There was a moment last July, standing on stage before an expectant audience under the sails of the Sydney Opera House, when Caroline O’Connor wondered if she was in the right place. In 34 years of live musical-theatre performance in fabled venues in London, New York and Paris, she’d never experienced an instant of indecision. But this night was different. Her 90-year-old mother, Maureen, lay dangerously ill in hospital.