Curtis Bannister News

New York's Heartbeat Opera has announced its ninth season in 2022-23. 

The 5th Avenue Theatre has announced the cast for its new original staging of The Wiz, playing this holiday season from November 19 - December 23, 2022.

The Howard County Arts Council will commemorate 20 years of its Rising Star Performing Arts Competition at the 25th annual Celebration of the Arts in Howard County on Saturday, November 5, 2022 from 6 to 10 pm at the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center at Howard Community College (HCC) in Columbia.

Reserve your tickets now for Howard County's signature arts event! The 25th annual Celebration of the Arts in Howard County will be held on Saturday, November 5, 2022, from 6-10 p.m. at the Peter and Elizabeth Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center at Howard Community College, Columbia, MD.   

The Howard County Arts Council commemorates 20 years of its Rising Star Performing Arts Competition at the 25th annual Celebration of the Arts in Howard County, to be held on Saturday, November 5, 2022 from 6 to 10 pm at the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center at Howard Community College (HCC) in Columbia. Dr. Daria J. Willis, president of Howard Community College, will act as Honorary Chair for the evening. Joseph W. Ritsch, Producing Artist Director, Rep Stage, will serve as Event Emcee.   

What did our critic think of TWELVE ANGRY MEN at Theatre Latte Da? In a small New York City jury room, on 'the hottest day of the year,' twelve men debate the fate of a young defendant charged with murdering his father. In form, TWELVE ANGRY MEN: A NEW MUSICAL is a courtroom drama; in purpose, it's a crash course in those passages of the U.S. Constitution that promise defendants a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.

Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago's foremost producer of contemporary and re-imagined opera, proudly presents the World Premiere of Quamino's Map, shedding light on the post-Revolutionary War years when London was the unlikely refuge for thousands of Black Americans who fought for their liberty on the side of the British. 

Heartbeat Opera’s tour of FIDELIO lands at The Broad Stage February 26th and 27th. Heartbeat’s artistic director Ethan Heard directs Beethoven’s 1814 masterpiece re-imagined and re-orchestrated for the era of Black Lives Matter. I had the chance to throw a few queries out to Ethan on his timely and unique project that he also adapted and co-wrote.

It’s no secret that many of the standard repertoire’s most famous operas had troubled premieres but Beethoven’s FIDELIO had more than its share. Thanks to the efforts of Heartbeat Opera, which performed its revised version at New York’s Met Museum this past weekend (before a short tour), we can see the forest for the trees, with many of the work’s problems dealt with in a surprisingly effective way and the story brought up to date without destroying its integrity.

Performances of the Heartbeat Opera's adaptation of Beethoven's Fidelio are to be held at the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium on Thursday, February 10, 7 pm, Saturday, February 12, 7 pm, and Sunday, February 13, 2 pm. 

Heartbeat Opera will mount a four-city tour of its powerful 2018 adaptation of Beethoven's masterpiece, FIDELIO, which Heartbeat artistic director Ethan Heard conceived for the era of Black Lives Matter. The tour begins at home in NY's Metropolitan Museum on February 10, 12, and 13, 2022. 

Music Theater Works will present Ragtime at the North Shore Center For The Performing Arts In Skokie (9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie, IL 60076) from October 29, 2021 through November 7, 2021 being the third production of the 2021 Season.

HEARTBEAT OPERA will return to the in-person stage for its eighth season this year.  Heartbeat's 2021-22 season kicks off in September with a free outdoor screening of BREATHING FREE, their visual album that connects Beethoven's Fidelio with the work of Black composers and lyricists such as Harry T. Burleigh, Langston Hughes, and Anthony Davis.

The season includes Bizet’s beloved CARMEN in concert, featuring duo debuts by Jamie Barton and Stephanie Blythe; the family-friendly holiday delight BECOMING SANTA CLAUS by Mark Adamo; and a world premiere commission by Errollyn Wallen and Deborah Brevoort, QUAMINO’S MAP.

Broadway might be dark, but that doesn't mean that theatre isn't happening everywhere! Below, check out where you can get your daily fix of Broadway this weekend, May 22-23, 2021.

Music Theater Works will present 'Legends Of The 50s And 60s: Greatest Hits' at North Shore Center For The Performing Arts (9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie, IL 60076) from June 18, 2021 through June 27, 2021 as the first production of the 2021 season.

Goodman Theatre has announced Heather Headley, Tony Award-winning Broadway actor and Grammy Award-winning singer, will headline the “Together Center Stage” virtual 2021 gala fundraiser. Among the many accolades in her career, Headley is known for her acclaimed performance in the Elton John-Tim Rice musical Aida.

On the evening of February 10, 2021, The Broad Stage presented Breathing Free, an auditory and visual online love letter to freedom produced by Heartbeat opera to tell the stories of those who who have experienced various versions of its absence. Through an inquisitive collaborative process with a diverse community of artists, Heartbeat breaks down traditional barriers to reimagine opera for artists and audiences of the twenty-first century.

HEARTBEAT OPERAa?"the fast-growing indie opera company whose visceral, re-imagined, re-orchestrated and stripped down stagings of classic operas have been called 'a radical endeavor' by Alex Ross in The New Yorkera?"continues to take its programming online in light of COVID-19. As artists face increasing financial hardship, Heartbeat Opera takes pride in the fact that 85% of their fall budget is going toward employing more than 50 collaborators.

Skylight Music Theatre today announced the cast and creative team for The Gospel at Colonus running January 17-26, 2020 in the Cabot Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway, in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.