President: Ian Wallace O.B.E Patrons: Anne Evans, Josephine Veasey C.B.E

Information

Programme for 2000

Tower Project

Press Comments

Opera Box has a fair claim to be one of the most impressive musical successes of the 1990s. Founded by Brendan Wheatley and Bridgett Gill 10 years ago, this exciting young company has progressed from comparatively modest beginnings to presenting over 70 performances of complete operas per year throughout Great Britain.

An extremely versatile mid-scale touring opera company, Opera Box has a wide-ranging repertoire and an innovative approach to performance venue and community work. From its base in Brecon, the Company tours to venues as diverse as Blackwood Miners Institute and Bath's Theatre Royal. However, the company started life performing in the open-air, amid the historic ruins of English Heritage sites, and is now considered to be Britain's leading exponent of 'outdoor' opera, giving one third of its performances in the open-air during the summer months.

The Company's developing community and education programme, combined with its universal philosophy of making a diverse opera programme accessible to all, reflect the Company's commitment to broadening opera's appeal. Opera Box seeks to reach out to new audiences through creative workshops with schools and community groups; by bringing young people and professionals together for performance on stage; and by encouraging new audiences to attend performances both in the open-air and in the theatres to which it tours.

Many of the Company's singers have worked for the major British opera companies, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, ENO, WNO, Opera North, and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Opera Box also gives opportunities to less experienced singers, in the chorus, as covers, and singing small parts. These young singers are often 'graduates' of The Opera School (Wales), an annual 'Spring School' also founded by Brendan Wheatley and Bridgett Gill, which gives less experienced artists an opportunity to sing leading roles in professional theatres.

The choice of repertoire is imaginative and wide ranging, with past productions which include Maria Stuarda, The Magic Flute, Tosca, La Boheme, Die Fledermaus, The Flying Dutchman, The Pearl Fishers, and La Traviata. The company is currently touring Madam Butterfly and new productions of Don Giovanni and The Tales of Hoffmann which has received rave reviews: "rip roaring operatic entertainment …. simply magnificent brought the house down".

Opera Box's pioneering approach has led to the company performing where little or no opera has previously been heard. The company were the first ever to mount opera at the famous Hackney Empire - an important and successful event, which the theatre acknowledged by presenting Opera Box with the prestigious "Dome Award". Anyone attending any of these performances would have been struck by the cosmopolitan nature of the audience. Opera was being taken to the people, and the people loved it!

Opera Box also 'boldly went' where no opera company had gone before when Bridgett Gill and Brendan Wheatley appeared on the long running BBC radio serial The Archers, singing 'on air' when a performance of Don Giovanni was staged at Lower Loxley Hall. Another highly successful event was the performance of Maria Stuarda at Fotheringhay Church. This project involved a number of schools and local groups, and the result fully justified the commitment and hard work of all concerned: community opera at its best.

Opera Box recently broke more new ground when the company gave the World Première of a new opera, 'Tower', in October 1999, the first which the company has commissioned, with support from Arts Council of Wales 'Arts for All' lottery funds. Written by the eminent Welsh composer, Alun Hoddinott, 'Tower' is based on the story of the Tower Colliery, the pit dramatically saved from closure by its workforce in 1994. The libretto was written in Welsh by BAFTA award-winning TV & Radio script-writer John Owen, and translated into English. Top artists such as the internationally renowned bass Robert Lloyd, sang the principal roles in the Premiere and first performances at the Swansea Grand Theatre in October 1999, and the work will tour Wales in January and February 2000.

Opera Box
Management: Brendan Wheatley & Bridgett Gill
Administrator: Gayle Parsons
Company Office:
Opera Box Limited
Rhydyberi Cottages,
Merthyr Cynog,
Brecon,
Powys
LD3 9SA
Tel: 01874-690339
Tel/Fax: 01874-690254
Registered Charity No: 1073189
A Company Limited by Guarantee,Registration No: 3504181
VAT Registration No: 709681803
E-mail: opera-box@international.freeserve.co.uk


Produced by - P.Nixon 1/2/2000