Mezzo soprano Hayley Sugars is looking forward to playing a mean girl again soon for Opera Queensland. She stars as one of the nasty stepsisters in La Cenerentola (Cinderella), a tale of heart and humour that’s full of clever disguises, unlikely heroes, a midnight ball and the kindness of one very determined young woman.
Part of OQ’s groundbreaking Brisbane Bel Canto (April 29 to May 2), La Cenerentola is set to the sparkling and exquisite music of Rossini and swaps pumpkin carriages and fairy godparents for an evening of magical music and theatrical mischief.
You all know the basic story. When an invitation to the Prince’s Ball arrives, the gentle and warm-hearted Angelina (Cinderella) is overlooked by her selfish stepsisters and father Don Magnifico. However, kindness can conjure an unpredictable magic, for when Cinderella captures the heart of Prince Ramiro, it’s not the slipper that fits, but the heart that shines.
Toowoomba-based Hayley Sugars plays stepsister Tisbe and she’s happy to have a second crack at the show. Last year La Cenerentola opened Brisbane Bel Canto, which was abruptly cancelled due to Cyclone Alfred. Not to be deterred, they are doing it again with some returning cast members (including Sugars) and newbies including Margarita Gritskova, a Russian mezzosoprano making her Opera Queensland debut.
“Everyone was disappointed when we only got to do one show last year,” Sugars says. “We were grateful to at least get opening night and I’m thrilled to be doing it again.”
When she first came back from studying and singing in Europe some years ago, Sugars covered the lead role in another production of La Cenerentola, so she was familiar with the production. As understudy she became familiar with the opera but never got to play in it. But years later here she is doing it twice and happy with her supporting role.
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“I think being a mean sister is more fun,” she says.
And it’s a case of – hold that thought – because she is also cast in OQ’s last production for 2026, the Stephen Sondheim classic Into the Woods, in which she will play the wicked stepmother. Cinderella is one of the fairytales covered in that musical, which isn’t necessarily an opera. Or is it?
I asked OQ’s artistic director Patrick Nolan that very question and he gave a clever answer.
“They describe Sondheim as opera adjacent,” he points out. “The most operatic musical you could do is a Sondheim and that would be why we are doing it.” Fair enough!
Nolan says casting Sugars in it made sense because she has the comedic talent required.
“She’s hysterical,” he says. “She is a natural comic. You would not pick that up when she’s off stage, but she is very funny on stage.”
Into the Woods will run in November at QPAC’s new Glasshouse Theatre. It is one of a suite of works based on fairytales because, as Nolan points out, this is “our year of fairy tales”.
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That includes Rusalka in June and July, Antonín Dvořák’s 1901 opera Rusalka is based on a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil , which draws heavily from Slavic folklore regarding water spirits (rusalki) specifically incorporating elements from Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s Undine. It is also influenced by tales from Czech folklore. This fairytale opera tells the story of the luminous water nymph Rusalka. Seduced by a Prince, Rusalka abandons her family and everything she knows in the hope of finding true freedom. But all that glitters is not gold.
Dvořák’s score shimmers with sweeping romance and the many colours of Czech folk music, anchored by the spellbinding and much-loved aria Song to the Moon.
This will be a breathtaking production of grand scale by the award-winning team who created La traviata. It will feature internationally celebrated Australian soprano Eleanor Lyons as Rusalka, international tenor and homegrown hero Rosario La Spina as the Prince and another local, soprano Eva Kong, bringing depth and dramatic flair to the role of the Duchess. Conducted by Vladimir Fanshil, one of Australia’s most dynamic and sought-after conductors, Rusalka promises an operatic masterpiece of grand scale and unforgettable beauty.
Among other things at Brisbane Bel Canto will be Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, which will feature 100 singers on stage.
OQ’s Studio Series is worth taking note of, too, this year. Recently it featured the spectacular Xenia Puskarz Thomas (another mezzo) and there are more treats in store, including soprano Alexandra Flood later in the year.
Then there is what is now a fixture on the OQ calendar, the Festival of Outback Opera in Winton and Longreach from May 13 to 18.
Now in its sixth year, the Festival of Outback Opera continues to grow as one of Australia’s most distinctive music festivals. This year acclaimed New Zealand-Tongan tenor Filipe Manu is the headline artist. He is a graduate of the Jette Parker Young Artist program at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Last year it was Korean superstar Sumi Jo.
Set against the vast horizons of Queensland’s heartland, the festival brings together world-class performers for a week of concerts, community events and unforgettable moments under the stars. From the intimacy of the pub singalong to the grandeur of open-air galas. This festival embodies Opera Queensland’s vision of taking extraordinary opera to extraordinary places.
“There’s nothing quite like the Festival of Outback Opera,” Nolan says. “It creates a space where we can hear the music of the desert, be it the songs of the birds or exquisite voices of some of the finest singers alive today. It’s storytelling and song, in some of the most majestic landscapes you will ever experience.”
I point out that the focus on the Outback is popular nowadays and Nolan admits that he and his team may be pioneers in this field.
“I guess you could say Opera Queensland leads the way,” he says. “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. It will be spectacular, again.”
It is one of the jewels in his crown and Nolan has had the time to develop it because he has been at OQ for eight years. I tell him that’s a good run as an AD of a major company and he agrees, but points out that his close friend and collaborator Yaron Lifschitz of Circa Contemporary Circus is way ahead of him with more than two decades at the same company.
Let’s see if Nolan can emulate Lifschitz. He just might because he is loving it and is not going anywhere soon … except to the Outback.
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