Ron Witzke

a?oeIt looked like the end of the world.a?? The dust storm on Palm Sunday 1935 is engraved in the memories of witnesses as a day of apocalyptic nightmare. One of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl, Black Sunday punished the already beleaguered Great Plains with a tsunami wave of airborne dust. An environmental disaster brought about by human shortsightedness, changing regional weather patterns, and the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl brought death and darkness to the plains during the 1930's. Jackrabbit infestations, dust pneumonia, grasshopper plagues, and economic collapse created a profound setting for human resilience amidst death and loss. This February, Dallas-based professional choir Verdigris Ensemble brings the trials of this environmental catastrophe to audiences with a groundbreaking piece of documentary performance that redefines the boundaries of choral music. This genre-redefining work tells the story of the Dust Bowl with blistering honesty and deep empathy. 

Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its exhilarating 57th season with the Kansas City premiere of composer Kevin Puts' 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, Silent Night, beginning tomorrow, February 21 and continuing February 25 & 27 and March 1 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in English, German, French, Italian and Latin with English titles. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!