Kim Williams 
August 2020

This is a splendid initiative to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of the premiere of The Eighth Wonder in preparation for what I hope will be a revival fitting the fiftieth anniversary of the true ‘eighth wonder’ in October 2023.

The Eighth Wonder is one of the great works in modern Australian theatre. We all owe much to a remarkably gifted group of creators - first and foremost to composer Alan John and librettist Dennis Watkins (under the nourishingly inspiring and watchful creative eye of Jim Sharman, throughout the gestation and realisation of the work). 

There was the splendid team which realised the work’s full potential with their wonderful first production and its marriage of music and drama - conductor Richard Gill, director Neil Armfield, designer Brian Thomson, costume designer Angus Strathie, choreographer Kim Walker, and finally the brilliant lighting design of Rory Dempster. 

And then there was of course a splendid cast which gave the work such an indelibly memorable debut, led by David Hobson and Clare Gormley, reinforced with notable performances by John Pringle, Donald Shanks, Heather Begg, Roger Lemke, Geoffrey Chard and Emma Lysons (now Matthews) amongst many other distinctive singers. 

Together they gave us a truly compelling production of a great work, performed by Australia’s national opera company at a time when the nation was reflecting on issues of vision, direction and spirit. The Eighth Wonder magically brought such concepts together in a uniquely memorable way, demanding reflection on the symbolism of the history of the Sydney Opera House’s troubled creation, which began a long road of reconciliation with its creator Jørn Utzon from an announcement made by the Premier of NSW Bob Carr and the Chair of the Sydney Opera House Trust Joe Skrzynski from 1999 onwards. 

It was my singular privilege to serve as Chairman of the Sydney Opera House Trust from January 2005 until September 2013 (retiring 3 months early to handover to my successor so that he was in place for the all important 40th anniversary celebrations for the House’s 1973 opening). On my watch we had the unique custodianship of the process for inclusion of the Opera House on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the World Heritage Convention  - a status granted in June 2007. The inclusion of the Sydney Opera House placed it alongside such notable monuments as the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Egypt and the Taj Mahal as one of the outstanding places on planet earth. At that time I had the personal pleasure of calling Jørn Utzon informing him that he was the recipient of a remarkable honour where he was only the second living architect to have been so recognised (the first being awarded for the design of Brasilia, capital of Brazil by Oscar Niemeyer). 

Jørn was delighted - earlier in March of the previous year, I had called him to give a detailed account of the opening by HM Queen Elizabeth II, of his new ‘western colonnade’ - an addition to the fabric of the building opening out the foyer and entrances of the Drama Theatre, Playhouse and Studio performance spaces to the western forecourt and western harbour vista from the building. On both occasions we spoke at length and he regaled me with many of the unusual experiences he had in creating,  designing and  building the monument we all know and revere so well today. In particular he reminded me (amongst many pearls of wisdom he was generous enough to share over the few years we knew each other) that the visionary Premier, Joe Cahill had urged him as follows: “Mr Architect, I recommend you turn earth quickly!”  

Jørn Utzon had many such wonderful quotes and memories including of the disgraceful way he was treated by a subsequent government which resulted in him leaving the project until he was reunited with the building from 1999 and set about a range of design and building projects which have been progressively completed.  Those projects include the ‘Utzon Room’, the ‘Western Foyers’, the ‘Box Office Foyer’ and the new lifts and escalators which carry audiences into the Concert Hall and Opera Theatre and provide better disability access to the performance spaces. The range of superb designs include a design ‘gold book’ for a refashioned opera theatre, which would transform its capacity, sight-lines and acoustics. The designs have been partially realised in the completely new subterranean access to the building complex with its new arrangements for sets and other materials delivery. It must eventually be brought to fruition with a proper functioning opera theatre relevant to the 21st century.  Hard as it may be to believe, decisions made by an unsympathetic government in the late 1960s still haunt effective delivery and purpose for the opera theatre in the Sydney Opera House in the 21st century.  

Jørn Utzon died in 2008. We organised an impressive State Memorial Service for him subsequently and spoke to the necessity of realising those designs. Thus far three separate premiers have pledged they will be completed. One day! 

With is premiere The Eighth Wonder achieved a rare thing for a new operatic work in Australian history  - it was immediately and immensely publicly popular. I would attribute that popularity not only to the inherent originality and quality of Alan John’s and Dennis Watkins’ creative vision and the resultant produced work, but also to the way in which the work captures the zeitgeist of an era in Australian history which commanded public attention. From the first advocacy of Sir Eugene Goosens (who was instrumental); followed by the visionary announcement by Premier Joe Cahill of the competition for the design of the building; then with Eero Saarinen’s dominating influence in the choice of the winning design; on through the myriad hi-ways and byways of its tortured design and construction process until its controversial opening by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1973, where the Premier of NSW Robin Askin officially snubbed the Prime Minister EG Whitlam QC, the Sydney Opera House has been a magnet for controversy, affection and devoted interest and commentary across Australia.  In many ways it is a critical symbol of  modern Australia, and its story in all its rich detail speaks to the tensions, exhilaration, failures and achievements in the current nation. 
 
Whenever I hear or see The Eighth Wonder now it has an immediate resonance with those discussions with Jørn Utzon and the indomitable spirit he brought to the project and the vast vision he brought to its realisation. It is at one and the same time, a great story and an epic tragedy of Shakespearean proportions  - with vision thwarted by petty-minded egos fueled, as is so often the case, with ignorance and old fashioned pig-headed bullying.  It is is truly operatic in dimension and meets its match in Alan’s and Dennis’ superb, unforgettable, thoroughly compelling storytelling.  

I have other close connections with The Eighth Wonder. I have known and admired Alan John and his extensive work for decades. He is a fine composer and all round musician who has been central to many great theatre works in the great theatre revival since the 1970s. The work is dedicated to his former wife, a lawyer who worked as a colleague of mine at the Australian Film Commission for several years.  Director Neil Armfield is not only a friend but also someone where I have seen every production he has made in Australia at least once since the late 1970s.  The conductor Richard Gill was my closest friend for over fifty years, until his tragic death in late 2018. We discussed this work throughout its genesis and first set of performances and revisited it when Richard lay dying and speaking about things that had mattered to him in a long and in so many ways wondrous career. I also had the satisfaction to work with Dennis Watkins as a fellow Trustee on the Sydney Opera House Trust, where after his retirement I invited him to continue as the chair of our Heritage Advisory Committee (charged with the responsibility to review all building modifications in terms of the adherence to the ‘Utzon Design Principles’), a task he acquitted with fidelity to the responsibility devotedly. 

So,  for me, this is a work of mighty personal connection and very real power. The Eighth Wonder is a work of durable value and strength which has stood the test of time, has seen three separate major Australian productions and will, I am sure, be revived regularly henceforth because of its remarkable merit as work - musically, theatrically, historically and as a landmark moment in modern opera generally and Australian opera specifically.  Long may it live to remind us of the transformative impact of unique, independent, courageous creators on our world view and outlook as to that which is possible.