Nicola Lisle talks to opera director Ellen Kent about her latest shows

When it comes to putting on opera, Ellen Kent doesn’t do things by halves – as Oxford audiences will find out when her company comes to the New Theatre next week with a sumptuous triple bill.

“They’re all huge productions,” she laughs. “Everyone thinks I’ve got lots of money but I haven’t because all my profits go towards the next show. I’m not very sensible really, am I? I’m a bit of an entrepreneur, but I feel this is my raison d’etre in life so I might as well make the most of it.”

And make the most of it she does. That’s why her production of Die Fledermaus – which premiered 10 years ago – features two huge champagne fountains, set amid the opulence of a 19th century Viennese ballroom.

“I’ve got a beautiful set,” Ellen says proudly. “And I have an original 1920s vintage cloth, which should really be in a museum. It’s black and silver with art nouveau designs on it. We drop that down and light it through during the opening scene and it just adds something very beautiful to the show.

“The ball gowns are just fabulous. They’re all my own costumes, and they’re just spectacularly beautiful.

“So we’ve really dressed it up to the nines.”

Uniquely, this production features scenes from the Russian Die Fledermaus, after Ellen found an old copy lying in the basement of the Moldova Opera House in 2005. She explains: “It’s based on the famous Russian film The Bat, and I had it translated into English to see what it was all about. We found it had scenes in it that were not in the original version of Die Fledermaus, and they were screamingly funny.

“So I rewrote the whole thing into an English version suitable for this operetta. It’s very heavily an Ellen Kent libretto, and for people who know us and know what we do it goes down really well. It was a challenge but great fun to do.”

In Ellen’s version, there are now two bats instead of one, with all kinds of complications and hilarity ensuing. There is also a mystery guest – a traditional feature that seems to have fallen by the wayside over the years.

“I discovered that Strauss put a mystery guest into his version, but hardly anybody does it now except the Royal Opera,” says Ellen. “He had somebody join the party who was well known in Vienna.

“So we have lots of mystery guests on the tour.”

Ellen is also bringing two of her most popular productions to the New Theatre – her spectacular Tosca, featuring magnificent marbled pillars, rich tapestries and velvet curtains, and her colourful, passionate and sensual Carmen, complete with Caspian the horse.

“I can’t do Carmen without a horse,” Ellen says. “So we have this wonderful white Andalucian stallion.

“He belongs to AB Films and has been in quite a few well-known films, but he’s been on stage before as well. He’s beautiful, laid back and incredibly big!”

After nearly 25 years, Ellen is as committed and passionate about her productions as ever.

“The more I do things, the higher my benchmark goes,” she says. “These three operas are a nice package, all challenges in their own way and quite an effort to do, but I love it.”

Where and when
Die Fledermaus, Tosca and Carmen
New Theatre, Oxford
February 25-27, 7.30pm
0844 871 3020 or atgtickets.com