A short show and business class seating at the ballet

A 50-minute show in a plush new theatre means Queensland Ballet’s Peter and The Wolf is a rare treat and a good chance to get a gander at the company’s plush new digs

Queensland Ballet production of Peter and the Wolf – Sean Ferenczi, Taron Geyl, Alyssa Park and Alisa Pukkinen. Photography David Kelly

Arriving at Queensland Ballet’s refurbished home for a show feels kind of like checking into a plush boutique hotel. The $100 million plus revamp of the Thomas Dixon Centre, a former boot factory at West End, is spectacular.

I don’t think they have any rooms where you can stay for the night but if they did I would book one.

But if you want to look over this magnificent arts facility (one that is already the envy of every other company in the country) you can do so anytime. The building is open for a bit of rubbernecking and you can have a coffee and a pastry at the cafe bar during the day as you check the place out.

The Talbot Theatre at the redeveloped Thomas Dixon Centre, home to Queensland Ballet, West End. Picture: Liam Kidston

Best idea is to take the kids to Peter and The Wolf and check out the new Talbot Theatre. It is plush and comfortable and is the theatrical equivalent of flying business class. Plenty of leg room, comfy seats, not too big, just right in fact with an extraordinarily spacious stage.

Prior to the show’s opening night Thursday Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk unveiled a plaque to officially open it. The Premier was there with her partner Dr Reza Adib and they were given the royal tour by the company’s artistic director, Li Cunxin, a man who could charm the birds out of the trees as well as millions from donors and governments.

Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and wife Nina were there too along with their four kids.

Ballet

I mean peter and The Wolf is a show for families really but adults will love it too because we all grew up on this story and Prokofiev’s music is part of the soundtrack of my childhood. I first saw a production of Peter and The Wolf in a hall in Maitland, New South Wales, when I was around five. It wasn’t the ballet version though – it involved marionettes as I recall. You will have similar memories and now is the time to make memories for your kids too.

Choreographer Greg Horsman has extended the original a bit by adding some extra Prokofiev music, another suite that he composed for children. It works perfectly and makes it longer but still, this ballet is only 50 minutes long which is a pleasure in this day and age when everything is far too long.

Queensland Ballet’s production of Peter and the Wolf is charming and blissfully short. Photography David Kelly

A fifty minute show in a plush new theatre, what’s not to love?

Opening night cast featured Josh Fagan as Peter, with Joseph Moss as The Wolf, Camilo Ramos as Peter’s Grandfather, Corina Poh as The Bird, Shanti Barlow as The Duck (which gets swallowed whole by The Wolf!) and Paige Ristevski as The Cat.

There are other dancers involved as the Scouts as this version is built around a Scout troupe’s visit to the zoo (where The Wolf escapes from!) and there is live music on stage, featuring students from Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, under conductor Nigel Gaynor.

Prokofiev wrote the piece to introduce kids to the orchestra’s instruments and this ballet is perfect to introduce kids music and to ballet.

And it’s your chance to luxuriate in the Queensland Ballet’s magnificent new home. Wander in and linger a while in the subtle splendour of the Ian Potter Promenade and soak up the ambience. Tell them I sent you.

Peter and The Wolf is on at the Talbot Theatre in the Thomas Dixon Centre until August 27.

queenslandballet.com.au