A Panel Discussion
Saturday 6 July 3:15pm-4:15pm
FREE ENTRY
Presented by the Musicological Society of Australia the South Australian Chapter
To celebrate the return of the work Boojum! and its hometown creators, and to help put it all in perspective, the Musicological Society of Australia/SA chapter are mounting a short symposium in the midst of the Adelaide season of three performances. Vincent Plush will chair a panel comprising librettist Peter Wesley-Smith, James Koehne and Director of State Opera’s production, Joeseph Mitchell.
Based on Lewis Carroll’s ‘nonsense poem’ The Hunting of the Snark (1874‑6), Boojum! by twin brothers Martin and Peter Wesley-Smith is not an opera and not quite a musical. Like Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, it occupies a place of its own, but unlike Candide, it has still to find its place in the pantheon of musical theatre.
Following a somewhat controversial premiere at the 1986 Adelaide Festival, Boojum! was staged at Newcastle and the Brisbane Expo, recorded in Sydney (Vox Australis, VAST10-2), staged in a choral concert version in San Diego and in triumphal performances by the Chicago Opera Vanguard in December 2010. Three decades on, Boojum! returns to Adelaide in a new production by State Opera South Australia, with stage direction by Joseph Mitchell and musical direction by Warwick Stengards.
The symposium, which is free of charge, will be held from 3:15-4:15 on Saturday 6 July at the Dunstan Playhouse. This immediately follows the 1:00 matinee performance of Boojum! Tickets for the opera itself may be purchased below.
