Opera Parallèle
La Belle et la Bête
Nicole Paiement, artistic director and conductor
Brian Staufenbiel, director and scenic designer
Cal Performances Company Debut
by Philip Glass
Libretto by the composer
Based on the film by Jean Cocteau
Featuring Hadleigh Adams, baritone (La Bête/Avenant)
Full cast to be announced
This astonishingly original presentation of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast blurs the distinctions between film and live opera, merging Jean Cocteau’s classic 1946 romantic fantasy with Philip Glass’ mesmerizing 1994 score. Glass composed the music as a new soundtrack to the film, transforming the original spoken French dialogue into sung libretto.
Now Opera Parallèle has responded to the dreamlike, subconscious elements of the story with its own new film and stage direction, further blurring the barriers between the characters onscreen and the singers on stage. The work asks, What is true beauty? What is good and evil? Can we go beyond appearances and discover the beauty that lies inside the soul?
“A multi-veined phantasmagoria of sights and sounds, drama and pathos and humor” (San Francisco Chronicle).
Performed in French with English subtitles
Patron Sponsor: Robert Ellis
Fri–Sat, Mar 13–14, 8pm
There is a $15 per order service charge on single ticket purchases that partially underwrites the cost of our ticketing platform, credit card processing, Ticket Office staffing, and ticket delivery. To avoid this fee, tickets can be purchased in person at our Ticket Office during our regular office hours. Note: there is a $20 service charge for all subscription orders.
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Fri–Sat, Mar 13–14, 8pm
* There is a $15 per order service charge on ticket purchases made by phone or online that are not part of a subscription package, and a $20 service charge on all subscription orders. There is no fee for tickets purchased in person at the Zellerbach Hall Ticket Office unless they are part of a subscription. This fee helps to underwrite the cost of providing services online and by phone, as well as programs needed for digital order delivery. To avoid this fee, tickets can be purchased in person at our Ticket Office during our regular office hours.
Single tickets for 2025–26 Season events go on sale at noon as follows:
July 24: Donors of $100+
July 29: Email Club and UCB Community
Aug 5: General Public