A high-flying comedy and a touching story of our time.
An airport is a place to get away from. But it becomes a place for unexpected encounters when a group of travelers and airport workers are grounded overnight by a storm. Inspired by the true story of a refugee who lived in an airport for 18 years, Flight is surprisingly playful, sometimes risqué – and it frequently soars into sheer poetry.
Flight Takes Off: Video Trailer 1
A 20thc. opera about people with places to go and lives to change, Flight launched Jonathan Dove as one of today’s most acclaimed composers. Pacific Opera’s production – a Canadian première – will be directed and designed by the renowned team of Morris Panych and Ken MacDonald, who created our 2016 production of The Barber of Seville.
Keynotes Newsletter
Your key to Flight, and much more …
- Discover the true stories behind the opera.
- Explore the characters, the music, and Pacific Opera’s production.
- Discover what else is happening at Pacific Opera, including a host of events to prepare you for the Canadian première of this brilliant opera.
Season
2019 | 2020
Sung In
English with English Surtitles
Tickets
Past event
Venue
Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton
Artists
Cast
Controller
Sharleen Joynt
Tina
Jacqueline Woodley
Older Woman
Emilia Boteva
Stewardess
Kimy McLaren
Minskwoman
Allyson McHardy
Refugee
William Towers
Bill
John Robert Lindsey
Steward
John Brancy
Minskman
Neil Craighead
Immigration Officer
Justin Welsh
Creative Team
Composer
Jonathan Dove
Librettist
April De Angelis
Conductor
Timothy Vernon
Stage Director
Morris Panych
Set Designer
Ken MacDonald
Costume Designer
Dana Osborne
Lighting Designer
Alan Brodie
Fight Director, Movement
Jacques Lemay
Projection & Sound Designer
Keith Houghton
Stage Manager
Christopher Sibbald
Répétiteur
Louise-Andrée Baril
magic realism … tuned into life’s absurdity, fragility and tragic beauty
... timely,
darkly comedic
and moving
Media
Flying High with Flight: Video Trailer 2
Flight: retro take on deeply human tales
A production of great energy, commitment, and accomplishment on all levels...
Dove’s writing for ensembles is fabulous, with segments of polyphony that send shivers up and down the spine, and the cast—excellent from top to bottom—as well as the orchestra under conductor Timothy Vernon, delivered them beautifully. The composer’s arias, too, are all extremely effective, allowing each ensemble member at least one moment to shine.
Of those arias, and their singers, three stood out...
Allyson McHardy...with her warm and chocolaty mezzo....
Sharleen Joynt...with moments of Queen of the Night-like glory.... when she fully unleashes her coloratura to sing with and against the storm, she borders on otherworldly....
William Towers’...resonant and powerful upper range and exquisite tone make the [Refugee's] aria a jewel.
Robin Miller, Opera Canada. Read more
CBC Radio on Flight
One of the best productions Pacific Opera Victoria has ever done…it was something truly special…it delivers, thanks to a complicated but deliciously melodic and pleasing score coupled with this intelligent and compassionate libretto....
It's ethereal, it's powerful...it was all fresh and...new – isn't that really what art is supposed to be about?
David Lennam, CBC Radio On the Island. Listen
Pacific Opera Victoria’s delightful Flight achieves liftoff
Opera traditionalists loath to leave the friendly skies of Verdi, Mozart and Puccini have nothing to fear with Flight. The three-hour romp is wonderfully accessible, boasting lovely, simple melodies and a witty libretto that’s both broadly comic and touching….
Director Morris Panych oversees the proceedings with the correct balance of irreverence and sensitivity.
Flight benefits enormously from Ken MacDonald’s stylish airport set…. And Dana Osborne’s bold 1960s costumes (go-go boots, B-52 hairstyles) are an unqualified hoot….
…Panych and…MacDonald present a unified, boldly theatrical interpretation of Flight that stays true to its creators’ vision.
This is engaging magic realism, unafraid of earthy bawdiness yet also tuned into life’s absurdity, fragility and tragic beauty...
Flight is, in short, a delight.
Adrian Chamberlain, Times Colonist. Read more
Flight: Review
Pacific Opera Victoria gives Flight a first-class staging with an exceptional cast of singers, stylish design and enjoyable execution of a score and story that is...fun and complex. And...sexy.
Check the Program . Read more
Pacific Opera Victoria’s Flight takes off from refugee's story
Jonathan Dove endeavours to see as many versions of Flight as possible... Selfishly, I wrote a piece that I wanted to go see.... What's been the most surprising thing is realizing that the plight of refugees is more present now than when I wrote the piece. And that’s unusual for it to become actually more topical.
Mike Devlin, Times Colonist. Read more
CTV News Preview
Video excerpts and brief interview with stage director Morris Panych.
Watch (Story begins at the 24:20 mark.)
Flight gets set to soar at Pacific Opera Victoria
Rather than just a story about a refugee stuck in an airport, it’s a much denser story about existentialism and how much freedom you really have, said [director Morris] Panych. How much ability do you really have to escape?
Mark McKelvie, Opera Canada Magazine. Read more
Next Pacific Opera production tells a refugee’s airport tale
Jonathan Dove’s timely, darkly comedic and moving modern opera, Flight…makes its Canadian première....
Artistic director Timothy Vernon...says. It’s a great story, a very touching story. There’s lots of sex in it, and there is also a deeper, more sinister undertow regarding the plight of the refugee.
Joseph Blake, Monday Magazine. Read more
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