Summer 2018 sees the return of Lesley Garrett to WNO for a brand new production, Rhondda Rips It Up! Lesley will perform the role of Emcee in this new commission, a blend of music hall and cabaret style entertainment. The production is touring to venues around Wales and England, enabling us to visit places we don’t often get to, from Carmarthen to Malvern to Treorchy, to name but three.
Lesley is perhaps still best remembered by WNO audiences for her appearance as the Merry Widow in 2005 but she more recently starred in Chorus! during our Spring Season in 2015. Who can forget her flying on a bright red lips chaise lounge…? But her association with us goes all the way back to the premiere of John Metcalf’s The Journey in 1981 (as Nicola) and The Bartered Bride in 1982 (as Esmeralda).
In 2017, TV viewers will have seen Lesley on Celebrity Masterchef, and in November 2017 she performed in the V&A’s Tapestry Galleries as part of #OperaPassion, relating to the ‘Opera: Passion, Power and Politics’ exhibition that WNO was involved with, alongside other opera companies up and down the country. All of this proves her enduring appeal.
We are very happy that Lesley is equally as excited to take on the role, recognising the plight women went through to get the vote, as we are to have her back. So why not grab your friends and join the march to celebrate one unsung Welsh heroine, Lady Rhondda, led by a Welsh National Opera favourite leading lady in this hilarious exultation of ‘girl power’.
For more information on Lesley's latest role with WNO please click here.