Ricky Ian Gordon News

Cafe Carlyle will welcome back acclaimed husband-and-wife duo John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey for a four-week engagement, October 28 - November 22. They'll make their annual fall pilgrimage to The Carlyle with an all-new show entitled Grown Up Songs. Grown Up Songs features sophisticated selections for the most sophisticated venue in New York City with music by Stephen Sondheim, Johnny Mercer, Paul McCartney, Alan Jay Lerner, Adam Guettel, Billy Joel and more.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) announces the appointment of Oliver Ionita (41) as the company's new Director of Development following a national search conducted by Arts Consulting Group. Ionita officially assumed his new role on September 4, 2014 just a few days following the close of the company's third consecutive fiscal year without a deficit and coinciding with the opening of its highly innovative and groundbreaking production of Ernest Bloch's 'Macbeth,' which marked the end of COT's 2014 Season.

t's almost here! On September 23 the curtain rises on the debut production of OPERA San Antonio. Fantastic Mr. Fox is a performance you'll want to bring the whole family to see. Based on the popular children's book by Roald Dahl about a brave and clever fox who outwits his enemies to save his family and friends, the opera features the music of Tobias Picker, who has been dubbed 'our finest composer for the lyric stage' by The Wall Street Journal.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) today announced the participants of the third cycle of the BAM Professional Development Program (BAM PDP), led by BAM and the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland. The companies for this session represent mixed disciplines ranging from dance to theater to opera. Chosen by a BAM-convened panel, the organizations taking part in this session are Encompass New Opera Theatre, Satellite Collective, Summation Dance, and Treehouse Shakers. As with the previous sessions, the DeVos Institute extended invitations to a group of organizations to apply for the training portion of the BAM PDP-expanding the program's reach beyond Brooklyn-based companies. These additional organizations taking part in the program areBalletNext, Beth Morrison Projects, S? Percussion, and Zvi Dance.

Westport Country Playhouse will stage Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's 'Intimate Apparel,' a love story that confronts race and religion, directed by Mary B. Robinson, from October 7 through November 1. 'Intimate Apparel' is the recipient of the American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Best Play.

Classical and Broadway musician Peter Sachon and Carbon Cello Productions, in conjunction with New York Comic Con 2014 and the first annual New York Super Week Festival, will present a unique concert experience, MYTHOS, a showcase of great music from across the spectrum of modern orchestral genres - music from the concert stage, television and film, and video games - featuring the all-star orchestra The Third Estate, conducted by Grammy Award nominee, Austin Wintory, composer of Journey , as well as vocalists from Choral Chameleon.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC), led by Artistic Director Grant Gershon, launches the 2014|15 season, its 51st, with a spectacular multi-faceted cinematic and aural event featuring the Walt Disney Concert Hall premiere of Richard Einhorn's "brilliantly effective" (Washington Post) 1994 work Voices of Light/The Passion of Joan of Arc, inspired by and performed live to the 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc. Einhorn's evocative piece, written for orchestra, chorus and soloists, provides a haunting backdrop to the rarely seen restored version of Carl Dreyer's cinematic masterpiece, considered by many critics to be among the top films ever made.

Artists Rep will kick off its 2014/15 season with the Portland premiere of Intimate Apparel by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. Artists Rep Artistic Associate and Resident Artist Michael Mendelson will direct this award-winning, Off-Broadway and regional theatre sensation.

On Monday, October 6, 2014 five-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara and Drama Desk nominee Steven Pasquale will perform an intimate benefit concert titled Kelli O'Hara and Friends at 54 Below, located at 254 West 54th Street. The evening is a joint benefit in support of PopsEd Programs at Ronald McDonald House® New York, which provide creative outlets to the children and families in residence. Hosted by Steven Reineke, Music Director of The New York Pops, the evening will also feature performances by children participating in the PopsEd programs at Ronald McDonald House® New York, along with some special surprise guests. The benefit will start with a champagne reception at 5:30PM followed by dinner and a performance at 6:30PM.

Artists Rep will kick off its 2014/15 season with the Portland premiere of Intimate Apparel by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. Artists Rep Artistic Associate and Resident Artist Michael Mendelson will direct this award-winning, Off-Broadway and regional theatre sensation.

I've come to embrace the idea that a life well lived is filled with its fair share of second chances and new beginnings. For Ted Shen's A SECOND CHANCE audiences were introduced to Dan and Jenna, both are living in crisis. A SECOND CHANCE opened to mixed reviews at the Public Theater, and now Ghostlight Records has released the schmaltzy jazz musical's original cast recording, which is worth listening to.

Ghostlight Records will release the original cast recording of The Public Theater's production of A SECOND CHANCE online and in stores today, August 5.

Houston Grand Opera capped a financially and artistically successful 2013–14 season by presenting Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Passenger —the Polish-Jewish composer's long-suppressed Holocaust opera—to wide acclaim at New York's Park Avenue Armory as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, July 10–13. Earlier this year, HGO gave the American premiere of the work in Houston with the same cast. There was special praise for the production and performances, conducted by HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers. New York magazine described David Pountney's staging as “a multi-story set so vivid you can practically smell the machine oil and coal smoke,” while the Financial Times said: “The production, imported from Houston, is imposing in every way.” The New York Times called the cast “flawless,” adding: “The conductor, Patrick Summers, drew a surging, textured, richly detailed performance of this challenging score (lasting three hours) from the inspired musicians of the Houston Grand Opera.” WQXR's Operavore summed up the import of the performances: “The Passenger shows how a Holocaust opera can hold the stage while examining important, complex issues—and could certainly point the way for future composers to deal with such important but delicate subject matter.”

Ghostlight Records will release the original cast recording of The Public Theater's production of A SECOND CHANCE online and in stores August 5.

'I Think About You' is the cabaret version of Anthony de Mare's latest initiative, 'Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano.' July 18-19, 2014, during Bear Week 2014, will mark the premiere of 'I Think About You,' which is exclusively tailored for Provincetown audiences, directed by Jef Hall-Flavin.

The New York Philharmonic will return to Bravo! Vail in Colorado for the Orchestra's 12th- annual summer residency there, performing six concerts today, July 18-25, 2014.

'I Think About You' is the cabaret version of Anthony de Mare's latest initiative, 'Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano.' July 18-19, 2014, during Bear Week 2014, will mark the premiere of 'I Think About You,' which is exclusively tailored for Provincetown audiences, directed by Jef Hall-Flavin.

Nancy Rhodes, artistic director of Encompass New Opera Theatre, announced today that Klea Blackburst, actress, singer and comedienne best known for her award-winning tribute to Ethel Merman, Everything The Traffic Will Allow, will be the featured performer at the Encompass Jazz Cabaret Gala in Manhattan tonight, June 25th, 2014. The benefit will take place at 7:00 PM in a spacious penthouse with panoramic views at 66 Leonard Street.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis has just opened a new commissioned work entitled simply '27'. With music by Ricky Ian Gordon and libretto by Royce Vavrek, it brings us into the world of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.

Carol Becker, Dean of Faculty of Columbia University School of the Arts, announced today the appointment of two acclaimed playwrights to the faculty of the Arts: David Henry Hwang, Associate Professor of Theatre in Playwriting and director of the Playwriting Concentration, and Lynn Nottage, Associate Professor of Theatre in Playwriting.