Houston Grand Opera News

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Muhlenberg College will showcase world premiere dance works created by five of the region's most accomplished choreographers and two restagings by internationally acclaimed choreographers, in the College's annual 'Master Choreographers' dance concert, tonight, Feb. 7-9.

The Atlanta Opera, one of the nation's finest regional opera companies enriching lives through the power of opera, yesterday announced its 2013-2014 season. The season opens with Tosca in October 2013, followed by Gounod's Faust in March 2014, and concludes with The Barber of Seville in April and May 2014. All performances will take place at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program has begun the 2013 Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation. The 13th annual writing colony at the 20,000-acre working cattle ranch outside of Sheridan, Wyo. takes place through February 22 and provides a supportive environment for artists to create new work and receive guidance and reactions to it at an early stage. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Artistic Director of the Theatre Program, and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Playwrights Retreat is made possible through the generosity of Ucross Foundation.

The Atlanta Opera, one of the nation's finest regional opera companies enriching lives through the power of opera, today announced its 2013-2014 season. The season opens with Tosca in October 2013, followed by Gounod's Faust in March 2014, and concludes with The Barber of Seville in April and May 2014. All performances will take place at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) welcomes alumnus Jesse Blumberg, baritone (MM, '03), and renowned collaborative pianist Martin Katz for free performances of Franz Schubert's two great Lieder cycles this February.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the world premiere of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, a new musical comedy with book by Robert L. Freedman, music by Steven Lutvak and lyrics by Freedman and Lutvak. Former Old Globe Co-Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak returns to the Globe to direct the production. Based on the novel Israel Rank by Roy Horniman, the musical also features choreography by Peggy Hickey. A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder will run March 8 - April 14, 2013 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run March 8 - March 12. Opening night is Wednesday, March 13 at 7:00 p.m. A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder is a co-production with Hartford Stage. Single tickets go on sale Sunday, Feb. 3 at 12 noon. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Grammy-nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston presents a staged version of G.F. Handel's pastoral masterpiece Acis and Galatea on March 10th at The Hobby Center, with additional performances in Austin, and Bryan, Texas.

INTAR (Lou Moreno, Artistic Director/John McCormack, Executive Director) today announced the cast for the first of the two plays for its Winter/Spring 2013 season: Lucy Loves Me, written by Migdalia Cruz, directed by Lou Moreno, will star Annie Henk, Bertha Leal, and Gerardo Rodriguez.

Maggie Siff plays Beatrice and Jonathan Cake Benedick in Theatre for a New Audience's new production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Arin Arbus, beginning previews Saturday, February 2 at 8:00pm for an opening Sunday, February 17, at 3:00pm at The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street.

Running opposite the bright and colorful SHOWBOAT in Houston Grand Opera's winter repertoire is an austere and dark production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte's DON GIOVANNI. This atmospheric and melodramatic opera presents the audience with the lecherous Don Giovanni, who has hired Leporello to keep a little black book of each of his numerous conquests and sexual assaults against the women of Europe. The show opens with Donna Anna escaping the man and crying out about his assault. Her father rushes to protect her and is unapologetically slain by Don Giovanni. Moving on, Don Giovanni stupefies the naïve Zerlina with his Casanova-like charms and lures her away from her husband Masetto. Meanwhile, Donna Anna, her fiancé, Don Ottavio, and Donna Elvira, an embittered woman that is one of Don Giovanni's conquests, all strive to bring his transgressive improprieties to public light.

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The Atlanta Opera will host its 24-Hour Opera Project Showcase on Saturday, January 26, 2013, at 7 p.m. EST. Audiences can attend for free or tune in via LIVE WEBCAST.

O fortuna! Carmina burana remains of the the most popular works of classical music ever written. On February 8 & 9 at the Peristyle, the Toledo Symphony is joined by large choruses and acclaimed soloists Philip Cutlip, Joshua Stewart, and Kathryn Lewek.

The Canadian Opera Company unveiled its 2013/2014 season today at a press conference at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The company's 64th season stars the world's best singers, conductors, directors and designers in a performance year with seven operas, including three COC premieres and three new COC productions. The COC presents Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème with a new production featuring some of Canada's brightest stars; COC Music Director Johannes Debus makes his Benjamin Britten debut when he conducts Peter Grimes with a production starring acclaimed Canadian tenor Ben Heppner in the iconic title role; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Così fan tutte with a new COC production by renowned film and theatre director Atom Egoyan with Debus conducting; Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera starring great Canadian diva Adrianne Pieczonka in a role debut; George Frideric Handel's Hercules with a COC premiere and new COC production by world-renowned director Peter Sellars with a star-studded cast; Gaetano Donizetti's Roberto Devereux with a COC premiere starring soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in a role debut; and Jules Massenet's Don Quichotte with a COC premiere featuring Debus in another conducting debut and the world's pre-eminent bass Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title role.

Philadelphia Theatre Company presents PTC@Play, a two-week festival of new work on February 18-March 3 at PTC's home at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets). The festival will feature staged readings of four new plays by both established and emerging playwrights, a new play with music in development starring Tony and Barrymore Award winner Forrest McClendon as African American vaudeville legend Bert Williams, and an evening of short plays, FuturePhilly@Play, by seven emerging playwrights. Each playwright will be in-residence at PTC for their reading, and every reading will conclude with a reception where audiences and artists can meet. All events are free with curtain time at 7:30 PM. A highlight of PTC@Play will be the February 18th announcement of the winner of the Terrence McNally New Play Award, a $10,000 cash prize given annually to recognize a new play that celebrates the transformative power of art.

Following a hugely acclaimed and record-breaking sell out run at Hampstead Theatre, Neil Armfield's production of David Hare's The Judas Kiss just transferred to the West End. The cast features Rupert Everett and Freddie Fox in the lead roles of Oscar Wilde and Lord AlFred Douglas, performances which won them universal acclaim, they are joined by Cal Macaninch in the role of Robert Ross. The cast also includes Ben Hardy, Kirsty Oswald, Alister Cameron and Tom Colley. Check out photos from opening night below!

Ann Wallenmeyer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Arizona Musicfest, today announced the appointment of Allan E. Naplan as Executive Director, effective February 1, 2013. Allan Naplan has enjoyed a twenty-year career as a performing artist, composer, educator and arts administrator. Most recently, he served as President and General Director of Minnesota Opera.

For the first time in the orchestra's history, Mercury will feature Grammy Award-winning soprano, Ana María Martínez, in its upcoming Valentine's Day program on February 14 & 15.