In March 2012, the Vancouver Opera will present Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, which is praised as the greatest comic opera of all time. While I admit my first blush with this tale was via Bugs Bunny’s Rabbit of Seville, I am looking forward to seeing how our local company will bring this production [...]

Though Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, there is something refreshing about hearing it sung in operatic French. Luckily for Vancouverites, the Vancouver Opera is currently presenting Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette until December 3. Photo credit: Tim Matheson for Vancouver Opera I’ve seen at least 20 versions this on stage or on [...]

When the Vancouver Opera announced that they would be presenting West Side Story, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be a Broadway-style musical or would it be an opera? Turns out, much to my surprise and delight, it was both. The performance started out with dialogue as the Jets and the Sharks establish [...]

At the beginning of the theatre season in Vancouver I wrote a big directory listing previewing some of the shows that will be taking place around town. With Christmas around the corner, and theatre tickets being a fabulous gift or stocking stuffer, here’s another roundup of productions this winters. Pacific Theatre’s The Lion, The Witch, [...]

As the Bard on the Beach season rolls into its final month, a special Operas and Arias performance is just beginning. Photo credit: David Blue Fresh from their performance of Mozart’s Così fan tutte in Prague and Ontario, UBC Opera Ensemble, directed by Nancy Hermiston, will perform an in-concert staging of this fun-filled romantic opera. [...]

It’s opening night of Salome at the Vancouver Opera and I’ll be covering the evening on my site and Twitter along with Raul, Tanya, Tris, and Kimli. This is the final performance of the season and I’ve been lucky enough to attend every production by the Vancouver Opera this year. Mlada Khudoley (Salome), John Mac [...]

Update: There is a two-for-one deal on tickets to Rigoletto March 17th. Call (604) 683-0222 and mention promo code 1670 The curtain rises in only a few hours and I’ll be heading to the Queen Elizabeth theatre shortly to begin tonight’s coverage of Blogger Night at the Opera for Rigoletto. In the meantime, check out [...]

The season started with Eugine Onegin and since my review, and the first-ever Blogger Night when we experienced Carmen, the momentum in the opera realm has been growing. The Vancouver Opera has embraced several forms of new media, from producing a manga site to managing their own blog, and it will be great to once [...]