Blush Opera develops a new work based on the life of Australian design icon Florence Broadhurst

“Papered”

In 2023, Blush Opera presented a first stage development of a new opera, Papered, focusing on the life of Australian design icon, Florence Broadhurst. Blush Opera co-artistic director Paul Smith was the recent recipient of a CreateNSW Individual Project Grant to support the composition, workshop and presentation of three scenes from the new show.

To develop the operatic work of biofiction, Blush is collaborating with writer, Ariella Van Luyn, on their first operatic libretto which will explore Florence’s international life from regional Queensland to Shanghai and from London to Sydney. Van Luyn’s libretto will consist of three scenes and the three versions of themselves Broadhurst created: Bobbie, Madam Pellier and Florence. 

To explore the different characters and contexts of Broadhurst’s life, two more composers were commissioned to score the many guises, personas and profiles of the iconic artist. Anisha Thomas and Mary Rapp, along with Paul, will each set different dramatic stages of Broadhurst’s career.

Multidisciplinary artist, Nicole Pingon, who recently directed Blush Opera’s Bondi Beach installation opera Songs of the Sirens (Bondi Festival, 2023), is overseeing the dramaturgy of the development and guiding the thematic construction of the work.

Development Artists

Composers - Anisha Thomas, Mary Rapp, Paul Smith

Librettist - Ariella Van Luyn

Dramaturg - Nicole Pingon

Singers - Lisa Cooper, Jermaine Chau, Alice Girle

Piano - Claire Howard Race

Cello - Clare Kahn

Funding and Support

2023 \\ CreateNSW Individual/Group Funding \\ The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre \\ University of New England