Verdi's Rigoletto is packed full of melodies that have become part of the musical backdrop of modern life and is one of the world’s best-loved operas. Jonathan Miller’s production at the London Coliseum is the godfather of the genre. Set in New York's Little Italy in the 1950’s it is a fast-paced gangster saga of love, jealousy, and revenge.
Rigoletto is a wise-cracking mobster who regularly uses his words as weapons. But one day he shoots his mouth off once too often and his misplaced joke sparks a deadly vendetta. And when the depraved Duke seduces his daughter, Gilda, the joke’s on Rigoletto who vows to avenge both her honour and his family name.