Los Angeles Opera News

Anne Frank's remarkable diary has become an essential tool for understanding one of the darkest periods of our history - and one of the most beautiful, haunting stories in our shared experience. The play is dramatized from the book by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Making her Rep directorial debut, KJ Sanchez will direct the play. The cast features Associate Artists Jonathan Gillard Daly, Laura Gordon, Lee E. Ernst, James Pickering and Deborah Staples and guest actors J. Alexander Coe, Kelley Faulkner, Larry Neumann, Jr., and rising Chicago actress Lauren Hirte in the title role. Rep Artistic Intern Ensemble Members Jonathan Altman, Emily Berman, Jess Prichard and J.R. Yancher are also in this production. The Diary of Anne Frank runs in The Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse from October 23 - December 2 and opens Today, October 26.

Yale Repertory Theatre, in a co-production with American Repertory Theater, presents the world premiere of Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi, directed by Rebecca Taichman. Marie Antoinette will be performed at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street) October 26 through November 17. Opening Night is Thursday, November 1. The cast includes Fred Arsenault, Hannah Cabell, David Greenspan, Marin Ireland, Vin Knight, Jo Lampert, Polly Lee, Steven Rattazzi, Jake Silbermann, Teale Sperling, Brian Wiles, and Ashton Woerz.

Houston Grand Opera, with Music Director Patrick Summers and Managing Director Perryn Leech, announces its 2012-13 season, headlined by four new productions. The first of these is Puccini's La boheme, which launches the new season with a new staging by award-winning British director John Caird. To honor 2013's joint bicentennials of Wagner and Verdi, the coming season juxtaposes Tristan und Isolde - starring Ben Heppner and Nina Stemme in a new contemporary staging by Christof Loy - with a revival of Steven Lawless's unforgettable take on Il trovatore. British conductor Trevor Pinnock leads a strong international cast in Mozart's ensemble masterpiece Don Giovanni, while Francesca Zambello's new production of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat brings together stars of Broadway and the opera house in a celebration of America's own contribution to the art. For a more intimate experience, Daniela Barcellona and Lawrence Brownlee star in Rossini's dramma giocoso, The Italian Girl in Algiers.

Anne Frank's remarkable diary has become an essential tool for understanding one of the darkest periods of our history - and one of the most beautiful, haunting stories in our shared experience. The play is dramatized from the book by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Making her Rep directorial debut, KJ Sanchez will direct the play. The cast features Associate Artists Jonathan Gillard Daly, Laura Gordon, Lee E. Ernst, James Pickering and Deborah Staples and guest actors J. Alexander Coe, Kelley Faulkner, Larry Neumann, Jr., and rising Chicago actress Lauren Hirte in the title role. Rep Artistic Intern Ensemble Members Jonathan Altman, Emily Berman, Jess Prichard and J.R. Yancher are also in this production. The Diary of Anne Frank runs in The Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse from October 23 - December 2 and opens on Friday, October 26.

The November broadcasts of THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC THIS WEEK - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with two back-to-back programs led by Spanish conductor Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos. Broadcast details inside!

Yale Repertory Theatre, in a co-production with American Repertory Theater, presents the world premiere of Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi, directed by Rebecca Taichman. Marie Antoinette will be performed at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street) October 26 through November 17. Opening Night is Thursday, November 1. The cast includes Fred Arsenault, Hannah Cabell, David Greenspan, Marin Ireland, Vin Knight, Jo Lampert, Polly Lee, Steven Rattazzi, Jake Silbermann, Teale Sperling, Brian Wiles, and Ashton Woerz.

Can't get enough of Patti LuPone? A documentary following the legendary performer has just been released on Youtube, titled 'Entrances, Exits, and Everything In Between.' Creator Josh Johnston writes: 'What she and I have collaborated on is our effort to show aspiring performers and fans of the arts what it's like in the shoes of a veteran of the craft: everything from the Sunset lows to the Rainbow Highs of performing, Patti LuPone has seen and lived it all.' Check out the second episode below!

The joint will be jumpin' when International City Theatre closes its 2012 season with Ain't Misbehavin', the Tony Award-winning musical revue based on the life of Thomas "Fats" Waller. Saundra McClain directs Phillip Brandon (national tour: The Color Purple), Niketa Calame (Celebration Theatre's The Color Purple), Amber Mercomes (San Francisco and Los Angeles Opera productions of Porgy and Bess), Lacy Darryl Phillips (Broadway: Fosse and A Raisin in the Sun) and Jennifer Shelton (first national tour of Ragtime; previously seen on the ICT stage in Songs for a New World, Five Course Love, The Story, Honk! and Swinging on a Star), with musical direction by Rahn Coleman and choreography by Stephen Semien. Performances take place October 12 through November 4 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, with low-priced previews beginning tonight, October 9.

Joshua Henry will join Amber Riley ("Glee"), Jared Grimes and Adriane Lenox in New York City Center's acclaimed production of Cotton Club Parade, returning for seven performances from November 14-18, 2012. (Mr. Henry replaces the previously announced Brandon Victor Dixon. Mr. Dixon is no longer available due to scheduling conflicts.) Conceived by Jack Viertel and presented under the auspices of City Center's Tony Award-winning Encores! series, Cotton Club Parade will once again be directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, with music direction by Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis. The show will feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars under the direction of Daryl Waters.

