Patti LuPone Set to Lead LA Opera's THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES; Darko Tresnjak to Direct

LA Opera will soon present the first full-scale production in this century of John Corigliano's grand opera buffa, one of the most acclaimed operas of our time. Extravagantly scaled, gloriously tuneful, supremely touching and yet uproariously entertaining, The Ghosts of Versailles turns history on its head as love attempts to alter the course of destiny. Running February 7- March 1, 2015, the production will feature direction by Tony winner Darko Tresnjak.

The company will be led by Broadway legend Patti LuPone (Samira), with Patricia Racette (Marie Antoinette), Christopher Maltman (Beaumarchais), Robert Brubaker (Begearss), Lucas Meachem (Figaro) and Lucy Schaufer (Susanna). The cast will also include: Richard Croft, Guanqun Yu, Stacey Tappan, Brenton Ryan, Kristinn Sigmundsson, Scott Scully, Joel Sorensen, Renée Rapier, Victoria Livengood, Philip Cokorinos, Summer Hassan, Lacey Jo Benter, Frederick Ballentine, Patrick Blackwell, So Young Park, Vanessa Becerra and Peabody Southwell.

Trapped in the spirit world, the ghost of Marie Antoinette bitterly reflects on her final suffering. Her favorite playwright tries to entertain the melancholy queen with the continuing adventures of his beloved characters from The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro. But sneaky Figaro refuses to play by the script, breaking free from the opera-within-the-opera in a surprise bid for a better life.

Tresjnak made his Broadway debut in 2013, won both the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for directing the new musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, which also received the Tony Award and Drama Desk for Best New Musical. He is the Artistic Director of Hartford Stage and he has directed at Theatre for a New Audience, The Public Theater, Old Globe, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Royal Shakespeare Company Complete Works Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Huntington Theatre Company, Goodspeed Musicals, Long Wharf Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse and Vineyard Theater. He received the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for his direction of A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder and San Diego Theatre Critics Awards for his direction ofPericles, Cyrano de Bergerac, and The Winter's Tale. Upcoming productions include The Killer at Theatre for a New Audience. At LA Opera, he previously directed a double-bill of The Broken Jug (U.S. premiere) and The Dwarf, as well as The Birds. (www.DarkoTresnjak.com)

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos