Welcome! Here’s a roundup of news, posts, bits and pieces I’ve been sharing on Social Media from the second week of January. That includes Bridge Theatre’s PR email blunders, Devoted and Disgruntled’s 13th event, and lots of interviews and reviews.
TrendFem – My blog posts
I shared some of my thoughts of the opening night of #ROHTosca with Joseph Calleja, Gerald Finley and Adrianne Pieczonka. It’s the ninth revival of Jonathan Kent’s production. (Click here.)
Come and get a history lesson at the @gatetheatre with @NinaB0wers ‘s captivating performance #Twilight1992 (here) focusing on the riots of Los Angeles in 1992.
It was National Popcorn Day on Friday 19th, so I sent out a post I wrote in 2016 discussing the effects that cinema live screen events have had on converting new audiences to opera (here).
It was the opening night of David McVicar’s revival production of Salome with Malin Bystrom and Michael Volle. I wrote about their tremendous performance here.

It was the cinema live event of Verdi’s Rigoletto this week. Here are my thoughts of the opening night in December 2017 with singers Dimitri Platanias, Sofia Fomina and Michael Fabiano (here.)
I got the opportunity to interview Alexander Joel, the conductor at the Royal Opera House for Rigoletto, before the cinema live event. Such a lovely chap! Here’s my write up. (here)
I got the chance to see Christian Slater in David Memet’s play Glengarry Glen Ross at the Playhouse Theatre. It’s not a perfect production, but still worth seeing for Slater’s rip-roaring performance (here).
One of those moments when you and your friend have to take selfie with Christian Slater.
#GGWestEnd @GlengarryLDN was too short, wish we had more time to see deals being closed. At the end of a ‘wicked’ show @SilverCelice and I got to congratulate our pal @ChristianSlater for a job well done. Ends February 3rd. Get a ticket now! #TicketNinja pic.twitter.com/fDWXlyCz9G
— Mary Grace Nguyen (@MaryGNguyen) January 16, 2018
When Trump cancelled his trip to the UK, this happened.
Trump cancelled his visit so we stepped in! It was certainly a surprise for the workmen at the Embassy. #TrumpVisit pic.twitter.com/L9Olk22XMm
— Madame Tussauds (@MadameTussauds) January 12, 2018
Opera
New York Times Critic Anthony Tommasini tells us what a hologram of Maria Callas can teach us about opera. Not enough, apparently. (Click here.)
An interesting piece by NPR on 35 years of surtitles used at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York (here.)
Controversy at the Hungarian State Opera House performing Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with an all-white cast.
The Hungarian State Opera is breaking the restriction on performing Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess with an all-black cast. We find this outrageous and would be happy to send them names of qualified black singers. #BlackSingersMatter pic.twitter.com/kUbqEE4XdM
— Barihunks (@Barihunks) January 17, 2018
Tenor Jonas Kaufmann and accompanist Helmut Deutsch’s performed Schubert – Müller cycle, Die schöne Müllerin at Carnegie Hall this week. Joel Rozen wrote, ‘Daddy’s home!’ in this witty review of the event (here).
Here’s an interview with The London Philharmonic’s conductor Vladimir Jurowski and The Times’ critic Richard Morrison discussing Wagner, Stravinsky and his love for the South Bank. This is in the wake of his performance with the LPO of Wagner’s Das Rheingold on January 27th and his Stravinsky series beginning on February 3rd (here).
If you missed out on INew’s Nicola Christie’s interview with Romanian Soprano Angela Gheorghiu, then you missed her saying, ‘Actually, I’m an opera singer, not a diva. I need an audience’s applause like other people need water.’ Read it here.

Fancy dress anyone?
To celebrate #DressUpYourPetDay (no really), it’s time to welcome back our favourite Valkyries…
Time for some #ONRing via @OperaVision_eu? https://t.co/TBOTnOzw3q pic.twitter.com/fG0v0c8TcO
— Opera North (@Opera_North) January 14, 2018
If you’re like me and unable to keep up with the dates the major opera houses release their season announcements, fear not. Sam Van Dam kindly sent us his list of last year’s release dates, so we know roughly when to prepare.
With the 2018/19 season announcements starting to appear, here’s a list of when the major houses announced last year 😉 #operanews pic.twitter.com/5kkJbLe5yB
— Sam Van Dam (@samvdam) January 18, 2018
Theatre
Dates in the Diary:
Sunday 8th April: The 2018 Olivier Awards sponsored by MasterCard
Tickets available now (here).
A piece by The Guardian’s art Correspondent Mark Brown looking at the Theatre Trust’s annual risk register which lists 35 buildings in the England, Scotland and Wales, which are at risk of being lost. (Read more here.)
For those who weren’t aware, it was Devoted and Disgruntled’s 13th event on the weekend. From Saturday 20th -22nd, there were debates and conversations with everyone interested and concerned about the performing arts and theatre industries. Have a look at the reports published covering some of the sizzling discussions we missed out on. (Click here.)
Shanine Salmon reports from her blog View from the Cheap Seat. Drama at the hands of The Bridge Theatre’s PR agent getting it wrong and emailing a list of theatre critics who were invited and weren’t invited to the new production Julius Caesar. The email was sent to the theatre’s founder and director of the show Nicholas Hytner. Moreover, the email was also sent to some of the journalists who weren’t invited. (Read more here.)
A stumbled across this article from ‘We Are Resonate’ on the improvement of diversity on Broadway, just not for Asian Americans. “Latinos and Asians are very removed out of the diversity conversation still.” (Click here.)
Les Misérables without the music – I dreamed a dream and it came true.
A controversial opinion piece written by Stuart Heritage. I don’t agree, obviously. I’m not sure if he is being sarcastic or being brutally honest. (Read his piece here.)
Lyn Gardner was banned from reviewing Cirque’s Ovo at the Royal Albert Hall as she previously gave their show a one-star review. So The Guardian bought her a £73 ticket. This is what she thought, and her co-reviewer Sanjoy Roy.
(Read their reviews here.)
Whatsonstage.com has released their WOS Awards. Vote your best shows of the year before January 31st. (Vote here.)
And that’s all for now. See you in a fortnight.
Related Posts
- January 1 – 7 2018: Golden Globes, #Times Up, Opera, Theatre & other Social Media news
- Jonas Kaufmann – Four Last Songs, Barbican (2018)
- Just in. The Laurence Olivier Awards’ Nominations (2018)
- Barbican Centre: Diana Damrau, Jonas Kaufmann & Hugo Wolf (2018)
- Opera & Classical Music news (Jan 25 – 5th Feb 2018): From the Met Opera’s HD Live event, Paris Opera, Marin Alsop, the London Handel Festival and more