PALACE OPERA AND BALLET
Experience the best of what's on stage in Europe in Bowral, with new performances screening direct from London’s Royal Ballet and Opera, Opéra National de Paris and Milan’s Teatro alla Scala!
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Paris Opera Ballet Nureyev's: The Nutcracker
Conductor: Andrea Quinn
Orchestra: Orchestre de l’Opera national de Paris
Cast: Paris Dorothée Gilbert (Clara), Guillaume Diop (Drosselmeyer/The Prince)
Music: Piotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Rudolf Nureyev
Sets & Costumes: Nicholas Georgiadis
Duration: approx. 2 hours 10 minutes incl. an interval
Ballet in three acts (1985)
Celebrate Christmas in July with Rudolf Nureyev’s Paris Opera Ballet reinterpretation of The Nutcracker. Snowflakes, flowers and enchanted landscapes form the backdrop to a dazzling choreography, with sets and costumes emphasising the strangeness of E.T.A. Hoffman’s original 1816 tale that inspired Marius Petipa's 1892 ballet. One Christmas Eve, young Clara (Dorothée Gilbert) receives a nutcracker puppet and dreams of a fantasy world where toys and anxieties come alive. Guided by the wooden puppet who has become Prince Charming (Guillaume Diop), she bravely confronts her fears and desires in a tale of self-discovery, brought to life through Tchaikovsky's sparkling, colourful score.
Screening Saturday 25 & Sunday 26 July 2026 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 29 July 2026 at 11am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
La Scala Bizet's: Carmen
Conductor: Myung-Whun Chung
Orchestra: Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
Cast: Clémentine Margaine (Carmen), Vittorio Grigolo (Don José), Giorgi Manoshvili (Escamillo), Pierre Doyen (La Dancaïre), Loïc Félix (Le Remendado), Slávka Zámečníková (Micaëla), Marine Chagnon (Mercédès), Sarah Dufresne (Frasquita)
Composer: Georges Bizet
Director: Damiano Michieletto
Set Design: Paolo Fantin
Duration: approx. 3 hours 30 minutes incl. an interval
Sung in French, with English subtitles.
Opera in four acts (1875)
New Production! Myung-whun Chung, who from 2027 will become Music Director of the Teatro alla Scala, conducts this new production of Bizet’s Carmen, a co-production with Madrid’s Teatro Real and London’s Royal Opera House (whose premiere staging was screened in cinemas in June 2024). Chung guides a cast that is ideally suited to their roles, with lauded French mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine as the free-spirited gypsy Carmen, Vittorio Grigolo as the soldier Don José who's willing to risk it all for her love, and Giorgi Manoshvili as the jealous bullfighter Escamillo. Director Damiano Michieletto and set designer Paolo Fantin reduce local colour, crafting instead a minimalist and compelling spectacle that foregrounds the protagonists’ inescapable fate.
Screening Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 August 2026 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 5 August 2026 at 11am
Adults: $27.00, Concessions: $20.00
Royal Ballet MacMillan's Manon
Conductor: Koen Kessels
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Cast: The Royal Ballet
Music: Jules Massenet
Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan
Designs: Nicholas Georgiadis
Duration: approx. 3h10 incl. two intervals
Ballet in two acts (1974)
A life of luxury… or love? In the seedy underbelly of 18th-century Paris, money is king. Nothing is sacred – even love itself can be bought for the right price. A native of this hedonistic underworld, Manon is caught between twin desires when she falls in love with the student Des Grieux. Steadfast and devoted, he offers the possibility of an honourable life. Yet, the riches promised by the world of Parisian society remain tempting...
Manon’s inner turmoil and struggle for survival lie at the devastating heart of Kenneth MacMillan’s 1974 adaptation of Abbé Prévost’s novel. In this signature work of The Royal Ballet, MacMillan’s nuanced understanding of human psychology makes for an unflinching look into the moral degradation of Manon’s Paris, while all its decadence and decay are brought to life through Jules Massenet’s score and Nicholas Georgiadis’s designs.
Screening Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 November 2026 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 25 November 2026 at 12pm
Adults: $28.00, Concessions: $22.00
Royal Opera Bizet's Carmen
Conductor: Sesto Quatrini
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Cast: Ginger Costa-Jackson (Carmen), Russell Thomas (Don José), Adriana González (Micaëla), Alexander Vinogradov (Escamillo), Barnaby Rea (Zuniga)
Composer: Georges Bizet
Director: Damiano Michieletto
Set Design: Paolo Fantin
Duration: approx. 3h35 including an interval
Sung in French, with English subtitles.
Opera in four acts (1875)
Under the oppressive heat of the Spanish sun, the fiercely independent Carmen attracts the attention of Don José. She warns him not to fall in love with her, but his obsession knows no bounds.
Damiano Michieletto’s searing production returns, casting scorching light on the lust, violence and destructive desire of Bizet’s ever-popular opera. An all-star cast brings this white-hot drama to life, with Ginger Costa-Jackson in the fiery title role, alongside Russell Thomas as the jealous and despairing Don José. Following his 2023 Royal Opera debut, Sesto Quatrini returns to conduct Bizet’s electrifying and sensual score.
