Capacity Crowds Nightly in London for D’Oyly Carte-Scottish Opera Productions
For Immediate Release
London, UK – June 29, 2025 The London performances of Trial by Jury, A Matter of Misconduct!, and The Merry Widow, from June 19 to 28 at the iconic Opera Holland Park Theater, with a seating capacity of 830, were completely sold out each night of the productions. This season marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, established by Richard D’Oyly Carte to present the beloved comic operas of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. The sold-out London performances followed a tour during May and June that included standing room only performances in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Glasgow.
D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, in partnership with Scottish Opera, offered a dynamic blend of classic operetta and contemporary works. The season’s lineup included:
Trial by Jury: Gilbert & Sullivan’s one-act operetta returns in a vibrant new production, capturing the timeless humor of legal proceedings entangled with matters of the heart.
A Matter of Misconduct!: A newly commissioned one-act comic opera by Emma Jenkins and Toby Hession, offering a 10 Downing Street crisis and an hilarious plot twist.
The Merry Widow: In collaboration with Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park, D’Oyly Carte presents Franz Lehár’s opulent operetta, reimagined in a glamorous 1950’s New York setting.
L. M. Levie, who serves as Chairman of The D’Oyly Carte Foundation Board of Trustees and its Board of Patrons, co-hosted pre-performance and intermission champagne receptions on Thursday June 19 and 26 for fellow patrons, friends, colleagues and clients from London, New York, Paris, and Munich. His Royal Highness, Prince Richard, The Duke of Gloucester and Her Royal Highness, Birgitte, The Duchess of Gloucester attended the June 19 reception and performance, arriving from their home in Kensington Palace in London. The British Royal Family has long been supporters of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company since the reign of Queen Victoria, who knighted Arthur Sullivan for his lasting contributions to the musical legacy of Great Britain and the Commonwealth.
Trial by Jury and A Matter of Misconduct! have been recorded on video and will be available at no cost for viewers worldwide on OperaVision. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the D’Oyly Carte Opera Trust website: www.doylycarte.org.uk
D’Oyly Carte Chairman Levie, issued the following statement:
“This glorious season of performances, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, celebrates the enduring legacy of the creative partnership forged by Richard D’Oyly Carte with Sir W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. It reflects our commitment to both preserving the rich legacy of operetta and introducing innovative works that resonate with contemporary audiences. We invite everyone to experience these captivating performances, both in person and on-line at OperaVision, as we bring mirth and merriment to millions.
I wish to express my deep gratitude to His Royal Highness, Prince Richard, The Duke of Gloucester and Her Royal Highness, Birgitte, The Duchess of Gloucester, and The Right Honorable Lord Glendonbrook, Michael Bishop, Member of the House of Lords, for their continued support of the prolific artistic collaboration between The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and The Scottish Opera.
I would also like to recognize the dedication and support of the Board of Trustees of The D’Oyly Carte Foundation, The D’Oyly Carte Opera Trust, The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, and The Scottish Opera, whose inspiration and leadership has been extraordinary.
Last and not least, I would like to convey my profound appreciation to our distinguished friends in the UK, US, Canada, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand legal, accounting, financial and insurance communities who have joined in supporting the productions of Trial by Jury. Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial by Jury has been cherished for a century and a half by judges, juries, attorneys, paralegals, law school students, professors, plaintiffs and defendants worldwide, and represents the only operetta ever written about litigation. W. S. Gilbert's incisive legal mind and comedic brilliance unite with Arthur Sullivan's magnificent musical compositions to create a truly extraordinary theatrical experience.”
For further information, please see:
About the D’Oyly Carte Foundation
The D'Oyly Carte Foundation is the American affiliate of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Trust Limited, which supports the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Since 1875, the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company has professionally produced the 14 Savoy operas of Sir W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan in the UK, Europe, US, Canada, and Australia, spreading mirth and merriment to millions.
The D’Oyly Carte Foundation’s mission is to support and promote the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company’s UK and international touring, to support regional performance companies, schools, colleges, and universities dedicated to the staging of Gilbert & Sullivan operas, and to generally encourage the popular appreciation of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan.
