We are back with our popular Pop-up Opera tour! Kicking off on 27 May at the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival, the tour offers 30 minute shows for all the family, including A Little Bit of… Die Fledermaus and A Little Bit of… Eugene Onegin.
Experience opera on a miniature scale with performances brought to life by a storyteller, two singers, instrumentalists, and a sumptuous set of specially created illustrations. Pop-up Opera is touring to venues in Linlithgow, South Lanarkshire, Glasgow, the Isle of Lewis, Strathpeffer, Dornoch, Dundee and Aberdeenshire (venue tbc) . School children can also look forward to the tour popping up in primary schools across these locations for free performances of Puffy MacPuffer and the Crabbit Canals.
An ideal opportunity for anyone new to opera to try a taster of these classics, a series of colourful illustrations help guide audiences through the plot. Cleverly re-scored by our Head of Music, Derek Clark, the stories are brought to life by storyteller Allan Dunn, along with singers Jessica Leary and Andrew McTaggart, cellist Andrew Drummond Huggan, guitarists Sasha Savaloni and Ian Watt.
Our director of Outreach & Education, Jane Davidson, said: ‘This year, the Pop-up Opera company are coming off their trailer and back inside schools and community halls across the country, with a blend of weekday visits to primary schools and week-end performances in public venues. Travel is still very much at the heart of our programme, introducing primary pupils to the adventures of a very small boat with a very big heart as Puffy MacPuffer sets sail on the Scottish canal network from Inverness to Crinan and from Grangemouth to Glasgow.
‘For older audiences, it’s time travel, as we journey back to the last decades of the nineteenth century with two contrasting love stories. Will it be the doomed love affair of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin or perhaps a glass of champagne with the original Batman- better known as Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II. The magic of time travel makes it possible to catch both in one afternoon!’
Pop-up Opera is supported by Friends of Scottish Opera.
Tickets are on sale from 23 March. Find out more about what to expect from the shows and book here.