North Carolina Opera Will Perform Raleigh Premiere Of Massenet's CINDERELLA

North Carolina Opera will open its 2025-26 season with the Raleigh premiere of Jules Massenet's CINDERELLA (Cendrillon) on Friday, October 17 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, October 19 at 2:00 PM at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts. With enchanting melodies, sparkling orchestration, and a touch of magical mischief, Cinderella is Massenet's sensuous French take on the beloved fairytale.

Stage director James Marvel and conductor Joseph Mechavich lead the production, bringing Massenet's enchanting score and timeless story to vivid life. Marvel's direction balances wit and wonder, drawing out the humor and heart at the center of this fairytale world, while Mechavich conducts the lush, romantic music with elegance and energy.

The production's visual splendor is heightened by scenic and video designer DJ Pike, whose imaginative projections and intricate sets transform the stage into a dreamscape that moves effortlessly from hearth to ballroom to enchanted forest.

As was customary in French opera of the period, Massenet's Cinderella includes extended ballet sequences, choreographed for these performances by Marcelo Martinez, who spent 17 seasons as a principal dancer with Carolina Ballet.

In the title role is soprano Nicole Cabell, winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, who returns to NC Opera after her acclaimed performance as Bess in Porgy and Bess. The role of Prince Charming will be sung by mezzo-soprano Kate Farrar, performing one of opera's great trouser roles-a tradition in which a female singer portrays a young male character, allowing for vocal color and expressive nuance that heighten the story's emotional depth.

Lucia Bradford commands the stage as Madame de la Haltière, Cinderella's vain and villainous stepmother, while soprano Song Hee Lee sparkles as the Fairy Godmother, with dazzling coloratura that ignites the magic to set the story in motion. Baritone Malcolm MacKenzie, a familiar face to North Carolina Opera audiences, returns as Pandolfe, Cinderella's kind but conflicted father, adding warmth and humanity to Massenet's whimsical world.

Completing the cast are Elana Gleason and Gretchen Bruesehoff as the stepsisters, Coleridge Nash as The King, Markel Rashad Williams, Eric Luke, Tedd Szeto, and Frederick Beaujeu-Dufor. They join the North Carolina Opera Chorus and Orchestra for both performances.