Lehár
The Merry Widow
5–16 January 2021Lehár
The Merry Widow
5–16 January 2021Choose a date to see seats and prices
See All Events2021
January
05 Jan 2021
06 Jan 2021
07 Jan 2021
08 Jan 2021
09 Jan 2021
12 Jan 2021
13 Jan 2021
14 Jan 2021
15 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021
Venue
Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, Sydney
Language
Sung in English
Running time
approximately 2 hours & 55 minutes, including two intervals
Please note
This performance contains flashing light effects
Let’s waltz, let’s sway the night away.
It’s time for a little romance.
Sway, smile and swoon your way through our delicious production of The Merry Widow.
It’s an opulent party, all glitz and glamour and Parisian charm. It’s an old-fashioned romance, flirty and funny and fabulous. It’s a Viennese waltz and you know all the steps.
The Merry Widow is a “shimmering all-singing, all dancing Broadway-style show” (The Sydney Morning Herald), a frothy comedy packed with familiar waltzes and tuneful melodies.
From the sumptuous Art Deco era costumes to the stunning, geometric sets, the show is “visually stunning … sometimes you simply don’t know where to look” (The Sydney Morning Herald).
Julie Lea Goodwin plays the bubbly, beautiful Hanna: newly wealthy, newly widowed, and suddenly the hottest catch in town. Expect sizzling chemistry with Alexander Lewis as her love interest Danilo Danilovich, as the pair reunite after their acclaimed season of West Side Story on Sydney Harbour.
Graeme Murphy brings his signature brand of lively choreography and deft direction to the dance-packed score.
This production of The Merry Widow was commissioned by the Opera Conference, Australia’s national partnership of professional opera companies.
Cast & Creative
Conductor
Director & Choreographer
Creative Associate
Revival Director & Choreographer
English translation by
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Sound Designer
Hanna Glavari
Danilo Danilovich
Baron Mirko Zeta
Valencienne
Camille de Rosillon
Njegus
Alexis Kromov
Dominik Bogdanovich
Sylviane
Raoul de St. Brioche
Viscount Nicolas Cascada
Olga Kromov
Konrad Pritschich
Praskovia
Opera Australia Orchestra & Opera Australia Chorus
The Story
The tiny state of Pontevedro is bankrupt. Their only hope of financial salvation lies in Hanna, a beautiful widow who inherited her husband’s fortune. The Pontevedrians must convince her to marry a local, lest she take her fortune to foreign shores.
But she’s got a history with the man they’ve got in mind, and there are many twists and turns on the road to falling in love again.
Let’s waltz, let’s sway the night away.
It’s time for a little romance.
Act I
The Pontevedrian embassy, Paris. The Balkan state of Pontevedro is facing financial ruin. Its best hope is that Hanna Glavari, a young rich widow, should marry a Pontevedrian and keep her fortune in Pontevedro, rather than risk marrying a Parisian and losing the money to France. The Pontevedrian Embassy holds a state ball to which Hanna and her former lover, Danilo Danilovich are invited. Before her marriage into wealth, Hanna was a poor farm girl whom Danilo’s uncle forbade him to marry. Now the pressure is on to reunite them in marriage. But as Danilo loved the poor farm girl, can he love the wealthy widow?
Act II
Hanna’s home in Paris, the next day. Hanna holds a Pontevedrian party. Valencienne, the young wife of the Pontevedrian ambassador, Baron Zeta, continues a fragile romance with a young Frenchman, Camille, who has written a dangerous confession of love on her fan. The intrigue deepens when Hanna and Camille are discovered in the summer house and the hope of her reunion with Danilo appears doomed.
Act III
Maxim’s Nightclub, later the same evening. Hanna has reserved the popular nightspot, where she sparks Danilo’s anger by her coquettish antics with the grisettes. The various love intrigues are resolved by vital discoveries about Valencienne’s fan – and the will of Hanna’s late husband!
Keeping you safe at the theatre
COVID Safety at Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House and its food and beverage venues are registered as COVID Safe businesses with the NSW Government. To ensure a safe and comfortable environment for everyone, the Opera House has made some changes to the way it operates.
Enjoy dinner before the opera
Overture Dining at Sydney Opera House
Allow us to make your dinner reservation for you: 6pm at Overture Dining in the Northern Foyer of the Joan Sutherland Theatre. You’ll be served a themed three-course menu for just $75, including a glass of NV First Creek ‘Botanica’ Sparkling Cuvee on arrival.
FAQs for subscribers
How to access your presale and discount
Unfortunately, we’ve had to suspend our regular annual subscription program for 2021. Instead, we’ll be offering a range of benefits to existing subscribers, including a 15% discount on tickets, as well as a discount to anybody who books three or more operas at a time.
The Merry Widow at Arts Centre Melbourne (2017)
Photo: Jeff Busby
The Merry Widow at Arts Centre Melbourne (2017)
Photo: Jeff Busby
The Merry Widow at Arts Centre Melbourne (2017)
Photo: Jeff Busby
The Merry Widow at Arts Centre Melbourne (2017)
Photo: Jeff Busby