Live Review: BILL MURRAY and FRIENDS Sydney Opera House

Bill Murray is a living treasure; funny by virtue of his presence alone, charming, wry and understated. Tonight he brings an extraordinary show to the Sydney Opera House featuring himself, Jan Vogler on the cello and his wife violinist Mira Wang, and pianist Vanessa Perez performing a selection of material as diverse as it is spectacular.
Murray reads from Walt Whitman, Ernest Hemingway and a piece taken from Twain’s Huckleberry Finn featuring a racial epithet that from anyone other than Murray would have been jarring. In his hands though it seems quaint and folksy but also an insightful comment on modern America.
He turns his hands to show tunes like ‘Somewhere’ from Westside Story and Tom Waits’ ‘The Piano Has Been Drinking’. To each he brings a unique silliness, including at one point rolling into probably the strangest rendition of ‘I Feel Pretty’ ever seen on a stage. The presence of Vogler and his virtuoso musicians add a certain gravitas the show might otherwise have missed but the elements combine in such a way as to create something magical. There is real chemistry on stage between each of the four performers and in a few moments even the page turner gets the spotlight.
At the end of the show Murray runs through the crowd throwing roses at audience members and reminding everyone in the house why he is THE Bill Murray that made such a name for himself playing John Wringer (Stripes) Peter Venkman (Ghostbusters) Phil Connors (Groundhog Day) and at times, hilariously, himself (Zombieland, Coffee and Cigarettes). But tonight wasn’t Murray showing up with his usual schtick the pieces were wonderfully selected to create a narrative and, even when given a kind of tongue in cheek treatment, were handled delicately and respectfully. Murray’s singing voice is probably not what you’d consider amazing, but there are times when he shows that it has real power and nuance that can discover hidden aspects of music and poetry that everyone has heard a thousand times.
The setting probably had something to do with the air of romance and classic Broadway, as opposed to vaudeville which many were probably expecting. The Opera House is not just a striking tourist site from the outside, the theatre itself is graceful and the acoustics are wonderful and at times felt like the show’s 5thcharacter.
If ever you are offered the opportunity to see this once in a lifetime extravaganza, I implore you to take it with both hands. There certainly were not any disappointed faces on the capacity crowd leaving the room tonight.