Richard Eyre News

Strauss's comic masterpiece of love and intrigue in 18th-century Vienna stars Renée Fleming as the aristocratic Marschallin and Susan Graham in the trouser role of her young lover Octavian. Edo De Waart conducts a cast that includes Christine Schäfer as Sophie, Eric Cutler as the Italian singer, Thomas Allen as Faninal, and Kristinn Sigmundsson as Baron Ochs.

On Sunday, March 28, Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theaters, continued his multi-evening 92nd Street Y conversation series, 'Broadway Talks,' with Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actress Laura Linney. Among other topics, Roth and Linney discussed her role in Time Stands Still, at the 92nd Street Y.

On Sunday, March 28, Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theaters, continues his multi-evening 92nd Street Y conversation series, 'Broadway Talks,' with Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actress Laura Linney. Among other topics, Roth and Linney will discuss her role in Time Stands Still, at the 92nd Street Y (1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street). The event will take place at 7:30pm.

Verdi's La Traviata returns to the Met with Angela Gheorghiu reprising her acclaimed interpretation of Violetta, a role the New York Times called a 'supercharged star turn' when she performed it in 2006.

The Metropolitan Opera's new production of Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, conducted by Met Music Director James Levine and directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, premieres on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances at the Met series.

The Metropolitan Opera announced today that it has been awarded a $1.1 million endowment grant from the Lauritz Melchior Heldentenor Foundation, which is dissolving and turning over its assets to the Met.

The North American tour of MARY POPPINS opened in Denver on Friday, March 5 at the Buell Theatre to rave reviews from Denver's top theatrical critics. Produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher, MARY POPPINS features original UK Tour star Caroline Sheen in the title role and original London and Broadway star Gavin Lee, reprising their roles as the world's most famous nanny and chimney sweep.

Laura Linney will will be one of many recipients of the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service at a ceremony on April 24th.

Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet returns to the Met stage for its first performances since 1897, with the powerful pairing of Simon Keenlyside in the title role and Marlis Petersen as Ophélie. Keenlyside's acclaimed interpretation of Hamlet in Geneva, London and Barcelona finally arrives in the United States, with a performance in the Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser production that was hailed by the British press as 'magnificent . . . sheer vocal genius.' Petersen, who steps in for Natalie Dessay, brings her haunting portrayal of Ophélie to the Met; she earned praise for the role during a 2006 run of Hamlet in Düsseldorf. Louis Langrée conducts a cast that includes Jennifer Larmore as Gertrude, Toby Spence in his Met debut as Laërte, and James Morris in the role of Claudius. Jane Archibald, in her Met debut, sings the role of Ophélie on April 5 and 9. The creative team is rounded out by Christian Fenouillat with set designs, Agostino Cavalca with costume designs, and Christophe Forey with lighting designs, all in their Met debuts. Performances run through April 9, with the March 27 matinee shown worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD

Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet returns to the Met stage for its first performances since 1897, with the powerful pairing of Simon Keenlyside in the title role and Marlis Petersen as Ophélie. Keenlyside's acclaimed interpretation of Hamlet in Geneva, London and Barcelona finally arrives in the United States, with a performance in the Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser production that was hailed by the British press as 'magnificent . . . sheer vocal genius.' Petersen, who steps in for Natalie Dessay, brings her haunting portrayal of Ophélie to the Met; she earned praise for the role during a 2006 run of Hamlet in Düsseldorf. Louis Langrée conducts a cast that includes Jennifer Larmore as Gertrude, Toby Spence in his Met debut as Laërte, and James Morris in the role of Claudius. Jane Archibald, in her Met debut, sings the role of Ophélie on April 5 and 9. The creative team is rounded out by Christian Fenouillat with set designs, Agostino Cavalca with costume designs, and Christophe Forey with lighting designs, all in their Met debuts. Performances run through April 9, with the March 27 matinee shown worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD

On Sunday, March 28, Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theaters, continues his multi-evening 92nd Street Y conversation series, 'Broadway Talks,' with Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actress Laura Linney. Among other topics, Roth and Linney will discuss her current role in Time Stands Still, at the 92nd Street Y (1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street). The event will take place at 7:30pm.

Verity Hunt-Ballard from Adelaide has won the most hotly contested role in Australian theatre. She will play the world's best loved nanny in the world's Supercalifragilistic musical, MARY POPPINS, opening at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne in July.

The Denver engagement of the MARY POPPINS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR opens tonight, Friday March 5 at 7:30pm at the Buell Theatre, performing for five weeks through Sunday, April 4.

Dmitri Shostakovich's The Nose has its Metropolitan Opera premiere on March 5 at 8:00 pm, conducted by Valery Gergiev, in a visually arresting new production by artist William Kentridge that features original collage, film, sculpture, and massive projections of the artist's drawings and prints. Making his Met debut, baritone Paulo Szot performs the role of Kovalyov in the story of the Russian official who wakes one morning to discover his nose has disappeared (and taken on a higher bureaucratic rank). Based on the short story of the same name by Nikolai Gogol, the opera is what Kentridge has called an exploration of "learning from the absurd." In this production, visuals include renderings of Soviet workers, snatches of newspaper, and projections of propaganda - as well as the missing appendage in adventures ranging from delivering a speech to riding a horse.

MARY POPPINS will welcome to the company Karl Kenzler as George Banks and Megan Osterhaus as Winifred Banks tonight, Monday, March 1. Kenzler and Osterhaus reprise the roles they originated in the critically-acclaimed North American touring production (currently performing in Tempe, Arizona through February 28 before opening in Denver, Colorado on March 5). Produced on Broadway by Thomas Schumacher of Disney Theatrical Productions and Cameron Mackintosh, MARY POPPINS performs at the New Amsterdam Theatre.

Producers Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher are pleased to announce full casting for the Denver engagement of MARY POPPINS. Denver's most eagerly anticipated stage production will begin performances at the Buell Theatre on Thursday, March 4 for a limited engagement of five weeks through April 4. The opening night is Friday, March 5 at 7:30pm.

London's Finborough Theatre will present THREE SEAGULLS, three staged readings complementing the London premiere production of The Notebook of Trigorin. The three works scheduled for readings are THE SEAGULL, HIS GREATNESS, and PIETA.

The Metropolitan Opera's new production of Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, conducted by Met Music Director James Levine and directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, premieres on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances at the Met series.

Producers Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher are pleased to announce full casting for the Cincinnati engagement of MARY POPPINS. Cincinnati's most eagerly anticipated stage production will begin performances at the Aronoff Center on Thursday, April 8, 2010 for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, April 25, 2010. The opening night is Friday, April 9, 2010 at 8:00pm.

Noel Coward's Private Lives comes to the West End's Vaudeville Theatre for a ten week season from February 24 2010, following a two week run at the Theatre Royal Bath (February 10 - 20). Starring Kim Cattrall and Matthew Macfadyen, and directed by Richard Eyre, Private Lives remains one of Coward's most sophisticated comedy of manners.