Screening Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 December 2026 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 16 December 2026 at 12pm
Adults: $28.00, Concessions: $22.00
Royal Ballet Wright's The Nutcracker
Conductor: Charlotte Politi
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Cast: Mayara Magri (The Sugar Plum Fairy), Reece Clarke (The Prince), James Hay (Herr Drosselmeyer), Mariana Tsambenhoi (Clara), Taisuke Nakao (Hans-Peter/The Nutcracker)
Music: Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Peter Wright after Lev Ivanov
Designs: Julia Trevelyan Oman
Duration: approx. 2h20 incl. an interval
Ballet in two acts (1892)
Special Xmas encore screenings! At a cosy Christmas party, young Clara meets the mysterious magician Drosselmeyer, who gives her a nutcracker doll. When the guests have departed and the house is asleep, Clara sneaks downstairs in search of the doll. Instead, she finds Drosselmeyer, who whisks her away on a journey into a whole world of enchantment: fantastical landscapes of flurried snow and glittering confection where toys come alive and the magic never stops.
Peter Wright’s production of this festive family favourite sparkles to the wondrous swell of Tchaikovsky’s orchestral score, alongside the glow and grandeur of Julia Trevelyan Oman’s period designs.
Screening Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 December 2026 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 23 December 2026 at 12pm
Adults: $28.00, Concessions: $22.00
Royal Opera Wagner's Gotterdammerung
Conductor: Antonio Pappano
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Cast: Andreas Schager (Siegfried), Thomas Lehman (Gunther), Mika Kares (Hagen), Christopher Purves (Alberich), Elisabet Strid (Brünnhilde), Amanda Majeski (Gutrune), Annika Schlicht (Waltraute), Noa Beinart (First Norn), Claire Barnett-Jones (Second Norn), Catharine Woodward (Third Norn), Sarah Brady (Woglinde), Niamh O’Sullivan (Wellgunde), Sian Griffiths (Flosshilde)
Composer: Richard Wagner
Director: Barrie Kosky
Set Design: Rufus Didwiszus
Duration: approx. 5h50 incl. two intervals
Sung in German, with English subtitles.
Opera in a prologue and three acts (1876)
New Production! An earth in ruin. The twilight of the Gods. Deception leads to treachery, then devastation, when Siegfried is tricked into betraying Brünnhilde. Learning the truth of her beloved’s innocence, Brünnhilde at last returns the ring to the Rhinemaidens, before ordering that Valhalla be swallowed in flames.
For the long-awaited finale of Wagner’s epic saga, director Barrie Kosky situates the rich apocalyptic drama in a contemporary world of dream-like turmoil. Antonio Pappano, Conductor Laureate of The Royal Opera, returns to take on the impassioned, otherworldly music – including Siegfried’s transporting Funeral March and Brünnhilde’s electrifying Immolation Scene. The brilliant cast is led by Elisabet Strid, Andreas Schager and Mika Kares, who together with the full forces of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus bring opera’s greatest journey to its shattering end.
Screening Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 February 2027 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 3 March 2027 at 12pm
Adults: $28.00, Concessions: $22.00
Royal Opera Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte
Conductor: Thomas Hengelbrock
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Cast: Louise Alder (Fiordiligi), Simone McIntosh (Dorabella), Mingjie Lei (Ferrando), Huw Montague Rendall (Guglielmo), Gerald Finley (Don Alfonso), Emily Pogorelc (Despina)
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Director: Netia Jones
Set Design: Hyemi Shin
Duration: approx. 3h30 incl. an interval
Sung in Italian, with English subtitles.
Opera in four acts (1881)
New Production! Spurred on by a bet, two young men hatch a plan to test the fidelity of their girlfriends. What follows is a slippery game of seduction and power, the four lovers plunging into a dizzying world of shifting reality, where truth becomes increasingly unstable.
Così fan tutte has lost none of its sting since it first scandalised audiences in 1790. In her Main Stage debut, Netia Jones, Associate Director of The Royal Opera, reimagines Mozart’s comedy of manners through a sharp contemporary lens, where 18th-century romantic trickery meets deeply satirical high-tech deceit. Taking on the roles of the lovers is an exciting young cast led by Louise Alder, Simone McIntosh, Mingjie Lei and Huw Montague Rendall, with Gerald Finley as their manipulative game-master Don Alfonso and Emily Pogorelc as Despina. Thomas Hengelbrock conducts, bringing out the exquisite melodies that underpin the provocative, and resolutely modern, themes at the heart of the opera.
