WE ARE DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THE CAST OF OUR IN-HOUSE opera co0production with Opera Project, The Marriage of Figaro.
“Come my love, for I will crown your head with roses”
– Susanna, Act IV
Opera Project make their long-awaited return to Tobacco Factory Theatres with Mozart’s comic masterpiece. This most sublime of classical works, capturing all that Mozart’s genius represents, is here sung in English by a stellar cast, accompanied by the Opera Project Orchestra.
See Figaro attempt to outwit his employer, the witless Count Almaviva, to secure a blemish free wedding night for his bride Susanna. What should all be in a day’s work for our roguish hero is thwarted by the unexpected intentions of Marcellina who has designs on marrying him herself. Assisted in his task by the selfless sacrifices of the neglected Countess, who seeks retribution and reunion with the wayward Count, and compromised by the overactive adolescent Cherubino, Figaro strives to secure his goal.
The Marriage Of Figaro is a co-production of Tobacco Factory Theatres and Opera Project and will run from 02 – 12 Oct 2024.
To buy tickets and learn more about the production, please click here.
MEET THE CAST
Count Almaviva Philip Smith
Countess Almaviva Galina Averina
Barbarina Siân Roberts
Don Basilio / Don Curzio Jonathan Cooke
Cherubino Anna-Luise Wagner
Marcellina Felicity Buckland
Doctor Bartolo / Antonio Ian Beadle
Susanna Lorena Paz Nieto
Figaro Malachy Frame
Philip Smith will be playing Count Almaviva.
One time zoologist and National Otter Surveyor of England, Philip hung up his waders to study singing – first at the Birmingham Conservatoire and then at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Philip’s recent operatic work has seen him perform principal roles for the Royal Opera House at The Globe, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, Polish National Opera and WNO. Other recent roles include Rambaldo La Rondine (Opera North and West Green House Opera), title role Rigoletto and Giorgio Germont La Traviata (Diva Opera), Michele Il tabarro, Marcello La bohème, King Puss in Boots and Father Hansel and Gretel (Mid Wales Opera) and Giorgio in the Italian premier of Sondheim’s musical Passion. Previously for Opera Project / Tobacco Factory Theatres: Figaro The Barber of Seville.
Galina Averina will be playing Countess Almaviva.
Galina Averina studied at the Royal College of Music and began her career as a soloist at the Perm State Opera Theatre.
Recent roles include a critically acclaimed Magda La rondine (Opera North), Rooker Giant (Linbury Theatre/Royal Opera House), Brigitta Iolanta (Bournemouth Symphony/Kirill Karabits), Stratonica La forza dell’amor paterno (Barber Institute), Adina L’elisir d’amore (Wild Arts), Mimi La bohème (Mid Wales Opera), Marzelline Fidelio (Garsington Opera) and Countess Le Nozze di Figaro (West Green House Opera). Current and future plans include Rosalinde Die Fledermaus (IF Opera), Alice Ford Falstaff (West Green House), and Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (Würzburg Mozartfest/Les Talens Lyriques).
Siân Roberts will be playing Babarina.
Originally from North Wales, Siân is now based in Birmingham after 6 years studying at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC).
Since graduating in 2022, Siân has performed with companies including Mid Wales Opera (Dew Fairy, Sandman, ‘cover’ Gretel in Humperdinck’sHansel and Gretel and Apparition/Witch in Verdi’sMacbeth), Hampstead Garden Opera (Pepík in Janáček’sPříhody lišky Bystroušky) and West Green House Opera (Bridesmaid/Chorus in Mozart’sLe Nozze di Figaro, and Chorus in Sondheim’sSweeney Todd). Roles whilst at RBC includeWinnie in Stephen McNeff’sBanished, title role in Mark-Anthony Turnage’sCoraline and Maria Bertram in Jonathan Dove’sMansfield Park. Most recently, Siân revisitedHansel and Gretelwith Opera in a Box, portraying Gretel on their summer tour.
Jonathan Cooke will play Don Basilio / Don Curzio.
Jonathan Cooke graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). Roles include Ruggero La Rondine (RCS), Tamino The Magic Flute (Young Opera Venture) Le Mari Les Mamelles de Tiresias (RCS), Rodolfo La Boheme (cover, Mid Wales Opera), Don Jose Carmen (Various companies), Hoffmann The Tales of Hoffmann (Kentish Opera), Pinkerton Madame Butterfly (Opera Up Close), Beadle Bamford Sweeney Todd and Blind Die Fledermaus (West Green House Opera), Spoletta Tosca (Opera Project / TFT) and Cavaradossi Tosca (Various companies). Current engagements include Dr Caius Falstaff (West Green House Opera) and Steuermann der Fliegende Holländer (St Endellion Summer Music Festival).
Anna-Luise Wagner will play Cherubino.
