Greg Pierce News

Cincinnati Opera announces the casting of principal roles for composer Gregory Spears and librettist Tracy K. Smith's new opera Castor and Patience, which will have its world premiere in Cincinnati, July 16 - 26, 2020, highlighting the company's 100th anniversary season.

On Site Opera, an organization dedicated to presenting site-specific opera productions in non-traditional venues throughout New York City, announces its dynamic 2019-2020 season. As the company has grown in recent years, they have established a season that includes three core mainstage productions, The Turn of the Screw, October 25-27, Amahl and the Night Visitors, December 4-8, and Das Barbecu, January 26-February 11, along with additional partnerships and events beyond the boundaries of the New York City boroughs in summer of  2020. 

Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) announce that their groundbreaking joint program, Opera Fusion: New Works, will host a residency for the new opera Castor and Patience from August 26 through September 4, 2019, in Cincinnati.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) are pleased to announce the complete casting for the world premiere of Continuity, the new play by Lortel and Drama Desk Award nominee Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds, American Hero) and directed by Tony Award nominee Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812). The production will feature Max Baker (1984, The Explorers Club), Jasmine Batchelor (The River), Rosal Colon ('Orange is the New Black,' Between Riverside and Crazy), Curran Connor (Pidgeon, A Picture of Autumn), Garcia ('Tales of the City'), Darren Goldstein (Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, The Madrid), Alex Hurt (Cardinal, The Whirligig) and Megan Ketch (The Big Wedding, 'American Gothic').

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, is pleased to announce the 2019 recipients of Discovery Grants from the Opera Grants for Female Composers program, which is made possible through the generosity of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Proving the enduring vibrancy and relevancy of the art form (while celebrating a milestone for its leader), Boston Lyric Opera's 2019/20 Season of new productions spans three centuries of composers -- focusing on works that reflect the highs and lows of power and politics, bringing passionate opera installations to new neighborhoods, and introducing audiences to rising stars from diverse backgrounds. Among the season highlights, Russian-born soprano Elena Stikhina returns to BLO, where she made her 2017 American debut, to sing the lead role in NORMA. Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director Esther Nelson marks her 10th programming season, which the company will commemorate throughout the year.

Capital Stage presents the Sacramento Premiere of Slowgirl by Greg Pierce . This is be Jennifer King's Capital Stage Directing debut. It will be the third production of Capital Stage's 2018/19 Season: #SearchingForAmerica. Performances will run from January 23 - February 24, 2019 with a Press Opening on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 8:00 pm.

Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) are pleased to announce that The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a new grant of $550,000 to renew funding for Opera Fusion: New Works and support two new initiatives to promote diverse voices in the arts.

Broadway Records and Yellow Sound Label today announced that The Beast in the Jungle (Original Score Recording) will be released digitally and in stores on Friday September 14, 2018. The album is currently available for pre-order at www.BroadwayRecords.com and Amazon.com.

Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) are pleased to announce that their groundbreaking joint program, Opera Fusion: New Works, will host two new operas in November and December of 2018.

Capital Stage brings you its 14th Season of professional thought provoking theatre.

Evans Mirageas, The Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of Cincinnati Opera, today announced that the company has commissioned a new evening-length opera, Castor and Patience, from composer Gregory Spears and librettist Tracy K. Smith, poet laureate of the United States. Castor and Patience will premiere at the Corbett Theater in the School for Creative and Performing Arts in July 2020, highlighting Cincinnati Opera's centennial season. It will be Spears' second work for the company, following the extraordinary critical and popular success of Fellow Travelers, with librettist Greg Pierce, in 2016. Smith, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection Life on Mars, is one of the most lauded poets of her generation; her original story for Castor and Patience is both timeless and topical, setting a prototypical family conflict against the backdrop of recent events.

In the black at the back of the Vineyard Theater during one of the final previews of The Beast in the Jungle the other night sat its composer, disguising himself as a member of the audience by dispassionately drinking in the stage action and politely applauding at the appropriate places. This is-typically-the usual battle station for the artist-in-progress. Atypically-in fact, for the first time--John Kander sat alone.

Jump For Joy! The Off-Broadway cast recording of the New York premiere production of the new musical Unexpected Joy, with book and lyrics by Bill Russell (Side Show) and music by Janet Hood (Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens with Bill Russell), will be recorded and released by JAY Records. Produced by John Yap, the recording will feature the original cast of The York Theatre Company production who will gather at Sear Sound Studios (353 West 48th Street) on Monday, May 14, 2018 to lay down the tracks for the recording.

Strathmore and Beth Morrison Projects will present the world premiere of Iron & Coal, a multi-media rock opera by composer/lyricist Jeremy Schonfeld and director Kevin Newbury, in the Music Center at Strathmore on Thursday and Friday, May 3 and 4, 2018 at 8 p.m.

State Theatre New Jersey presents the Tony-winning musical Cabaret for three performances on Friday, May 18, 2018 at 8pm and Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 2pm and 8pm. Tickets range from $35-$98.

On March 19, 2018, Virginia's Tony Award®-winning Signature Theatre honored legendary Broadway composer John Kander with the company's ninth Stephen Sondheim Award. The Stephen Sondheim Award was presented at a black-tie Gala Benefit at the Embassy of Italy and will benefit Signature Theatre's artistic, education, and community programs.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) are pleased to announce the world premiere of Continuity, the new play by Lortel and Drama Desk Award nominee Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds, American Hero) and directed by Tony Award nominee Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812).

Good Works Productions announces the cast and director for a staged reading of CHOSEN CHILD, part of Emerging Artist Theater's New Works Series. Mothers and memories combine to change the fate of a schizophrenic man at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, who's waiting for a sister he hardly knows, to fulfill an agreement that was never made. This drama with comedy is about adoption, obligation, and the ties that may, or may not bind.

The McCallum Theatre presents Cabaret for seven performances, Wednesday, March 28, through Sunday, April 1. The Saturday March 31 performance at 2:00pm is presented through the generosity of Robert and Sharlene Britz. Based on Roundabout Theatre Company's Tony Award-winning production, Sam Mendes (Skyfall, American Beauty) and Rob Marshall's (Into the Woods and Chicago, the films) Cabaret has been hailed by all the critics as a divine, dangerous and decadent entertainment.