The Sydney Opera House Junior Tour : Introducing the Newest Junior Expert

Often, when you live in a particular place for a long time, you forget to really appreciate what is right under your nose awaiting discovery and pining for opportunities further afield like Paris, Florence or even a tropical island. Over the last few months we have made a conscious decision to explore a little closer to home while we save for our next international trip. Oh the wonders we have found!

The Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s most iconic building and was designed by Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect after winning a contest in 1957. Rather than taking 3 years to build as first anticipated by the government, it took 16! We have attended a handful of shows as part of the Kids at the House school holiday program, but not one of us has actually ever really explored the site.

These school holidays, when Master R was off at his latest rep soccer match, Miss N and I caught the train into Circular Quay and walked around to the Sydney Opera House Junior Tour. We were unsure what to expect. Unlike other adventures that I painstakingly research, I chose not to do any reading at all and just enjoy what every materialised. I was certainly thrilled about the idea of exploring the inside of the iconic building – you don’t often read about that.

After we finally worked out where the tour meeting spot was, (take the escalators down under the boardwalk and then waltz right past the Opera House Bar and Kitchen until you come to the souvenir shop. The meeting point is in the open area around this space), we spent a handful of minutes waiting for our tour guide to appear. Bruce arrived and promptly told all the adults that we were to be seen and not heard; the tour was for the kids and they were to ask the questions and lead the direction of the tour – not us! With this directive firmly in place we headed off on our tour.

With Snugglepot and Cuddlepie in session, we skipped the Playhouse and headed to our first stop – the studio which is currently being used to host Bindjareb Pinjarra, The studio seems to change between each of our visits. I believe it has a flexible seating layout. It was here that Almighty Bruce (we are going to stick to that name – he was fantastic), introduced the kids to the idea of set design and props.

Next stop, the Drama Theatre which is playing host to Bangarra Dance Theatre’s lore: dance stories of land and sea. Almighty Bruce explained that some dance companies use a lot of chalk or powered during their production. Lore uses plenty. The kids are prompted to touch the stage with their hands and see how much chalk stuck to their hands. They all did this and were chuffed to find their hands were coated in chalk. What I liked about this theatre is that EVERY seat has a good view. We tried the front row, the middle row, the back row, the side, the other side, all different seats and they all had a great line of vision.

We then took the elevator up to the first level. The elevator actually deserves special mention as it is quite unique. It has no ceiling! Why? Well when Jørn Utzon designed the Sydney Opera House there was some agreement that added architecture would never obscure what he had designed. The elevator is not an original piece of the Sydney Opera House but is required as an accessibility feature. So when it was constructed, the ceiling was omitted so you can still see the wonderful features of above.

The Northern Foyers where next, offering an amazing panoramic view across the harbour. Breathtaking. This was our rest stop before entering, what must be the Sydney Opera Houses’s crowning glory.

We needed to use a special key to get inside which was swooped on by two of the kids, gleefully excited to see where the next leg of our journey would take us. We entered and I was mesmerised. So was Miss N. With its high vaulted ceiling, white birch timber and brush box panelling, and an enormous, world’s biggest organ featuring 138 visible pipes with another 10,000 hidden behind, the Concert Hall is mind blowing in its sheer size and beauty. It was certainly the highlight of our tour, aside from Almighty Bruce our tour guide. Fancy that! With the tech team busy tuning the instruments, we had to be super quiet and couldn’t take images other than the ceiling, but we could have stayed all day rapt in awe by its beauty.

Just before we departed our tour to head into our show, we were taken to a little alcove and shown some of the costumes worn by past performers of the Sydney Opera House. Miss N tried on tutus, Egyptian pharaohs headers, Napoleon hats, held a sceptre, and generally had fun working through each costume.

The Tour ended with Bruce Almighty presenting each child participant with a certificate and badge. Miss N was proud to become Sydney Opera House’s newest Junior Expert!

A family ticket will cost you $95.00. If you are keen to ask questions yourself and explore some of the more ‘adult-scentric parts of the Opera House, you may like to consider a Backstage Tour. 

Please note bags larger than a standard handbag will need to be cloaked on arrival and may be subject to a search before being cloaked. Please arrive 15 minutes early in order to allow sufficient time for this to occur before your tour.

Thank you to the Sydney Opera House Junior Tour for inviting us.