6 May 2015

Lindy Hume and Dan Potra: NZ Opera

From Upbeat, 2:05 pm on 6 May 2015

La Cenerentola NZ Opera logo crop no text

Lindy Hume director for New Zealand Opera La CenerentolaLindy Hume is the director, and Dan Potra the designer for New Zealand Opera’s production of La Cenerentola, Rossini’s take on the Cinderella story,  which opens at Wellington’s St James Theatre on Saturday 9 May, then moves to the Aotea Centre in Auckland at the end of May.

The duo have worked together for decades.

"I was a young director and had been asked to direct a production of Carmen for Western Australia Opera in the early 90’s..I had just been to see Dan’s graduation performance at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) and I asked  him to design my production. It premiered in Western Australian, then went to Sydney and became Opera Australia’s Carmen for the next 15 years." - Lindy Hume.

Lindy Hume is now the Artistic Director of Opera Queensland and has created more than 50 major productions across Australasia.

Dan Potra designer New Zealand Opera La CenerentolaDan Potra’s designs run into the hundreds and include everything from Opera to Olympic Opening Ceremonies, as well as film and television.

Dan moved from Romania to Australia at the age of 23 after a life-long fascination with the country - via sports.

"For Potra, growing up in 1970s Transylvania, the teenage wunderkind (triple Olympic gold medallist Shane Gould) and her clutch of medals from the Munich Games represented the Australian dream." – The Guardian

Lindy Hume and Dan Potra join Eva Radich ahead of the opening of La Cenerentola.