Mark Campbell News

The Second City is thrilled to announce casting for The Second City e.t.c.'s 43rd Revue. Under the direction of Anneliese Toft with music direction by Jacob Shuda, The Second City e.t.c.'s 43rd Revue features returning cast member Andrew Knox along with first-time resident stage ensemble members Atra Asdou, E.J. Cameron, Mark Campbell, Laurel Krabacher, and Chuck Norment. The stage manager is Laura Hum.

Can opera be a medium for social commentary and change? I've been thinking about this lately--or, more accurately, yet again--since attending a preview of the new Jeanne Tesori-Tazewell Thompson opera, BLUE, which was part of the Guggenheim Museum's fascinating Works & Process series. The performance of excerpts and roundtable with its creators were part of preparations for the work's world premiere this summer at the Glimmerglass Festival.

Utah Opera Artistic Director Christopher McBeth has announced the programming, initial casting, and creative teams for the company's 2019-20 season, which comprises four opera productions at the newly renovated Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre. Featuring improved seating and sightlines on the orchestra level, the theatre reopens after a six-month closure for the company's season-opening production of Verdi's La traviata in October 2019. The season continues with composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell's Silent Night in January 2020, Rossini's The Barber of Seville in March 2020, and Massenet's Tha s in May 2020. Silent Night is presented as part of Utah Opera's American Opera Initiative, through which the company champions and commissions American contributions to the art form. Both Silent Night and Tha s are Utah Opera premieres.

A Pulitzer Prize finalist, Guggenheim fellow, and Radcliffe alum, Kate Soper's music has been described as 'exquisitely quirky' (The New York Times) and 'epic' (WQXR). As a performer, she has been praised as a 'dazzling vocalist' (The New Yorker) and likened to 'Lucille Ball reinterpreted by Linda Blair' (Pitchfork). 

Artistic Director Christopher McBeth today announced the programming, initial casting, and creative teams for Utah Opera's 2019-20 season, sponsored by the George S. and Dolores Dor Eccles Foundation. In its upcoming season, Utah Opera produces four operas at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre: Verdi's La traviata in October 2019, Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's Silent Night in January 2020, Rossini's The Barber of Seville in March 2020, and Massenet's Tha s in May 2020. Both Silent Night and Tha s are company premieres. Season subscriptions are on sale now by calling (801) 533-6683 or visiting utahopera.org. Single-opera tickets go on sale to the general public on June 14, 2019 through Utah Opera and ArtTix outlets.

The Playthings Theatre, an LGBTQ+ Company in New York City, will be performing its gala concert PlayFresh on Monday, March 11th at 7:00pm. PlayFresh is an evening of new LGBTQ+ music performed by Broadway's finest. Playthings will be honoring Ricky Ian Gordon with The P.R.I.D.E. Performing Arts Award for his contribution to theatre and the LGBTQ+ community.

La MaMa presents the premiere of legendary playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie's The Fat Lady Sings at La MaMa's Downstairs Theater (66 East 4th Street). Directed by Drama Desk Award winner David Schweizer, the production is scheduled to begin previews on March 21, 2019, with an opening night on March 25, 2019 (running run through April 7, 2019). The cast will feature New York City Opera sensation, Lauren Flanigan, and actor, Tony Torn, known for his celebrated experimental theater work. They will be joined by Jake Horowitz, Nancy McArthur and Jose Useche.

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) today announces the appointment of baritone Matthew Worth to its voice faculty. Worth will lead a full studio at SFCM beginning in Fall 2019, joining the voice department led by chair Cesar Ulloa. Worth's appointment comes just after the announcement of Rhoslyn Jones joining SFCM's faculty.

The Grammy nominated Ars Lyrica Houston ensemble performs the Houston premiere of Alessandra Stradella's oratorio, San Giovanni Battista on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 7:30 pm in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Artistic Director Matthew Dirst leads the Ars Lyrica core ensemble and vocal soloists Sherezade Panthaki (soprano), Jay Carter, (countertenor), Joseph Gaines (tenor), and Sam Handley (bass) in the oratorio based on the death of John the Baptist.

