OperaCocktail
A 'Jukebox' Romantic Comedy
Three singers and accordion form the OperaCocktail Ensemble of Storytellers. A story of four friends trying to make sense of life and love. Perhaps it is finally time to grow up?
Told through brilliantly evocative music including favorites from Carmen, La Traviata and The Elixir of Love, and performed by the some of the UK's most exciting young artists. OperaCocktail will move, entertain and delight.
Running Time
Approximately 60 minutes
Accessibility
Please get in touch for more information about accessibility in all our touring venues.
Creative Team
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Flora is a highly experienced and respected performer, facilitator, producer and director. She became Artistic Director of OperaUpClose in 2022 following a long association with the company singing multiple roles to great critical acclaim. Directing credits include OperaCocktail and Riders to the Sea for OperaUpClose. Flora is passionate about co-creation, opening the creative process to audiences and local communities, and developing lasting multi-disciplinary partnerships across all creative industries. Performing credits include, for Longborough Festival Opera: Waltraute (Die Walkure), Wellgunde (Das Rheingold), Dryade & cover Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos), and cover Brangane (Tristan und Isolde); Das Lied von Der Erde (English National Ballet, tour/London Coliseum); Pauline in Gounod’s Polyeucte (UK premiere); Romeo I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Grimeborn/BBC).
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Ashley Pearson is an award winning director and librettist dedicated to reframing the operatic canon for contemporary audiences through bold, collaborative storytelling. Directing highlights include the Off-West End award winning production of L’Inoronazione di Poppea and Offie-nominated productions of Agrippina and Partenope (HGO); Ballo in Maschera, Don Giovanni, and La Traviata (Opera on Location); Cosí fan Tutte and Die Zauberflöte (St Paul’s Opera). She has served as Assistant Director at Royal Opera House, English National Opera (Opera Works). Ashley's English-language adaptations include Verismo, Cinderella, and Carmen (published by Oberon Books). She holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from East 15 Acting School. Ashley is delighted to be returning to OperaUpClose, where she previously worked as an assistant and staff director on Carmen, Ulla’s Odyssey and La Traviata.
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Anna is a designer based in London. She works across multiple disciplines including theatre, musicals, opera and screen. Recently she has designed the costumes for ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ which is transferring to the West End later this year.
She has worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company as resident assistant designer, is an associate artist at The Watermill Theatre and was shortlisted for the JMK 2023.
Cast
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Robert Forrest is a British tenor and alumnus of the National Opera Studio’s Global Talent Programme. He trained at the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and at Girton College, University of Cambridge.
He made his solo BBC Proms debut last summer as Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro with Glyndebourne, with whom he has performed regularly across both festival seasons and tours. Previous Glyndebourne credits include covering in Tristan und Isolde, The Rake’s Progress, Dialogues des Carmélites and Les Mamelle de Tiresias.
Recent and upcoming engagements include Rodolfo in La bohème for Waterperry Opera Festival, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni for Tobacco Factory Theatres, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for Celebrate Voice Festival, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado with Opera della Luna, and tenor soloist performances with Scottish Opera and Birmingham Opera Company. He also joins Scottish Opera in 2026 for Dai Fujikura’s The Great Wave, covering the roles of Mr Tozaki and Nishimura Yohachi
Other operatic highlights include Vaudémont in Iolanta for both IF Opera and Royal Academy Opera, Rodolfo in La bohème for Hurn Court Opera, Mark in Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers for the Badisches Staatstheater, and appearances with Garsington Opera , where he won the Helen Clarke Award, at Dorset Opera Festival. He is rapidly establishing himself as a versatile young lyric tenor, performing repertoire ranging from Mozart and Handel to Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Britten, and contemporary opera.
As an accomplished recitalist, Robert has appeared at Wigmore Hall in a recital of Clara Schumann songs. Away from the stage, he enjoys good cheese and wine, supporting Liverpool FC, and playing squash.
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French-Italian Soprano Chiara Vinci is an interdisciplinary artist, her career in the arts spans across opera, dance and theatre, as well educational and collaborative projects both in the UK and internationally.