For further information, please see:
About the D’Oyly Carte Opera 2025 Season
In 2025, the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company joined forces with Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park to mark a momentous milestone in theatre history: the 150th anniversary of Trial by Jury. Originally staged in 1875, Trial by Jury was the first collaboration between dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, brought together by impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte. The one-act comic opera, a sharp satire on the English legal system, premiered at London’s Royalty Theatre on March 25, 1875, and was an instant success, laying the foundation for one of the most celebrated partnerships in musical theatre history.
To commemorate this historic anniversary, a brand-new production of Trial by Jury debuted in Glasgow in May before traveling to Edinburgh and London. Directed by John Savournin, the production stars Richard Suart, a master of the Gilbert & Sullivan patter roles, as the Learned Judge, alongside a dynamic cast of emerging operatic talent.
Adding to the celebration, Scottish Opera and D’Oyly Carte commissioned a brand-new satirical opera, A Matter of Misconduct. Written by Emma Jenkins and Toby Hession, this contemporary work is set in the Press Room at No. 9 Downing Street, offering a witty and incisive look at modern political maneuvering and legal loopholes.
Completing this exceptional season is a new production of Franz Lehár’s beloved operetta The Merry Widow, set in Manhattan during the 1950’s and featuring a fresh English translation by John Savournin and David Eaton.
About Opera Holland Park
Opera Holland Park's history began in 1605, when diplomat Sir Walter Cope built a Jacobean style house on a large piece of green land that later became known as Holland Park. Originally known as Cope Castle, Holland House was one of the first great houses built in Kensington. Under the Fox family in the 19th century, the magnificent estate served as a glittering social, literary and political centre with many celebrated visitors such as Byron, Macaulay, Disraeli, Dickens and Sir Walter Scott.
Following devastating incendiary bombing during the Second World War in 1940, the ruins and the grounds were bought by London County Council in 1952 from the last private owner, the 6th Earl of Ilchester. Today the remains of the house form a dramatic backdrop for the open air Holland Park Theatre, which is the home of Opera Holland Park.
Opera Holland Park was founded in 1996 and has since become one of London's most distinctive operatic venues. The current theatre canopy was designed in 2007 by Architen Landrell and Hall + Bednarczyk and covers an area of 1600 square metres. It is completely free standing and designed to be craned into position over three days, followed by a fit-out period of two weeks. The canopy consists of four main masts in two V-shaped configurations to allow maximum strength, ensuring that not one screw, bolt or rope was fixed onto the existing Grade I listed building.
The theatre seats 830 patrons in a thoughtfully redesigned auditorium that features a large stage and orchestra pit for the resident City of London Sinfonia. The venue's unique architecture and intimate capacity create an extraordinary atmosphere where world-class opera is performed against the romantic ruins of Holland House. The auditorium and performance space reflects the natural beauty of the theatre's setting, constructed from reclaimed and sustainable materials in collaboration with designer takis, earning it the title of 'London's greenest theatre' by the Evening Standard.
Surrounded by the beautiful formal gardens and wilded woodlands of Holland Park, the canopied open-air auditorium sits within 22.5 hectares of parkland. The park features a northern half of semi-wild woodland, a central section of formal garden areas including the renowned Kyoto Garden (1991) and Fukushima Memorial Garden (2012), and the Iris Garden with its beautiful sculptural fountain by William Pye. The gardens are bordered by a brick arcade built in the 1890s by the 4th Lord Holland, containing charming murals that celebrate the historic parties and social life around Holland House. Throughout the gardens, visitors can encounter the park's famous strolling peacocks, adding to the magical atmosphere of this unique operatic venue.
The park is also home to the renowned Belvedere restaurant, an elegant Italian dining establishment housed in what was originally built as the stables and coach house for Holland House in the 17th century. Designed by the legendary architect Inigo Jones, the building later became a celebrated ballroom and orangery in the 18th and 19th centuries, attracting famous literary and artistic guests including Byron, Sheridan and other luminaries. Following a dramatic refurbishment in 2022, the Belvedere now operates as a sophisticated restaurant with dramatic two-storey dining rooms, fireplaces, and a terrace overlooking the formal gardens where peacocks from the nearby Kyoto Garden occasionally perch on the balustrade.
