Dwayne Croft News

Broadway might be dark this month, but that doesn't mean that theatre isn't happening everywhere! Below, check out where you can get your daily fix of Broadway today, March 24, 2020.

A day after canceling upcoming performances due to concerns around the coronavirus, the Metropolitan Opera announced that it would stream encore presentations from the award-winning Live in HD series of cinema transmissions on the company website for the duration of the closure.

When I recently interviewed Lisette Ororpesa, just before her first Violetta at the Met, she told me that people are always asking her “Isn't TRAVIATA an opera for three different sopranos? One soprano per act?” and her answer is: “Yeah, if you want to look at it that way...' She proved that she didn't need any help from a doppelganger in pulling off all the varied aspects of Verdi's courtesan, with a stellar performance.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild today announced that the honorees of its “Diamond Jubilee” celebration will be luminaries Martina Arroyo and Teresa Stratas.  The Guild's 85th Annual Luncheon will take place on Wednesday, November 20th at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.  Special remarks by Stephanie Blythe and musical tributes by Ailyn Pérez and Matthew Polenzani will be performed during the event.

Jean-François Lapointe will sing the Marquis de la Force in all upcoming performances of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, replacing Dwayne Croft.

I interviewed Diana Damrau when she had just done her first Violetta, her role debut in the Met's old Willy Decker production. It was a part she lusted over from the time she saw the 1982 Zeffirelli film, but was careful about taking on--waiting for the right time in her vocal development. That was nearly six years ago and the good news is that she has developed into a first-rate Violetta, sounding better than she has in some time, and looking every inch the glamorous (yet consumptive) courtesan.

The Metropolitan Opera's annual Summer HD Festival, which presents free outdoor screenings of operas on Lincoln Center Plaza, will return for the tenth time this summer, with one screening each night from Saturday, August 25, to Monday September 3, 2018 (Labor Day). The series will present ten recent performances from the company's acclaimed Live in HD series of movie theater transmissions. As a prelude to the festival, the Marx Brothers' classic film, A Night at the Opera, will be presented on the plaza on Friday, August 24, in association with the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

This summer, the Met will rebroadcast four popular operas from the groundbreaking Live in HD series as part of the Summer Encores in select cinemas worldwide. The 2018 Summer Encore titles include: Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Verdi's Il Trovatore, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and Puccini's Turandot.

Inna Dukach will perform the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly at tonight's performance, Tuesday March 13 at 7.30pm, replacing Ermonela Jaho who is ill.

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts, will begin its 13th season on October 6, with the Met's grand production of Verdi's Aida, starring one of the world's most acclaimed sopranos, Anna Netrebko.

The Met presents the second of its popular family presentations this holiday season, Richard Jones's acclaimed production of Humperdinck's fairy-tale opera based on the Brothers Grimm story Hansel and Gretel. The English-language production opens December 18 for seven performances through to January 6, with special family pricing.

Chinese soprano Hui He and Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho share the title role of Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Met. Italian conductor Jader Bignamini, who is making his company debut, leads initial performances starring He, who has performed in the opera more than 150 times, beginning November 2. The cast for Anthony Minghella's production (an instant hit when it premiered at the Met in 2006) also includes Italian tenor Roberto Aronica as Pinkerton, Serbian baritone David Bizic as Sharpless, and American mezzo-soprano Maria Zifchak reprising her interpretation of Suzuki. On November 20 and March 13, American baritone Dwayne Croft will sing Sharpless.

In addition to the previously announced artists appearing at the Met's 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center Gala on May 7, singers slated to appear include Stephanie Blythe, Joseph Calleja, Dwayne Croft, David Daniels, Yusif Eyvazov, Vittorio Grigolo, Christopher Job, Latonia Moore, Yunpeng Wang, and Dolora Zajick.

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra invites you to join in celebration of the upcoming 25th Anniversary Season Announcement on Saturday, March 4 at  1 p.m. and 7 p.m., before both Irish Romance concerts at Bob Carr Theater at 401 W. Livingston Street, Orlando.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-18 season will feature 220 performances of 26 works, including two Met premieres, one co-commissioned by the company and one an older masterpiece having its first Met performances; a variety of repertory favorites, three in new productions; and performances of Verdi's towering concert work for soloists, orchestra, and chorus, the Requiem. Of note, Broadway star Kelli O'Hara is set to return to the Met in Così fan tutte this season.

American Lyric Theater (ALT) in partnership with MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), presents The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turingon on January 12, 2017 at 7:30pm in the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center, 129 W 67th Street, New York City.

American Lyric Theater (ALT) in partnership with MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), presents The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turingon January 12, 2017 at 7:30pm in the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center, 129 W 67th Street, New York City. 

Meet The Cast Of THE LIFE AND DEATH(S) OF ALAN TURING!

American Lyric Theater (ALT) in partnership with MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), presents The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turingon on January 12, 2017 at 7:30pm in the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center, 129 W 67th Street, New York City.

When the Met's production of Rossini's L'ITALIANA IN ALGIERI made its debut in 1973, it must have seemed a welcome laugh riot. Think of it as a kind of Hope-Crosby “Road” picture from the '40s. Flip forward 43 years to last week, and the world has changed much--for better and worse--but “The Road to Algiers” keeps rolling along. Thank heavens for that.