English Touring Opera Announces 2017 Spring Season

English Touring Opera's Spring 2017 season features the company's first ever Gilbert & Sullivan production, a Puccini favourite marking the opera debut of stage director Blanche McIntyre, and two new operas for young people:Silver Electra and Different.

The season opens at Hackney Empire from Saturday 4 March to Friday 10 March 2017, with new productions of Puccini'sTosca and Gilbert & Sullivan's Patience. The operas then tour to Lighthouse, Poole; Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield; Churchill Theatre, Bromley; Snape Maltings Concert Hall; York Theatre Royal; Wolverhampton Grand Theatre; Curve, Leicester; Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham; Cambridge Arts Theatre; G Live, Guildford; Buxton Opera House; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry; Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Gala Theatre, Durham; Perth Festival (Perth Concert Hall); Exeter Northcott Theatre; Hall for Cornwall, Truro; Norwich Theatre Royal; Regent Theatre, Stoke-On-Trent; Ulverston International Music Festival (Coronation Hall); Blackpool Grand Theatre.

They are joined by Silver Electra and Different, two new operas for young people, to be performed in schools, libraries and Studio Theatre spaces.

Tosca was last toured by ETO 11 years ago; this new production marks the opera debut of award-winning stage directorBlanche McIntyre, whose most recent productions include Titus Andronicus and The Two Noble Kinsmen (RSC), Noises Off(Nottingham Playhouse), Welcome Home Captain Fox! (Donmar Warehouse), The Oresteia (HOME, Manchester), As You Like It and The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare's Globe). Tosca will be sung in Italian with English surtitles.

"I am excited to present Blanche's first opera production. Blanche McIntyre is a brilliant director, and Tosca is a fantastic opera." - James Conway, General Director, ETO

Laura Mitchell and Paula Sides share the role of Tosca; Alexander James Edwards and Samuel Sakker are Cavaradossi, and Craig Smith and Andrew Slater share the role of Scarpia. Michael Rosewell conducts ETO's orchestra; Linbury Prize-winning designer Florence de Maré is responsible for the set and costumes for both this production and Patience.

Patience, is ETO's first Gilbert and Sullivan production. Patience was premiered in London at the Opera Comique in April 1881, before moving to the Savoy Theatre in October of the same year, where it became the first theatrical production to be lit entirely by electric light. The opera offers a satirical take on the Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s - a popular topic with Victorian theatre audiences, and already the focus of a lively industry of parody and caricature in the press.

"Think of original opera in English and you think of the wit and skill of Gilbert & Sullivan. Patience is my favourite Gilbert & Sullivan, with a brilliant script and a lovely score." - James Conway, General Director, ETO

Lauren Zolezzi, as Patience, leads a cast of talented young singers, including Bradley Travis as Bunthorne (Masetto in ETO's 2016 production of Don Giovanni) and Ross Ramgobin as Grosvenor. Timothy Burke conducts ETO's orchestra; director Liam Steel returns to the company after the success of his 2014 production of Britten's Paul Bunyan, part of an Olivier Award winning season.

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ETO's Spring 2017 season also continues the company's record of touring new operas for younger audiences, with singers and players drawn from the cast and orchestra of the main-stage productions.

Silver Electra is the very first opera written about the early 20th century aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and her dramatic disappearance in 1937, where she attempted to circumnavigate the globe in a Lockheed Model 10 Electra aeroplane. Designed for children aged 7-14, the opera looks both at the riveting story of Earhart, and issues around memory loss; highlighting the role of women pioneers in the twentieth century. Silver Electra's creative team includes composer Russell Hepplewhite and ETO's head of education Tim Yealland, who also created ETO's award-winning children's opera Laika the Spacedog, which toured the country in 2013 and 2016.

Different is ETO's new opera for children with severe special educational needs. In another first for the company, this opera was created by Key Club, a group of young adults with high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome, together with composer Llywelyn ap Myrdden, designer Ruth Paton, animator Babis Alexiadis and cellist Jonathan Kitchen. Different builds on ETO's many successful operas for special needs audiences, including in RedBlueGreen, Spin, Rumbled, Waxwings andDust Child.

