John Caird News

The Canadian Opera Company launches its 2013/2014 season with a new production of one of the world's greatest love stories, La Bohème. Puccini's masterpiece of youthful flirtation, passionate love and heartbreaking tragedy returns to the COC for 12 performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts tonight, October 3 and October 6, 9, 12, 16, 18, 19, 22, 25, 27, 29, 30, 2013.

Trevor Nunn's production of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage, adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith, officially opened at the St. James Theatre last night, Tuesday 24 September 2013 and will run until 9 November. BroadwayWorld has photos of the company's opening night festivities below!

At long last, the phenomenon is coming home. Cameron Mackintosh's production of Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schonberg's Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece LES MISERABLES will return to the Imperial Theatre, the show's home on Broadway for nearly 13 years and 5244 performances. Previews for the new production of Les Miserables will begin Saturday, March 1 with an official opening night Sunday, March 23. Watch a promo for the show below!

Florida Studio Theatre announces its 13-14 Mainstage Season. Bringing up the front is the Tony Award winning musical MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT, followed by the eye-opening show THURGOOD, the musical DADDY LONG LEGS and finishing out the season is the regional premiere of TWO POINT OH.

Pittsburgh International Children's Theater, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, announced Theatreworks USA's area premiere of Peter Pan, October 20-27, 2013, at six performance locations throughout the area. "Bringing opportunities for children and their families to enjoy and experience live theater is at the heart of our goals. We are proud to present this award-winning theater group and classic story through the artistry of live performance and original music," commented Pamela K. Lieberman, Manager of Children's Theater Programming-Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Executive Director of Pittsburgh International Children's Theater.

Director Patrick A'Hearn's production of "Les Miz" is worthy of any stage, with superb performers.

Victor Hugo's epic novel Les Miserables has become one of the world's most successful and beloved musicals. Alain Boublil first got the idea to adapt the novel to stage while watching a production of OLIVER! In London. He pitched the idea to French composer Claude-Michel Schonberg. LES MISERABLES was first staged in 1980, and over 500,000 people saw it across its 100 performances. The first production in English, produced by Cameron Mackintosh and adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, opened in 1985 in London. This production instantly became a phenomenon, and is still running (with revisions and alterations to the book and staging). LES MISERABLES first opened on Broadway in 1987 and ran through 2003. It was revived in 2006 and will be revived on Broadway again in 2014. Currently, Bayou City Theatrics is presenting a pared down LES MISERABLES that is also the first all-Houston talent production of the musical.

Pittsburgh International Children's Theater, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, presents Theatreworks USA in the Pittsburgh premiere of Peter Pan October 20-27, 2013 at six performance locations throughout the area. Performance locations include: City: Byham Theater, October 20 at 2:00 p.m.; East: Penn Hills High School, October 23 at 7:00 p.m.; North: Marshall Middle School, October 24 at 5:30 & 7:30 p.m.; West: Hopewell High School, October 25 at 7:00 p.m.; South: Mt. Lebanon High School, October 26 at 11:00 a.m. & 2:00 p.m.; and Butler: Seneca Valley Intermediate School, October 27 at 2:00 p.m. Citizens Bank is the season sponsor of Pittsburgh International Children's Theater.

