Samantha Price

In the week when an Arts Council England report lambasted the current state of opera and questioned its relevance to wider society, Charles Court Opera’s The Barber Of Seville stands as a stern rebuff to those who consider this art form to be dated and irrelevant.

This Spring, Charles Court Opera makes a welcome return to Wilton’s with a sizzling production of Rossini’s comic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville. 

If a revival is akin to colouring in someone else’s artwork, Cal McCrystal’s Iolanthe for the ENO does so with every shade under the sun.

Following a series of successful hits which have cemented the English National Opera’s (ENO) place as a major home for Gilbert & Sullivan’s works, Cal McCrystal’s  Iolanthe returns to the London Coliseum for its first revival this October. Check out all new production photos here!

Cal McCrystal’s Iolanthe returns to the London Coliseum for its first revival this October. Learn more about how to get tickets here!

Calixto Bieito's critically praised production of Carmen returns to the London Coliseum this January.

Babes With Blades Theatre Company's (BWBTC) 22nd anniversary season launches with Women Of 4G, August 1 – September 14, written by Amy Tofte, direction by Lauren Katz, assistant direction by Stephanie Mattos and fight direction by Maureen Yasko. 

Babes With Blades Theatre Company's (BWBTC) 22nd anniversary season launches with Women Of 4G, August 1 - September 14, written by Amy Tofte, direction by Lauren Katz, assistant direction by Stephanie Mattos and fight direction by Maureen Yasko. All performances are at The Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St. Preview performances are Thursday, Aug. 1 - Saturday, Aug. 3 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 4 at 3 p.m. and Thursday, Aug. 8 at 8 p.m. Opening Night is Friday, Aug. 9 at 8 p.m.

Where are our Violettas, our Salomes, our Elektras--even our Lulus--for opera to move forward as an art form for the 21 century? They're all victims of stress and suffering of one sort or another, but still worth meeting up with--not only musically but dramatically--more than once. I began thinking about this while watching the three music-theatre/new opera pieces that I visited during the opening days of the current edition of PROTOTYPE:OPERA/THEATRE/NOW--The Infinite Hotel, 4.48 Psychosis and PRISM.

Manon Lescaut, sponsored by Viking Cruises, opens the season with the British lyric soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn in the title role. Named 'Best newcomer in opera' by The Telegraph in 2010 following her operatic debut as Mimi in La boheme at English National Opera, Llewellyn has gone from strength to strength on the international stage. She was last at OHP in 2017, as Magda in La rondine. The Welsh bass-baritone Paul Carey Jones makes his OHP debut as Lescaut. His recent career highlights include his Royal Opera House debut in The Nose and the Scottish premiere of Philip Glass's The Trial with Scottish Opera.

Originally intended as a stinging satire on Victorian politics and the House of Lords in particular, Gilbert and Sullivan's supremely silly comic opera Iolanthe is in fine form as it returns to the Coliseum. The story is of the eponymous fairy Iolanthe, banished from fairyland as she married a mortal. Her son Strephon wants to marry Phyllis, but all the members of the House of Peers wants to marry Phyllis as well. When Phyllis suspects Strephon of being unfaithful, she sets off a huge confrontation between the fairies and the peers.

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From O'Neill and flamenco to punk and Pippin, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld reviews, interviews and features!

If a sad tale really is best for winter, then we've certainly been blessed this year. For months the news has croaked out its nightly stories, each blacker than the one before, and though blossom is already on the trees there's not been so much as a whiff of a happy ending. Certainly not at English National Opera, where composer Ryan Wigglesworth and director Rory Kinnear have recut Shakespeare's play into something even more darkly ambiguous than its source.

The Garden State Players concludes its first season with the high-energy rock musical "Footloose," opening Thursday, Aug. 10 and playing through Sunday, Aug. 19 at Raritan High School, 419 Middle Road, Hazlet. A portion of the ticket sales will benefit the new Pediatric Care Center at Bayshore Community Hospital, Holmdel.

The Garden State Players concludes its first season with the high-energy rock musical "Footloose," opening Thursday, Aug. 10 and playing through Sunday, Aug. 19 at Raritan High School, 419 Middle Road, Hazlet. A portion of the ticket sales will benefit the new Pediatric Care Center at Bayshore Community Hospital, Holmdel.