Los Angeles Opera News

They were the brand name on every woman's lips. Goodman Theatre announces it will produce the world premiere of War Paint, a new musical that charts the ascent and arch-rivalry of cosmetics entrepreneurs Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. Patti LuPone, who 'generates more raw excitement than any other performer on Broadway' (The New York Times), and Christine Ebersole, a 'first-class, revitalizing master of period style' (The New York Times), respectively star as Rubinstein and Arden, the brilliant innovators with humble roots who shrewdly navigated the 1930s male-dominated business world to forever change the business of beauty. Directed by Michael Greif (Rent, Next to Normal, If/Then, Grey Gardens), War Paint reunites Scott Frankel and Michael Korie-the acclaimed composer and lyricist team of Grey Gardens and Far From Heaven-with Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright (Grey Gardens, I Am My Own Wife, The Little Mermaid). The musical is inspired by the book, War Paint, by Lindy Woodhead and the documentary film, The Powder & the Glory, by Ann Carol Grossman and Arnie Reisman.  

New York, NY (November 11, 2015) – Franco Zeffirelli's production of Puccini's La Bohème, the most-performed opera in Met history, returns to the Met stage on Monday, November 23 for the first of seventeen performances throughout the season. The November and December performances, conducted by Paolo Carignani,will star Barbara Frittoli and Ramón Vargas as the lovers Mimì and Rodolfo, opposite American soprano Ana María Martínez as the spitfire Musetta in her first Met performances since 2005. Romanian baritone Levente Molnár makes his Met debut as the painter Marcello, with Alexey Lavrov as Schaunard, Christian Van Horn as Colline, and John Del Carlo as Benoit and Alcindoro. 

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) opens its five-concert Baroque Conversations series with an evening led by Iranian-born harpsichord virtuoso Mahan Esfahani featuring works by Bach, Telemann and Erlebach tonight, November 12, 2015, 7 pm, at Zipper Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

A heart-warming world of Christmas magic comes alive on Placido Domingo's new holiday album, My Christmas (Sony Classical). Available now, the album is filled with seasonal favorites, plus duets with a variety of special guests including Idina Menzel, Jackie Evancho, Placido Domingo Jr., The Piano Guys and others.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Jacques Lacombe present Beethoven's iconic Ninth Symphony and Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral, November 5-8 in Newark and New Brunswick.

A heart-warming world of Christmas magic comes alive on Placido Domingo's new holiday album, My Christmas (Sony Classical). Available now, the album is filled with seasonal favorites

Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) and HERE are pleased to announce full casting for the fourth annual PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now festival, running January 6-17, 2016, in New York City. Deemed "suddenly indispensable" (New Yorker), this 'bracingly innovative' Festival, founded, directed, and curated by Kristin Marting (of HERE), Beth Morrison (of BMP), and Kim Whitener (of HERE), has quickly become 'a point of reference" in the field (The New York Times) over three astoundingly successful seasons.

The Dallas Opera is proud to present one of the most eagerly anticipated new operas of the year: Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's GREAT SCOTT, featuring a once-in-a-lifetime cast headed by America's favorite mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato, in the title role of Arden Scott; also starring soprano Ailyn Pérez, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, baritone Nathan Gunn, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass Kevin Burdette, tenor Rodell Rosel and baritone Michael Mayes.

This week's mystery caller in the FUNNY OR DIE series 'Adele gets a call from...' is none other than Broadway diva Patti LuPone. Click below to hear her belt a segment of 'Buenos Aires' from EVITA!

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) opens its five-concert Baroque Conversations series with an evening led by Iranian-born harpsichord virtuoso Mahan Esfahani featuring works by Bach, Telemann and Erlebach on Thursday, November 12, 2015, 7 pm, at Zipper Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

Opera's greatest love story, LA BOHEME, will return to ENO's London Coliseum this winter in Jonathan Miller's stunning production, weaving together true love with heartbreak in this enduring and devastating story. Check out photos from the show below!

Verdi's Rigoletto returns to the Met October 20 for fifteen performances. Michael Mayer's 2013 production, set in a 1960s Las Vegas casino, will star George Gagnidze in the title role opposite two singers in company role debuts: Olga Peretyatko as Gilda and Stephen Costello as the Duke. Spanish maestro Pablo Heras-Casado will lead the initial performances of the opera, which also feature Štefan Kocán as Sparafucile and Swedish mezzo-soprano Katarina Leoson, in her Met debut, as Maddalena. Later performances this season will star Željko Lu?i? in the title role and Piotr Beczala as the Duke, roles both sang in the new production premiere of Mayer's staging, opposite 2009 National Council Auditions winner Nadine Sierra in her Met debut as Gilda. Roberto Abbado conducts a cast that also features Russian bass Dimitry Ivashchenko in his Met debut as Sparafucile and Nancy Fabiola Herrera as Maddalena.

Mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel, in her New York Philharmonic debut, will replace Marietta Simpson, who has withdrawn due to illness, in In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy.

Eric Owens will begin his tenure as The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence by curating, hosting, and performing in In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy, conducted by Thomas Wilkins in his Philharmonic debut.

Mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel, in her New York Philharmonic debut, will replace Marietta Simpson, who has withdrawn due to illness, in In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), now through October 24. Opening Night is tonight, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

Opera Santa Barbara will open its 2015-16 season with a uniquely compelling, film noir-inspired production of Mozart's timeless masterpiece Don Giovanni on November 6 and 8. Performances will take place at 7:30 pm on Friday, November 6, and at 2:30 pm on Sunday, November 8, in Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre. Ranging in price from $29 to $204, tickets can be purchased at www.granadasb.org or by calling 805-899-2222. 

            DALLAS, OCTOBER 2, 2015 – The Dallas Opera is proud to present one of the most eagerly anticipated new operas of the year: Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's GREAT SCOTT, featuring a once-in-a-lifetime cast headed by America's favorite mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato, in the title role of Arden Scott; also starring soprano Ailyn Pérez, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, baritone Nathan Gunn, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass Kevin Burdette, tenor Rodell Rosel and baritone Michael Mayes.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), tonight, October 2, through October 24. Opening Night is Thursday, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City General Director and CEO Deborah Sandler today announced the four conductors for the 2015-2016 season in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Gary Thor Wedow (pictured, left, Mozart's Don Giovanni), and David Charles Abell (Bizet's Carmen) will be returning to the Lyric Opera. Alexander Polianichko (Dvorak's Rusalka) and Christopher Allen (Donizetti's The Elixir of Love) will be making their Lyric Opera debut.