Review – Floating Melodies: Music and Wine on the Popeye
The Popeye is a state heritage icon, up there with the pie floater and fritz ‘n’ sauce, and most homegrown South Australians will remember a trip on one of the fleet’s vessels from their childhood – heck, even the Queen’s been on it! But forget the plastic bench seats and picnic sandwich; this evening event transformed the vessel with cabaret seating, candles, cheese and wine.
For the special Valentine’s Day edition of Floating Melodies, Emma Knights brought together some truly beautiful and uniquely South Australian elements, with sponsorship from McLaren Vale’s Scarpantoni wines, Adelaide Hills chocolatier Red Cacao, and an assortment of cheeses from the award winning B.-d. Farm Paris Creek, complimented with a Maggie Beer spiced pear paste and dukkah from Assaggio.
Husband and wife team from the Opera of South Australia, baritone Andrew Turner and soprano Joanna McWaters performed a selection of their repertoire from operas and musical theatre on the theme of love (and drinking), with accompaniment by Emma Knights on piano. And as the Popeye passed the reed lined banks of the zoo the married musicians performed the duet “People Will Say” from South Pacific, adding a nice touch to the Valentine’s Day theme.
Emma Knights opened the voyage by stating that, this Fringe, her aim was to try and take performances out of predictable venues such as churches and school halls. And when she suspended the Popeye under the King William Street bridge, the beautifully live acoustics provided by the cavernous space proved her point that there are other venues suited to the performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” or Puccini’s “Turrandot”.
Keep an eye out for the special children’s edition on Saturday February 22nd!
