Sydney Chamber Opera Presents The Cunning Little Vixen

Janá?ek's classic modernist opera The Cunning Little Vixen comes to life at CarriageWorks in a new production directed by Kate Gaul, featuring Julie Goodwin, acclaimed star of West Side Story (2010/11) and The Phantom of the Opera (2007-9), as the Vixen and Bryony Dwyer, the Royal Australian Navy's principal singer as the Fox.

Goodwin and Dwyer lead a cast of sexy foxes, bitchy hens and diva dogs in director Kate Gaul and conductor Jack Symonds's lean, modernist production, performed in a new, tasteful, English translation. Vixen has been known to inspire romantic nostalgia and nature-worship but here Gaul and Symonds are bringing her into the twenty-first century.

The Cunning Little Vixen follows the interlocking stories of two characters: one animal (the Vixen) and one human (the Forester). It is a multi-layered parable of the inevitable cycles of nature, birth and death - striking yet poignant. Jonathan Dove's adaptation for chamber forces exposes Janá?ek's remarkably modern conception: tessellations of lithe and sinuous fragments of music drive the circle of life.

Kate Gaul and conductor Jack Symonds throw away the old-fashioned, romantic, nature-worshipping interpretations of this Czech masterpiece and instead stage it in a way that matches Janá?ek's score: lean, spare and strikingly original. Designer Hanna Sandgren creates an animal world of foxes, hens, dogs, frogs and even a mosquito through an array of colourful costumes.

Bryony Dwyer, like Julie Goodwin, is in high demand as a performer, and in her capacity as the Royal Australian Navy's principal singer regularly represents the nation at official events around the world including having sung the national anthem at Gallipoli at the 2010 ANZAC Day dawn service. The show also features a children's chorus (Fox Cubs) and chamber orchestra.

"I can't sit and watch all this conservatism... I'd rather bury myself alive"- Vixen

With: Julie Goodwin, Bryony Dwyer, Alexander Knight, Simon Gilkes, Ashley Giles, Anna Dowsley, Sylvie Humphries, Jared Lillehagen, Elli Green, Sarah Briety, Daniel Nicholson, Maria Hemphill, Elissa Tran, Marisa Panzarin, Agnes Sarkis, Amanda Stephens-Lee, Children's Chorus & Orchestra

SEASON DETAILS: Exclusive season of 5 performances only
VENUE: CarriageWorks (Bay 20) - 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh. Walking distance from Redfern Station. Parking available.
DATES & TIMES: 7.30pm - 30 July, 1, 3, 5, 6 August 2011
TICKETS: $60 full, $30 concession, on sale now at Ticketmaster Tickets Now Available
WEB BOOKINGS: http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/The-Cunning-Little-Vixen-tickets/artist/1283473 or phone 1300 723 038
MORE INFORMATION: www.sydneychamberopera.com

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