Emily Peterson News

The Verdi Chorus 35th anniversary season culminates with its Fall 2018 concert Passione! Opera! for two performances only at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica on November 10 and 11 led by Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum. As the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus, this program, which marks the end of a landmark year for the company, will feature selections from three Verdi operas - Aida, Don Carlo, and the famed chorus "Va, pensiero," from Nabucco, as well as operatic sequences from Boito's Mefistofele, Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah, Catalani's La Wally and Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann.

The Verdi Chorus 35th anniversary season culminates with its Fall 2018 concert Passione! Opera! for two performances only at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica on November 10 and 11 led by Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum.   As the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus, this program, which marks the end of a landmark year for the company, will feature selections from three Verdi operas - Aida, Don Carlo, and the famed chorus 'Va, pensiero,' from Nabucco, as well as operatic sequences from Boito's Mefistofele, Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah, Catalani's La Wally and Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann.

Iconotheatrix presents their final show of the season, Spring Awakening, July 26-August 5, 2018 at Obsidian Theater. In Spring Awakening it's 1891, and grown-ups hold all the cards. Headstrong Melchior (Alex Kerry) and naive Wendla (Lauren Weinberger) stumble into each others' arms, passionate and curious, while anxious Moritz (Justin Vrana) struggles to live up to the stringent expectations of society. With only each other for guidance, this group of young men and women travel the fraught and rocky path of adolescence, discovering their bodies, their minds, and themselves along the way. An electric, vibrant celebration of youth and rebellion, Spring Awakening fuses issues of morality, sexuality, and rock and roll into a story that packs a powerful emotional punch.

Iconotheatrix presents their final show of the season, Spring Awakening, July 26-August 5, 2018 at Obsidian Theater. In Spring Awakening it's 1891, and grown-ups hold all the cards. Headstrong Melchior (Alex Kerry) and naive Wendla (Lauren Weinberger) stumble into each others' arms, passionate and curious, while anxious Moritz (Justin Vrana) struggles to live up to the stringent expectations of society. With only each other for guidance, this group of young men and women travel the fraught and rocky path of adolescence, discovering their bodies, their minds, and themselves along the way. An electric, vibrant celebration of youth and rebellion, Spring Awakening fuses issues of morality, sexuality, and rock and roll into a story that packs a powerful emotional punch.

People's Light presents the Philadelphia premiere of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a breathtaking adventure story based on the novel by two-time Newbery Award recipient, Kate DiCamillo (Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux).

The Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF) has announced its 2017 summer season, the first programmed under the new co-Artistic Directors, Dr. Emily Ondracek-Peterson and Dr. Erik Christian Peterson. The seven-week season will take place June 23-August 5, 2017 in the Mt. Crested Butte Mirror Palace, and includes outstanding performances in classical music, bluegrass, opera, Gypsy Jazz and more.

Iconotheatrix presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee April 6-15, 2017 at The MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theatre Center Houston). An eclectic group of mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming 'ding' of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves! At least the losers get a juice box. A riotous ride, complete with audience participation, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a fast-paced, crowd-pleasing, delightful den of comedic genius. 

Iconotheatrix presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee April 6-15, 2017 at The MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theatre Center Houston).

The Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF) is pleased to announce the appointment of violinist Dr. Emily Ondracek-Peterson and violist Dr. Erik Christian Peterson as co-Artistic Directors of the Festival, effective October 3, 2016. The husband-wife team will work in partnership with the CBMF Executive Director Crista Ryan to broaden concert programming, enhance the audience experience, and increase educational outreach. Their vast artistic experience, connections to the regional Denver area, and commitment to arts education makes the pair a natural fit for the Crested Butte Music Festival as it heads into its 21st season in 2017.

