Caroline O’Connor is a living treasure – so gifted, so natural, so personable and so, so good. She sings with power, passion and precision. She dances, she acts and can she weave compelling stories! This is a musical theatre performer extraordinaire who has made it big on the world stage. And those who attended Morning Melodies at Hamer Hall were privileged to see her warble and chat with the host of ABC Classic Breakfast, Megan Burslem.
O’Connor was very much on song with Orchestra Victoria, conducted by talented maestro Leonard Weiss, who wields the baton with flourish. The hour-long program began with the musicians performing the overture from Funny Girl. Then, Burslem took to the stage to introduce O’Connor, who was wearing a striking, shimmering, silver jacket. When she was young, O’Connor was dancing and singing to Ethel Merman. As an 11-year-old she recorded herself on cassette.
At Morning Melodies, she starts with Jules Styne and Stephen Sondheim’s Everything’s Coming up Roses, from Gypsy. In between numbers, she and Burslem talk about O’Connor’s stellar career. It has taken her from The Royal Ballet School to the finest opera houses and concert halls. It was while working with Opera Australia that Anthony Warlow told her that she had too much personality to be in the ensemble, and clearly O’Connor took that to heart.
So it is that she tells us tales of performing for Stephen Sondheim for his 80th birthday, working with Dame Judi Dench at Royal Albert Hall, in Sweeney Todd in Paris and Follies in Chicago. A couple of orchestral numbers from Leonard Bernstein follow, the first Dance Episode 3 from On The Town and then the overture from West Side Story. O’Connor belts out Sondheim’s Broadway Baby from Follies.
She waxes lyrical about falling in love with the sound of her husband’s voice and how the pair met. She speaks of her initial fear of props, before mastering their use with a brush, which she proceeds to demonstrate upon Burslem’s urging. Next, is an a cappella excerpt in French, no less, before she joins the orchestra in an English rendition of Edith Piaf’s Hymne a L’amour.
Asked what she learnt from the many prominent women she has portrayed, O’Connor says it was about their legacy and vulnerability, before speaking of the importance of the latter. Her upbringing included tough love from her Irish mother, while she was fortunate enough to be in the front row taking snap shots of Liza Minnelli in 1986. Every time, Minnelli saw O’Connor reach for her camera, she struck a pose especially for her.
Oh, the stories. And then there is the one about sleeping in Hugh Jackman’s bed! With that, O’Connor closes the show with Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, complete with leg kick. Nicely done. What a voice. What a presence! What a truly appetising Morning Melodies.
Alex First
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- Encore! Songs From The Musicals (Opera Australia), at Regent Theatre – musical theatre review
- The Verdi Gala Concert (Opera Australia) – opera review
- The Prom (On Your Feet Australia), at Teatro at the Italian Forum – musical theatre review
Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.