Heartbeat Opera has announced a new English adaptation of Jules Massenet’s Manon, titled Manon!, written by Jacob Ashworth and Rory Pelsue (The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse), with musical arrangements by Dan Schlosberg. Pelsue will direct the musical theatre-infused production, which features a cast of “opera-savvy Broadway voices.” The production will play January 27-February 8, 2026, at The Space at Irondale.

Emma Grimsley (The Phantom of the Opera) leads the cast as Manon, with Matt Dengler (A Little Night Music) as the Chevalier de Grieux, Jamari Darling (Ain’t Too Proud) as Lescaut, and Justin Lee Miller (My Fair Lady) as the Comte de Grieux. The cast is completed by Glenn Seven Allen as Guillot, Katie McCreary as Pousette, and Natalie Walker as Javotte.

The new adaptation reinvents the 1884 opéra comique as a one-act musical sung in English. Heartbeat Opera Music Director Dan Schlosberg will lead an eight-piece band playing arrangements inspired by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The adaptation is inspired by the connection of the genre of opéra comique—a form of popular opera which generally included spoken dialogue—to that of modern musical theatre.

Based on the Abbé Prévost’s novel L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, the opera follows the tragic love story between the commoner Manon and the Chevalier de Grieux, who whisks her away from a convent and into the world of Parisian night life. The 1731 novel has been adapted for the stage many times, including as other operas by Auber and Puccini. Massenet's version has been a mainstay on the operatic stage since its premiere.

Since its founding in 2014, Heartbeat Opera has created new adaptations and arrangements of classic operas, often in English translation, intended to speak to the present day. The company’s 2025-26 season will continue in May with a new adaptation of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, which had its premiere earlier this year at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

For more information, visit HeartbeatOpera.org.