The Big Opera Adventure, comes to the stage this month as the company encourages all ages to discover opera this autumn.
The interactive 50-minute production transports the audience to a theatre where the curtain has just come down on the last show before the doors close for good. It may be time for the caretaker to lock up the building, but a host of fairytale and operatic characters refuse to see it go without putting up a fight. Everyone is invited to join in their mission to save it from closure by solving clues and unravelling riddles while learning some memorable tunes along the way.
The caretaker becomes the show’s narrator as the action unfolds, gradually becoming one of opera’s biggest fans. He is joined on stage by three professional opera singers who take on a variety of roles – spot the grandfather clock! – with music provided by the Orchestra of Opera North. Written and directed by Jonathan Ainscough, this is the perfect opportunity to experience opera for the first time in a fun, accessible way.
Jacqui Cameron, Opera North’s Learning & Engagement Director: “These performances are primarily aimed at 5 to 12-year-olds but can be enjoyed by anyone who has never tried opera before. We’re delighted that one of the opera singers joining us is Msimelelo Mbali who is currently singing Sarastro in our mainstage production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
With new, shorter works such as these, we aim to engage people, regardless of age, with music and live performance, enabling them to experience at first hand the joy it can bring. Opera is basically a story told through song, which means it’s something children respond to really well. We hope this is just the beginning of their – and their parents’ – operatic journey with us.”
Opening at Huddersfield Town Hall as a concert staging on Sunday 20 October, The Big Opera Adventure will be performed fully staged in the Leeds Grand Theatre on Tuesday 29 October before touring to Salford for a show at The Lowry on Saturday 16 November. Every performance will be BSL sign interpreted and the shows at Leeds and The Lowry will be subtitled.
In addition to The Big Opera Adventure, Opera North is making it easier for people to experience a full-length opera over the coming months, with 6pm start times for some performances, more matinees, English subtitles, as well as sign-interpretation, audio description and touch tours on selected dates. New to opera ticket schemes are available at all tour venues with the Try it ON scheme offering £20 tickets for first-timers, £10 tickets for Under 30s and students, and free tickets for 16- to 20-year-olds.
Tickets for The Big Opera Adventure are available now from operanorth.co.uk.
Main image: Opera North’s The Magic Flute. Egor Zhuravskii as Tamino and Claire Lees as Pamina.
Photograph by Tristram Kenton .
