Christine Rice as Sister Helen in Dead Man Walking. Credit Manuel Harlan
Ahead of its traditional spring visit to Newcastle Theatre Royal – with The Marriage of Figaro (March 19 and 21) and Peter Grimes (March 20), now almost sold out – Opera North has announced its forthcoming 2026-27 season.
It means the company will be back in the city this autumn with four 7pm performances (November 4, 5 and 6) of Rigoletto and one (November 7, 7pm) of Eugene Onegin.
Then this time next year it will be offering two 7pm performances of Don Giovanni (March 17 and 19, 2027), the return of The Big Opera Mystery, aimed at kids (1.15pm, March 11, 2027) and, intriguingly, a sole performance of Dead Man Walking (7pm, March 13) in a co-production with English National Opera and Finnish National Opera.
A moment from The Big Opera Mystery
The latter offering will be an unknown quantity to many people, at least as an opera.
The harrowing account by Sister Helen Prejean, an American nun who became ‘spiritual advisor’ to a prisoner on ‘death row’ in Louisiana, was published in book form in 1993 and became a film two years later.
Susan Sarandon won an Oscar as Sister Helen, a leading advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, while Sean Penn played the condemned man, Joseph Rocher.
As an opera Dead Man Walking, composed by the American Jack Heggie and with a libretto by late playwright Terence McNally, was premiered 25 years ago by the San Francisco Opera.
It’s said to be the most performed 21st Century opera but It won’t be the most cheerful, beginning with rape and murder (the crimes of the condemned man) and ending with an execution.
It has, however, garnered terrific reviews.
The first UK performance was given in 2019 by students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
This production, directed by Annilese Miskimmon, artistic director of English National Opera, is the first full professional staging in the UK.
“It’s a real honour to be bringing Jake Heggie’s haunting contemporary masterpiece to life with our co-producer Opera North, following its premiere at English National Opera this past November,” said Miskimmon.
“I am delighted that Christine Rice (as Sister Helen) is reprising her stand-out role from the London performances, alongside new cast members Johannes Moore (Joseph de Rocher) and Kate Royal (Mrs Patrick de Rocher).”
You can see Moore at the Theatre Royal next week as Ned Keene in Peter Grimes.
Rigoletto (Verdi) and Don Giovanni (Mozart) are popular revivals, the former directed by Femi Elufowoju Jr. and the latter by Alessandro Talevi.
American baritone Blake Denson makes his Opera North debut as Rigoletto while the renowned Sir Willard White, who turns 80 this year, is cast as Count Monterone. British baritone Mark Stone returns to the company in the title role in Don Giovanni.
Sir Willard White as Count Monterone in Rigoletto. Credit Clive Barda
Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky) comes as a new co-production with Irish National Opera and Opera Queensland whose artistic director, Patrick Nolan, will direct.
Say Opera North: “Pushkin’s classic novel of love, regret and missed chances becomes even more heart-breaking when paired with Tchaikovsky’s unforgettable melodies.
“This new production of Eugene Onegin, Opera North’s first in over 20 years, will be sung in its original Russian with English titles.
“American baritone John Brancy takes on the role of the dashing, cynical Onegin, who casually rejects Tatyana (Verity Wingate), only to regret his actions many years later when she has married well and become the toast of fashionable society.”
If you can’t wait until November, it will premiere at Opera North’s home venue, Leeds Grand Theatre, on October 9.
Jasmine Habersham as Gilda in Rigoletto. Credit Clive Barda
Also meriting a trip to Leeds is a musical re-telling of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (Howard Assembly Rooms, December 18 to 24) by Durham-born composer Will Todd and playwright David Simpatico.
It’s not coming to Newcastle so it’s the only way to see it.
We also miss out on a new production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde which is to be performed in May 2027 in Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham and Leeds where it will be one of the first productions in the Town Hall following its refurbishment.
Package booking for the Opera North 2026-27 season opens on March 31 with booking for individual shows on May 14.
