Royal Academy Opera

See and hear the opera stars of the future at Hackney Empire in Jacques Offenbach’s famous ‘opéra bouffe’, Orpheus in the Underworld.

This irreverent satire was unleashed on Parisian audiences in 1858 to a combination of shock and delight: ‘a profanation of holy and glorious antiquity’, ‘a coarse and grotesque parody’, said the critics. Its many memorable set-pieces include the risqué Galop Infernal, better known as the ‘can-can’ – one of the most famous dance tunes of all time.

This new production is conducted by Gareth Hancock, Director of Royal Academy Opera. The director, Martin Duncan, promises to bring us an entertaining show that is ‘funny, colourful, all-singing and all-dancing’.

Sung in the original French with surtitles.
Dialogue in Jeremy Sams’s witty English translation.