LA TRAVIATA Opens Tomorrow At Lyric Opera of Chicago

Lyric Opera of Chicago's fever-dream staging of Arin Arbus's production of Giuseppe Verdi's perennially popular La traviata opens Saturday, February 16 at 7:30pm, with ten performances through March 22 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago. Tickets start at $39 and are available now at lyricopera.org/Traviata or by calling 312-827-5600.

La traviata tells the story of the elegant courtesan Violetta, whose life in Paris is full of fleeting pleasures and who unexpectedly finds true love with Alfredo. Their happiness is imperiled by the meddling of his father Germont, Alfredo's jealousy, and ultimately her fragile health. This is the opera that inspired Moulin Rouge and is featured in Pretty Woman.

Soprano Albina Shagimuratova returns to Lyric in the tragic title role, with tenor Giorgio Berrugi making his Lyric debut as the passionate Alfredo and baritone eljko Lu i as the upright, uptight Germont. Mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams (debut) is Violetta's fellow party-girl Flora, contralto Lauren Decker is her devoted maid Annina, tenor Mario Rojas is Gastone, baritone Christopher Kenney is the Marquis, and baritone Ricardo Jos Rivera is the Baron Douphol.

American conductor Michael Christie, a recent Grammy () award winner, makes his Lyric debut with these performances. The production created by Arin Arbus for Lyric is designed by Riccardo Hernandez (sets), Cait O'Connor (costumes), Marcus Doshi (lighting), and Christopher Ash (projections). Michael Black is chorus master, and Austin Mccormick is choreographer.

La traviata is performed in Italian with projected English translations.

Performance dates for La traviata are Feb. 16, 20, 24, March 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, and 22. Performance times vary. For tickets and information call (312) 827-5600 or go to lyricopera.org/Traviata.

Estimated running time is 2 hours and 50 minutes with 2 intermissions.