The 2022 production of Utopia Limited by the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company was a highlight of the 28th Gilbert & Sullivan Festival, performed in both Buxton and Harrogate. It was lauded as a musical triumph, with Jeff Clarke’s direction receiving high praise for its lavish and precise staging. Ben McAteer’s portrayal of King Paramount was powerful, and the…
It’s fair to say that life at the Old Vicarage in Halifax, the Festival HQ, is rarely dull or uneventful! And this week is certainly no different. In 2023 it will be thirty years since we first staged the Festival in Buxton Opera House, and yesterday, we formally agreed to take the Festival lock, stock and barrel back to this…
Welcome John Andrews! We are delighted to confirm that John Andrews will conduct the National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company productions at the Festival. This will be John’s first appearance with the National Festival Orchestra and the NGSOC, and we are all tremendously excited to have him on board. With a special affinity for Italian bel canto and the English…
How fantastic is that! We are thrilled and excited to announce that director Jeff Clarke will bring Opera della Luna’s acclaimed production of HMS Pinafore to Buxton and Harrogate for next year’s Festival. If you have never managed to see an Opera della Luna performance before, you have to see HMS Pinafore! These magical performances are side-splittingly funny, clever and…
Join us for a fabulous week of fantastic entertainment with all your favourite shows – The Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe, The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, The Yeomen of the Guard and Patience. And if that wasn’t enough to tempt you into town, there is a lively morning and afternoon fringe programme with fascinating talks and concerts. Enjoy the wit and hilarity…
Since we decided to go ahead with this year’s Festival, the entire team in Halifax have dreamed of the day we would hear the news that we could return to full capacity and share our productions with as many people as possible. We have been selling tickets in Buxton Opera House and Harrogate Royal Hall on a socially distanced plan…
Simon Butteriss It’s 25 years since I first appeared at this joyous festival, masterminded then, as now (in the noble tradition of Glyndebourne and Bayreuth) by the indefatigable energy and vision of one family. I had just been coming to the end of a long tour playing Ko-Ko with D’Oyly Carte in 1996 when the Smiths asked me to play…
We have 16,500 empty seats in Buxton and Harrogate (value approximately £480,000). Can you sponsor one and support the Festival Future Fund? It’s been a funny old year or two, but we are still here. We have a Festival ready to begin. And we have an excellent programme with hilarious, brand-new productions that we know will bring some much-needed joy…
At this year’s International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival, Rachel directs HMS Pinafore, National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, The Yeomen of the Guard, Forbear! Theatre and The Pirates of Penzance, Forbear! Theatre Rachel Middle is a director, performer and writer living in London who has had a very close relationship with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan since she joined…
Buxton Opera House – Friday 6 August at 2.00 pm Royal Hall, Harrogate – Friday 13 August at 2.00 pm Tickets £25 George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades. Grossmith created a series of nine characters in the original Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas from 1877 to 1889,…