Vancouver Opera Announces Tickets And Subscriptions On Sale

Tickets and subscription packages are now available for the upcoming blockbuster 2018-2019 Vancouver Opera's Season & Festival. The Season opens with Lehár's The Merry Widow (Die Lustige Witwe), an Art Nouveau-inspired comedic operetta (October 20-28, 2018, Queen Elizabeth Theatre) and continues with Puccini's much-loved La Bohème (February 14-24, 2019, Queen Elizabeth Theatre).

The 3rd annual 2019 Vancouver Opera Festival, themed "Fairytales & Fables" runs from April 27 to May 5 and features Gounod's devilishly exciting masterwork, Faust (April 27- May 5, 2019, Queen Elizabeth Theatre) and Rossini's La Cenerentola (Cinderella), (April 27- May 12, 2019, Vancouver Playhouse) as well as many family and special events, speakers, and more.

Four-Opera, Three-Opera, and Duet Subscriptions packages are now available for all 2018 - 2019 season. Operas starting at only $97 with both fixed and flexible seating options. Subscribers save up to 27% compared to single ticket prices and receive additional benefits such as preferred seating, tax refund for returned tickets with 48 Hours Notice, free ticket exchange for other performances, and savings on additional tickets for friends and family.

Single tickets are also now available for all Operas in the 2018 - 2019 season starting from $50. Demand is expected to be high, and early purchasers will receive the best selection of seats at the best value. Opera enthusiasts under the age of 40 can also sign up to the VO e-newsletter online at vancouveropera.ca to be notified as soon as VO releases $40 under 40 tickets to mainstage productions.

Subscription packages and single tickets may be purchased online at vancouveropera.ca, by phone at 604. 683. 0222, or in person from the VO Ticket Centre at 1945 McLean Drive, Vancouver BC (9am-5pm Monday-Friday).

Says Kim Gaynor, Vancouver Opera's General Director, "Our new season and the 3rd Annual Opera Festival will showcase a well-known repertoire reimagined for the modern audiences. I have invited a number of very talented conductors who have never directed for us before, as well as welcoming back Jonathan Darlington to conduct Gounod's Faust."

Vancouver Opera acknowledges the continuing support of The Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, the BC Arts Council and BC Provincial Government, the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Civic Theatres.

2018-2019 VANCOUVER OPERA SEASON & FESTIVAL - full description

The Merry Widow
by Franz Lehár
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Sung in German with English dialogue and English SURTITLES projected above the stage
Evening performances 7:30pm. Matinée performance 2:00pm.

Saturday, October 20, 2018 | Thursday, October 25, 2018
Saturday, October 27, 2018 | Sunday, October 28, 2018 • matinée

Get ready to indulge in the Viennese torte known as Franz Lehár's comedic operetta The Merry Widow (Die Lustige Witwe) in this wonderfully lavish Art Nouveau production directed by Canadian Kelly Robinson (last at Vancouver Opera as director of the hit production of Evita). Set in the heart of vibrant fin de siècle Paris, the wealthy widow, Hanna Glawari, sung by Italian-Canadian Lucia Cesaroni, schemes to win the heart of dashingly handsome Count Danilo, interpreted here by tenor John Cudia, recently at VO as Cassio in Verdi's Otello. The story unfolds on a stage packed with elegant ladies, eligible bachelors, and Maxim's famous can-can dancers. Franz Lehár's charming score, last performed at VO in 1990, is filled with lush waltzes and ballads. Susan Memmott-Allred's costumes and Michael Yeargan's sets evoke the Belle Epoque period with winning style. Rising star conductor Ward Stare will direct the Vancouver Opera Orchestra.

La Bohème
by Giacomo Puccini
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLES projected above the stage
Evening performances 7:30pm. Matinée performance 2:00pm.

Thursday, February 14, 2019 | Saturday, February 16, 2019 | Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Thursday, February 21, 2019 | Sunday, February 24, 2019 • matinee

This new production of La Bohème is - literally - an enormous vintage picture postcard of Paris. The curtain rises on a modern-day flea market with sellers touting their wares and an accordion duo entertaining the crowd. A present-day tourist discovers a stall specialising in objects d'art from the 1920s. Amid the bustle, a lone visitor puts a record on a vintage gramophone and we hear the opening bars of a very famous opera, transporting the audience back in time. Canadian designer and director duo André Barbe and Renaud Doucet - the team behind Turandot in 2017 - have cre­ated a gloriously extravagant production. Set in the interwar years when artists and writers flocked to Paris to live the bohemian life, Café Momus is full of flamboyant jazz-era figures, including a glamorously exotic Musetta. Canadian conductor Judith Yan makes her Vancouver Opera debut. A refreshing look at a much-loved opera.

2019 Vancouver Opera Festival: Fairytales & Fables
Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Vancouver Playhouse

Join us for the 3rd annual Vancouver Opera Festival which celebrates Fairytales & Fables. Enjoy two mainstage operas, special events, speakers, family events, and more. Additional programming will be announced in spring 2019.

Faust
by Charles Gounod
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Sung in French with English SURTITLES projected above the stage
Evening performances 7:30pm. Matinée performance 2:00pm.

Saturday, April 27, 2019 | Thursday, May 2, 2019 | Sunday, May 5, 2019 • matinee

Gounod's Faust is the pinnacle of 19th century French opera, it's full of rich characterization, it's dramatically exciting, and it's exuberantly evocative. Faust, an aged and bitter man, sells his soul to Méphistophélès in return for youth and the love of Marguerite, an innocent young woman. By trying to have it all, he loses everything. Gounod's sensuous and sublimely melodic masterpiece will be presented in a production not seen before in Vancouver. This all Canadian cast features east-coast native David Pomeroy and Marianne Fiset, who gave a wonderfully moving interpretation of Liù in the 2017-2018 season opening production of Turandot. Making his Vancouver Opera debut is To­ronto native Robert Pomakov, who appears regularly in the world's greatest opera houses. Jonathan Darlington returns to conduct the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

La Cenerentola
by Gioachino Rossini
Vancouver Playhouse
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLES projected above the stage
Evening performances 7:30pm. Matinée performances 2:00pm. Early matinée performances 12:30pm.

Saturday, April 27, 2019 • matinee | Tuesday, April 30, 2019 • early matinee
Wednesday, May 1, 2019 | Thursday, May 2, 2019 • early matinee
Saturday, May 4, 2019 | Tuesday, May 7, 2019 | Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Thursday, May 9, 2019 | Saturday, May 11, 2019 | Sunday, May 12, 2019 • matinee

In Rossini's masterpiece, La Cenerentola (Cinderella), the evil stepmother trades places with a malevolent stepfather, the fairy godmother is a philosopher, and the legendary glass slipper is replaced with a bracelet. Nonetheless, the essence of the fairy-tale remains: a magical journey from rags to riches. The opera will be presented in the more intimate Vancouver Playhouse. Led by Maestro Leslie Dala, the orchestra will perform the re-orchestration of Rossini's score. A refreshingly youthful cast will be directed by Jessie Richardson Award winner Rachel Peake who directed Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro for Vancouver Opera in 2017. Vancouver native Simone McIntosh, praised for her beautiful, gleaming high mezzo-soprano voice, sings the title role of Cinderella. This popular opera hasn't been seen at Vancouver Opera since 1981!

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