Houston Grand Opera News

Houston, October  6, 2015— Houston Grand Opera (HGO) opens its 2015–16 season October 23 with Puccini's heart-wrenching tale of love and tragedy, Tosca, featuring the reprise of HGO's “gripping” 2010 production and a stellar cast of returning and debut artists. Performances run through November 14. 

Grammy, Emmy and Tony award-winning singer and actress Audra McDonald will make her long- awaited Sydney debut on the Concert Hall stage of the Sydney Opera House this November with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

DALLAS, OCTOBER 16, 2015 – Expect edge-of-your-seat excitement and experience Grand Opera at its finest as The Dallas Opera presents Giacomo Puccini's immortal TOSCA, opening on Friday, November 6, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.  

From the rights of the individual against government and corporate power, to advocacy for First Amendment rights, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas scaled great heights on behalf of the individual and the natural environment.  Bristol Riverside Theatre continues its Mainstage Season with Mountain: The Journey of Justice Douglas by Douglas Scott about this judicial giant running November 3-22.  Directed by Susan D. Atkinson, the cast features Keith Baker as Douglas with Kenneth Boys and Sandy York playing multiple supporting characters.

Verdi's Rigoletto returns to the Met October 20 for fifteen performances. Michael Mayer's 2013 production, set in a 1960s Las Vegas casino, will star George Gagnidze in the title role opposite two singers in company role debuts: Olga Peretyatko as Gilda and Stephen Costello as the Duke. Spanish maestro Pablo Heras-Casado will lead the initial performances of the opera, which also feature Štefan Kocán as Sparafucile and Swedish mezzo-soprano Katarina Leoson, in her Met debut, as Maddalena. Later performances this season will star Željko Lu?i? in the title role and Piotr Beczala as the Duke, roles both sang in the new production premiere of Mayer's staging, opposite 2009 National Council Auditions winner Nadine Sierra in her Met debut as Gilda. Roberto Abbado conducts a cast that also features Russian bass Dimitry Ivashchenko in his Met debut as Sparafucile and Nancy Fabiola Herrera as Maddalena.

Mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel, in her New York Philharmonic debut, will replace Marietta Simpson, who has withdrawn due to illness, in In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy.

Houston, September 23, 2015— Last year Houston Grand Opera (HGO) was one of the first major performing arts organizations in the nation to join the international #GivingTuesday fundraising day with its own campaign. Now HGO is building on the success of that campaign by holding its own 24-hour Giving Day from 6:00 p.m. October 14 through 6:00 p.m. October 15. Information is now available at www.AllinforHGO.org.

Eric Owens will begin his tenure as The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence by curating, hosting, and performing in In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy, conducted by Thomas Wilkins in his Philharmonic debut.

On October 23 & 24, Persona, a new opera from composer Keeril Makan and adaptor / librettist / director Jay Scheib, will make its world premiere at National Sawdust. Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and National Sawdust, and adapted by Scheib from Ingmar Bergman's film of the same name, Persona is a provocative, highly cerebral, and artistically complex depiction of human frailty, cruelty and identity. These world premiere performances-which represent the first opera staged at National Sawdust-feature music direction by Evan Ziporyn and music by the ensemble Either/Or.

(Los Angeles) October 13, 2015 — LA Opera's 30th Anniversary Season will include the company premiere of Moby-Dick, by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, opening on October 31, 2015. 

On October 23 & 24, Persona, a new opera from composer Keeril Makan and adaptor / librettist / director Jay Scheib, will make its world premiere at National Sawdust. Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and National Sawdust, and adapted by Scheib from Ingmar Bergman's film of the same name, Persona is a provocative, highly cerebral, and artistically complex depiction of human frailty, cruelty and identity. These world premiere performances—which represent the first opera staged at National Sawdust—feature music direction by Evan Ziporyn and music by the ensemble Either/Or.

Mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel, in her New York Philharmonic debut, will replace Marietta Simpson, who has withdrawn due to illness, in In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its 58th season with a Lyric Opera Premiere production of Anton Dvo?ák's rarely performed opera Rusalka, November 7, 11, 13 and 15  at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in Czech with English titles. This is not only the first Dvo?ák opera produced by the Lyric Opera of Kansas City but the first Czech opera for the Company and Kansas City audiences.The production, directed by Academy-Award winning director Eric Simonson, will feature members of the Kansas City Symphony under the baton of Alexander Polianichko and a unique partnership with members of the Kansas City Ballet. One of the highlights of this lush production will be the spectacular lighting and video projections. 

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), now through October 24. Opening Night is tonight, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

Toronto – The Canadian Opera Company opens its 2015/2016 season with a work of dazzling beauty, Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata.  This operatic classic returns to the COC stage in a lush new production for 11 performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts tonight, October 8, and Octoer 13, 16, 17, 21, 24, 29, 30, November 1, 4, 6, 2015.

Houston, October  6, 2015— Houston Grand Opera (HGO) opens its 2015–16 season October 23 with Puccini's heart-wrenching tale of love and tragedy, Tosca, featuring the reprise of HGO's “gripping” 2010 production and a stellar cast of returning and debut artists. Performances run through November 14. 

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Non-Equity Auditions from Sunday, October 4, 2015 for productions in your area and around the country.

A whimsical, wildly colorful production of Rossini's delightful opera Cinderella opens this Sundayafternoon at Lyric Opera of Chicago, with eight performances through Friday, October 30. Performance dates areOctober 4 and 30 at 2pm, and October 7, 10, 13, 17, 23, 26 at 7:30pm. The familiar story (with a few different twists) makes it a great first opera experience. Check out photos from the show below!

            DALLAS, OCTOBER 2, 2015 – The Dallas Opera is proud to present one of the most eagerly anticipated new operas of the year: Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's GREAT SCOTT, featuring a once-in-a-lifetime cast headed by America's favorite mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato, in the title role of Arden Scott; also starring soprano Ailyn Pérez, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, baritone Nathan Gunn, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass Kevin Burdette, tenor Rodell Rosel and baritone Michael Mayes.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), tonight, October 2, through October 24. Opening Night is Thursday, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.