English Touring Opera: Spring 2017 season

Tosca

Composer: Giacomo Puccini

Conductor: Michael Rosewell

Director: Blanche McIntyre

New production, sung in Italian with English surtitles

Cast includes: Laura Mitchell/Paula Sides (Tosca), Alexander James Edwards/Samuel Sakker (Cavaradossi), Craig Smith/Andrew Slater (Scarpia), Timothy Connor (Angelotti), Matthew Stiff (Sacristan), Aled Hall (Spoletta), Maciek O'Shea (Sciarrone), Vanessa Bowers (Shepherd), Felix Kemp (Jailer)

Patience

Composer: Arthur Sullivan (with words by W. S. Gilbert)

Conductor: Timothy Burke

Director: Liam Steel

New production, sung in English

Cast includes: Lauren Zolezzi/Luci Briginshaw (Patience), Bradley Travis (Bunthorne), Ross Ramgobin (Grosvenor), Valerie Reid (Lady Jane), Suzanne Fischer (Lady Saphir), Gaynor Keeble (Lady Angela), Andrew Slater (Colonel Calverley), Jan Capi?ski (Major Murgatroyd), Aled Hall (Duke of Dunstable)

Both productions open at Hackney Empire, London:
Tosca opens on Saturday 4 March 2017;
Patience opens on Wednesday 8 March 2017.

The tour then continues to Poole, Sheffield, Bromley, Snape Maltings, York, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Cheltenham, Cambridge, Guildford, Buxton, Coventry, Canterbury, Durham, Perth, Exeter, Truro, Norwich, Stoke-on-Trent, Ulverston and Blackpool.

Please contact ETO's Press and Marketing Officer Scott Weddell, scott.weddell@englishtouringopera.org.uk or 020 7833 2555 to request press tickets to any ETO tour venue.

Hackney Empire, Mare Street, Hackney, London

Sat 4 March, 7.30pm: Tosca

Wed 8 March, 7.30pm: Patience

Thu 9 March, 7.30pm: Tosca

Fri 10 March, 7.30pm: Patience

Booking information: 020 8985 2424 / www.hackneyempire.co.uk

Tickets: £35, £32, £28.50, £26, £20, £10

Lighthouse, Poole

Fri 17 March, 7.30pm: Patience

Sat 18 March, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 0844 406 8666 / www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

Tickets: £24, £22, £20

Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

Mon 20 March, 7.45pm: Patience

Tue 21 March, 7.45pm: Tosca

Booking information: 0114 249 6000 / www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

Tickets: £29.50, £25.50, £24.50, £21.50

Churchill Theatre, Bromley, Greater London

Fri 24 March, 7.30pm: Patience
Sat 25 March, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 020 3285 6000 / www.churchilltheatre.co.uk

Tickets: £36, £32, £29, £22

Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh

Thu 30 March, 7.30pm: Tosca

Fri 31 March, 7.30pm: Patience

Sat 1 April, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01728 687110 / www.snapemaltings.co.uk

Tickets: £35, £31, £26, £20, £16

York Theatre Royal, York

Fri 7 April, 7.30pm: Patience

Sat 8 April, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01904 623568 / www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Tickets: £30, £26, £22, £17, £14

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton

Mon 10 April, 7.30pm: Patience

Tue 11 April, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01902 42 92 12 / www.grandtheatre.co.uk

Tickets: £29.50, £27.50, £25, £20, £15

Curve, Leicester

Wed 12 April, 7.30pm: Patience

Thu 13 April, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 0116 242 3595 / www.curveonline.co.uk

Tickets: £32.50, £28, £23.50, £19.50, £10

Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham

Wed 19 April, 7.30pm: Tosca

Thu 20 April, 7.30pm: Patience

Fri 21 April, 7.30pm: Patience

Sat 22 April, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01242 572 573 / www.everymantheatre.org.uk

Tickets: £30, £27, £24, £19

Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge

Tue 25 April, 7.30pm: Tosca

Wed 26 April, 7.30pm: Patience

Thu 27 April, 7.30pm: Patience

Fri 28 April, 7.30pm: Tosca

Sat 29 April, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01223 503 333 / www.cambridgeartstheatre.com