Chiara’s recent work with companies such as the WNO, Scottish Opera, Royal Ballet and Opera, and Hastings based companies Seaglass Arts and Barefoot Opera, have all focused on devising and creating new roles. Highlights include the UK premiere of Argentinian Composer Osvaldo Golijov’s “Ainadamar” with WNO and Scottish Opera, and the role of Lyra in Seaglass Arts “Catch a Sea Star”, an interactive opera for babies based on works by J.S Bach, performed at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and at The Clore Studio, Royal Opera House.
Other recent projects include directing and co-creating a new immersive opera for families with composer Lucy Mulgan “Fly with The Valkyries”, for The Royal Opera House and covering the roles of Lauretta and Claudia in “Gianni Scicchi” or “Where There’s A Will” with Opera Up Close.
Her forthcoming project, “Songs for Survivors of the 21st Century”, is an innovative new opera installation by Vanessa Oaks and composer Vahan Salorian, which works with community members as survivors of the 21st century epidemic of loneliness. Chiara is currently in R&D for a new opera for babies with @seaglassartsuk “Dream Forest” set to tour the UK and Europe in 2027.
Notable roles include Calisto/La Calisto (Longborough Festival Opera), Giulietta/I Capuleti e I Montecchi (Grimeborn Opera Festival), Rita/Rita (Opera South), Bubikopf/Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Loud Crowd), Gretel/Hänsel und Gretel (PopUp Opera) and Lena/Svadba (Waterperry Opera Festival).
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Award-winning Serbian born Miloš Milivojević has been described as “A hurricane of imaginative invention” by Hilary Finch, The Times. His versatility as a musician performing different genres including classical, tango and world music, has ensured he is in demand internationally. Miloš is a first prizewinner at international accordion competitions in Germany (Klingental), France (Grand Prix), Italy (Castelfidardo) and Denmark (Diremose Prisen). Miloš studied with Vojin Vasović and Radomir Tomić in Serbia and was awarded a full scholarship from the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) for Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Master degrees studying with Professor Owen Murray. During his studies, Miloš became the first accordionist ever to win the RAM Club Prize open to all instrumentalists and was the winner of the prestigious Derek Butler London Prize at the Wigmore Hall, contested by students from all four of the London conservatoires. At graduation, Miloš was awarded a Distinction and the Vice Principal’s Special Prize at the Royal Academy of Music.
Miloš has performed at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Arena, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Sydney Opera House, Muziekgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Kings Place, Purcell Room, Snape Maltings and as soloist at the RAM Foundation Day Awards Ceremony before HRH The Princess Royal. He has given recitals at many prestigious classical and world music festivals across the UK, Russia, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Iceland, Montenegro, Spain, Portugal, Canary Islands, Netherlands, Malta, Cuba, Australia and New Zealand.
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Mezzo-soprano Sarah Winn most recently performed with English Touring Opera as part of their Spring season. She was a 2024/25 Young Artist at the National Opera Studio, where she worked residencies with Glyndebourne, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, and Opera North.
Sarah studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Hilary Summers, graduating with distinction. She was awarded the Annie Ridyard Award, Chris Petty English Song Prize, and Leverhulme Trust Scholarship, and was a finalist in major competitions for Strauss and opera performance.
Sarah has keen interest in character driven performances, her performed operatic roles include The Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, Ino in Semele, Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict, Julia Bertram in Mansfield Park, and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus. Sarah is also an experienced oratorio soloist, with repertoire including Elgar’s The Music Makers and Coronation Ode, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Handel’s Messiah, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
South West
UK Tour Dates
OperaCocktail will also be visiting secondary schools across Southampton, with further performances on-board Cunard Transatlantic cruise from Southampton to New York 12-19 December.
Devon
Cornwood Village Hall
Fri 20 Nov | 7.30pm
Southampton
Cafe Mayflower Studios
Tues 1 Dec | 7pm
Dorset - Swanage
The Mowlem
Fri 4 Dec | 7.30pm
Dorset - Chetnole
Chetnole Village Hall
Sat 5 Dec | 7.30pm
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An exclusive pop-up opera experience
OperaCocktail is our signature ‘jukebox opera’ - a whimsical, highly theatrical and musically excellent pop-up show that brings a world-class performance directly into your workplace or event space. Designed to work seamlessly in corporate environments, from offices and atriums to private events and hospitality spaces,with minimal technical requirements and a compact performance footprint, OperaCocktail is guaranteed to move, entertain and delight without the formality or logistical demands of a large-scale show. A truly UpClose experience staff and clients will never forget.
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