Toronto City Opera to Launch Its 2025 Season With Leoncavallo's PAGLIACCI

Toronto City Opera will launch its 2025 season with Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, a searing tale of love, jealousy, and betrayal, November 19, 22, and 23 at the 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media & Education.

Directed by Sawyer Craig, this emotionally charged new production transports audiences to the waning days of the traveling circus in the mid-20th century. When a troupe arrives in a small town to perform their latest comedy, the boundaries between life and art begin to blur-culminating in a shocking eruption of passion and violence. With its intense music and raw human drama, Pagliacci remains one of opera's most powerful and enduring masterpieces.

Artistic Director Jennifer Tung leads the production as conductor, with Ivan Estey Jovanovich at the piano. "Pagliacci has some of the most moving and dramatic music in the Italian repertoire-it's incredibly powerful," says Tung. She notes that the intimate venue will heighten the experience for audiences: "The 918 Bathurst Centre creates an immersive atmosphere-you'll feel like you're part of the story."

"Our audiences will be immersed in the action of this opera," explains Administrative Director Nicholas Borg. "The 'play within a play' nature of Pagliacci means that our TCO chorus plays the role of the audience alongside the real Toronto audience. Everyone shares the same space, blurring the lines between reality and drama."

The cast features some of Toronto's most exciting emerging professional singers. Cassandra Amorim stars as Nedda, the desperate and trapped wife of Canio-opera's most famous "sad clown," sung by Ross Mortimer. Johnathon Kirby takes on the vengeful Tonio, James Coole-Stevenson portrays Nedda's lover Silvio, and Cameron Mazzei completes the cast as Beppe.

Now celebrating its 80th anniversary, Toronto City Opera continues its proud tradition of bringing accessible, high-quality opera to the community. Founded as an opera workshop at Central Technical High School in 1946, TCO has grown into one of the city's most inclusive opera companies-offering emerging professionals the opportunity to perform leading roles while welcoming community members to sing in the chorus of fully staged productions.