NI Opera returns with Soundheim classic

This new epic production will be directed by NI Opera’s artistic director Cameron Menzies whose critically-acclaimed career spans the world of opera, theatre, musical theatre, film and cabaret. Musicals performed at the Lyric by this award-winning national opera company have become a cultural highlight of the season and Into The Woods follows on from three previous sell out NI Opera shows staged there - The Threepenny Opera in 2018, Sweeney Todd in 2019 and Kiss Me Kate in 2020.

Cameron describes Into the Woods as the ultimate ‘quest’ musical and says: “It’s a wonderfully intriguing story that brings together and intertwines some of the beloved Brother’s Grimm fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel to ask what might have happened before ‘Once upon a time’ and after ‘Happily ever after’.

He said: “We are thrilled to be introducing Belfast to some wonderful local talent, while also showcasing some of the West End’s finest performers, some originally from Northern Ireland making their long-awaited debut performances back home. We will endeavour to create a wonderful tribute to one of the greatest musical theatre composers/lyricists of all time.“

Into The Woods will be Cameron’s second live production since he took the helm at NI Opera mid-pandemic in 2020. His first show was a critically-acclaimed staging of Puccini’s La Bohéme n Belfast’s Carlisle Memorial Church in September 2021 and he also produced the acclaimed cinematic experience Old Friends And Other Days which was selected for the Belfast Film Festival, the London International Short Film Festival and is a finalist in The British Short Films Awards 2021.

The production will run at the Lyric from February 3-27 and tickets are on sale now at lyrictheatre.co.uk