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Follies

Follies

A new production at The Grand Opera House Belfast, September 2025

Follies

Main Stage

Follies

Northern Ireland Opera’s next major production at the Grand Opera House is ‘Follies’, winner of 7…

Pre Show Talk

In Conversation: ‘Follies’ and Sondheim

In Conversation: Sondheim and Follies

Join us for an evening of conversation, insight and…

August 2025

Come and Sing ‘Follies’

Following the fun and excitement of our previous Come and Sing events for Tosca, La Traviata…

Outreach

Music at the Belfast Maritime Festival

Join Northern Ireland Opera at The SoundYard as part of the Belfast Maritime Festival on 6th…

Concert

Morning Melodies

A rose….By any other name would smell as sweet Composers have used roses as a powerful…

What's On

Calendar of Events

A quick guide to our upcoming events. Find out more by clicking on the links below:…

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Find out all about the latest news here, from upcoming productions to our development programmes and recent company events.

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On Thursday we're at @room2hometels on Queen Street, Belfast from 6.30 to 8pm for a fun and fascinating talk with Sondheim experts. Come and hear from Dr Richard Schoch @se1_richard and Stuart Pedlar with Follies Director @cameronmenziesdirector and the brilliant @annajanecasey13 our Sally in Follies who will be performing 'In Buddy's Eyes'. Join us for an hour or so to ask all your burning questions about Follies and Sondheim's wider work and enjoy a wonderful performance by one of the stars of the show. Expect a lively, thoughtful discussion about the music, lyrics, and legacy of one of musical theatre’s greatest voices, as well as a closer look at Follies itself and its rarely performed scale. Tickets are £10 - full details via the linktree in the bio. About the panel Dr Richard Schoch, author, including the recently published 'How Sondheim Can Change Your Life' and Professor of Drama at Queen’s University Belfast where he teaches musical theatre. Stuart Pedlar, West End Musical Director and long-time Sondheim collaborator Cameron Menzies, Artistic Director of Northern Ireland Opera and director of Follies With a performance of 'In Buddy's Eyes' by our 'Sally', Anna-Jane Casey, West End star who has appeared in the original casts of Children of Eden, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Out of the Blue, and Grease. Anna-Jane has performed iconic roles in Starlight Express (Buffy, Dinah, and Pearl), West Side Story (Anita), and Chicago (Velma Kelly), among others with extensive stage, film and TV credits. @artscouncilni #thisweek #whatson #booknow #talk #q&a #musicaltheatre #musicalfans #musicals #sondheim #stephensondheim #follies #directortalk #preshowtalk #bookingnow #Thursdayevening #Belfast
Meet our brilliant ensemble - such very talented artists who are working incredibly hard in rehearsals and helping bring this amazing show to life. In 'Follies', there are two timelines: the 1971 reunion of the Weismann Follies who are returning for one last visit to the theatre where they worked before it is pulled down, and flashbacks to 1941 and the 'ghosts' of their past selves. Our ensemble are partnered with our 1971 artists, playing their past roles in this captivating, beautiful, multi-layered masterpiece - see some of them in the second image with their 1971 counterparts. You can find out all about every member of the cast by clicking on their headshots on our event page via the linktree in the bio. Ensemble: Becky Anderson @beckyy__anderson (Young Solange), Sophie Fleet @sophie.fleet (Young Stella), Chloe Hopcroft @chloehopcroft (Young Carlotta), Johanna Johnston @jo_johnston2301 (Young Hattie), Anna Tennyson @anna_tennyson (Young Emily), Mark D’Arcy @mark_darcyuk, Nic Cain @nic_cain (Kevin), Jed Hoyle @jed.hoyle , Ciarán McCormack @ciaranmccormack_, Fionan O’Carroll @focarroll (Young Theodore), Sean O'Neill @thedancingsean_ (Max Deems). Colette Dougal @colettelennondougal (Dee Dee West), Orla Mullan @mullan.orla (Sandra Crane) Heidi/Stella cover Maeve Byrne @maevebyrne0211 Book your tickets via the linktree in the bio. There are six shows from 13-20 September - matinee and evening performances available. Photo credit: @neilharrisonphotography @artscouncilni @gohbelfast #follies #ensemble #talent #performers #actors #dancers #triplethreat #musical #belfast #whatson #comingupsoon #booknow #sondheim #broadwaybaby #imstillhere #whosthatwoman #musicals #september
Two fantastic 'Follies' events booking now! First, on September 4th we have an 'In Conversation' event at @room2hometels Belfast on Queen Street from 6.30 to 8pm with Sondheim experts Dr Richard Schoch @se1_richard , Stuart Pedlar and 'Follies' Director @cameronmenziesdirector. Ask all your questions about 'Follies' and Sondheim's wider work and enjoy some live music from members of the cast and NI Opera artists including Anna-Jane Casey @annajanecasey13 our 'Sally'. Tickets are £10 and bookable via our website. Then, on September 19th, right before the show, you can come along to the Studio in the @gohbelfast and try out singing some songs from Follies and other Sondheim classics from 5.30 to 7pm with NI Opera artists. This popular event has been part of our outreach programme for the last few years and this year it coincides with Culture Night so you can make it part of your plans for the evening. Tickets are free but must be booked via our website and if you want to see Follies and haven't booked yet, you could come along and see the show afterwards! If you have already booked your tickets for Follies and are attending the Tuesday or the Saturday matinee performances, there is a free Director's Talk in the Studio at 6.30pm and 1.30pm respectively on each date - tickets can be booked via the Grand Opera House. Find out more via the linktree in the bio. @artscouncilni @room2 @belfastlearning #Follies #InConversation #SingAlong #ComeAndSing #CultureNight #WhatsOnNI #September #Talks #Lectures #adulteducation #musictheatre #musicaltheatre #musicals #choir #belfastchoir
