Opera's Bad Girl: Anna Bishop, the World’s First Daringly Defiant Diva
Before Melba... There Was Anna Bishop. Long before women could vote, let alone take centre stage, one woman rewrote the rules. OPERA’S BAD GIRL is a thrilling, one-of-a-kind theatrical experience that tells the untamed true story of Anna Bishop — opera’s original rebel. A Victorian-era trailblazer (and early Suffragette) who defied her time; she lived fast, sang farther, and dared to do what no woman had done before. From scandal to spotlight, Anna Bishop was unstoppable. She left her famous composer husband and defied polite society by running off with her genius virtuoso harpist lover — embarking on a globe-trotting adventure so wild it reads like fiction: shipwrecks, tiger attacks, hostage-takings, war zones, boom-bust fortunes and epidemics — and through it all, she sang. To royalty. To rebels. To packed houses on every continent — including three history-making tours of Australia, where she performed in the goldfields and helped shape our musical identity. Now, her extraordinary life returns to the stage in a dazzling performance by acclaimed soprano Sarahlouise Owens.
Running time: approximately 60 minutes.