Joan Sutherland News

Now anyone and everyone can join in the thrill of opening night at the opera! The Dallas Opera and the Sheila and Jody Grant Opera Discovery Program, with support from the AT&T Performing Arts Center, present an evening of FREE entertainment at Dallas's popular Klyde Warren Park, the second annual “Dallas Opera Opening Night Simulcast in the Park” featuring Mozart's class-conscious romantic comedy, The Marriage of Figaro.

Audiences and critics alike are loving Australian actress and four-time Gold Logie winner Lisa McCune, who plays English governess Anna Leonowens, alongside, internationally acclaimed opera singer Teddy Tahu Rhodes as the King of Siam. This is the second big success for these two performers, after the national tour of South Pacific in 2012-13, also presented by Opera Australia and John Frost.

Soprano Anna Netrebko was AWOL. Tenor Marcello Giordani wasn't there. Mezzo Isabel Leonard didn't make it either. At least tenor Richard Tucker (1913-1975) had the best excuse for not being at Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday evening. But, as they say “the show must go on”--and the annual gala of The Richard Tucker Foundation certainly did, despite all the cancellations. Celebrating the famed singer, as well as showcasing the newly anointed winner of its top award, tenor Michael Fabiano, the evening was filled with many pleasures.

Matilda the Musical's composer and lyricist Tim Minchin recently attended the launch of the Sydney Premiere Season of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Matilda The Musical - check out photos below!

SYDNEY, Oct. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Tickets for the Sydney-Australian premiere season to one of the most sought after musicals currently in production -- Matilda The Musical -- will go on sale tomorrow, with travel packages set to whisk visitors into the world of an extraordinary little girl who dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.

These characters are awful, foolish people, and I hate them. Let me illustrate. Just for kicks, the Duke of Mantua, with the help of his court jester, Rigoletto, seduces Countess Ceprano, wife of Count Ceprano. After helping the Duke bed the countess, Rigoletto spends a good portion of time mocking Count Ceprano for, I don't know, having a failing marriage? Angry, the Count curses the Duke and his court, and Rigoletto loses his life and everything he loves including his beloved daughter Gilda.

On Friday, November 21, the Metropolitan Opera Guild's 80th Annual Luncheon presents "Brava, Jessye!" to salute the legendary Jessye Norman, who recently wrote about her life in a memoir titled Stand Up Straight and Sing!

San Francisco Opera's 2014-15 Season opens tonight, September 5, 2014 with a dramatic new production of Vincenzo Bellini's bel canto masterpiece Norma, starring American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in one of opera's most dazzling and demanding roles. American mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas is the young priestess Adalgisa; Italian tenor Marco Berti is Pollione; and American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn is Oroveso. Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus and Director Kevin Newbury and set designer David Korins return to San Francisco Opera to premiere this vivid, large-scale new co-production with Toronto's Canadian Opera Company, Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Norma runs for seven performances through September 30.

Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini AM and leading Australian theatre producer John Frost AM today announced the principal cast for their new production of Cole Porter's smash-hit musical comedy Anything Goes, which will tour Australia in 2015.

One of Bollywood's brightest stars, Australian born Pallavi Sharda will add a touch of Bollywood glamour to the opening night of Stanton Welch's La Bayadère when she joins Melbourne's glitterati for its Australian première this August.

Leading Australian theatre producer John Frost and Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini are pleased to announce the 39 children cast in roles for the Sydney season of the Helpmann award winning production, The King and I, playing at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney from 7 September 2014.

Now anyone and everyone can join in the thrill of opening night at the opera! The Dallas Opera and the Sheila and Jody Grant Opera Discovery Program, with support from the AT&T Performing Arts Center, present an evening of FREE entertainment at Dallas's popular Klyde Warren Park, the second annual “Dallas Opera Opening Night Simulcast in the Park” featuring Mozart's class-conscious romantic comedy, The Marriage of Figaro.

Mezzo- Soprano, Erica Papillion-Posey has been selected as a semi-finalist in the 2014 Paris Opera Awards.

San Francisco Opera's 2014-15 Season opens September 5, 2014 with a dramatic new production of Vincenzo Bellini's bel canto masterpiece Norma, starring American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in one of opera's most dazzling and demanding roles. American mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas is the young priestess Adalgisa; Italian tenor Marco Berti is Pollione; and American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn is Oroveso. Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus and Director Kevin Newbury and set designer David Korins return to San Francisco Opera to premiere this vivid, large-scale new co-production with Toronto's Canadian Opera Company, Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Norma runs for seven performances through September 30.

One of Bollywood's brightest stars, Australian born Pallavi Sharda will add a touch of Bollywood glamour to the opening night of Stanton Welch's La Bayadère when she joins Melbourne's glitterati for its Australian première this August.

David McVicar, who is directing a new staging of Don Giovanni, says that the Sydney Opera House's main theatre is inadequate to rehearse. He said: “I think they thought about the outside before they thought about the inside. The problems of the Joan Sutherland [Opera Theatre] are extreme. It's a very quirky space, it is inadequate for opera, it just simply is.”

Seattle Opera is now half-a-century old! Founded in the aftermath of Seattle's 1962 World's Fair, Seattle Opera has become one of America's most respected opera companies and a powerhouse in Seattle's cultural scene. Now, to mark the company's growth and accomplishments, we are pleased to announce the publication of a stunning new large-format book: 50 Years of Seattle Opera. Written by Melinda Bargreen and published by Marquand Books, a Seattle-based designer and producer of fine art books. Bargreen has reviewed and covered the highs and lows of Seattle Opera on behalf of The Seattle Times for close to 40 of the company's 50 years; she writes with a unique authority on the subject.

Get together a group, bring a picnic basket and join many of the entertainment industry's finest for a sparkling night of cabaret at Cause Celeb - An Indoor Picnic and Cabaret on Sunday, 7 September at The Opera Centre, Surry Hills.

Now is the time to prepare to scale a new summit in North Texas arts and entertainment! Single tickets for Dallas Opera's 2014-2015 "Heights of Passion" Season, presented by Texas Instruments, and popular TDO Family Performances in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center will go on sale to the general public Monday, July 14, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.

Now is the time to prepare to scale a new summit in North Texas arts and entertainment! Single tickets for Dallas Opera's 2014-2015 “Heights of Passion” Season, presented by Texas Instruments, and popular TDO Family Performances in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center will go on sale to the general publicMonday, July 14, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.