Rarely heard operatic gems. . . Australia’s first staged production of a major Stephen Sondheim musical: Victorian Opera’s 2025 season bursts with Broadway dazzle and adaptations of classic literature.
Next year will mark Stuart Maunder AM’s second season as Artistic Director at Victorian Opera.
The company open 2025 with the first-ever fully staged production of Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning musical ‘Follies’, set in a run-down theatre scheduled for demolition as former chorus girls reunite to honour their performances there during interwar years.
‘Follies’ stars Marina Prior, Antoinette Halloran, Adam Murphy, Alexander Lewis, Geraldine Turner, Rhonda Burchmore, Collette Mann, Evelyn Krape, Genevieve Morrow and Merlyn Quaife.
Victorian Opera will return to the Palais Theatre with Mozart’s ‘The Abduction From The Seraglio’. It tells the story of Konstanze and Blonde, who are kidnapped by the mysterious Pasha Selim, and the subsequent attempts to rescue them amid entwining romances. It stars Cleo Lee-McGowan as Konstanze and Katherine Allen as Blonde.
‘Katya Kabanova’, based on Alexander Ostrovsky’s ‘The Storm’, is a turbulent love story. A young woman longs for more than her dull life, loveless marriage, and respite from her mother-in-law. When an opportunity presents itself to ignite the missing spark, Katya must face the grip of her guilty conscience. ‘Katya’ features Desiree Frahn in the title role.
English composer Jonathon Dove’s adaptation of the Jane Austen novel ‘Mansfield Park’ will be brought to musical life in a new chamber production. It tells the story of Fanny Price who, as a girl, was sent from her impoverished family to live with her wealthy relatives in their opulent manor. It’s an exclusive staging which is part of Victorian Opera’s Ballarat Opera Festival, including ‘Celebration In Song’ and ‘The Big Sing’.
Family audiences can enjoy ‘The Lyrebird’s Voice’, which is set to charm with an assortment of Australian animals including one trickster lyrebird.
Bookending the 2025 season is ‘Boojum!’, starring VO Emerges (Emerging Artists). It’s based on Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Hunting Of The Snark’, featuring beloved tenor David Hobson as Carroll himself.
Victorian Opera’s 2025 season kicks off with ‘Follies’ in February.
