Victorian Opera (VO) has announced its 2026 season, marking the company’s 21st anniversary.

Artistic Director Stuart Maunder, in his third year at the helm, says the company is “up for a celebration.”

“This anniversary season is a toast to our past, a bold embrace of the present, and a leap into the future. We revisit a treasured past production, premiere a brand-new Australian opera, reimagine a neglected gem of music theatre and, for the first time, explore the sparkling world of operetta.”

Victorian Opera’s Ned Kelly: The Musical. Photo supplied

There’s a distinctly Australian flavour this season, starting with a ‘neglected gem’: Reg Livermore’s Ned Kelly: The Musical. Premiered in Adelaide in 1977, the work hasn’t been staged in since it had a two-month revival with New Moon Theatre Company in 1982. Ned finally sees the sun again in a staging directed by Maunder at Ballarat’s Her Majesty’s Theatre on 28 March – with a cameo from Livermore himself in the performance.

VO’s first operetta is The Pirate of Penzance, which plays from 31 January. It’s a work with which Maunder has a personal relationship: in Opera Australia’s 2007 production, he flew in to cover the role of the Major-General at the last minute (and unwittingly created one of Limelight writer Patricia Maunder’s ‘fondest live-theatre memories‘).

Ben Mingay and Antoinette Halloran return to reprise their roles from State Opera South Australia’s 2023 production among a cast that also features Nicholas Jones, Nina Korbe and Richard Piper (as the Major-General).

The Coronation of Poppea. Photo supplied

From 30 June – 4 July, Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea plays at the Palais Theatre. There’s even an Aussie twist here – the production employs a score re-orchestrated by Elena Kats-Chernin flecked with jazz and tango. Directed by Sam Strong and conducted by Chad Kelly, it stars Samuel Dundas as Emperor Nero and Meechot Marrero as Poppea.

Soprano Rachelle Durkin and tenor Kanen Breen take the lead in Henry James’ adaptation of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw from 29 September – 1 October, with Paul Kildea on the podium with Orchestra Victoria.

Rounding off the season, novelist Helen Garner’s The Spare Room will be given an operatic treatment by composer Jane Hammond and librettist Therèsa Borg in a world premiere production at Arts Centre Melbourne from 7–10 October. Unpacking the relationship between two friends as one moves in with the other while undergoing alternative treatments for cancer, it will be directed by Sarah Goodes and feature sopranos Natalie Jones and Antoinette Halloran.

And, for families, The Magic Pudding: The Opera embarks on a tour to The Round, Darebin Arts Centre, and Bunjil Place from 15–30 May.

More on Victorian Opera’s 2026 season can be found here.