THE GIACOMO VARIATIONS,starring screen actor JOHN MALKOVICH as the legendary lover Casanova, will mark a Canadian Primierre this June!

Based on the life of Giacomo Casanova, the Italian adventurer, writer and womanizer, THE GIACOMO VARIATIONS is a remarkable fusion of opera and theatre with a 45-piece orchestra. Following its world premiere on January 5, 2011 at the Ronacher Theatre, Vienna, Austria, the Hamburger Abendblatt said, “The Giacomo Variations is supremely moving and genuinely erotic.”

THE GIACOMO VARIATIONS is Malkovich’s second foray into the world of opera. His first, and very successful collaboration, in 2008 with the same production and creative team, was The Infernal Comedy, which he continues to tour internationally.

John Malkovich (The Killing Fields, The Glass Menagerie, Dangerous Liaisons, In the Line of Fire, Being John Malkovich) is one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. His career began in the theatre, in 1976, when Malkovich joined Chicago`s Steppenwolf Theatre, newly founded by Gary Sinise. He appeared on stage in New York in the early eighties before his film debut in 1984 as the blind lodger in Places in the Heart (Academy Award nomination).

The music is provided by Casanova’s contemporaries, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, and draws on the most beautiful arias from Don Giovanni, Cosí fan tutte and The Marriage of Figaro.

Written by Michael Sturminger with musical concept by Martin Haselböck, THE GIACOMO VARIATIONS is based on the life of the late Giacomo Casanova, the Italian adventurer, writer and womanizer. Born in 1725, Casanova traveled between Paris, Rome, Madrid, Berlin and St. Petersburg as gambling debts and erotic intrigues forced him to constantly and quickly change his location. By 1785, Casanova had finally settled down and was able to devote himself to writing down the story of his eventful life. His 1790 memoirs, “Histoire de ma vie” have become a classic of erotic literature.

In THE GIACOMO VARIATIONS, Casanova invites the audience to witness a very personal retrospection on his life. While trying to impress Countess Isabella, the beautiful sister of his host Karl Emanuel Count von Waldstein, with his philosophical views on love, medicine, fashion, and cookery, he of course also has his eye on the nurse, the seamstress and the kitchen maid.

The show opens with a stroke, and Casanova nearly dies before he has even started. But as the night progresses, he recovers, gets younger, fitter and stronger, as his memories seem to strengthen his love and lust for life. Finally, he has told his story and, once again, won the heart of a woman willing to do everything for him. Knowing more about love and seduction than any other man, Giacomo decides not to consume his final conquest, but to die in a state of victory instead.

Written by Michael Sturminger with musical concept by Martin Haselböck, the music is provided by Casanova’s contemporaries, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, and draws on the most beautiful arias from Don Giovanni, Cosí fan tutte and The Marriage of Figaro.

TICKETS ON SALE as of FEBRUARY 21, 10 am!

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