Ken Howard News

One of the thrilling things about live opera performance is that it's like watching a tightrope walker, particularly when it's one with as many high notes and such florid writing as in Bellini's I PURITANI. Only daredevils need apply. That was the atmosphere when Russian soprano Olga Peretyatko made her Met debut last week.

The SAG-AFTRA National Board, meeting this weekend in a face-to-face plenary in Los Angeles, unanimously approved proposals for the upcoming TV/Theatrical - Exhibit A negotiations. As per custom and practice, the proposal package is confidential and will not be released.

'I'm not a warhorse kind of singer,' mezzo Susan Graham states matter-of-factly. 'A. I'm a mezzo. B. I'm not a character mezzo. C. I'm not a contralto. The iconic opera repertoire for mezzos, Amneris (AIDA), Azucena (IL TROVATORE), even Eboli (DON CARLO)--those kinds of roles aren't my stock and trade because my voice sits high and has a different timbre.' Well, what then is her milieu? It's the likes of Handel, who composed several of the arias she has been singing this winter at the Met, as one of the stars of THE ENCHANTED ISLAND, a kind of Baroque 'jukebox opera.' But it's also Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING & I, which she is doing this June at the Chatelet in Paris.

Diana Damrau will add a new role to her extensive repertory when she sings her first-ever performances of Amina, the title character in Bellini's bel canto showpiece La Sonnambula. Last season, Damrau made an acclaimed role debut as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata in a sold-out series of performances at the Met. La Sonnambula, which opens tonight, March 14 in a revival of Mary Zimmerman's 2009 production, will be conducted by Marco Armiliato and also star rising Mexican tenor Javier Camarena as Elvino and Italian bass Michele Pertusi as Rodolfo.

The Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island, a hit when it premiered at the Met in 2011, returns for its first revival on February 26. New cast members Susan Graham (Sycorax) and Andriana Chuchman (Miranda) join many of the principal singers who appeared in the work's world premiere: David Daniels as Prospero, Plácido Domingo as Neptune, Danielle de Niese as Ariel, Anthony Roth Costanzo as Ferdinand, and Luca Pisaroni as Caliban. The four mismatched Athenian lovers will be sung by Elizabeth DeShong, who sang Hermia in the world premiere, joined by new cast members Janai Brugger (Helena), Andrew Stenson (Demetrius), and Nicholas Pallesen (Lysander) completing the quartet of Athenian lovers. BroadwayWorld has a complete look below!

The Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island, a hit when it premiered at the Met in 2011, returns for its first revival on February 26. New cast members Susan Graham (Sycorax) and Andriana Chuchman (Miranda) join many of the principal singers who appeared in the work's world premiere: David Daniels as Prospero, Plácido Domingo as Neptune, Danielle de Niese as Ariel, Anthony Roth Costanzo as Ferdinand, and Luca Pisaroni as Caliban. The four mismatched Athenian lovers will be sung by Elizabeth DeShong, who sang Hermia in the world premiere, joined by new cast members Janai Brugger (Helena), Andrew Stenson (Demetrius), and Nicholas Pallesen (Lysander) completing the quartet of Athenian lovers. BroadwayWorld has a first look below!

What does an opera singer do on his night off from singing the title role in Massenet's WERTHER in a new production at the Metropolitan? If he's the charismatic wunder-tenor Jonas Kaufmann, he heads over to Carnegie Hall to conquer another world, with his recital debut in an evening of German art songs, or lieder. And triumph he did.

Diana Damrau will add a new role to her extensive repertory when she sings her first-ever performances of Amina, the title character in Bellini's bel canto showpiece La Sonnambula. Last season, Damrau made an acclaimed role debut as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata in a sold-out series of performances at the Met. La Sonnambula, which opens March 14 in a revival of Mary Zimmerman's 2009 production, will be conducted by Marco Armiliato and also star rising Mexican tenor Javier Camarena as Elvino and Italian bass Michele Pertusi as Rodolfo.

Shirley Temple Black, the 42nd Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement honoree, died Monday at the age of 85. Black captivated the world as no other child star has done before or since, and then went on to serve her country as an eminent diplomat over more than three decades.

He was the dashing yet fickle prince in the Met's HD Live broadcast of Dvorak's RUSALKA and the womanizing Duke who concluded that “La donna e mobile” (“Woman is fickle”) in last year's “Ratpack” RIGOLETTO at the Met as well. Yet, Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is true-blue--to musical style.

Diva Renee Fleming will star in Dvorak's Rusalka Live in HD from the Met on Sunday, February 9, at 12:55 p.m. One of the most celebrated divas of our time, Renee Fleming returns to one of her signature roles, singing the enchanting 'Song to the Moon' in Dvorak's soulful fairy-tale opera Rusalka. Tenor Piotr Beczala co-stars as the Prince, Dolora Zajick is Ježibaba and dynamic young maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin is on the podium.

Renée Fleming will return to one of her signature roles, the title character in Dvorák's Rusalka, for six performances beginning tonight, January 23.

The 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, one of the awards season's premier events, will honor outstanding performances from 2013 in five film categories and eight television categories, including the distinctive ensemble awards. This year's Actor recipients will be announced at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center during a live simulcast on TNT and TBS on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014.

Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tina Fey, John Goodman, Josh Holloway, Pauley Perrette, and Jeremy Renner are confirmed to present at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards

Marco Armiliato will conduct this evening's performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, replacing Philippe Auguin, who is ill.

Balloting for this year's Actor® recipients will close tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 17, at Noon (PT). Final voting information was mailed to eligible SAG-AFTRA members on Monday, Dec. 16, 2013.

Three sopranos will sing their first Met performances of the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Met this season.

Matt Damon, Robert DeNiro, Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Marsden, Julia Roberts, Elisabeth Rohm, Meryl Streep, and Emma Thompson will be presenters at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards

Andriana Chuchman will sing the role of Adina in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore tonight, January 9 and Monday, January 13, replacing Anna Netrebko, who has withdrawn from the first two performances of the run because she is suffering from the flu. The January 9 performance will be Chuchman's Met debut.

Before seeing the Met's new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s DIE FLEDERMAUS, directed by Jeremy Sams, on Saturday night, I listened to the afternoon's live broadcast of Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE. Both were written in German and performed in English to make them more palatable to their target audiences (Broadway musical lovers and young opera-goers-in-training, respectively). But, while the Mozart had its guts cut away, to shave the running time to 90 minutes without an intermission, the FLEDERMAUS went on--and on and on--for four hours. Both had the same result--and it was not good.