNNINGS HAT KID: William Kelly & Marley Grgicevich
TRISHA-LEE MURPHY: Frith Horan
MARGARET MURPHY: Jennifer Ward-Lealand
ENSEMBLE
Tayla Alexander
Morag Atchison
Shiddharth Chand
Matthew Kereama (Ngāti Raukawa)
Alex Matangi
Chris McRae
Robert Tucker
Georgia Jamieson Emms
Catrin Johnsson

WITH
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra


Theatre , Opera ,


1 hr 55 min no interval

A challenge to classism and accessibility

Review by Eda Tang 25th Mar 2023

The Unruly Tourists is everything I want to see happen to classical music. Too long has opera held onto tradition, languages that people pretend to understand, and upper-middle class etiquette. 

The show, written over Zoom during the Covid lockdowns, moves opera into modern contexts, something that Broadway musicals started decades ago which is part of what makes the form of musical storytelling popular.

At first glance, you might think you’re at your niece’s intermediate school production – low-budget looking costumes, a weird disco ball wrapped in cardboard and just a lot of plastic crap on stage.

But queue [sic] a delicious cluster of chorus, featuring Tayla Alexander, Morag Atchison, Matthew Kereama (Ngāti Manomano) and Shiddharth Chand, underscored by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra who have their sound brilliantly exposed, you’ll be reminded of the classy patron you’re trying so hard to be. [More

Comments

Tony Ryan April 19th, 2023

Is Stuff’s ‘review’ of The Unruly Tourists deliberately offensive, or is it just sloppy journalism? Can we no longer expect genuinely informed, considered, and knowledgeable evaluation of the performing arts from some of our mainstream media? https://www.tonyryan.nz/views--reviews

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Obstreperous tourists v rapacious media presented with seasoned flair

Review by William Dart 24th Mar 2023

Might those obstreperous tourists, in the summer of 2019, ever have imagined that their littering, pilfering and profanities would make it to the opera stage?

The genesis of NZ Opera’s The Unruly Tourists, which premiered on Thursday night, has been almost as controversial. From the beginning, librettists Livi Reihana and Amanda Kennedy flaunted their operatic ignorance, while composer Luke Di Somma was best known for his rock musical That Bloody Woman.

Presented in the round, director Thomas de Mallet Burgess fuelled the confrontation between foul-mouthed foreigners and the righteous Kiwi public with seasoned flair. [More]

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