Screening Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 April 2027 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 7 April 2027 at 12pm
Adults: $28.00, Concessions: $22.00
Royal Ballet Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Conductor: Koen Kessels
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Cast: Francesca Hayward (Alice), William Bracewell (Jack/The Knave of Hearts), James Hay (Lewis Carroll/The White Rabbit), Lauren Cuthbertson (Mother/The Queen of Hearts), Bennet Gartside (Father/The King of Hearts), Steven McRae (Magician/The Mad Hatter), Nicol Edmonds (Rajah/The Caterpillar), Gary Avis (The Duchess)
Music: Joby Talbot
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Designs: Bob Crowley
Duration: approx. 2h50 incl. two intervals
Ballet in three acts (2011)
Encore screenings! At a garden party on a sunny afternoon, Alice is surprised to see her parents’ friend Lewis Carroll transform into a white rabbit. When she follows him down a rabbit hole, events become curiouser and curiouser…As Alice journeys through Wonderland, she encounters countless strange creatures. She’s swept off her feet by the charming Knave of Hearts, who’s on the run for stealing the tarts. Confusion piles upon confusion. Then Alice wakes with a start. Was it all a daydream?
Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland burst onto the stage in 2011 in an explosion of colour, stage magic and inventive, sophisticated choreography. Joby Talbot’s score combines contemporary soundworlds with sweeping melodies that gesture to ballet scores of the 19th century. Bob Crowley’s wildly imaginative, eye-popping designs draw on everything from puppetry to projections to make Wonderland wonderfully real. The result shows The Royal Ballet at its best, bringing together world-class dance with enchanting family entertainment and ingenious music and design.
Screening Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 April 2027 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 21 April 2027 at 12pm
Adults: $28.00, Concessions: $22.00
Royal Ballet Petipa's Swan Lake
Conductor: Koen Kessels
Orchestra: Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Cast: The Royal Ballet
Music: Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Marius Petipa & Lev Ivanov, with additional choreography by Liam Scarlett and Frederick Ashton
Designs: John Macfarlane
Duration: approx. 3h25 incl. two intervals
Ballet in two acts (1895)
Princess Odette is bound by a curse, turned into a swan by the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart. The spell can only be broken by a pledge of eternal love. When she meets Prince Siegfried, he is immediately enamoured by her fragile beauty and pledges to free her. But freedom is not promised for Odette as Von Rothbart conspires to thwart the lovers’ plans.
Liam Scarlett’s production for The Royal Ballet brings together Tchaikovsky’s towering score and John Macfarlane’s picturesque designs to create an enduring ballet spectacle of love, treachery and forgiveness.
Screening Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 May 2027 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 19 May 2027 at 12pm
Adults: $28.00, Concessions: $22.00
Royal Opera Puccini's Tosca
Conductor: Daniel Oren
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Cast: Aleksandra Kurzak (Floria Tosca), Saimir Pirgu (Mario Cavaradossi), Christopher Maltman (Baron Scarpia), Aled Hall (Spoletta), Paweł Horodyski (Cesare Angelotti), Jonathan Lemalu (Sacristan), Sam Hird (Sciarrone)
Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Director: Oliver Mears
Set Design: Simon Lima Holdsworth
Duration: approx. 3h15 incl. two intervals
Sung in Italian, with English subtitles.
Opera in three acts (1900)
Floria Tosca and Mario Cavaradossi live for each other and for their art. But when Cavaradossi helps an escaped prisoner, the lovers make a deadly enemy in the form of Baron Scarpia, Chief of Police. At the mercy of Scarpia’s twisted desires, Tosca is forced to make a horrific bargain: sleeping with the man she hates, in order to save the man she loves. Can she find a way out?
Oliver Mears’s acclaimed production returns, setting Puccini’s operatic thriller in a contemporary, war-torn Rome. Daniel Oren conducts Aleksandra Kurzak, who returns to the title role, joined by Saimir Pirgu as Cavaradossi and Christopher Maltman as Baron Scarpia.
Screening Saturday 5 & Sunday 6 June 2027 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 9 June 2027 at 12pm
Adults: $28.00, Concessions: $22.00
Royal Ballet MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet
Conductor: Koen Kessels
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Cast: Fumi Kaneko (Juliet), Vadim Muntagirov (Romeo), Francisco Serrano (Mercutio), Ryoichi Hirano (Tybalt), Giacomo Rovero (Benvolio), Lukas B. Brændsrød (Paris), Lord Capulet (Bennet Gartside), Lady Capulet (Cristina Arestis)
Music: Sergey Prokofiev
Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan
Designs: Nicholas Georgiadis
Duration: approx. 2h50 incl. two intervals
Ballet in three acts (1965)
Encore screenings! The Capulets and Montagues are sworn enemies. Yet it is love at first sight for Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet when they meet each other at the Capulet ball, into which Romeo has snuck. The two fall in love and they profess their devotion to each other at Juliet’s balcony. They secretly get married. The stakes are raised for the young couple when Romeo avenges the death of his friend Mercutio who has been killed by Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. For this, Romeo is exiled from Verona. Meanwhile, Juliet’s parents are forcing her to marry another suitor. In order to be together, Romeo and Juliet must risk it all.
Screening Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 June 2027 at 1pm
Plus Wednesday 23 June 2027 at 12pm
Adults: $28.00, Concessions: $22.00
