The Elixir of Love

The Telegraph“Pleasant, cheerful entertainment of an unremarkable kind...” The show is stolen by Andrew Shore with his crisply enunciated snake-oil merchant of a Dulcamara. What lets the fun down a notch is Pablo Heras-Casado's raucous and unidiomatic conducting.

MusicOMH“Energy and humour in abundance...” The ultimate achievement of Elixir is to take an opera that can be downright silly, and raise it to the level of delightfully witty. Though this production looks set to be a great crowd-pleaser, it would be wrong to dismiss it as simply that...

this is london“It all works very well...” As an evening in the theatre, this one offers the benefits of the classier elixirs. You pay, you get a good time. It may not be the rapture you were promised, but nor have you quite wasted your money...

The Stage“It’s a delightful looking show...” David Kempster is solid as the brash Sergeant Belcore, the local military ladies’ man and Andrew Shore’s Dulcamara is expertly done, with a brilliant Elvis impersonation thrown in...

Whatsonstage.com“Proof that idiomatic diction need not compromise musical integrity...” Light as cotton candy, sparkling as soda pop, frothy as vanilla malt, Donizetti’s irresistible confection is on sale for a limited period in Jonathan Miller’s tumbleweed diner, now open for business at the London Coliseum...

The Times“Singing of unaffected honesty...” However, if the staging strives towards that sort of zany exhilaration, it lacks something in authenticity. While the cast grapple with the challenge of singing bel canto with a nasal American twang (it doesn’t always come off)...

The Independent“Charming and funny...” Much of the credit for that should go to Kelley Rourke's crackingly witty translation. For sure, it takes as many liberties as it fires off rhyming couplets but it does so with irresistible silliness...

Guardian“It has the rare ability to rouse laughter and tears simultaneously...” a more thoughtful, less abrasive Elixir than we're used to. But it probably wouldn't work half so well without Tessier and the evening's ­conductor Pablo Heras-Casado. Gauche but cute, Tessier sings exquisitely...

Time Out“Not yet reviewed”

Financial Times“Not yet reviewed”