Opera North Announces Key Cast and Creative Team for LA BELLE HELÈNE

By: Jun. 15, 2017
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Opera North is pleased to announce the principal roles for La belle Hélène, one of its three 2017 mainstage productions. Augusta Caso will sing the lead role of Hélène, Peter Lake will play Paris and Eric Lindsey will sing Calchas.

Soprano Augusta Caso recently made her mainstage debut at the Spoleto Festival USA in Vivaldi's Farnace. She has also sung with Sarasota Opera (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Maryland Lyric Opera (Roméo et Juliette). In 2018, Augusta will make her debut at the Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera. Tenor Peter Lake has performed with Central City Opera (Tosca and The Impresario), Mississippi (Carmen) and Chautauqua Opera (Eugene Onegin). In 2016, Peter was a young artist with Central City Opera where he won the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Apprentice Award. Bass-baritone Eric Lindsey recently debuted with Shreveport Opera (La Boheme) and has also performed with Sarasota Opera (Cosi fan tutte) and Opera in Williamsburg (Le Nozze di Figaro and Rigoletto). Last year, Eric played Sacristan in Opera North's Tosca.

La belle Hélène will be directed by Andreas Hager and conducted by Louis Burkot. David L. Arsenault is the scenic designer, John Bartenstein is the lighting designer, Kurt Domoney is the choreographer and Jack Maisenbach is the costume designer.

"We are delighted to present this delicious dessert as part of Opera North's 35th season. It is fun-filled show with great music that will have you dancing in the aisles," said General Director Evans Haile.

Offenbach's La belle Hélène is a comedy of mistaken identities and door slams, filled with high energy dancing tunes and vocal fireworks. Get ready for rollicking hijinks amongst the Greek gods. Venus plots revenge, as Jupiter tries to rein in his chickens, meanwhile Paris rides to victory with the beautiful Helen (whose face launched a thousand ships).

Performances are at Lebanon Opera House (Lebanon, NH) on Tuesday, August 1 at 7:30 pm, Thursday, August 3 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, August 5 at 2:00 pm and Wednesday, August 9 at 7:30 pm.

Summerfest 2017 - Opera North's 35th season - runs July 8 to August 13, 2017 and features concerts and special events at historic sites around the region plus three mainstage productions - Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Offenbach's La belle Hélène, and Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate - at Lebanon Opera House. Concert locations include Blow-Me-Down Farm (Cornish, New Hampshire), Sunapee Cruises (Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire), Highland Center for the Arts (Greensboro, Vermont), and The Fells Historic Estate & Gardens (Newbury, New Hampshire). Tickets start at $20, with the best seats going for $90. Purchase them online at www.operanorth.org or through the Box Office at (603) 448-0400.

About Opera North

Opera North is the premier professional summer music festival of the Upper Valley. Founded in 1982 and based in Lebanon, NH, it is the only full-time professional opera company serving the tri-state region of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. Each summer, Opera North produces a series of concerts at landmark locations around the area and three mainstage productions of operas and classic musical theatre, performed in repertory at Lebanon Opera House. Opera North's Resident Artist program provides young professional opera singers with experience and education to further their careers. Opera North's Education & Outreach Program provides local elementary, middle, and high school students with educational programming through free performances of musical theatre. For more information, visit www.operanorth.org or call (603) 448-4141.



Videos