Anna-Luise Wagner is a German soprano and linguist based in London. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, researching the seventeenth-century opera singer and writer Margherita Costa. Roles include title role Partenope (Festivals Malta), title role Agrippina, Belinda Dido and Aeneas and Susanna Le nozze di Figaro (Hampstead Garden Opera), Gretel Hansel & Gretel and Juliet Juliet & Romeo (Marginalia Performance), and several roles with Baroque specialist Ensemble OrQuesta where she is a company member. Roles with Cambridge University Opera including Clorinda La Cenerentola, Cleopatra Giulio Cesare, Micaëla Carmen, Adina L’elisir d’amore, title role Sāvitri and Despina Così fan tutte.
Felicity Buckland will play Marcellina.
Felicity Buckland trained at the RNCM and on ENO’s Opera Works programme. Recent appearances include Mezzo Soloist for a televised BBC Prom, Beggar Woman Sweeney Todd (West Green House Opera), and Ankhesenpaaten, Akhnaten and Kasturbai in Philip Glass’s Satyagraha (ENO). Previous ENO cover roles include The Valkyrie, Carmen, La Traviata, The Mask of Orpheus (Birtwistle), Orpheus in the Underworld, Blue and Olivier-Award winning Porgy and Bess. Other roles include title role Carmen, title role La Cenerentola, Rosina The Barber of Seville, Amneris Aida, Rossweisse Die Walküre, Wellgunde The Rhinegold, Olga Eugene Onegin and Dorabella Così fan tutte. Felicity is also in demand for solo oratorio, concert, and education/community engagement projects.
Ian Beadle will play Doctor Bartolo / Antonio.
British baritone Ian Beadle hails from Hertfordshire and studied at the GSMD and on ENO’s Opera Works programme. Roles include Des Grieux Le Portrait de Manon, Belcore Elisir d’amore and William Dale Silent Night (Wexford Festival Opera), Masetto Don Giovanni, Marco Gianni Schicchi, Quinault Adriana Lecouvreur and Jake Wallace La fanciulla del west (Opera Holland Park), Shackleton Shackleton’s Cat (English Touring Opera) and The Bridegroom The Vanishing Bridegroom (British Youth Opera). Recordings include The Wizard in Stanford’s The Travelling Companion (SOMM). Recent engagements include Catch a Sea Star (Seaglass Arts) and Escamillo Carmen (Opera Brava).
Lorena Paz Nieto will play Susanna.
Spanish soprano Lorena Paz Nieto studied at the National Opera Studio, the RAM and the GSMD. Recent and current operatic roles include Nanetta Falstaff and Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro (West Green House Opera), Clorinda La Cenerentola (Nevill Holt Opera), Olga Fedora and Bottle/Duchess Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (If Opera), Lisette La Rondine (West Green House Opera and If Opera), Hero Beatrice and Benedict (Mid Wales Opera), Maria Maria de Buenos Aires (Theater Lübeck), Despina Così fan tutte, Musetta La bohème, Marie La fille du Régiment, Berta and Rosina Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Ulster Touring Opera), Amore Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (The Grange Festival). Lorena recently released her first solo CD, Cantando a dos poetas, featuring contemporary songs by Spanish composers.
Malachy Frame will play Figaro.
Belfast-born baritone Malachy Frame is a Rising Star of the Enlightenment with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for 2023-25, and was Northern Ireland Opera’s ‘Voice of 2016,’ having won the competition at the company’s annual Festival of Voice.
Recent roles have included Dandini La Cenerentola, Sprecher Die Zauberflöte, Figaro and Fiorello Il barbiere di Siviglia, Marcello and Schaunard La Bohème, Guglielmo Così fan tutte, Figaro Le Nozze di Figaro, March Hare/White Knight in Todd’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Slook in Rossini’s La Cambiale di Matrimonio, Leporello and Masetto Don Giovanni, Count Ceprano Rigoletto, and Aeneas Dido and Aeneas. Recent concert performances have included a Wigmore Hall debut with the Gabrieli Consort, Xiaogang Ye’s The Song of the Earth with Haydnorchester von Bozen und Trient and Purcell’s King Arthur in the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg.
**** “I left the theatre reeling from the experience”
– The Guardian on Eugene Onegin
**** “For Opera novices and aficionados alike there is plenty to get to grips with in this La Traviata”
– What’s On Stage on La Traviata
**** “Opera is conventionally performed in lavish auditoriums…this production is staged in the round, which brings the singers much closer to the audience”
– Bristol 24/7 on The Barber of Seville
**** “Opera Project’s 12-piece orchestra…not only fits but fills the space to create a singular music experience.”
– The Reviews Hub on Tosca
The Marriage Of Figaro is a co-production of Tobacco Factory Theatres and Opera Project and will run from 02 – 12 Oct 2024.
To buy tickets and learn more about the production, please click here.

Posted on 03 July 2024