Before Melba, there was Anna Bishop.
The darling of the Goldfields, returns at last to Ballarat to tell her story and sing the music that we came to love her for.
Anna’s extraordinary life returns to the stage. Through beloved arias like Lucia’s Mad Scene, The Last Rose of Summer, and Home Sweet Home, Sarahlouise Owens channels Anna’s bold spirit, fierce independence, and infectious charisma — breathing life into a woman who dared to live on her own terms.
OPERA’S BAD GIRL tells the untamed true story of Anna Bishop — opera’s original rebel. A Victorian-era trailblazer who defied her time, she lived fast, sang farther, going where angels fear to tread.
From scandal to spotlight, Anna Bishop was unstoppable. She left her famous composer husband and defied polite society by running off with a virtuoso harpist — embarking on a globe-trotting adventure so wild it reads like fiction: shipwrecks, tiger attacks, hostage-takings, war zones 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, helped shape our musical identity.
Opera’s Bad Girl is not just for opera lovers. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt the pull to break free, to dream bigger, to fight harder for the life they want. It’s history with heart, high notes, and a heroine who deserves her place among the legends.
Whether you’re 18 or 80, this show will move you, inspire you — and leave you wondering why you’ve never heard her name before.
One woman. One voice. One unforgettable story.
Don’t miss Opera’s Bad Girl. The rebel diva you never knew you needed.
Find out more:
https://ballaratmi.org.au/live-theatre/
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