Due to popular demand, Melania The Opera additional performance added at the Cockpit Theatre for the 2025 Tête à Tête Opera Festival
Thursday 25th September & Thursday 2nd October 9pm
Melinda Hughes takes on her biggest role to date as the First Lady
Cast and Creatives:
Melania – Melinda Hughes
Melania’s PA- Phil Clive
School Principal – Hannah Pedley
Bodyguard – Nathan Richards
Director – Daniel Slater
Designer – Carly Brownbridge
Music director – Guy Murgatroyd
Following her raucous cabaret evening Clemenzia von Trunksale parodying an aging opera diva, stand-up comedian and political satirist Melinda Hughes is back to take on her biggest role to date as the First Lady in Melania The Opera at the 2025 Tête à Tête Opera Festival. This 40-minute comic opera, written by Jeremy Limb & Melinda Hughes (with additional lyrics by comedian Rich Hall) will be directed by Daniel Slater.
Set in 2027, during the tumultuous third year of Donald Trump’s second term, Melania Trump, accompanied by her venomous personal assistant, arrives at a school to deliver a speech for her anti-bullying campaign. Meanwhile, the world is in turmoil: Russian troops, having already annexed Ukraine and Romania, are advancing westward. During the visit, news breaks that Putin’s forces are invading Slovenia, Melania’s homeland. Trump issues a statement on X ‘I don’t care, do you? America first.’ The White House orders Melania to leave the school, but she is consumed by fury and faces a defining choice: Should she remain loyal to her husband or finally break her silence, stand up to her bullies and do what’s right for the future of humanity?
Melinda says about the opera: ‘I had played Melania in my satirical shows and now it’s time to step it up a level. I’m very excited about this project; the libretto is hilarious and the music eclectic and fun. I’m looking forward to another wonderful collaboration with my long-term writing partner Jeremy Limb.’
Melinda Hughes has trod the boards as a fully-fledged opera singer with the leading houses across Europe, until injury disrupted her flourishing career in her prime. After a foray in Weimar cabaret, Melinda Hughes developed her own comic sketches and political satire, sharing the stage with greats such as Barry Humphries and singing her way to laughter. Finalist in the Funny Women Awards, she has tremolo-ed with everyone who is anyone in opera from Sir Bryn Terfel to Roderick Williams and Joseph Calleja. Stuck in a Caribbean cabin during lockdown, Hughes created The Allstars Festival Barbados which also facilitates scholarships for young talented Barbadian opera singers.
For more about Melania The Opera CLICK HERE.