Great to see @johnnytoal1 today at #Follies rehearsals for Classical Connections on @bbcradioulster. John chatted to the phenomenal @jacquelinedankworth about her role as Carlotta and watched a rehearsal of 'I'm Still Here', Carlotta's iconic song from the show. John also spoke to Follies Director @cameronmenziesdirector and our Young Heidi Northern Irish soprano @petrawells about the production and working with Lesley Garrett who plays Heidi in the 1971 timeline in the show. Hear all about it on Classical Connections on Sunday evening or on catch-up - and don't miss out on your tickets to the show: link in the bio or book @gohbelfast @artscouncilni #Sondheim #StephenSondheim #ImStillHere #CarlottaCampion #JacquiDankworth #SeptemberTheatre #SeptemberMusicals #SondheimMusicals #Broadway #WestEndMusicals #Belfast #BelfastTheatre #1971
Not many tickets left for our 'Come and Sing' event on Friday 19th September in the @gohbelfast Studio. Come and try out your voice on some 'Follies' songs and other Sondheim favourites with NI Opera artists in this free outreach event from 5.30 to 7pm. All singing abilities welcome. There's a 'Follies' show later that evening too if you want to book a ticket and stay and see our artists in action on stage too. Find out more and book your free ticket via the linktree in the bio. @artscouncilni #comeandsing #follies #outreach #culturenight #whatson #belfast #septemberevents #singalong #sondheimsingalong #choirs #singers
Thank you to our four finalists, sopranos @eadaoinhassettsoprano , @aimeekearneysoprano and @clarequinn.soprano, tenor @jacq_tenor Jacq Herbots and Peter Rankin Piano Intern @orlaithsharkey for a beautiful evening of performance at the Competition Finale for the 15th Glenarm Festival of Voice last night and a huge thank you to pianist @tristanrusscher , Festival Manager @willclarinet and Festival Intern @amyrpatton We are grateful for the support of @artscouncilni @meaboroughcouncil , to our wonderful sponsors, donors and Friends of NI Opera who make this event possible. Thank you to our coaches and panel for the competition who worked so hard with the finalists across the weekend: Dr Ingrid Surgenor, Professor Mark Wildman, @simon_lepper and Dame Fionnuala Jay-O'Boyle, to our host for the evening Patron of NI Opera Sean Rafferty and to the Village Committee of Glenarm and all the churches in the village where rehearse and perform for supporting us so well through the evening and indeed the festival in general. Photography: @observationphotos77 Flowers @bloomsbyoons_flowerfarm #opera #operafestival #glenarm #operacompetition #festivalofvoice #irishartssong #irishsingers #northernireland
Nominations are open for the 2025 International Opera Awards. @opera_awards Last year we were so proud to be nominees in the Equal Opportunities & Impact category for our community and outreach programmes. If you’ve enjoyed our work this year, we’d be so grateful if you considered nominating us. Eugene Onégin reviews: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Times ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Observer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Irish Times ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Theatre News Categories you could nominate us in: • New Production – Eugene Onégin • Cameron Menzies @cameronmenziesdirector (Director), Niall McKeever @niallmckeeverdesign (Set Design), Dominic Limburg @dominic_limburg (Conductor) • Equal Opportunities & Impact – for our work with artist development programmes, schools and communities and broadening opera's reach - 27% of Onégin’s audience who were new to the Grand Opera House • Female Singer – Mary McCabe @marymccabesoprano (Tatyana), Sarah Richmond @sarahrichmond_mezzo (Olga), Carolyn Dobbin @carolyn_dobbin_mezzo (Madame Larina), Jenny Bourke @jennybourke_mezzo (Filipyevna) • Male Singer – Yuriy Yurchuk @batmanoftheopera (Onegin), Norman Reinhardt @norman.reinhardt (Lensky) • Rising Star – @marymccabesoprano , for her role debut as Tatyana and her performance as Elle in La Voix Humaine which this year toured to @theeverymancork and you may have seen her this year performing across the UK and Europe for @divaoperauk The Observer named Eugene Onégin #3 in their Top Ten Operas & Concerts of 2024 across the UK – a huge accolade for Northern Ireland talent You can place your nominations via the linktree in the bio. Photos of 'Eugene Onegin' @gohbelfast and La Voix Humaine by @neilharrisonphotography @artscouncilni @opera_awards #InternationalOperaAwards #OperaAwards2025 #EugeneOnegin #NIOpera #NorthernIrelandArts #OperaLife #OperaLovers #ClassicalMusic #OperaSinger #OperaStage #GrandOperaHouse #OnStageInNI #SupportTheArts #ArtsCommunity #RisingStar
Come and spend an evening with us talking all things 'Follies' and Sondheim on 4th September at @room2 Belfast. There'll be live music from the show and an 'In Conversation' event with an expert panel including: Dr Richard Schoch @se1_richard, author of the critically acclaimed 'How Sondheim Can Change Your Life', and Professor of Drama at @qubelfast where he teaches musical theatre, Stuart Pedlar, West End Musical Director and long time Sondheim collaborator @cameronmenziesdirector , NI Opera's Artistic Director who is also directing Follies for the company this September. Tickets are £10 and can be booked via the link in our bio. The event will run from 6.30 to 8pm so come and enjoy a fun and fascinating evening of conversation, music and a Q&A session. Venue: Event Space, Room2 at 32-26 Queen Street in Belfast. @artscouncilni #musictheatre #sondheim #sondheimevent #stephensondheim #stuartpedlar #richardschoch #musicals #broadway #talk #education #eveninglecture #
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