Classics by theatre legends

OPERA and musical theatre legends David Hobson and Marina Prior will join forces to perform their classics in Hobart on Sunday.

The Wrest Point concert is part of the duo’s massive fivemonth, 50-show tour, which sees them performing songs from The Phantom of The Opera, Les Miserables, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oliver, The Sound of Music, South Pacific and La Boheme, as well as tracks from their own award-winning albums.

Hobson and Prior have known each other for 35 years.

“Our first professional show together was the Broadway revival of The Pirates of Penzance which toured Australia for about a year,” Prior said.

“We have done a lot of concerts together over the years including Carols by Candlelight but this is the first time we’ve done such an intensive tour together.”

“We come from the more structured and formal backgrounds of musical theatre, opera, and formal concerts with orchestras, so this format is a lovely change,” she said.

“It’s very up-close and personal. We’re very chatty. We tell a lot or stories and there’s plenty of humour and comedy. The audience gets to see us as ourselves rather than in costume and scripted.

“It’s very relaxed but we still do all the big blockbuster musical numbers and opera, and we mix it up, play guitars and do Irish and Scottish songs.

“The freedom of it is an absolute joy, with a lot of it offthe-cuff.”

They will perform at Wrest Point from 3pm Sunday. Tickets are $34.95-$69.95, www.ticketmaster.com.au or phone 136100 for bookings.