RYAN MCKINNY

It’s rather surprising, really, for the audience to embrace a contemporary piece like DEAD MAN WALKING, no matter how easily it falls upon the ears, considering the subject matter. In this Ivo van Hove production, it starts with a rape and double murder in a rather graphic piece of film, the use of video being one of van Hove’s trademarks. It ends with a death by lethal injection, also graphically shown in live video....

xThe reviews are in for the premiere production of the new Met season, Dead Man Walking. American composer Jake Heggie’s masterpiece, the most widely performed new opera of the last 20 years, has its highly anticipated Met premiere, in a haunting new production by Ivo van Hove....

Adam Plachetka will sing Count Almaviva in the January performances of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, replacing Christian Gerhaher, who has withdrawn due to a non-Covid-related illness....

The Washington National Opera's production of MARRIAGE OF FIGARO is now streaming online! Check out this production as part of their streaming series....

On January 8, 2021, Opera Philadelphia presented BON APPETIT! A SWEET SOIREE. Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton portrayed Julia Child and Jonathan Easter accompanied her with Lee Hoiby’s sparkling, decorative piano score. Keep the Music Going Directors Ryan and Tonya McKinny provided the superb audio and video production....

When the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus folded its tent for the last time, I’m not sure whether they held on to its title of “the Greatest Show on Earth.” But Atlanta is showing that there’s still a big tent around with some great shows to be seen. It’s the Atlanta Opera, headed by General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, which starts its six-opera season with I PAGLIACCI on October 22....

San Francisco Opera announces the winner of the 2018 Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Stars Competition. Brazilian tenor Atalla Ayan, who made his Company debut as Alfredo in Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata last fall, was named “2018 Emerging Star of the Year” based on a popular vote conducted online at sfopera.com from July 9–July 31, 2018. As winner of the competition, now in its third year, Ayan receives a $10,000 cash prize....