With a year-round commitment to excellence in opera, centred on an extraordinary three-month summer festival, Opera Holland Park welcomes over 30,000 audiences each summer. Every summer the company builds a theatre and performs to audiences from across the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and beyond, combining historic grandeur with contemporary artistic excellence in one of London's most beautiful and distinctive settings.
For further information on Opera Holland Park, please see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Holland_Park
About American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
D’Oyly Carte Foundation’s Platinum Sponsor is American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC), a diversified industrial group with manufacturing and distribution sites in 24 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia-New Zealand. AIAC has acquired and grown non-core subsidiaries and divisions of Boeing, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Johnson Controls, Merck, Pfizer, Astellas, Visteon, Carlyle, Ahlstrom, Tolko, Groupe Suez, Groupe Rexel, and many other leading multinational corporations.
AIAC companies serve companies and governmental entities worldwide in all major sectors, including aviation, space, defense, automotive, truck, rail, marine, petrochemical, solar, nuclear, food, confectionary, beverage, civil engineering and infrastructure, commercial construction, mining, dredging, disaster relief, education, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, AIAC companies are exclusive, authorized distributors of leading branded industrial and consumer products and serve as critical suppliers for the construction of major airports, schools, hospitals, performing arts and sports centers, offices and hotels throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. AIAC is a leading manufacturer of building, street, and highway signage in Europe, signage and illumination structures in North America, and a distributor of electrical products throughout France.
Of note, AIAC purchased Boeing Canada in 2005 and has produced over 10,000 unique components for every Boeing jet plane ever since, reliably serving Boeing from manufacturing facilities in North America. A leader in ultra-high precision jet engine component manufacturing, AIAC companies produce 2,200 fan blades for each jet engine produced by GE, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and Honeywell.
AIAC companies actively support exploration into outer space, manufacturing critical components for launching and propelling spacecraft and satellites. AIAC customers in this sector include NASA, the European Space Agency, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing. AIAC companies also lead in the design and manufacture of undersea umbilical cables for worldwide oceanographic research.
AIAC companies produce the critical automotive wire and cable for Tesla, GM, Ford, Chrysler-Fiat, Toyota, and Nissan. In connection with its kraft paper manufacturing interests in Canada and the US, AIAC controls and sustainably manages 22 million acres of Manitoba, Canada forestland, an area equivalent in size to the nation of Hungary. AIAC affiliate, Metallwarenfabrik Gemmingen GmbH, located in Germany, designs, manufactures and distributes high performance, emergency portable power generators utilized in global conflict zones and during natural disasters.
For further information, please see:
About AIAC Philanthropy
AIAC and the AIAC Foundation and their affiliates support a wide range of nonprofit, nonsectarian, bipartisan organizations which promote international conflict resolution, disaster relief, economic development, environmental sustainability, exploration, and the visual and performing arts.
AIAC supports the following arts and cultural institutions: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, La Societe des Amis de Versailles, the Louvre Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Morgan Library & Museum, the the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, the Frick Collection, the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., the National Gallery of Ireland, the Fred Jones Jr. Art Museum of the University of Oklahoma, Societa Venezia Per Sempre of Save Venice, the Venice International Foundation the World Monuments Fund, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, the D’Oyly Carte Foundation, the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival, the W. S. Gilbert Society, the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society, and the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Hall, the Encore Society the Metropolitan Opera of New York, and l’Opera National de Paris, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Royal Academy of Music.
AIAC’s beneficiaries which promote international exchange, dispute resolution, and fair trade include the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates Foundation Inc., the Asia Society, the Atlantic Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - Gates Philanthropy Partners, the Bretton Woods Committee, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carter Center, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York, the Foreign Policy Association, the Institut Française des Relations Internationales, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Crisis Group, the International Rescue Committee, the Japan Society, the JFK School of Government of Harvard University, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the Sierra Club, and the Trilateral Commission.
For further information, see:
https://www.aiac.com/our-values
Media Contact:
Isabel Carro-Toro, Vice President
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
+34 689 295 827 (Spain)
+ 1 787 244 3175 (USA)
icarro-toro@aiac.com
