{"id":125239,"date":"2026-06-17T16:24:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=125239"},"modified":"2026-06-17T16:24:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:24:42","slug":"preview-toronto-city-opera-caps-off-80th-anniversary-season-offenbachs-hilarious-orpheus-underworld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/06\/17\/preview-toronto-city-opera-caps-off-80th-anniversary-season-offenbachs-hilarious-orpheus-underworld\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Toronto City Opera Caps Off Its 80th Anniversary Season With Offenbach\u2019s Hilarious Orpheus In The Underworld"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Top row, L-R: Soprano Alice MacGregor; Soprano Teresa Tucci; Baritone Matthew Black; Tenor Jeffrey Liu; Bottom row L-R: Mezzo-soprano Jada Alexiou; Tenor Christian Matta; Soprano Aemilia Moser; Sopranos Ana Isabella Castro (Photos courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toronto City Opera will close their 2025\/26 season \u2014 TCO\u2019s 80th \u2014 with Offenbach\u2019s Orpheus in the Underworld. The fully staged production of the operetta will take the stage at Trinity-St. Paul\u2019s United Church and Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts on June 27 and 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

Directed by Amanda Testini<\/strong>, the production will feature a full orchestra courtesy of the North York Concert Orchestra<\/strong> (NYCO), a first for TCO.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to close this special 80th anniversary season with something fun that also provides lots of opportunities for our TCO Chorus. A few other companies in the country, including Toronto\u2019s Canadian Opera Company, presented Gluck\u2019s Orfeo ed Euridice this season, and we thought it would be wonderful to offer the comedic version of the story instead,\u201d says Toronto City Opera Artistic Director Jennifer Tung<\/strong> in a statement.<\/p>\n

Tung adds, \u201cThrough our collaboration with NYCO, this toe-tapping operetta will make for a truly entertaining evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are incredibly excited to be partnering with Toronto City Opera for this production,\u201d says
\nNYCO conductor Rafael Luz<\/strong>. \u201cNow in its 51st season, NYCO has a long history of collaborating with organizations across the city, and it feels especially meaningful to join forces with TCO as they celebrate their 80th anniversary season and continue their legacy of bringing opera to Toronto audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Operetta<\/h2>\n

Jacques Offenbach\u2019s operetta takes ancient Greek mythology on a hilarious and satirical ride.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a parody of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, a classical Greek tragedy. In Offenbach\u2019s story (with a libretto by Hector Cr\u00e9mieux and Ludovic Hal\u00e9vy) Orpheus is a violin teacher, and not the son of the god Apollo. When his wife Eurydice is kidnapped by Pluto, god of the underworld, he\u2019s happy \u2014 not heartbroken. Public Opinion has to pressure Orpheus into a rescue attempt.<\/p>\n

The gods of Olympus intervene, and act horribly to comic effect. At the time, the work was widely viewed as a not so subtle satire of the court of Napoleon III.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fast-paced comedy with an irreverent edge, and the operetta that gave the musical world the Can-Can.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelf-aware and delightfully irreverent, Orpheus in the Underworld subverts character and plot expectations, pokes fun at virtue and authority, and reminds us not to take life \u2014 or even opera \u2014 too seriously,\u201d says director and choreographer Amanda Testini<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur production is filled with larger-than-life performances, playful Greek tropes, and a hot-as-Hell party in the Underworld. In this operetta, we go on a journey where we start by doing what society expects of us and by the end we embrace the liberation of doing what we want \u2014 even if it\u2019s a little bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trinity-St. Paul\u2019s will be transformed into a madcap and wonderfully anachronistic version of Ancient Greece, with costume design by Alexandra Christofides and lighting and projection design by Nathan Bruce.<\/p>\n

\"Underworld
Underworld graphic (Courtesy of Toronto City Opera)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cast<\/h3>\n

The cast includes a roster of Toronto professional singers.<\/p>\n