Vanessa in NYC

Direct from the legendary Williamstown Theatre Festival—where it was praised as “top among” the festival’s “jewels” by The New York Times and named BEST OF 2025 by The Washington Post—Heartbeat Opera’s searing new adaptation of Vanessa makes its much-anticipated NYC premiere.

Special Event: May 17
Join Williamstown Theatre Festival to celebrate Vanessa in NYC, following its sold-out run at the Festival last summer. Learn how the production has evolved from our partners at Heartbeat Opera. Premium tickets include an exclusive pre-show brunch and conversation with the creatives at Upland prior to the performance at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, as well as a talkback with artists immediately following the show. A limited number of show-only tickets are also available. RSVP.

Tickets range $250-500, and proceeds benefit Williamstown Theatre Festival. RSVP no later than Thursday, April 30.

In Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, Vanessa waits, along with her niece Erika and her mother the Baroness, in her shadowy estate for the arrival of her long-lost lover. When their visitor appears—though not as they expect—he launches the family into psychological turmoil, sends Erika spiraling, and unleashes a reckoning of desire, illusion, and longing.

Under the acclaimed direction of R.B. Schlather, Vanessa is “pared to its stark, chilling core” with Heartbeat Opera’s signature “laser-like approach” (Classical Voice North America). Dan Schlosberg’s “revelatory” (Seen and Heard International) and “meticulously distilled” (The Washington Post) new arrangement rekindles one of opera's greatest scores with a band of seven virtuosic instrumentalists, and Jacob Ashworth’s adaptation strips the story to five dynamic singers and “100 enthralling minutes” (The New York Times).

“★★★★★. Vanessa grabs the audience like a vise. Unforgettable, truly.” (New York Stage Review)

Inna Dukach in Vanessa as part of W71 at Williamstown Theatre Festival (2025); photo by Maria Baranova

Vanessa was developed by Heartbeat Opera at Williamstown Theatre Festival as part of W71 in 2025.