Opera North as once again brought to the stage the Kurt Weill-scored musical, Love Life, a 1940s Broadway hit that centers on a couple’s marriage over 157 years. The original starred magician and ventriloquist Jay Marshall, and opens up on a woman getting sawed in half and a man floating in the air, both left there by a magician to discuss the ups and downs of their century-and-a-half relationship.
This production ran at England’s Leeds Grand Theatre from January 16 to 18, 2025. It’s not the first time Opera North put together a performance—back in 1996, the company put on another rendition of the musical, with Paul Kieve serving as the magic consultant on that endeavor.
Although it’s too late to see Love Life in Leeds, the good news is that Opera North, in partnership with the Kurt Weill Foundation, will be putting out the first cast recording of the show.
Sarah Noble