# Have you been inside the Sydney Opera House? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 13, 2024, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485 "2024-05-13T11:51:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/1 "2024-05-13T11:51:14Z")
I was rereading _The Phantom of the Opera_, and it made me wonder where else a Phantom could hide. Naturally, the Sydney Opera House sprang to mind, but I’ve never been there and have only seen pictures. Is it mazelike at all, or pretty open and airy? ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/2 "2024-05-13T19:58:08Z")
I too have never seen the Sydney Opera House up close, but everyone who sees a picture goes “Aha! Sydney”. However, what kind of Phantom would inhabit a modernistic stucture like that? Phantoms are traditionally kind of old-fashioned I should think. If I were a Phantom, I’d want to know if there are catwalks and sub-basements to lurk in. Maybe Sydney has those - I’d ask a Phantom Real Estate company a lot of questions before I considered moving in. Also if there’s space for an organ. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/3 "2024-05-13T20:02:17Z")
Been there, but not backstage. The theatrical space is modernistic with few hidey-holes. ETA: image > **[The broken promise of the Sydney Opera House, its botched design and $150m fix](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/30/the-broken-promise-of-the-sydney-opera-house-its-botched-design-and-150m-fix)** > > The landmark’s concert hall closes on Saturday for a two-year renovation. It has been plagued by compromises since architect Jørn Utzon’s walkout in 1966 ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/4 "2024-05-13T20:13:03Z")
Question: can phantoms fly? I know they wear capes. This might influence my decision if I were one which I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/5 "2024-05-13T20:35:00Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Is it mazelike at all, or pretty open and airy? [Here is a good animated tour of the Sydney Opera House](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuh5IC-VjuA). I’ve never been but it’s on my bucket list. The basement area – starts around minute 10:45 in the video – looks to be mostly offices and storage. Not a lot of places to hide except maybe some storage areas / closets. Certainly no long-forgotten and abandoned catacombs. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/6 "2024-05-13T21:30:11Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Not a lot of places to hide except maybe some storage areas / closets. Certainly no long-forgotten and abandoned catacombs. It’s like they have no pride in making a proper Opera House! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/7 "2024-05-14T00:45:51Z")
When I was there I went inside and wandered around a bit. What I saw was nice but pretty much what I expected. I regret that I didn’t do a tour. I took a twilight photo of the structure that remains one of my favorite images I have ever captured: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/MqNlIGo.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/MqNlIGo) mmm ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/8 "2024-05-14T04:35:07Z")
I went to an opera there in the 1990’s. Did not seem a maze of warrens where a phantom could easily hide. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/9 "2024-05-14T05:51:31Z")
Been there, did the tour, didn’t see any evidence of catacombs or hidden lairs. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/10 "2024-05-14T09:21:44Z")
I saw Gurrumul there in 2008. He wasn’t a huge name at the time and was booked in one of the smaller theatres. There were only a few hundred people there. A problem with the booked theatre meant that the audience was taken to a tiny theatre in the bowels of the building. Due to renovation work going on we had to trail, almost single file behind an usher. We had no idea where we were. I actually remarked to my partner, ‘If some guy in a mask jumps out don’t scream, it’s only the guy from “Some Mothers 'Ave 'Em.”’ ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/11 "2024-05-14T09:34:31Z")
Been to Utzon’s Yodelling Shack and it’s various theatres and halls many times. One thing you need to remember is it’s still a pretty young building and hasn’t been extended, rebuilt or substantial structural change. So any nooks and crannies would have been in the original blueprint. No towers or buttresses reinforcing the building which is self supporting. So its more cavernous than mazey. But there are a fair number of spaces under the sails. Also under the structure as the harbour and tides are used for air conditioning. Yes, the Sydney Opera House is water cooled. Hence there is ducting and access points in areas you don’t normally associate with a monumental structure. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/12 "2024-05-17T17:34:11Z")
I haven’t been inside, but I did enjoy a glass of Irish Whiskey at the Opera Bar on Saint Patrick’s Day under a beautiful full moon in 2003. The next morning I awoke and looked out of my hotel room window to see this: [![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2RJMqFSVl_o/UUkFu-abPRI/AAAAAAAAvGM/1d4ZVwSeoS0/s1600/SOH+3-18-03.jpg) ](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2RJMqFSVl_o/UUkFu-abPRI/AAAAAAAAvGM/1d4ZVwSeoS0/s1600/SOH+3-18-03.jpg) Very controversial, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/13 "2024-05-17T20:59:31Z")
I actually went to an opera there 40 years ago, but the seating area was wide open. What was hidden behind and under, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/14 "2024-05-17T21:07:16Z")
I was there a few years ago. Like any large structure, it wouldn’t be impossible for somebody to work out a hidey hole but I would think it difficult for somebody to pull a Phantom and strike out at people at random, much less enough space to install any large instruments or play them without giving oneself away. As for sub-basements and such…it’s on the water. Makes more than the one basement rather difficult and much of the main space is accessed by going up stairs/elevators. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-been-inside-the-sydney-opera-house/1001485/15 "2024-05-17T21:12:08Z")
You folks are making my dream of an Australian sequel to The Phantom so much harder!