Mark Morris News

-This summer marks another historic milestone for the annual Bard SummerScape festival. For the first time since its founding, this season's focus is on the music and culture of Italy, with seven weeks of music, opera, theater, dance, film, and cabaret keyed to the theme of the 27th Bard Music Festival, "Puccini and His World." This intensive examination of the life and times of Giacomo Puccini opens a window onto Italy's rich musical heritage from Palestrina to Menotti, by way of the most popular and successful - yet, paradoxically, frequently critically underrated - opera composer of all time. Complementing the music festival, some of the Tuscan master's most compelling compatriots provide other key SummerScape highlights.

This summer marks another historic milestone for the annual Bard SummerScape festival. For the first time since its founding, this season's focus is on the music and culture of Italy, with seven weeks of music, opera,theater, dance, film, and cabaret keyed to the theme of the 27th Bard Music Festival, "Puccini and His World." This intensive examination of the life and times of Giacomo Puccini opens a window onto Italy's rich musical heritage from Palestrina to Menotti, by way of the most popular and successful - yet, paradoxically, frequently critically underrated - opera composer of all time. Complementing the music festival, some of the Tuscan master's most compelling compatriots provide other key SummerScape highlights. These include a rare, fully staged production of Iris, a forerunner of Madama Butterfly by Puccini's close contemporary Pietro Mascagni; the world premiere of Demolishing Everything with Amazing Speed, four newly unearthed puppet plays from leading Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero, as reimagined by Dan Hurlin;the world premiere of Fantasque, a new ballet set to the music of Respighi and Rossini by John Heginbotham and Amy Trompetter; a film series on "Puccini and the Operatic Impulse in Cinema"; and the return of Bard's authentic and sensationally popularSpiegeltent,hosted by the inimitable Mx. Justin Vivian Bond. Taking place between July 1 and August 14 in the Frank Gehry-designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and other venues on Bard College's stunning Hudson River campus, SummerScape's 2016 offerings provide new opportunities to discover that, as Time Out New York puts it, "the experience of entering the Fisher Center and encountering something totally new is unforgettable and enriching." Tickets go on sale on Monday, February 15; click here for more information.

Jenkintown, PA—Metropolitan Ballet Company (MBC) announces that tickets are now on sale for its annual performance, Variations/Collaborations: An Evening of Music and Dance, presented with Settlement Music School at 7:00 pm on Saturday, March 12, 2016 at Kurtz Center of the William Penn Charter School, 3000 West School House Lane, Philadelphia. Tickets are $15 in advance at www.metropolitanballetcompany.org or $20 at the door.

? The Harris Theater for Music and Dance is pleased to announce Imagine the Celebration, the Gala event which will be held on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, hosted by the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and Gala Chairs Jay Franke and David Herro. The internationally renowned Mark Morris Dance Group and Music Ensemble will headline the evening with a performance of Dido and Aeneas. The evening will celebrate the completion of the first phase of the Imagine campaign which made the renovation and expansion of the public space of the Harris Theater possible.

Northrop at the University of Minnesota presents Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) in a one-night-only engagement on Wed, Mar 30 at 7:30 pm.

Caroline Shaw, recipient of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in music for her work Partita for 8 Voices, will be in residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in March 2016.

American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School announce the retirement of school director Mary Pat Robertson. Ms. Robertson began teaching at Princeton Ballet School in 1980, and became director in 1986. She is only the third director in the school's 62-year history. While a nationwide search for a new director is underway, Ms. Robertson will continue in her position through June 2016 to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

Early Music Vancouver (EMV) presents George Frideric Handel's Apollo e Dafne and J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite in C Major at The Vancouver Playhouse on Friday, March 18, 2016 at 7:30pm. Internationally renowned, Grammy award-winning soloists Yulia Van Doren and Douglas Williams will be accompanied by the Pacific Baroque Orchestra under the music direction of Alexander Weimann. 

The Jewish Museum will present the first exhibition focused on Isaac Mizrahi, the influential American fashion designer, artist, and entrepreneur, from March 18 to August 7, 2016.

BroadwayWorld looks at Garen Scribner and Sara Etsy, their S'Wonderful careers and their roads to AN AMERICAN IN PARIS! 

Just in, Broadway's AN AMERICAN IN PARIS has announced new stars for its leading lineup, who will also be traveling with the show's upcoming national tour this fall.

George Street Playhouse and American Repertory Ballet will co-host a discussion on the late ballet and film legend, Rudolf Nureyev, led by Princeton Ballet School Director Mary Pat Robertson, on Friday, February 19, 2016. The discussion -- free and open to the public -- will take place at 7 p.m. at George Street Playhouse (9 Livingston Avenue) prior to that evening's 8 p.m. performance of NUREYEV'S EYES, on stage at GSP now through February 21.

The Des Moines Community Playhouse presents the classic drama, 12 ANGRY MEN, tonight, Feb. 5, through Feb. 21, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a look at the cast onstage below!

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) presents the U.S. Premiere of the solo theater work BRODSKY / BARYSHNIKOV, based on poems by the late Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, and performed by actor and BAC artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov. The one-man show was created for Baryshnikov in collaboration with Alvis Hermanis, noted Latvian director of The New Riga Theatre.

VIM VIGOR DANCE COMPANY presents the World Premiere of Separati at Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center, 29 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY, from January 28-30, 2016.

Company XIV presents an adult only world premiere of SNOW WHITE, conceived, directed and choreographed by Drama Desk Award nominee Austin McCormick.

The Des Moines Community Playhouse presents the classic drama, 12 ANGRY MEN, Feb. 5-21, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Peggy Baker Dance Projects announces the world premiere of PHASE SPACE, a rich and surprising full-evening work choreographed by Peggy Baker, one of Canada's most acclaimed dance artists. Playing with time, memory and transformation, PHASE SPACE features six extraordinary dancers in a surreal and elegant fusion of contemporary dance, live music, and stage design that runs tonight, January 22, through January 31, 2016 at Toronto's Betty Oliphant Theatre.

In April 2015, Andrew Coleman was named senior managing director and head of the newly formed Hotels & Hospitality Group. He joined Berkadia from Walker & Dunlop with over 25 years of hospitality lending experience.