Tickets: £42, £33, £28, £23

G Live, Guildford

Tue 2 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01483 369 350 / www.glive.co.uk

Tickets: £32.50, £26.50, £19

Buxton Opera House, Buxton

Thu 4 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Fri 5 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Sat 6 May, 7.30pm: Patience

Booking information: 01298 72190 / www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk

Tickets: £36.50, £32.50, £28, £19.50

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

Mon 8 May, 7.30pm: Patience

Tue 9 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 024 7652 4524 / www.warwickartscentre.co.uk

Tickets: £30, £26, £23

The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, Kent, UK

Fri 12 May, 7.30pm: Patience

Sat 13 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01227 787 787 / www.marlowetheatre.com

Tickets: £42, £37.50, £34.50, £28.50, £23.50, £13

Gala Theatre, Durham

Mon 15 May, 7.30pm: Patience

Tue 16 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 03000 266 600 / www.galadurham.co.uk

Tickets: £26, £10

Perth Festival, PerthConcert Hall, Perth

Thu 18 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01738 621 031 / www.perthfestival.co.uk

On general sale from Mon 27 March 2017

Ticket prices: £40, £37, £34, £25

Exeter Northcott, Exeter

Tue 23 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Wed 24 May, 7.30pm: Patience

Thu 25 May, 7.30pm: Patience

Fri 26 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Sat 27 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01392 72 63 63 / www.exeternorthcott.co.uk

Tickets: £35.50, £32.50, £25.50, £20.50

Hall for Cornwall, Truro

Mon 29 May, 7.30pm: Tosca

Tue 30 May, 7.30pm: Patience

Booking information: 01872 262466 / www.hallforcornwall.co.uk

On general sale from Tue 28 February 2017

Tickets: £32, £29, £26, £15

Norwich Theatre Royal, Norwich

Thu 1 June, 7.30pm: Tosca

Fri 2 June, 7.30pm: Tosca

Sat 3 June, 7.30pm: Patience

Booking information: 01603 63 00 00 / www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk

Tickets: £37.50, £31, £23.50, £19, £8

Regent Theatre, Stoke-On-Trent

Mon 5 June, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 0844 871 7649 / www.atgtickets.com/stoke

Tickets: £36.25, £31.25, £26.25, £21.25, £16.25

Ulverston International Music Festival, Coronation Hall, Ulverston

Wed 7 June, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01229 587140 / www.corohall.co.uk

Tickets: £35, £30, £25, £20

The Grand Theatre, Blackpool, Lancashire, UK

Sat 10 June, 7.30pm: Tosca

Booking information: 01253 290 190 / www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk

Tickets: £31.50, £26.50, £21.50, £15.50

Notes to Editors

English Touring Opera (ETO)

The winner of the 2014 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, English Touring Opera is the most prolific touring opera company in the UK, travelling annually to around 70 venues, more than any other English Opera Company. With its mission to offer opera to everyone, the company presents as many as 140 performances a year. ETO's outreach programme focuses on creative work, and ranges from community operas and music theatre workshops to productions for young people and their families, featuring artists from the company's main-stage shows, touring to schools across the UK. The company is also a national leader in the provision of arts for dementia sufferers. ETO has helped launch the careers of singers including Amanda Echalaz and Sarah Connolly and gave the world première of Alexander Goehr's opera Promised End in 2010.

www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

@ETOpera

James Conway - General Director, ETO

James Conway has been General Director for ETO since 2004. James Conway has directed ETO productions of operas by Monteverdi, Handel (8), Mozart (2), Donizetti (3), Janá?ek (3), Puccini (2), Dubussy, Ullmann, Britten and Tippett, as well as a world premiere by Alexander Goehr. James Conway is former General Director of OTC in Dublin, producing work that travelled to New York (BAM), Melbourne, London, Buxton, Paris, Dusseldorf, Prague, Brno, Lisbon and Porto. James Conway directed the notable and long running production of The Cunning Little Vixen at the Janá?ek Theatre, Brno.

(Photo: Richard HuBert Smith)