ENGLISH Touring Opera returns to the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham with three new shows this autumn.

Handel's Alcina and Verdi's Falstaff have just opened in London to rave reviews, and are coming to the Spa along with ETO's opera for families, Mozart's The (Little) Magic Flute.

Handel's Alcina is at the Everyman on November 9 and 12. It is the story of a sorceress who delights in ensnaring men through her magical charms, before transforming them into trees and rocks when she loses interest. Her power is eventually broken when she falls in love herself.

Amanda Echalaz takes the title role.

The production also stars Tamsin Coombs as Alcina's sister Morgana. Tamsin will be familiar to Cheltenham audiences for her moving portrayal of Mimi in ETO's La Boheme last autumn.

ETO performs Verdi's Falstaff at the Everyman on November 10 and 11.

For this hilarious ensemble piece ETO has assembled a stellar cast whose musicianship is matched by their comic timing. The ageing but undaunted Falstaff is played by Andrew Slater. Audiences may remember him as Bottom, another lecherous buffoon, in ETO's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Julie Unwin is Alice Ford, a merry wife of Windsor who is none too pleased when she discovers that Falstaff has sent identical love letters to her and her best friend Meg.

Meg is sung by Wendy Dawn Thompson, who was recently the only singer to reach the final of both the main prize and the song prize in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, with her performances broadcast live on television.

Both Alcina and Falstaff are accompanied by full orchestra, with the musicians playing on baroque instruments for Alcina.

Falstaff has an Elizabethan setting with modern twists, while Alcina features beautiful 17th century costumes and set. Both are designed by Joanna Parker.

On November 8, ETO performs The (Little) Magic Flute, a version of Mozart's fantasy story for families, schools and those new to opera.

The opera has been cut to an accessible length while retaining all of the popular characters and tunes of the original.

A plot involving a dragon, a demented sorceress, a kidnapped girl and, of course, a magic flute, is brought to life by a cast of six singers and five instrumentalists.

Humour and thrills combine in a mythical quest that is part Lord of the Rings, part pantomime, on a set more reminiscent of a pop video than an opera.

Responses so far show that while children are learning that opera is not all about fat ladies wearing Viking helmets, plenty of unaccompanied adults have been coming along to enjoy this colourful take on an old classic!

The performance of Falstaff on November 10 will be captioned to allow the hard of hearing full access to the performance.

The words and sound effects will appear as visible text on caption boxes at the side of the stage during the performance.