Houston Grand Opera News

For fourteen seasons, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival (HPAF) has continued to bring world-class music to Hawaii Island and this season is no exception. The festival, which was founded in 2005, has established an international reputation as a premiere training and performance program for aspiring young artists worldwide. Each season, HPAF assembles an exceptional roster of faculty artists who provide instruction and appear in a series of free concerts for the Big Island community.

Desperate Measures is currently playing at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), and features: Gary Marachek (Eleanor) as Father Morse, Lauren Molina(Rock of Ages) as Bella Rose, Sarah Parnicky (Show Boat at Houston Grand Opera) as Susanna/Sister Mary Jo, Conor Ryan ('Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert') as Johnny Blood, Peter Saide (Skin Tight) as Sheriff Green, and Nick Wyman (Les Miserables) as Governor von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber with Anthony Festa (Bare at New World Stages), Celia Hottenstein(The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary National Tour) and Tom Souhrada (Kinky Boots).

The Rally Cat, a new, energized performing arts company based in New York City, launches its inaugural season on July 21st with a concert of new music by award-winning composer Aferdian Stephens at the National Opera Center at 1:30 PM.

Free For All, one of the capital's cherished annual traditions, will return this summer to Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), offering two weeks of free performances of the Company's 2016 production of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. Directed by STC Associate Artistic Director Alan Paul, whose hit production of Camelot has extended through July 8 due to popular demand, the production will run at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St NW) from August 21-September 2, providing more than 12,000 people the chance to see the play free of charge.

At Da Camera Society of Texas' annual meeting this week, the organization's Board of Directors announced the realignment of its management structure. Sarah Rothenberg, who is celebrating her 25th anniversary as artistic director in the 2018-19 season and who has served as artistic and general director since 2011, will continue as the organization's artistic director. The current interim director of administration, Toni Capra, has been named to the newly created position of executive director effective July 1, 2018.

Desperate Measures, now playing at New World Stages, opens tomorrow, Wednesday, June 13.

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.

For fourteen seasons, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival (HPAF) has continued to bring world-class music to Hawaii Island and this season is no exception. The festival, which was founded in 2005, has established an international reputation as a premiere training and performance program for aspiring young artists worldwide. Each season, HPAF assembles an exceptional roster of faculty artists who provide instruction and appear in a series of free concerts for the Big Island community.

The Atlanta Opera closes its 2017-18 mainstage season with Stephen Sondheim's seminal musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This production of Sweeney Todd remains faithful to the original Broadway show, and features an all-star cast, including Michael Mayes in his role debut as Sweeney Todd, and Maria Zifchak as Mrs. Lovett. Timothy Myers will conduct in a company debut, and Albert Sherman, who has directed Sweeney Todd under the mentorship of Harold Prince, will serve as production director.

Camerata New York to Present the "Triumph of Music" Opera Gala Orchestra to Perform Exquisite Operatic Masterpieces with Renowned International Soloists for Concert at St. Jean Baptiste Church, June 7, 2018 New York, NY - Camerata New York, now in its 17th year, will present the "Triumph of Music," a program featuring operatic favorites from Bizet, Puccini, Verdi, Wagner and others. The opera gala, which is part of Camerata New York's 2017-2018 concert series, is scheduled for Today, June 7, 2018, at 7:30 pm, at New York's St. Jean Baptiste Church on 76th Street at Lexington Avenue.

San Francisco's acclaimed Merola Opera Program presents the stars of tomorrow in Mozart's Il re pastore. Merola is one of the most prestigious and selective opera training programs in the world, featuring 29 artists selected from more than 800 international applicants. This exquisite early Mozart work featuring a string of thrilling arias explores the competing pulls of love and duty, as a young shepherd finds he must renounce his true love in order to reclaim his lost throne. Il re pastore will be performed 7:30pm, Thursday, July 19, and 2:00pm, Saturday, July 21, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. For tickets or more information, visit www.merola.org or call (415) 864-3330.

Placido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, announced today that he has chosen the performers who will join LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in the 2018/19 season. The artists were chosen from 650 applicants, 200 live auditions and, ultimately, 28 final candidates. The finalists auditioned in April for a panel led by Mr. Domingo that included Sebastian Paul and Marybelle Musco President and CEO Christopher Koelsch, the program's Artistic Advisor Susan Graham and Artistic Administrator Samuel Gelber, along with Stephen King, head of vocal instruction for the program, and Nino Sanikidze, head coach for the program.

Desperate Measures, a new musical comedy gone wild with music by David Friedman(Listen To My Heart), book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg (Anna Karenina), and directed by Bill Castellino(Cagney, Marry Harry) is one of the most winning off-Broadway shows of the year. TV and current star of Amy and the Orphans, Jamie Brewer, stopped by for a visit with the cast backstage. Check out photos below.

Desperate Measures, a new musical comedy gone wild with music by David Friedman (Listen To My Heart), book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg (Anna Karenina), and directed by Bill Castellino(Cagney, Marry Harry) is one of the most winning off-Broadway shows of the year.

TodayTix, the international ticketing platform on a mission to redefine the way people experience theater, has partnered with the Alley Theatre to offer the first mobile Rush in Houston on the TodayTix app. The mobile Rush will offer exclusive access to $20 tickets, beginning with the theater's production of "The Cake," running June 1 to July 1, 2018, and continuing with "Holmes and Watson," running June 22 to July 22, 2018.

Beginning performances at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), for an open-ended engagement beginning May 30 with opening night set for June 13, Desperate Measures features: Gary Marachek (Eleanor) as Father Morse, Lauren Molina (Rock of Ages) as Bella Rose, Sarah Parnicky (Show Boat at Houston Grand Opera) as Susanna/Sister Mary Jo, Conor Ryan ('Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert') as Johnny Blood, Peter Saide (Skin Tight) as Sheriff Green, Nick Wyman (Les Miserables) as Governor von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber and Anthony Festa, Celia Hottenstein, and Tom Souhrada.

Beginning performances at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), for an open-ended engagement beginning May 30 with opening night set for June 13, Desperate Measures features: Gary Marachek (Eleanor) as Father Morse, Lauren Molina (Rock of Ages) as Bella Rose, Sarah Parnicky (Show Boat at Houston Grand Opera) as Susanna/Sister Mary Jo, Conor Ryan ('Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert') as Johnny Blood, Peter Saide (Skin Tight) as Sheriff Green, Nick Wyman (Les Miserables) as Governor von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber and Anthony Festa, Celia Hottenstein, and Tom Souhrada.

Schimmel Center will present Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominee Anna Deavere Smith's Obie Award-winning solo performance, Notes From the Field, for one weekend only on Friday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m. and Today, June 2 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in preparation for a two week run at the Royal Court in London. The production is directed by Leonard Foglia and features original music composed and performed by bassist Marcus Shelby who joins Ms. Smith on stage.

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.

Mercury brings the 2017-18 season to a close with 'Four Seasons', a dramatic staged production from the creative minds of Artistic Director Antoine Plante and musician/composer Denis Plante merging words, music and imagination. Well-known Houston actor David Rainey, resident member of The Alley Theatre and Artistic Director of The Landing Theatre Company, joins the orchestra in the lead role for the three-performance theatrical premiere at the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall on Saturday, June 16th and Sunday, June 17th.