Ben Hur Stadium Spectacular, Sydney.
Ken and I booked in several months ago to see this show, and it was worth the wait, and worth every cent we spent on the tickets, accomodation, airfares, car rental etc. A few of the online and newspaper reviews were uncomplimentary, even scathing, and I can only assume they were written by young people who know nothing and care even less about events set in Biblical times. Ben Hur was a fictional character who is not mentioned in the Bible; he was dreamed up by a Civil War hero back in the 19th century. You can read more about the author and the background of the "Ben Hur" book here.
This stadium show was a play about an era 2000 years ago, acted by a mostly European cast. There weren't many special effects, pyrotechnic or otherwise, apart from two HUGE screens at each end of the stadium where the audience could see close up shots of the actors' facial expressions and actions, and this is what made it so stirring to watch. The actor portraying Jesus as he carried the cross was far more convincing than any other movie I've seen. The chariot race was arguably the most 'spectacular' and eagerly awaited part, and I doubt if anyone was disappointed.
We took heaps of photos, and a few short movies on our camera, and I'm going to try and post the videos on You Tube later on. In the meantime, here are three of my photos. Ken and I had planned to dress up in togas, but when we saw nobody else in any kind of costume we chickened out! These 'centurions' were strolling around prior to the show, dressed in the colours of the ANZ Bank (major stadium sponsor), and people were lining up to have their photos taken with them! Ken had just bought a Ben Hur souvenir tee-shirt which he put on to wear to the show.
Additional note 1.11.10: This blog has some fabulous photos of the Ben Hur Spectacular - worth visiting if you want to get a good idea of what it was like.
This is inside the Stadium which holds 80,000 people, I think.. The show was supposed to start at 8 pm, and we were seated an hour earlier, hence the empty seats in this photo. The show was late starting due to a huge traffic jam outside, but by 8.30, it looked just about full, although I read somewhere there were only (!) 40,000 people.
This was Ben Hur on his chariot - not a good photo as the horses were trotting quite fast, so it is blurred.
This stadium show was a play about an era 2000 years ago, acted by a mostly European cast. There weren't many special effects, pyrotechnic or otherwise, apart from two HUGE screens at each end of the stadium where the audience could see close up shots of the actors' facial expressions and actions, and this is what made it so stirring to watch. The actor portraying Jesus as he carried the cross was far more convincing than any other movie I've seen. The chariot race was arguably the most 'spectacular' and eagerly awaited part, and I doubt if anyone was disappointed.
We took heaps of photos, and a few short movies on our camera, and I'm going to try and post the videos on You Tube later on. In the meantime, here are three of my photos. Ken and I had planned to dress up in togas, but when we saw nobody else in any kind of costume we chickened out! These 'centurions' were strolling around prior to the show, dressed in the colours of the ANZ Bank (major stadium sponsor), and people were lining up to have their photos taken with them! Ken had just bought a Ben Hur souvenir tee-shirt which he put on to wear to the show.
Additional note 1.11.10: This blog has some fabulous photos of the Ben Hur Spectacular - worth visiting if you want to get a good idea of what it was like.
This is inside the Stadium which holds 80,000 people, I think.. The show was supposed to start at 8 pm, and we were seated an hour earlier, hence the empty seats in this photo. The show was late starting due to a huge traffic jam outside, but by 8.30, it looked just about full, although I read somewhere there were only (!) 40,000 people.
This was Ben Hur on his chariot - not a good photo as the horses were trotting quite fast, so it is blurred.
posted by Gina E. | 11:16 pm
2 Comments:
I just love this sort of post, when we get to share experiences we would never get. Thanks for blogging about it.
Have been waiting for your review on Ben Hur and am pleased you enjoyed the show and thought the cost worthwhile. There have been lots of mixed reviews on the radio this morning, and about a storm late afternoon which luckily didn't spoil the show.
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