The Cellist is a ballet by Cathy Marston based on the life of the celebrated cellist, Jacqueline du Pré, whose career was tragically cut short by multiple sclerosis. Lauren Cuthbertson dances the role of du Pré, listed as simply The Cellist; Marcelino Sambé is the cello (The Instrument) and Mathew Ball is The Conductor. The cellist's mother, father and sister are played by Kristen McNally, Thomas Whitehead and Anna Rose O'Sullivan respectively. The conductor is Andrea Molino.

There is no plot to Dances at a Gathering. The choreographer of the work, Jerome Robbins, said:

There are no stories to any of the dances in Dances at a Gathering. There are no plots and no roles. The dancers are themselves dancing with each other to that music in that place.

L'histoire de Manon, usually abbreviated to just Manon, was choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan to music by Jules Massenet. The story is based on the 1731 novel L'histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost (Manon Lescaut was the name Puccini used for his opera based on the same story. Massenet named his opera of the book just Manon, however this ballet does not use any music from Massenet's opera, but other pieces by the composer.) MacMillans's ballet was first performed by The Royal Ballet in London in 1974 and today is frequently performed by many major ballet companies.

The book has been used so much as source material in ballet, opera and theatre because it's a very powerful story that still resonates today. It takes place in a world of extremes where riches and abject poverty exist side by side. Manon is caught in-between; she falls in love with des Grieux, a penniless student, but is enticed by her brother into becoming the mistress of the rich Monsieur G.M. She becomes intoxicated by the lifestyle he can offer, but lurches from happiness to despair, from love for des Grieux to desire for luxury. The tragic ending is shocking, but seems almost inevitable.

L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love) is an Opera Buffa or comic melodrama. Since its opening in 1832, it has remained one of Gaetano Donizetti's most loved and most performed operas, containing elements of comedy and melancholy, with some beautiful arias, in particular Una furtiva lagrima (a furtive tear).

The opera tells the tale of Nemorino, a poor peasant, who is in love with the beautiful and wealthy landowner Adina. Unfortunately for Nemorino, Adina treats him with nothing but contempt and indifference. Desperate, Nemorino seeks the help of the traveling quack doctor Dulcamara, who assures him he has the perfect solution…

A ballet in two (now three) acts by Christopher Wheeldon with a scenario by Nicholas Wright, music by Joby Talbot. Based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. It was commissioned by The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, and the National Ballet of Canada. The world premiere was on Monday, February 28, 2011.

Massenet's Cenrdrillon, with libretto by Henri Cain, is based on Charles Perrault's version of the fairy tale in his collection Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé published in 1697. As such, the story differs somewhat from the usual version of the fairytale.

Cendrillon opened in Paris on May 24, 1899 and was an immediate success, enjoying a run of 50 performances. It went to enjoy success in many opera houses around the world, although it was not performed at the Met until 2018. The melodic score evokes the fantastical nature of the fairytale and features some of Massenent's most beautiful music.

La fanciulla del West is an opera by Giacomo Puccini based on the 1905 play The Girl of the Golden West, a melodrama set in the Californian gold rush by the American playwright David Belasco. The opera and play tell the story of Minnie (the Girl of the Golden West) as she struggles against the long-arm of the law to save the life of the man she desperately loves.

The opera opened at the Met on December 10, 1910 and this production therefore celebrates its centenary. Puccini created the roles of Dick and Minnie for Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn, who were two of the biggest stars of the Met at the time. Arturo Toscanini conducted, calling the work “a great symphonic poem”. The production was extremely well received by audiences; at the first performance, Puccini received fourteen curtain calls after the first act, nineteen curtain calls after the second act, and twenty after the finale. Puccini himself declared the opera to be greatest composition of his career as a composer.

However, critical reaction was less than enthusiastic especially in the U.S., where critics found the Puccini failed to capture the essence of the American West. After the New York opening, the opera was widely performed internationally with mostly positive reactions from audiences, but the critical reaction was again mostly negative. Probably because of this, performances started to become less frequent and the opera became less popular than some of Puccini's other works. Today it is still performed, but less frequently than some of Puccini's other operas: Tosca, Madama Butterfly, etc.

A somewhat different take on Puccini's opera, this is a feature film directed by Robert Dornhelm. IMDB.

The libretto of La Bohème is by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa and is based on Henri Murger's 1851 novel, Scènes de la Vie de Bohème, a collection of short stories about young bohemians living in Paris in the 1840s. However, the book has no real plot and much of the libretto is original writing. Acts two and three are the mostly the librettists' invention, with a just few incidents occurring in Murger's book. Most of acts one and four are to be found in the book, drawing together various incidents from a number of chapters.