Vancouver Opera's just-announced 2018-19 roster includes a giant vintage-Paris-postcard-themed La Bohème and a fable-and-fairy-tale-themed spring festival.

The lineup continues this season's model of two regular-season shows followed by its spring fest, which has been scaled back to two major productions versus this year's three. 

The season kicks off with what the announcement calls a "lavish" production of the Art Nouveau operetta The Merry Widow, by Franz Lehár, running October 20, 25, 27, and 28 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The cast includes tenor John Cudia, who played Cassio in the VO's recent Otello. Rising conductor Ward Stare will direct the Vancouver Opera Orchestra.

That's followed by the staging of another big warhorse: Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, February 14 to 24, 2019, at the Queen E., staged by the wildly imaginative Canadian designer and director duo André Barbe and Renaud Doucet (who staged this season's eye-poppingTurandot). The design team draws inspiration from old Paris postcards and the Jazz Age, framing the opera with a present-day tourist visiting a flea-market stall specializing in 1920s objects d’art. The Guardian called Barbe and Doucet's rendition for the Scottish Opera a "crowd-pleaser": "Barbe and Doucet go in for beautiful and gloriously over-the-top productions and their Bohème is no exception." Canadian conductor Judith Yan makes her Vancouver Opera debut on the podium for the production. 

The third annual Vancouver Opera Festival features nine days of productions, special events, speakers, family events, and more from April 27 to May 5, 2019 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza, with a theme of "Fairytales and Fables".

The fest opens with Charles Gounod’s Faust (April 27 to May 5, 2019 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre), with the classic story of one man's deal with the devil featuring an all-Canadian cast. Look for singers like David Pomeroy and Marianne Fiset, (Liù in this season's hit Turandot production), as well as Toronto's Robert Pomakov making his VO debut. Jonathan Darlington conducts.

It's followed by Gioachino Rossini’s La Cenerentola (April 27 to May 12, 2019 at the Vancouver Playhouse), the first time the family-friendly Cinderella story has been presented at the VO since 1981. Rachel Peake, the local theatre director who helmed  Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at the opera fest in 2017, will direct. And Vancouver mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh will sing the role of Cinderella.

Subscriptions for the 2018-19 season will be available beginning April 2, while current subscribers can lock in their reserved seats for the upcoming season from now until March 29 by calling 604-683-0222 or online at vancouveropera.ca.  Single tickets will be available beginning July 16.