Can't get enough of Patti LuPone? A documentary following the legendary performer has just been released on Youtube, titled 'Entrances, Exits, and Everything In Between.' Creator Josh Johnston writes: 'What she and I have collaborated on is our effort to show aspiring performers and fans of the arts what it's like in the shoes of a veteran of the craft: everything from the Sunset lows to the Rainbow Highs of performing, Patti LuPone has seen and lived it all.' Check out the first episode below!

Puccini's Turandot will return to the Met tonight, September 26 with Maria Guleghina in the treacherous title role of a Chinese princess who has turned her back on love.

In the wake of a memorable season that witnessed the inauguration of Maison symphonique, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal announces the extension of the contract of its music director, Maestro Kent Nagano, through to the conclusion of the 2015-2016 season. The OSM and Kent Nagano are pleased to confirm that they are carrying on their fruitful collaboration by exercising the option of the two additional years stipulated in the current three-year contract, which has been in effect since September 2011. That collaboration may continue for a longer period further to a mutual agreement between the two parties.

ELA WEISSBERGER, one of the few living Holocaust survivors of the Terezin (Teresienstadt) Concentration Camp and star of the children's opera, "Brundibar," will be a special guest of Rabbi David Baron at Yom Kippur High Holy Day Services on the Eve of Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre) today, September 25, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. at the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre; 8440 Wilshire Boulevard; Beverly Hills, Calif.

Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov [ahb-drah-ZAH-koff], fresh from his appearances with Italian maestro Riccardo Muti at the Salzburg Festival, commences a powerhouse 2012-13 season with two iconic Mozart roles. First, in September, the two-time Grammy Award-winner appears as the infamous anti-hero of Don Giovanni at the Washington National Opera; then, in October and November, he sings the title roles of Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera.

The joint will be jumpin' when International City Theatre closes its 2012 season with Ain't Misbehavin', the Tony Award-winning musical revue based on the life of Thomas "Fats" Waller. Saundra McClain directs Phillip Brandon (national tour: The Color Purple), Niketa Calame (Celebration Theatre's The Color Purple), Amber Mercomes (San Francisco and Los Angeles Opera productions of Porgy and Bess), Lacy Darryl Phillips (Broadway: Fosse and A Raisin in the Sun) and Jennifer Shelton (first national tour of Ragtime; previously seen on the ICT stage in Songs for a New World, Five Course Love, The Story, Honk! and Swinging on a Star), with musical direction by Rahn Coleman and choreography by Stephen Semien. Performances take place October 12 through November 4 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, with low-priced previews beginning October 9.

After a 29-year absence from the Lyric Opera of Kansas City repertoire, the Company presents Verdi's Il Trovatore November 3, 7, 9, 11, 2012 at the Kauffman Center of the Performing Arts.

ELA WEISSBERGER, one of the few living Holocaust survivors of the Terezin (Teresienstadt) Concentration Camp and star of the children's opera, "Brundibar," will be a special guest of Rabbi David Baron at Yom Kippur High Holy Day Services on the Eve of Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre) on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. at the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre; 8440 Wilshire Boulevard; Beverly Hills, Calif. Other special guests include Josh Fattal, Laurie Rubin, Ilysia Pierce, Jordan Bennett and more.

Puccini's Turandot will return to the Met September 26 with Maria Guleghina in the treacherous title role of a Chinese princess who has turned her back on love.

Less than five years after making her professional operatic debut, substituting for an ill colleague as Elvira in Verdi's Ernani at the Metropolitan Opera, Angela Meade is fast becoming one of the world's top-billed interpreters of Verdi and Bellini. The soprano-winner of the 2011 Richard Tucker Award and the 2012 Beverly Sills Award from the Metropolitan Opera-has a number of notable "firsts" during the 2012-13 season, including a house debut at the Vienna Staatsoper as Elena in I vespri siciliani (Sept 9-18), Leonora in her first staged Il trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera (Jan 16), and her first staged Norma-the role that catapulted her to prominence at the 2010 Caramoor Festival-at Washington National Opera in a new production directed by Anne Bogart (March 9-24). More Bellini is in the offing for Meade at Carnegie Hall this season: a concert performance of Beatrice di Tenda with the Collegiate Chorale (Dec 5). The soprano also sings Mozart's Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for her debuts at Los Angeles Opera (Oct 11-14) and Cincinnati Opera (June 13-15). Noteworthy concert engagements in 2012-13 include Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs with the Ontario Philharmonic in Toronto (Jan 29), Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Pittsburgh Symphony under Manfred Honeck (April 26-28), and her recital debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (Nov 10).

Los Angeles, CA- Colburn School President and Chief Executive Officer Sel Kardan today announced details defined by innovation and growth for The Colburn School's Conservatory of Music and Academy 2012-2013 academic year/performance season. The announcement included information on continuing collaborations with its neighbor, Los Angeles Opera's Domingo-Thornton Young Artists Program; the introduction of new performance series and a new partnership; the tenth anniversary season of The Colburn Conservatory of Music and Colburn Orchestra; new faculty members; and expansions to education and community engagement programs.