2019-05-01+The+Australian+Womens+Weekly

84 The Australian Women’s Weekly|MAY 2019

MALCOLM

WEARS

MJ

BALE

TUXEDO.

JANE

WEARS

ALEX

PERRY

GOWN

AT

MYER.

JOHNATHAN

WEARS

MJ

BALE

TUXEDO. ANNA WEARS MATICEVSKI GOWN. JUD WEARS OWN SUIT. TARYN WEARS SUZANNE HARWARD GOWN.

WhenJaneandMalcolmEdewereintroducedwhileperforming
in theOperaAustraliachorusin 2008,“wedidn’tactuallytake
toeachother,”laughsJane.
“Well,I tooktoJanebutshedidn’tlikemeverymuch,”
Malcomdemurs.Still,travellingtoMelbournewiththe
companythefollowingyear,theydiscovereda sharedloveof
tennis.Astheyralliedacrossthecourt,sparksfinallybegan
tofly.AndwhenMalcolmstrategicallypositionedhimselfin the
rehearsalroom,sohecouldpartnerupwithJaneduringa scene,
hegrabbedherhand.“AndI haven’tstoppedgrabbingherever
since,”Malcolm,39,smiles.Theymarriedin 2010,before
welcomingtheirdaughter,Emily,in 2011.Emilyis a regular
fixturebackstageat theSydneyOperaHouse.
Today,Jane,43,is a principalat OperaAustralia.Hersuccess,
herproudhusbandsays,hasbeen“enormouslygratifying”to
watch.“Thefunnythingis,I couldn’tdoit withoutMalcolm,”
Janeinsists.“It’snocoincidencethatmysingingtookoffwhenI
methim.Heis justsosupportiveandsucha goodcritic.I thinkhe
is justwonderful.Hewould say that he is Clark Kent but I would
say he is Superman.”

Jane &

Malcolm

A LOVE THAT RALLIED

ThefirsttimeAnnaDowsleywascastinCosì

fantuttebackin 2016wasa littleawkward.

SheandKiwitenorJonathanAbernethy– the

understudyforthelate-to-arriveAmerican

singerplayingheronstagelover– werein a

relativelynewromance.Andgiventhe

characters’lovestorywouldhavea tragicend

bycurtainclose,“itwasquitedifficultin

rehearsals,”shelaughs.

Still,thechemistrybetweenthetwo31-year-

olds– whowillcelebratefiveyearstogetherin

Octoberthisyear– hasalwaysbeenapparent

sincetheirfirstmeetingin theOperaAustralia

YoungArtistsprogram.It didn’ttakelongfor

lovetobloomandnow,despitebothbeingin

highdemandforroleshereandoverseas,they

workhardtokeeptheirromancestrong.

“You’vegottofollowtheopportunitiesthat

cometoyoubutwelookat themtogetherand

trytobeobjectiveaboutwhatit meansforus,”

saysJonathan.“Theideaofbeingawayfrom

homeis reallyhard,butwhen Anna comes with

me, it doesn’t matter.”

Anna &

Jonathan

A STORY OF YOUNG LOVE