Today we are talking to a Tony Award-winning performer known around the world for her iconic original performance as Eponine in both the West End and Broadway editions of international stage sensation LES MISERABLES, copiously convivial chanteuse Frances Ruffelle. Discussing her legacy with the iconic mega-musical and her relationship with the show's director, John Caird, Ruffelle opens up about a life in the theatre, telling tales of her time spent treading the boards in the various incarnations of LES MISERABLES - winning the Tony for her Broadway performance - as well as working on the original London production of Stephen Schwartz's CHILDREN OF EDEN with Caird and fellow InDepth InterView participants Matthew Bourne and Ruthie Henshall in addition to shedding light on fascinating workshop experiences - STARLIGHT EXPRESS, SUNSET BOULEVARD and WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND among them - and her more recent roles, such as her run as the title character in PIAF and featured part making up the intricate ensemble of William Finn's entertaining revue MAKE ME A SONG. Ruffelle also discusses her solo album work and future recording plans and also comments upon the pop success of her daughter, UK star Eliza Doolittle. Most importantly, Ruffelle peels back the layers of the return engagement of her successful solo show BENEATH THE DRESS and clues us in on what we can expect from her upcoming dates at celebrated cabaret venue 54 Below. Plus, Ruffelle fills us in on her next cabaret piece and its inspiration, as well as shares the 411 about her new films coming out in the next couple of months. All of that, thoughts on Broadway versus the West End, sharing the screen with Anne Hathaway in the mega-hit big screen edition of LES MISERABLES, thoughts on some of her recent TV roles as well as much, much more in this all-access pass with a particularly lovely and lively star.

An all-star cast will take the stage at The 5th Avenue Theatre this fall in the celebrated organization's 15th new musical, Secondhand Lions. Based on the beloved film starring Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, Secondhand Lions springs to musical life in Seattle with a superbly talented cast of Broadway stars and Seattle musical theater actors. Lead by Tony Award nominees Gregg Edelman and Mark Jacoby, this adventure story also features Jason Danieley, Jenny Powers, Kevin Earley, Jared Michael Brown, Kendra Kassebaum, Sophia Anne Caruso, and Justin Huertas. Johnny Rabe, star of Broadway's A Christmas Story, takes center stage as Walter.

The new season sees Thomas Hampson – “America's foremost baritone” (International Herald Tribune) – return to the world's greatest opera houses and festivals, including London's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, theBavarian State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and New York's Metropolitan Opera, where he will make hisrole debut as the eponymous antihero of Berg's Wozzeck. Equally active on the concert stage, Hampson looks forward to collaborations with such top international orchestras as Washington's National Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, which he will join for a twelve-stop European tour. Having been hailed as “an artist fully in control of a remarkable instrument” (Los Angeles Times), the baritone will take his celebrated lieder recitals to London's Wigmore Hall, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and to Coburg, Heidelberg, Brussels, and Berne. In the wake of his recent induction into the Gramophone Hall of Fame, the baritone's star turn in the title role of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra – recorded live at the Vienna Konzerthaus – is due for September release on the Decca label.

Lyric's fabulous 2013-14 season is about to begin! To help audiences make the most of their opera experience, Lyric Opera of Chicago offers an array of lectures, tours, galas, and other special events during its 59th season, September through May. Please take note of these highlights for your season-preview coverage and calendar listings.

The Canadian Opera Company launches its 2013/2014 season with a new production of one of the world's greatest love stories, La Bohème. Puccini's masterpiece of youthful flirtation, passionate love and heartbreaking tragedy returns to the COC for 12 performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on October 3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 18, 19, 22, 25, 27, 29, 30, 2013. Check out the behind the scenes video below, featuring a look at costumes and wigs.

The Canadian Opera Company launches its 2013/2014 season with a new production of one of the world's greatest love stories, La Bohème. Puccini's masterpiece of youthful flirtation, passionate love and heartbreaking tragedy returns to the COC for 12 performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on October 3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 18, 19, 22, 25, 27, 29, 30, 2013.

The Canadian Opera Company launches its 2013/2014 season with a new production of one of the world's greatest love stories, La Boheme. Puccini's masterpiece of youthful flirtation, passionate love and heartbreaking tragedy returns to the COC for 12 performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on October 3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 18, 19, 22, 25, 27, 29, 30, 2013.

Shane Attwooll (Peter/Arne), Mark Bazeley (Johan), Melanie Jessops (Mrs. Palm/Mrs Jacobi) and Aislinn Sands (Katrina/Eva) will join the previously announced Olivia Williams (Marianne) in Trevor Nunn's production of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage,adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith. Scenes from a Marriage is produced by St. James Productions.