Christine Rice in a rehearsal shot of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking
English National Opera presents Jake Heggie’s powerful opera, Dead Man Walking – a new production in collaboration with Opera North and Finnish National Opera. The role of Sister Helen Prejean is taken by mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and that of the accused, Joseph De Rocher, by baritone Michael Mayes. Kerem Hasan leads the English National Opera Orchestra and direction is by Annilise Miskimmon.
Dead Man Walking is based on a true story from Sister Helen’s memoir and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. It’s a story of love, redemption and forgiveness, a thought-provoking tale inspired by true events, examining the complexities of justice and humanity, blending a powerful score with heart-rending drama.
Set in a high-security prison in the United States, the opera tells of Joseph De Rocher who faces death by lethal injection for the brutal murder of two teenagers, and the religious and personal struggles of Sister Helen Prejean who offers De Rocher spiritual guidance. She also has to deal with the unbearable pain of the victims’ families who are devastated by De Rocher’s crime. The opera takes the audience into the inner workings of the criminal justice system – the prison cells, visiting rooms and parking lots, demonstrating how grief, pain, doubt and hope surround those communities coping with violence and the resulting effects.
Jake Heggie wrote the two-act Dead Man Walking in 2000 following a commission by San Francisco Opera, which premiered the work on October 7 in that year. The libretto in English is by American playwright, librettist and screenwriter Terrence McNally, amongst whose honours are five Tony Awards. Heggie won Musical America’s 2025 Composer of the Year Award, and is described by The Wall Street Journal as “Arguably the world’s most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer…”. The composer is referred to as “Consistently illuminating, full of surprises”, by Gramophone magazine, and Dead Man Walking is hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “the most celebrated American opera of the century”. Jake Heggie has written a number of works including the operas Moby Dick and It’s a Wonderful Life, as well as art songs, chamber, choral and orchestral works, and received commissions from the London Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mezzo-soprano Christine Rice takes the role of Sister Helen Prejean. For ENO she has previously appeared in roles such as Erda in Wagner’s The Rhinegold, Elizabeth I in Britten’s Gloriana, as Nerone in Handel’s Agrippina, Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Marguerite in Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust and Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Highlights of her current season include Miss Jessel in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw for the Opera di Roma and Fricka in Wagner’s Das Rheingold for Grange Park Opera.
Baritone Michael Mayes is Joseph De Rocher. He enjoys an operatic career in both traditional and contemporary roles in theatres throughout the United States and Europe. London Theatre says he is “blessed with a gloriously rich bass-baritone voice and a perfect technique” and Opera Today writes that “He is possessed of a ringing, freely produced baritone of uncommon power and beauty”. Mayes’ current season includes a debut at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet as the title role in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Staatsoper Stuttgart as the title role in Johann Strauss’ operetta Casanova and Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen.
Mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly sings Mrs Patrick De Rocher. She has previously appeared with many of the world’s major orchestras and conductors both in opera and concert performances, and appeared for ENO in Mozart’s War Requiem, as Countess Geschwitz in Berg’s Lulu, the title role in Charpentier’s Medea, the title role in Handel’s Agrippina, Octavian in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, the title role in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Dido in Berlioz’s Les Troyens and Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito. Her current season sees her in recital in a performance of the Bliss Song Series in Cambridge, and the alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah in Paris, Rome, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and St Martin-in-the-Field in London.
The cast also includes Madeline Boreham as Sister Rose, Andrew Manea as Warden George Fenton, and Ronald Samm as Father Grenville.
Annilese Miskimmon was appointed ENO Artistic Director in May 2020. She was Director of Opera for Norwegian Opera and Ballet in Oslo and previously Artistic Director and General Manager of Danish National Opera.
The set designer is Alex Eales, costumes are by Evie Gurney and lighting by D M Wood.
Kerem Hasan, regarded as one of the most exciting young British conductors, has taken up the position of Principal Guest Conductor with the Noord Nederlands Orkest as of the beginning of the season. He leads the English National Orchestra and Chorus in six performances of Dead Man Walking between 1st and 18th November. For ticketing, visit the English National Opera website.
Information sourced from
ENO programme notes
SF Opera
Artists’ websites
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