PENTECOST, CAROUSEL, SWAN LAKE and More Set for CCM's 2015-16 Mainstage Series

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is pleased to announce details for its 2015-16 Mainstage Series of opera, musical theatre, drama and dance productions. Between today, Sept. 30, 2015, and April 24, 2016, CCM's stars-of-tomorrow will present seven masterworks for the stage under the guidance of its internationally acclaimed faculty artists.

These works include David Edgar's epic drama Pentecost, Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical Carousel, Franz Lehár's comedic operetta The Merry Widow, Eugene O'Neill's acclaimed coming-of-age story Ah, Wilderness!, Green Day's iconic punk rock musical American Idiot, Janácek's farcical opera The Cunning Little Vixen and Tchaikovsky's beloved romantic ballet Swan Lake.

Production details are listed below. Details on subscription packages and single ticket sales will be announced this summer.

Visit ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/subscribe to register for CCM's mailing list, and the Box Office will provide you with additional information on this year's subscription options.

Titles and dates are subject to change-rights pending. For a complete calendar of events, visit us online at ccm.uc.edu.

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CCM 2015-16 MAINSTAGE SERIES:

Opera, Musical Theatre, Drama, Dance

Pentecost

Written by David Edgar

Richard E. Hess, director

A play of politics and ideas, Pentecost details the discovery of a painting stunningly similar to Giotto di Bondone's The Lamentation in an abandoned church in Eastern Europe. If proven to pre-date the master's work, the fresco will revolutionize Western Art. A dramatic power struggle ensues, as representatives from the worlds of art history, religion and politics stake their claims for the ultimate prize. The unexpected arrival of 12 refugees sets events spiraling toward an explosive climax. Described by the Daily Telegraph as "funny, frightening and deeply moving," this powerful play by the Tony Award-winning adapter of Nicholas Nickleby and author of numerous plays won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play of 1995.

Performance Dates: Sept. 30 (preview), Oct. 1-4, 2015

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater

Carousel

Music by Richard Rodgers

Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Based on the play Liliom by Ferenc Molnar

As Adapted by Benjamin F. Glazer

Original Dances by Agnes de Mille

Diane Lala, director

Set in a Maine coastal village toward the end of the 19th century, Carousel is the story of carefree carnival barker Billy Bigelow and his reckless adventures with women, gambling and the wrong side of the law. Billy loses his job just as he learns that his wife is pregnant and, desperate to provide a decent life for his family, is coerced into being an accomplice to a robbery. Caught in the act and facing the certainty of prison, he takes his own life and is sent "up there." 15 years later, Billy is allowed to return to earth for one day and encounters the daughter he never knew. How Billy instills in both the child and her mother a sense of hope and dignity is a dramatic testimony to the power of love. Declared "Best Musical of the Century" by Time Magazine in 1999, it's easy to understand why Carousel became Rodgers and Hammerstein's personal favorite.

Performance Dates: Oct. 29-Nov. 1, 2015

Location: Corbett Auditorium

The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe)

Music by Franz Lehár

Libretto by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein

Emma Griffin, director

A 20th century opera molded in the tradition of the great opera seria of the 1700s, The Merry Widow tells a dizzying tale of star-crossed lovers and political intrigue in Paris. Baron Zeta of Pontevedro must prevent the wealthy widow Hanna Glawari from marrying a foreigner; if she does, all of her wealth will leave Pontevedro, thus bankrupting the country. Zeta urges Hanna's former fiancée Count Danilovich (who pretends to not care for her anymore) to marry her, but Zeta's wife pushes the flirtatious Camille de Rosillon to go after Hanna instead. Farcical confusion, romance and jealousy abound in this light-hearted romp. Sung in English.

Performance Dates: Nov. 19-22, 2015

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater

Ah, Wilderness!

Written by Eugene O'Neill

R. Terrell Finney, director

Set in an idyllic Connecticut town during the Fourth of July weekend of 1906, Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! offers a tender portrait of small town family values, teenage growing pains and young love. Described as "a breath of fresh air" and "vividly alive" by the New York Post and nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival in both 1989 and 1998, this charming comedy is directed by CCM Professor Emeritus R. Terrell Finney.

Performance Dates: Feb. 10 (preview), Feb. 11-14, 2016

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater

American Idiot

Book and lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong

Book by Michael Mayer

Music and lyrics by Green Day

Aubrey Berg, director

The two-time Tony Award-winning hit musical American Idiot, based on Green Day's Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum album of the same name, boldly takes the American musical where it's never gone before. Johnny, Tunny and Will struggle to find meaning in a post-9/11 world. When the three disgruntled men flee the constraints of their hometown for the thrills of city life, their paths diverge when Tunny enters the armed forces, Michael is called back home to attend familial responsibilities, and Johnny's attention becomes divided by a seductive love interest and a hazardous new friendship. An energy-fueled rock opera, American Idiot features minimal dialogue and instead relies on the lyrics from Green Day's groundbreaking album to execute the story line.

Performance Dates: March 3-13, 2016

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater

The Cunning Little Vixen (Príhody lišky Bystroušky)

Composed by Leoš Janácek

Libretto by Leoš Janácek (after Rudolf Tesnohlídek)

Vince DeGeorge, director

Based on a famous 1920s Czech comic strip, Janácek's opera The Cunning Little Vixen humorously explores the universal longing for youth. The three main characters - all older men - attempt to connect to their younger days through various means: one longs for a village girl, one obsesses over a childhood indiscretion and one chases a young vixen through the countryside. Will they continue to cling to their delusions? Or will their experiences help them come to terms with the inevitability of time? Sung in English.

Performance Dates: April 8-10, 2016

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater

Swan Lake

Composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Jiang Qi, director

Tchaikovsky's timeless ballet about love and magic returns to CCM in a fully-staged spectacle! The young Prince Siegfried, disinterested in the potential wives that his mother has picked for him, heads into the woods to hunt one night and comes across a beautiful swan...who then turns into the maiden Odette! She tells him of the curse she and others have been placed under by the evil knight Rothbart, forcing them to become swans by day and human by night. Siegfried instantly falls in love, but will he and Odette be able to overcome the curse, or will Rothbart succeed in keeping his enchantment intact?

Performance Dates: April 21-24, 2016

Location: Corbett Auditorium

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The 2015-16 CCM Mainstage Series of opera, musical theatre and drama productions includes subscription packages for six-show, four-show and three-show combinations. Subscribers also have the ability to add the Mainstage Series production of Swan Lake to any subscription package "a la carte."

Full details on subscription packages and single ticket sales will be announced this summer. CCM's customizable subscription packages range in price from $84 - $180. Current subscribers will get priority access to next season's subscription packages.

Visit ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/subscribe to register for CCM's mailing list, and the Box Office will provide you with additional information on this year's subscription options.

Titles and dates are subject to change. For a complete calendar of events, visit http://ccm.uc.edu.