Patricia Schuman News

World renowned artist David Pittsinger will be performing a holiday show on Thursday, December 21st at 2pm and Friday, December 22nd at 7pm. An old fashioned Christmas celebration of holiday standards and sacred songs featuring David with his wife, Patricia Schuman and Carly Callahan, Katie Weiser and Charlie Widmer.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) continues its series of holiday operas with the world premiere presentation of The House without a Christmas Tree by the widely admired composer/librettist team of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek, in the HGO Resilience Theater at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The opera is based on the uplifting story by Gail Rock and the beloved 1972 television film of the same name about a family that is healed by the holiday spirit. A precocious daughter struggles to understand her father's resentment of the holidays and longs for a beautiful Christmas tree like other families have, to make her house look happy. The opera includes a new setting of the carol Gather Around the Christmas Tree, sung by a juvenile chorus. Tickets for the new venue are available at HGO.org. Group discounts are available. Parking for HGO's performances will be available at the Avenida North garage located at 1815 Rusk Street, across from HGO's new venue. A sky bridge connects the parking garage to the GRB, and there is clear signage directing patrons to the theater. More information about parking can be found here.

TDF's Autism Theatre Initiative (ATI), which presents autism-friendly performances of Broadway shows for an audience of families with children and adults on the autism spectrum, launches its seventh season with the first-ever autism-friendly performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical, Cats.

Houston Grand Opera expands its commitment to broadening the audience for opera with a 2017-18 season that includes the first presentations of Leonard Bernstein's classic musical West Side Story by a major American opera house and the world premiere of composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Royce Vavrek's holiday opera The House without a Christmas Tree. HGO will present its first performances in a quarter century of two iconic works: Richard Strauss's revenge-filled Elektra with virtuoso sopranoChristine Goerke in the tempestuous title role and 2016 Richard Tucker Award-winner and HGO Studio alumna Tamara Wilson in her role debut as Chrysothemis, under the baton of HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers; and Bellini's grand-scale tragedy Norma showcasing the debut of stellar dramatic soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska in the notoriously difficult title role, with 2015 Tucker winner and HGO Studio alumna Jamie Barton as Adalgisa.

On Today, December 16th McCarter Theatre Center will present two special holiday music events just in time for the most wonderful time of the year. At 7:30 p.m. in Princeton University's Richardson Auditorium, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will present Handel's Messiah. At 8 p.m. in McCarter's Berlind Theatre, pianist Stewart Goodyear will perform his solo arrangement of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents an evening with Handel's Messiah. This iconic, centuries-old oratorio has come to be known as Handel's masterpiece.

Check out the holiday season lineup at NJPAC!

On Friday, December 16th McCarter Theatre Center will present two special holiday music events just in time for the most wonderful time of the year. At 7:30 p.m. in Princeton University's Richardson Auditorium, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will present Handel's Messiah. At 8 p.m. in McCarter's Berlind Theatre, pianist Stewart Goodyear will perform his solo arrangement of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.

Members of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra perform Handel's Messiah with the Montclair State University Singers and a quartet of vocal soloists December 16 and 18 in Princeton and Newark, respectively. George Manahan, the NJSO's interim Music Director from 1983–85, returns to conduct Handel's masterwork—a Christmastime tradition in concert halls across the world. Soprano Patricia Schuman, mezzo-soprano Mary Phillips, tenor Ryan MacPherson and bass-baritone David Pittsinger join the Orchestra and choir.

BREAKING THE WAVES, the stark, brutal new opera by Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek, had its premiere last week at Opera Philadelphia, with a thrilling score and a star-making turn by soprano Kiera Duffy. Directed by James Darrah, the gripping production doesn't let anyone off easy, including the audience.

Opera Philadelphia looks forward to launching the 2016-17 season with the world premiere of a new company co-commission, Breaking the Waves (Sep 22-Oct 1).

Quick: What film won the Golden Globe for Best Movie in 1997? It was THE ENGLISH PATIENT. But more important for composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek, the question is “What film didn't win the Golden Globe in 1997?” The answer (for them, at least) is Lars von Trier's BREAKING THE WAVES, which they've transformed into an opera of the same name, premiering at Opera Philadelphia, September 22.

On Monday, September 12, 2016, Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents discussion with the creators and excerpts of Opera Philadelphia's upcoming world premiere of Breaking the Waves by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek.

World renowned artists David Pittsinger and Patricia Schuman will be performing an exclusive concert on Monday, August 22nd. 'This is The Life' is based on the song by Alan Jay Lerner from LOVE LIFE, and the evening will chronicle the highs and lows in the life of an artist and a marriage.  This special performance will include music from Sondheim, Cole Porter, Lerner and Lowe, and Rodgers and Hammerstein, with classics from Kiss Me Kate, Sweeney Todd, Shenandoah, Carnival, Man of La Mancha, Camelot, No Strings and Sound of Music. This concert is a benefit for the 105 year old Playhouse to further its mission to provide theatre of the highest quality to the residents and visitors to our community.

Tickets go on sale on Monday, August 1, for Opera Philadelphia's 2016-2017 Season, including two September productions: the World Premiere of Breaking the Waves, composer Missy Mazzoli's opera inspired by Lars von Trier's searing Oscar-nominated 1996 film; and Puccini's grand Turandot starring soprano Christine Goerke in the title role. Tickets are also available for a series of special fall events surrounding these productions, including lectures, recitals, film screenings, brunches, backstage tours, and social events. Opera fans can also choose their seats for two spring productions at the Academy of Music: Rossini's Tancredi (February 2017), featuring star mezzo Stephanie Blythe's highly anticipated first appearance in the title role; and a new production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro (April–May 2017).

The Glimmerglass Festival, which presents four mainstage productions of opera and musical theater every summer, rounds out each season with a schedule of guest appearances, concerts, public master classes, youth opera performances and more.

Opera Philadelphia looks forward to launching the 2016-17 season with the world premiere of a new company co-commission, Breaking the Waves (Sep 22-Oct 1).

CT Critics Circle Awards will be presented Monday, June 1 at Hartford Stage.

The Glimmerglass Festival, which presents four mainstage productions of opera and musical theater every summer, rounds out each season with a schedule of guest appearances, concerts, public master classes, youth opera performances and more.

The Glimmerglass Festival, which presents four mainstage productions of opera and musical theater every summer, rounds out each season with a schedule of guest appearances, concerts, public master classes, youth opera performances and more.