Opera North announce new North East dates
A revival of La bohème coming to Newcastle in the autumn
Hot on the heels of their spring visit to the Theatre Royal, Opera North have announced their 2025-26 season, including premieres at Leeds Grand Theatre (the company’s home venue) and touring dates in Newcastle, Salford, Nottingham and Hull.
Tickets will go on sale in the coming days and hardcore fans of opera in the North East will be keen to seize upon what are pretty rare opportunities to enjoy their favourite art form live.
The essentials are as follows…
The autumn week (well, four days) will see three performances of Phyllida Lloyd’s 1993 production of Puccini’s La bohème, revived by director James Hurley (evenings on November 5 and 8 with a matinee on November 6); one performance (November 8) of Handel’s Susanna, a new production directed by Olivia Fuchs and in partnership with Phoenix Dance Theatre; and one performance of The Big Opera Mystery (November 8, 12 noon), an introduction to opera for children aged five to 12 and their families.
While La bohème needs no introduction as a popular box office banker, Susanna is a Biblical story telling of the female victim of two powerful and predatory men out to destroy her reputation, yet who comes out on top in the end.
Phoenix Dance Theatre’s artistic director, Marcus Jarrell Willis, will collaborate with Olivia Fuchs in creating what Opera North call “a biting parable for our times”. Brilliant soprano Anna Dennis is to take the title role.
Following the success of The Big Opera Adventure, The Big Opera Mystery requires audience members to turn sleuth and use crime-busting skills to catch a thief.
Promise Opera North: “This is a mystery like no other, where the suspects are some of the greatest opera characters of all time – and the detective is YOU!”
Next spring we will get two performances of The Marriage of Figaro (March 19 and 21) in a new production marking the Opera North debut of director Louisa Muller; and one of Phyllida Lloyd’s 2006 production of Peter Grimes, marking the 50th anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s death, revived by director Karolina Sofulak (March 20).
The Phyllida Lloyd productions are both superb which is why they’re coming back. The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart at his most mischievous, is familiar territory and will sell out.
But if you want to see The Secret of the Black Spider (the UK premiere of the longer, ‘Hamburg’ version of Dame Judith Weir’s ‘historical comic thriller’) you’ll have to go to Leeds where it’s to be performed by the Opera North Youth Company on September 26 and 27 – the first opera by a female composer to be presented by Opera North on the main stage of Leeds Grand Theatre.
And the more I think about that last statement, the more extraordinary it sounds, especially given the number of women working in opera as directors, performers, designers and more.
Opera North will also be at The Glasshouse on May 2 with the latest of their wonderful concert performances – this time of Verdi’s tragedy Simon Boccanegra sung in Italian with English subtitles.
The opera was premiered in the mid-19th Century and tells a story from the mid-14th Century, Boccanegra having been the first Doge (head of state) of Genoa.
A complex plot contributed to a mixed response when the opera was first performed in 1857 but it was revised in 1881.
Opera North, renowned for getting the best out of things, call it “a gripping story of political intrigue and personal tragedy”. Judging by past concert performances here, a memorable performance is in store. Tickets are already on sale at The Glasshouse.
Tickets for all Opera North productions at the Theatre Royal go on sale to the general public on April 4 at 10am (and to Friends Plus on March 24, Friends on March 28 and Flexi Priority Pass, Groups and Schools on April 1).
Find details on the Theatre Royal website.