The Glimmerglass Festival will present the world premiere of Blue, a new opera by Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson that dives into the emotional epicenter of a black couple coming to terms with the sudden death of their teenage son. The production will open in July 2019 as part of the company's 2019 Festival.
San Francisco Opera's presentation of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) opens tonight with the first of three complete cycles, each presented over the course of one week as the composer originally intended, from June 12 through July 1 at the War Memorial Opera House. Encompassing four operas-Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung-and more than 17 hours, Wagner's Ring is one of the most ambitious works of music, theater and stagecraft ever created.
Drury Lane Theatre announces casting for its sultry summer drama, Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Tony nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge (2009 Broadway revival of Ragtime, Drury Lane's Smokey Joe's Cafe). Cat on a Hot Tin Roof runs July 5 - August 26, 2018, at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. The press opening is scheduled for Thursday, July 12 at 8:00 p.m.
If you can't get enough of operas, symphonic concerts and a few musical theatre pieces thrown in for good measure, have I got a summer for you! Start in New York City and head north--almost around the corner, or a weekend (or more) away--and you'll find more than enough to keep you happy during the sultry weather ahead. (Even if it doesn't turn out quite so sultry…) It covers the gamut from Handel to Puccini, from serial podcasts to light opera, from dramma serio to musical comedy, with an added emphasis on Leonard Bernstein as the music world celebrates his 100th birthday.
The George London Foundation for Singers has been honoring, supporting, and presenting the finest young opera singers in the U.S. and Canada since 1971. The foundation and the George London Awards (the prize of the foundation's annual competition) are named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the greatest opera singers of 20th century, who devoted much of his time and energy in his later years to the support and nurturing of young opera singers.
The New York City Opera has announced two new productions which will premiere during its 75th Anniversary season at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater.
AN AMERICAN SOLDIER--music by Huang Ruo and libretto by David Henry Hwang, directed by Matthew Ozawa--opened at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) on June 3. The opera asks the powerful question: What does it mean to be an American? It is based on the true story of a young Chinese American, who enlisted in the Army during the war in Afghanistan and became victim of military hazing that led to his suicide. The artists spoke about the creation of the piece at the Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process series.
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) announced at its annual meeting today that its 2017-18 season, dramatically relocated after Hurricane Harvey, closed on a strong financial footing despite nearly $15 million of losses due to the storm and related costs. Lower sales income than in previous seasons was significantly offset by a Harvey recovery fundraising campaign that has raised more than $9.5 million to date. HGO presented its entire 63rd season in the HGO Resilience Theater, a temporary venue the company built in Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center after its home in the Wortham Theater Center was seriously damaged by flooding. The company will return to the Wortham in the fall with a gala benefit concert featuring Placido Domingo and Ana Maria Martinez on September 26.
Steppenwolf's LookOut Series and Mark Cortale are pleased to present Christine Ebersole with Seth Rudetsky as pianist and host. The one-night-only event takes place Monday, July 30, 2018 at 6:30pm in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre (1650 N Halsted).
As both a celebration of the Washington National Opera and a culmination of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Leonard Bernstein at 100 celebration, last weekend's Opera Gala definitely found success. While the evening had its share of disappointments (Titus Burgess of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame fell ill and was unable to perform; Patti LuPone, the top-billed artist of the evening, performed only two fairly short numbers) there was an undeniable electricity to the night. Previously, the WNO held an annual ball which, according to Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein, included neither opera nor a ball. Switching the format to one with a formal gala reception, an opera-filled performance, and elegant dinners hosted by Ambassadors and foreign dignitaries proved the Kennedy Center can still pull off some new tricks.
Many may have heard of the movie AN AMERICAN IN PARIS that starred Gene Kelly and featured such songs as "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise," "S Wonderful," and "I Got Rhythm." Well, the recent Broadway hit of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS took some of the story, some of the songs, and added to it. What was created was a story that pays tribute to great shows of days gone by as well as adding new parts to make an extraordinary musical. As AN AMERICAN IN PARIS tours around North America, it is preparing to make a stop in Austin, Texas at the Bass Concert Hall from May 29-June 3, 2018. BWW caught up with actress Teri Hansen who plays Madame Baurel. She shared with BWW just what it was that brought her to be part of the amazing tour of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS.
Washington National Opera concludes its 2017-2018 season with the company premiere of Leonard Bernstein's biting satire Candide, running now through May 26, 2018, in the Kennedy Center Opera House.
Washington National Opera concludes its 2017-2018 season with the company premiere of Leonard Bernstein's biting satire Candide, running now through May 26, 2018, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Check out photos of the production below!
Complementing the highly-anticipated performances of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen on the stage of the War Memorial Opera House (June 12-July 1), San Francisco Opera presents its ongoing Ring Festival of ancillary events and activities. Designed to deepen public engagement and provide informative, fun ways to explore Wagner's profound masterwork, the Ring Festival offers a diverse schedule of lectures, exhibitions, film screenings, musical programs and opportunities to hear from artists, production team members and Wagner experts.
Washington National Opera concludes its 2017-2018 season with the company premiere of Leonard Bernstein's biting satire Candide, running now through May 26, 2018, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Check out photos of the production below!
Washington National Opera concludes its 2017-2018 season with the company premiere of Leonard Bernstein's biting satire Candide, running now through May 26, 2018, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Check out photos of the production below!
German soprano Evelyn Herlitzius, scheduled to make her San Francisco Opera debut as Brunnhilde in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), has withdrawn from the upcoming engagement due to health reasons. While San Francisco Opera regrets this casting change, the Company is honored to welcome in her stead the equally acclaimed Swedish soprano Irene Theorin as Brunnhilde, the pivotal heroine of Wagner's magnum opus. A celebrated Brunnhilde, Theorin's engagement will mark her first complete Ring in the United States with three cycles of the work at the War Memorial Opera House, June 12-July 1, 2018.
When you hear the first few notes of the rollicking overture, you know Bernstein is genuflecting hard to Johann Strauss. Yet this is a story in which the principal characters are bayoneted, hanged, maimed, raped, prostituted, ravaged by disease, and enslaved, among other things, a story which, thematically, takes the characters and us right to the edge of the Nietzschean abyss and gives us a good long sobering look into it - not the sort of thing Strauss or Gilbert and Sullivan ever did.
Beginning Tuesday, May 1 at 10 a.m., tickets to individual performances within Richard Wagner's four-opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), will be available for purchase. Previously offered only as complete cycle packages, tickets for Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung will go on sale for the first time.
The spirited soprano makes her auspicious Seattle Opera debut as the title character in Francesca Zambello's upcoming Aida production
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