Ron Daniels News

The Apollo Theater and Opera Philadelphia announced today that Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD, composed by Daniel Schnyder with a libretto by Bridgette A. Wimberly, will have its New York premiere in a co-production between the two institutions, April 1 and 3, 2016.  The engagement marks the first time opera will be performed on the Apollo Theater stage, and the first time Opera Philadelphia will produce in New York. The opera will also be recorded for broadcast in November 2016 on New York City's classical music station 105.9 WQXR, at wqxr.org, and distributed nationally by the WFMT Radio Network.

Shakespeare Theatre Company proves once again their place as one of the nation's finest classical theatre companies with a new production of OTHELLO. A careful blend of grand spectacle and intimate relationships, William Shakespeare's mature tragedy leaps off of the stage with passion, wit, and pathos. Starring Pakistani-American Faran Tahir in the title role, this OTHELLO is filtered through the lens of Othello as a Muslim who has adopted Western dress and religion. The concept works and the tragedy still works as one of Shakespeare's best.

This February, the Shakespeare Theatre Company presents William Shakespeare's Othello, helmed by internationally acclaimed director Ron Daniels and featuring stage and screen performer Faran Tahir in the titular role and Jonno Roberts as Iago. Director Ron Daniels, an honorary associate director at the Royal Shakespeare Company, brings his sure hand with Shakespeare to one of the Bard's greatest tragedies. Othello runs at STC's Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from February 23 through March 27.

The Apollo Theater and Opera Philadelphia announced today that Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD will have its New York premiere in a co-production between the two institutions, April 1 and 3, 2016.  The engagement marks the first time opera will be performed on the Apollo Theater stage, and the first time Opera Philadelphia will play New York. 

The Apollo Theater and Opera Philadelphia announced today that Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD will have its New York premiere in a co-production between the two institutions, April 1 and 3, 2016.  The engagement marks the first time opera will be performed on the Apollo Theater stage, and the first time Opera Philadelphia will play New York. 

In an effort to continue its vision to provide a training ground for the next generation of theatre artists, the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) has launched its first-ever Directors' Studio, a series of workshops and discussions designed to investigate the craft of theatrical direction created for local, early-career directors. By application, six directors have been selected for the 2015-2016 season's Directors' Studio: Catrin Rowenna Davies, Rick Hammerly, Lee Liebeskind, Carter Lowe, Angela Kay Pirko, and Jason Schlasfstein.

Legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker (1920-1955) was “a genius who lived fast and died young, revolutionizing an art form in a few short years” (NPR). The Grammy Award-winning bebop legend is the subject of Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD, the first world premiere in almost four decades for Opera Philadelphia, recognized by Opera News as “one of the leading instigators of new work in the country.” The new chamber opera was created for American tenor Lawrence Brownlee, a nominee for the 2015 International Opera Male Singer of the Year Award, by composer Daniel Schnyder, whose “thrilling classical-tinged jazz blend…constantly pushes the envelope” (Jazz Times), to a libretto by award-winning poet and playwright Bridgette Wimberly. Directed by Ron Daniels under the leadership of Music Director Corrado Rovaris, Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD premieres in Opera Philadelphia's Aurora Series for Chamber Opera, crowning the company's 40th Anniversary Season with a five-performance run in the Kimmel Center's intimate Perelman Theater (June 5–14). Tickets are available from Ticket Philadelphia at 215.893.1018 or operaphila.org.

Legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker (1920-1955) was "a genius who lived fast and died young, revolutionizing an art form in a few short years" (NPR). The Grammy Award-winning bebop legend is the subject of Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD, the first world premiere in almost four decades for Opera Philadelphia, recognized by Opera News as "one of the leading instigators of new work in the country." The new chamber opera was created for American tenor Lawrence Brownlee, a nominee for the 2015 International Opera Male Singer of the Year Award, by composer Daniel Schnyder, whose "thrilling classical-tinged jazz blend…constantly pushes the envelope" (Jazz Times), to a libretto by award-winning poet and playwright Bridgette Wimberly. Directed by Ron Daniels under the leadership of Music Director Corrado Rovaris, Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD premieres in Opera Philadelphia's Aurora Series for Chamber Opera, crowning the company's 40th Anniversary Season with a five-performance run in the Kimmel Center's intimate Perelman Theater (June 5-14). Tickets are available from Ticket Philadelphia at 215.893.1018 or operaphila.org.

Gotham Chamber Opera announces Edward Barnes as the company's new Executive Director, effective June 1, 2015. Mr. Barnes will succeed Gotham's previous executive director, David Bennett, who will become general director of the San Diego Opera. In addition, David Rubeo has been promoted to Associate Director.

Legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker (1920-1955) was “a genius who lived fast and died young, revolutionizing an art form in a few short years” (NPR). The Grammy Award-winning bebop legend is the subject of Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD, the first world premiere in almost four decades for Opera Philadelphia, recognized by Opera News as “one of the leading instigators of new work in the country.” The new chamber opera was created for American tenor Lawrence Brownlee, a nominee for the 2015 International Opera Male Singer of the Year Award, by composer Daniel Schnyder, whose “thrilling classical-tinged jazz blend…constantly pushes the envelope” (Jazz Times), to a libretto by award-winning poet and playwright Bridgette Wimberly. Directed by Ron Daniels under the leadership of Music Director Corrado Rovaris, Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD premieres in Opera Philadelphia's Aurora Series for Chamber Opera, crowning the company's 40th Anniversary Season with a five-performance run in the Kimmel Center's intimate Perelman Theater (June 5–14). Tickets are available from Ticket Philadelphia at 215.893.1018 or operaphila.org.

Gotham Chamber Opera announces its 15th Anniversary Season, which will begin in the fall of 2015 with a 15th Anniversary Celebration Concert (date and venue tba). The season continues in February 2016 with Alessandro Stradella's 1675 San Giovanni Battista (Saint John the Baptist)in a co-production with the Netherlands Nationale ReisOpera, and a concert at (le) poisson rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, NYC, featuring a new work by David Hertzberg, winner of the Catherine Doctorow Prize for Music. The season concludes with the New York premiere of Charlie Parker's Yardbird, a co-production of the Apollo Theater, Gotham Chamber Opera and Opera Philadelphia, at the world famous Apollo Theater in May/June 2016.

Legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker (1920-1955) was 'a genius who lived fast and died young, revolutionizing an art form in a few short years' (NPR).

With the third and fourth shows of the Shakespeare Theatre Company's current season underway, Artistic Director Michael Kahn announced today the Company's 2015-2016 Season. Kahn has put together a season of contrasts and striking new voices, with international directors and adaptors bringing provocative approaches to the classics to Washington, D.C.

Christopher Marlowe's 1587 epic Tamburlaine, Parts I and II, edited and directed by Olivier Award-winner Michael Boyd and starring John Douglas Thompson, opens Sunday, November 16, at 1:00pm at Theatre for a New Audience, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place.

When Stephen Powell's Sweeney Todd lunges at the audience in vengeful anger declaring, "No ones in the chair, come on! Come on! Sweeney's waiting, I want you bleeders," It's hard to think of anything more thrilling. And yet, Powell's performance along with a glorious 28 piece orchestra only partially makes-up for the Virginia Opera Company's rather uneven production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

59E59 Theaters will welcome New Perspectives back to Brits Off Broadway with the US premiere of David Rudkin's THE LOVESONG OF ALFRED J HITCHCOCK, directed by Jack McNamara. THE LOVESONG OF ALFRED J HITCHCOCK begins performances tonight, May 1 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 25. Press opening is Wednesday, May 7 at 7 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7 PM; Friday at 8 PM; Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM; Sunday at 3 PM & 7 PM.

Cincinnati Opera will present the world premiere of the opera Morning Star, with music by Ricky Ian Gordon and a libretto by William M. Hoffman, during the company's 2015 Summer Festival. The opera will be performed at the Corbett Theater at the School for Creative and Performing Arts, which was inaugurated as Cincinnati Opera's second-stage venue during the 2013 season. Morning Star marks the company's first world premiere in more than 50 years, and will be presented on June 30, July 2, 8, 10, 12, 17, and 19, 2015.

59E59 Theaters will welcome New Perspectives back to Brits Off Broadway with the US premiere of David Rudkin's THE LOVESONG OF ALFRED J HITCHCOCK, directed by Jack McNamara. THE LOVESONG OF ALFRED J HITCHCOCK begins performances on Thursday, May 1 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 25. Press opening is Wednesday, May 7 at 7 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7 PM; Friday at 8 PM; Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM; Sunday at 3 PM & 7 PM. Single tickets are $70 ($49 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org. For more information, visit www.britsoffbroadway.com.

David B. Devan, General Director and President of Opera Philadelphia, today announced the commissioning of a new opera based on the life of legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker (1920-1955), one of the most influential soloists in the history of jazz and a central figure in the development of bebop. American tenor Lawrence Brownlee will star as Parker in a work written for him by composer Daniel Schnyder, with a libretto by poet and playwright Bridgette A. Wimberly. Soprano Angela Brownwill costar as Charlie's mother, Addie Parker. The opera is being developed in partnership with Gotham Chamber Opera.