Iconotheatrix presents Carrie: The Musical October 20-23, 2016 at The MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theatre Center Houston). In this revamped, contemporary version of the famous (and infamous) 1988 production, Carrie: The Musical follows a young woman, Carrie White (Courtlin Parisher) with telekinetic powers. An outcast at school, where she is bullied viciously for her differences, Carrie is also lost at home, with a fervently religious mother, Margaret White (guest artist, Rachel Landon) whose love traps her in its maw. When PE teacher, Miss Gardner (guest artist Morgan Kaupert), kind classmate Sue Snell (Jackie Cortina), and boyfriend Tommy Ross (Brendan Morrow) reach out to try and help Carrie, it seems that for once, Carrie might have a shot at being accepted. But Chris Hargensen (Cassidy D'Agostino), the class's most vicious bully, and Billy Nolan (Alex Kerry), her not-so-bright boyfriend, have other ideas. Pushed to the brink, Carrie's powers threaten to overwhelm her, and devour everyone around her in flame.

NYTVF Productions and The Orchard recently announced their original TV series, The Jamz, would available on iTunes exclusively beginning today, April 12.

NYTVF Productions and The Orchard today announced their original TV series, The Jamz, will be available on iTunes exclusively beginning on April 12.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents David Ives' uproarious comedy THE HEIR APPARENT, staged by award-winning director John Rando and featuring a stellar cast, led by heralded actor, Paxton Whitehead as Geronte. Rhyming couplets and contemporary slang abound in Ives' deliciously off-color tribute to Jean-Francois Regnard's comic masterpiece, Le Legataire universel-bringing eighteenth-century bawdiness into the twenty-first. Just in time for the holiday season, THE HEIR APPARENT will be presented in the Courtyard Theater now through January 17, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, David Ives dished collaborating with Stephen Sondheim on his latest project. 

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces the full cast and creative team for David Ives' uproarious comedy The Heir Apparent, staged by award-winning director John Rando and featuring a stellar cast, led by heralded actor, Paxton Whitehead as Geronte. Rhyming couplets and contemporary slang abound in Ives' deliciously off-color tribute to Jean-Francois Regnard's comic masterpiece, Le Legataire universel-bringing eighteenth-century bawdiness into the twenty-first. Just in time for the holiday season, The Heir Apparent will be presented in the Courtyard Theater November 29, 2015-January 17, 2016.

It is gratifying that Christopher Durang's latest comedy, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which is assuredly going to be produced in time by every community theater company in the country, gets its Baltimore premiere in style at Center Stage, as a sort of reference production by which other local ones can be gauged. The show, which rolled out over the last two years in regional test runs, then at the Lincoln Center, and then on Broadway, where it closed last year, is in joint production here with the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. The fun seems effortless; with a solid cast and wonderful direction by Eric Rosen at Center Stage, of course nothing is going to go wrong. But I'm willing to bet it would take a lot of trying to do this well-made play badly; I expect we'll find out.

Previews begin at Center Stage next week for Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. A co-production with Kansas City Repertory Theatre, the show arrives from a run that was hailed by critics as 'Undeniably funny' and 'excellent!' (Kansas City Star). The co-production is under the direction of Kansas City Rep's Artistic Director Eric Rosen, and brings to Baltimore three of Kansas City's cast members, including Tony Award-nominee Barbara Walsh, who last appeared at Center Stage as Desiree in 2008's A Little Night Music.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike puts the dysfunctional in family as it opened on Friday March 21 at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Written by Christopher Durang the play directed by Eric Rosen, Artistic Director for the KC Rep, is a co-production with Baltimore's Center Stage. One audience member stated, "It is so natural that you no longer feel like you're watching a play, but rather become a member of the family."

Center Stage announces this week casting for the upcoming production of Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. A co-production with Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will be under the direction of the Rep's Artistic Director Eric Rosen. After running at Kansas City Rep through April 6, it will transfer to Center Stage and play April 16-May 25.

Rehearsals begin today for Kansas City Repertory Theatre's production of Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning Broadway hit comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, directed by the Rep's Artistic Director Eric Rosen, and running March 14 - April 6 at Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is a co-production with Center Stage in Baltimore.