Sydney Festival has announced the tentpole show of its 2025 program: Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera.

Based on the extraordinary lives of Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, the legendary Las Vegas illusionists, the opera is co-written by composer-librettist Luke Di Somma New Zealand Opera’s The Unruly Tourist), and Constantine Costi, whose production of Puccini’s Il Tabarro, staged aboard a lightship at Darling Harbour, was a standout at Sydney Festival 2024.

Together, they aim to capture the duo’s improbable rise from humble beginnings in post-war Germany to becoming one of the highest grossing illusion acts in Las Vegas.

Kanen Breen and Christopher Tonkin. Siegfried & Roy. Photo @ Jacqui Manning

The production is not just a celebration of Siegfried and Roy’s magic but also a poignant exploration of their co-dependent friendship and their connection with Mantacore, a beloved tiger that famously turned.

Set to be staged in the Festival’s new Thirsty Mile precinct, the opera will be staged in Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf 1 Theatre from 8 January.

The cast features tenor Kanen Breen as Roy and baritone Christopher Tonkin as Siegfried. The opera will also feature Cathy-Di Zhang, Louis Hurley, Simon Lobelson...