Australia: Dylan Finger (My “We’re not in Madison anymore” Moment)

My “We’re not in Madison anymore” Moment

This week in Syndey we finished up our final days of class before the mid-semester break. During the break, my girlfriend came to visit, and we traveled to the Sydney Opera House to watch the musical Rent. It was an incredibly interesting experience because the musical was set in New York in the late 20th century but was adapted to better fit the local culture of Sydney.

Before I describe the adaptations in the show, I think it’s important to discuss the history I learned about the opera house and the many different venues I got to see during my adventure. First, we took a ferry to get to the opera house, where a surprising fact I learned about the Sydney Opera House is that the building is floating in the harbor and needs to be “reinflated” every few years to prevent it from sinking. We were able to see the reinflation process take place on our boat ride over. We then arrived in the northern foyer, walking through tunnels that seemed to be as old as the opera house itself. We ate dinner enjoying breath taking views of Darling Harbor and the Harbor Bridge. We also were able to try local produce and meats such as Australian peas and lentils along with Australian pork and cod. We then took the elevator to Joanna Sutherland theatre which is one of the two main venues in the opera house for shows. I would say it was very much comparable to environments that are created in famous theatres in the US such as the Richard Rogers Theatre.

During the show, some of the adaptations were made to the show such as Australian jokes that I didn’t quite understand and changing famous New York street names to street names shared in both NYC and Sydney. Overall, the entire experience was an amazing opportunity to experience Australian performance culture, explore the architecture of one of Sydney’s most famous landmarks, and enjoy locally produced Australian food.

Dylan Finger

Major: Molecular and Cell Biology

Hometown: Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

Program: University of Sydney Direct Enroll