A new adaptation of The Marriage of Figaro, from award-winning musical theatre company leo&hyde, is shedding fresh light on Mozart’s 18th-century romantic comedy. The Marriage of Kim K is taking place at Theatre by the Lake’s Studio on Saturday 30 November.
After a critically-acclaimed UK tour in 2017, this Gogglebox-inspired opera-musical comedy returns to celebrate learning to love what you thought you hated by fusing ‘high art’ with ‘popular culture’.
Rapidly switching between the original The Marriage of Figaro and new music by the versatile Penrith-born composer Stephen Hyde, The Marriage of Kim K is a genre-defying smorgasbord of slick electronic pop, classical opera, and contemporary musical theatre.
Hyde studied at Manchester’s Chethams School of Music (where he was awarded the composition prize), won a choral scholarship to University of Oxford, and was shortlisted for the 2018 Cameron Macintosh composer residency. His new music reframes the original Mozart with finesse and musical wit, described by The Guardian as ’inventive and ornate… laced with surprises’, and about which The Express wrote that ‘The music does the impossible…. well worth catching’.
Hyde, who grew up in Ellonby, is delighted to have his work produced on his local stage: “When I was a boy, Theatre by the Lake was my gateway to professional theatre. The first production I saw was The Snow Queen in 2000 – the year after the theatre opened – and I’ve been back every year since then for farce, Shakespeare, musicals, dramas and everything in between. As a boy, I was so lucky growing up with this amazing theatre on my doorstep, but I never thought that one of my own shows would one day tread the boards here. I am so thankful that Theatre by the Lake are welcoming our amazing cast for The Marriage of Kim K to add another drop to the drama of the lakes.”
In The Marriage of Kim K three pairs of lives unfold on stage – reality star Kim Kardashian and her 72-day husband Kris Humphries, Mozart’s tempestuous Count and Countess Almaviva of revolutionary France, and a young couple fighting over which of these to watch on TV. Previous awards for this The Marriage of Kim K include Best Show at the Birmingham Fringe (winner), Buxton Fringe Award for Original, Challenging Work with High Production Values (winner), and Best Fringe Show at Manchester Theatre Award (nomination).
leo&hyde, a multi-award-winning Manchester-based musical theatre company, uses soundworlds and stories about modern culture to portray depth in the seemingly shallow and the relatability of the seemingly pretentious – all with wit, spectacle, and affection.
To find out more visit www.theatrebythelake.com or call the Box Office on 017687 74411.
