Further Cast Set For CARMEN at Northern Ireland Opera
Thomas Chenhall, Niall Anderson and Andrew Irwin join the Grand Opera House production.
Northern Ireland Opera has announced further principal cast for the company’s performance of Georges Bizet’s Carmen. Directed by Artistic Director Cameron Menzies, this grand-scale production marks the national company’s first-time staging of Bizet's definitive work at Belfast's Grand Opera House in September. This visceral story of passion and defiance is viewed through a contemporary lens to illuminate its deep relevance today. Performances will run 12-19 September.
Joining the production is rising star baritone Thomas Chenhall who plays opposite previously announced Ruby Dibble’s Carmen as the charismatic bullfighter Escamillo fresh from a house debut at Glyndebourne and a performance at Carnegie Hall with The English Concert. Bass-baritone Niall Anderson also joins in the role of Zuniga following his appearances in Tosca and Eugene Onegin for Northern Ireland Opera.
The company welcomes back US tenor Noah Stewart, a firm favourite with Belfast audiences. No stranger to the Grand Opera House stage, Stewart revisits the city following his towering performances as Rodolfo in La Bohème and Alfredo in La Traviata in 2021 and 2022 respectively. As a recording artist he has topped the UK Classical Album Charts and earned widespread international plaudits for his versatility. For this brand-new staging, he interprets the unravelling obsession of Don José, an iconic signature role opposite rising star, Carnegie Hall debutant, and Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition national finalist Ruby Dibble, who steps into one of opera’s most iconic roles as the fatalistic, fiercely independent Carmen.
Bringing more local star power to Bizet’s masterpiece, tenor Andrew Irwin joins the previously announced soprano Mary McCabe as Micaëla, mezzo-soprano Jenny Bourke as Mercédès and soprano Petra Wells as Frasquita. Wells’ mesmerising duet of ‘One More Kiss’ with Lesley Garrett in last year’s Follies guarantees an exceptional showcase of home-grown talent.
Artistic Director Cameron Menzies says: “Great opera should move, challenge, and delight audiences in equal measure, and few works achieve that balance more successfully than Carmen. I have wanted to direct Carmen for many years, but I have always felt that it is a piece that demands the right moment. For Northern Ireland Opera, that moment is now. It is a work packed with extraordinary music, complex characters, and some of the most thrilling chorus writing in the repertoire. Over the last five years, we have been quietly building our exceptional chorus towards this challenge. However, this production is also an urgent opportunity to look at this tragic story through a modern lens, using our stage to confront the historic trope of the tragic heroine and address the vital, real-world conversations surrounding gender-based safety today.”
Steering the musical vision is Greg Arrowsmith, who returns to the company as Music Director following his triumphant direction of Follies last year to lead the 37-strong Orchestra of Northern Ireland Opera. Elevating the production's music narrative, Arrowsmith has also crafted new arrangements specifically for a unique instrumental quintet, who will perform in partnership with the orchestra in the pit. This in-character on-stage ensemble will add an intimate, immersive layer to the opera's legendary score.
The production’s visual and physical world is shaped by a stellar contingent of Northern Ireland Opera’s creative collaborators, including set designer Niall McKeever. Marking his sixth major collaboration with the company, McKeever, an Irish Times Theatre Award nominee for Into the Woods, brings his signature bold and large-scale vision to Belfast’s Grand Opera House, following celebrated designs for Follies, Eugene Onegin, Tosca, and La Traviata. Joining him is West End choreographer Jennifer Rooney (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Into the Woods, Once), who returns to craft the production’s dynamic movement. This creative team also includes lighting designer Jake Wiltshire with Nuala Campbell as wig and make-up designer.
Pre-Show Panel Event: Behind the Curtain: Muse, Martyr and Murder Victim
On Thursday 20th August, Northern Ireland Opera will host Behind the Curtain, a unique event featuring live music performance and discussion exploring historic operatic tropes of the tragic heroine to open vital conversations regarding workplace inequality, safety, and the prevention of violence against women and girls. Guided by host Rachel Clarke-Hughes (international creative producer and Project Coordinator for the Training for Women Network [TWS]), joined by a diverse line-up of voices: Tahnee McCorry (Founder of White Ribbon NI); best-selling author Atoosa Sepehr, broadcaster Lata Sharma, and Carmen Director Cameron Menzies. Alongside contemporary research on engaging men and boys to help eliminate violence, the evening will feature members of the cast performing live musical extracts of the opera's most well-known arias. Utilising both live music and raw discussion as a powerful platform for social reflection.
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