The New York City Opera has announced that Andrew Bidlack, Liz Bouk, Lisa Chavez, Michael Corvino, Jessica Fishenfeld, Mark Heller, Brian James Myer, and Jordan Weatherston Pitts have been cast in its world-premiere production of the new opera STONEWALL, with music by Iain Bell, libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winner Mark Campbell, and direction by Leonard Foglia.   STONEWALL will open Friday, June 21 and run for five performances only through Friday, June 28 at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center (in the Time Warner Center at Broadway and 60th Street).

FirstWorks, a Rhode Island non-profit dedicated to building community through world-class arts announces the New England premiere of 'Some Favored Nook,' a song cycle featuring an original composition by Providence-based composer Eric Nathan. The work is based on the historic 24-year correspondence between poet Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson; an essayist, abolitionist, women's rights advocate, Colonel of the first black regiment during the Civil War, and who notably was instrumental in publishing the first collection of Dickinson's poetry after her death.

The winners of the American Vocal Arts 2019 International Collegiate Singing ChampionshipTM have been announced! The winners have been chosen from all over the world. The competition, sponsored by American Vocal Arts, emphasizes competitive collegiate singing that spans across borders. The goal of the competition is to award the best singers from around the world who are currently enrolled or have recently graduated from an undergraduate or graduate program in music. The winners were selected based on talent, potential, and overall presentation.

The Mason Bates-Mark Campbell opera, THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS--which debuted at the Santa Fe Opera in summer 2017--walked off with this year's Best Opera Recording at the Grammys on Sunday night. Michael Christie conducted the Santa Fe Opera orchestra, and the cast. Directed by Kevin Newbury, included Sasha Cooke, Jessica E. Jones, Edward Parks, Garrett Sorenson & Wei Wu. It was produced by Elizabeth Ostrow.

A "first-rate singer of unusual refinement" with "a voice that traverses genres" (New York Times), Michael Winther, making his Birdland Theater solo debut, joins forces with award-winning jazz pianist, Matt Baker for a unique mix of classic, romantic standards and contemporary love songs as well as some discoveries from the contemporary musical theater - just in time for Valentine's Day!

Music by Bay Area composer Mason Bates, libretto by Mark Campbell, originally premiered at Santa Fe Opera in July 2017

This Spring marks the start of the 36th season of the Verdi Chorus, who will present their Spring Concert, L'Amore e la Vita (Love and Life) for two performances only at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica on April 6 and 7. Led by Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, the Verdi Chorus is the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus. This program, which Ketchum humorously calls the Rom-Com of opera, will feature selections from two Verdi operas I vespri siciliani and Ernani, three Donizetti operas - Don Pasquale, La fille du r giment and L'elisir d'amore, as well as operatic sequences from Bizet's Les p cheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers), Delibes' Lakm , and Puccini's La rondine.

Portland Opera is delighted to bring Laura Kaminsky's beautiful chamber opera to Portland audiences for the first time. In this stunning coming-of-age story, two voices-a mezzo-soprano and a baritone-share the role of our transgender heroine Hannah as she endeavors to resolve the discord between herself and the outside world. Celebrated as one of the most important new works in the world of opera, Hannah's story sheds light on universal truths of self-love and identity.

Austin Opera's SILENT NIGHT A Hard Look at The Unchanged Reality of War

Do you remember what life was like before the iPhone? Steve Jobs, the man who created that game-changing device in your pocket, will soon have his story play out at McCaw Hall. This February, Seattle Opera presents the West Coast premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, a smash hit with music nominated for multiple Grammy Awards.

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced repertory and casting for the Company's 97th Season, opening Friday, September 6, 2019, with a gala performance of Charles Gounod's Romeo and Juliet (Rom o et Juliette) starring tenor Bryan Hymel and soprano Nadine Sierra in Op ra de Monte-Carlo Director Jean-Louis Grinda's production. In keeping with the Company's time-honored tradition, the new season will be inaugurated with San Francisco Opera Guild's elegant, signature benefit and celebration, Opera Ball 2019.