Opera's Bad Girl

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 and charming one-of-a-kind theatrical experience that 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, 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 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, 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. Through beloved arias like Lucia’s Mad Scene, The Last Rose of Summer, and Home Sweet Home, Owens channels Anna’s bold spirit, fierce independence, and infectious charisma — breathing life into a woman who dared to live on her own terms