When Cameron Mackintosh combined Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tell Me on a Sunday and Variations as Song & Dance, he labelled it a “concert for the theatre”. Forty years later, choreographer Paulina Quinteros may have finally created a work that really fits that description. Not strictly a double or triple bill, it is a multidisciplinary confection that showcases the artistry of her esteemed collaborators on this one-night-only display. And what a display it is.

Sui Generis. Photo © Adrian Massiello

It opens with Handful of Notes, set to several compositions by Elena Kats-Chernin. The composer provides the musical accompaniment herself, as she plays on a keyboard and is wheeled around the stage by two dancers. At one point she is turned with her back to the audience, revealing an impressively ruffled, black bustle by designer Bowie Wong. Conducted by Aija Draguns, members of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs add their superb voices to the accompaniment, circling Kats-Chernin as they sing in concert with her.

Set against a backdrop of animated drawings by Blue Mountains artist Bill Hope, Kats-Chernin’s musical genius is never overpowered by the staging elements around her. One cannot help but...