Houston Grand Opera News

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) presents the world premiere of the musical Johnny Baseball by Richard Dresser, Robert Reale, and Willy Reale, directed by Diane Paulus. The production begins performances on May 16 and runs through June 27, 2010 at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge.

The Collegiate Chorale presents George F. Handel's Israel in Egypt on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 8pm at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University, 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South), NYC.

New Georges (Susan Bernfield, Artistic Director; Sarah Cameron Sunde, Associate Director), the OBIE Award-winning downtown theater company founded in 1992, and New Feet Productions will present the world premiere of Emily DeVoti's thought-provoking new play 'MILK,' directed by Jessica Bauman.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City closes the 2009-2010 season with Mozart's most famous opera, Don Giovanni, April 24, 28, 30 and May 2 at the Lyric Theatre. This production of Don Giovanni features an incredible cast of singers as well as an exceptional orchestra comprised of members of the Kansas City Symphony conducted by Lyric Opera Artistic Director Ward Holmquist.

Washington National Opera (WNO), under the leadership of General Director Plácido Domingo, presents Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) in nine performances, April 24 to May 7 at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

On April 30, The Dallas Opera presents the world premiere of Moby-Dick by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, based on Herman Melville's iconic American novel of 1851. Tenor Ben Heppner stars as Captain Ahab.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents BATTLE OF BLACK AND DOGS by Bernard-Marie Koltès, translated by Michaël Attias, and directed by Robert Woodruff, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, at York), April 16-May 8. Opening Night is Thursday, April 22.

Tony Award Winner, Emmy Award Winner and Oscar Nominee Laurence Fishburne transforms into Thurgood Marshall to tell the triumphant story of how a boy from the backstreets of Baltimore changed history. Written by George Stevens Jr and helmed by Leonard Foglia, Thurgood plays at the Geffen Playhouse from June 27 to August 8, 2010, with an opening night of July 7.

Re-affirming the role of New York City Opera as a leader in the development of American opera, the company's celebrated annual new music festival, the newly-renamed VOX Contemporary American Opera Lab will return. Now in its eleventh year, this showcase for new American operas offers both emerging and established composers and librettists the opportunity to hear their previously unproduced works performed by New York City Opera's soloists, orchestra and chorus in readings that are free and open to the public.

So far this season, Susan Graham has triumphed in Berlioz's Damnation de Faust at Lyric Opera of Chicago, in Strauss's Rosenkavalier at New York's Metropolitan Opera, in Mahler's Rückert-Lieder with the San Francisco Symphony, and in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas on a West Coast tour.

On Wednesday, April 21 at 8:00pm conductor Anne Manson will lead the Juilliard Orchestra and Vocal Artists in Francis Poulenc's highly emotive Dialogues of the Carmelites, the final production of The Juilliard Opera Center season, directed by Fabrizio Melano.

Out of 230 contestants and 15 finalists - more participants than in any previous year - seven outstanding singer-actors rose to the top to win prizes in the 2010 Lotte Lenya Competition, held on April 17 at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Winners were selected by a team of distinguished musical theater experts: Broadway and opera stars Timothy Nolen and Lisa Vroman, and Rob Berman, Broadway and Encores! music director, who served as judges for the competition finals.

The American Repertory Theater is pleased to announce the cast for Johnny Baseball, a world premiere musical about the Red Sox, with music by Robert Reale, lyrics by Willie Reale, book by Richard Dresser, story by Richard Dresser and Willie Reale, with musical direction and vocal arrangements by Wendy Bobbitt Cavett; musical arrangements by Bruce Coughlin.

Reprise Records will release The Original Broadway Cast Recording of American Idiot on April 20, 2010, the same day the show will open at the St. James Theatre in New York City. The official album features the 24-member cast accompanied by Green Day, marking another incredible collaboration between the band and the musical. Based on Green Day's chart-topping 2004 album American Idiot, the musical and the cast recording include every song from American Idiot, as well as several songs from the band's GRAMMY® Award-winning current album 21st Century Breakdown.

Positive Motions Foundation in association with the Glendale Philharmonic Association and Positive Motions Concert Series, Ruslan Biryukov, Producer and Artistic Director, will present 'FOR ALL OUR MOTHERS,' a concert in honor of Mother's Day, to be presented on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Glendale; 209 N. Louise Street (at Wilson Avenue); Glendale, CA 91206.

Timothy Nolen (Phantom, Cyrano), Lisa Vroman (Phantom, Les Misérables), and Rob Berman (Broadway, regional, and Encores! Music Director) have been named judges for the 2010 Lotte Lenya Competition, an annual international competition that recognizes talented young singer-actors, aged 19-32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire.

Patricia Racette will sing the title role in Puccini's Tosca on April 14, 17, 20, and 24 matinee, replacing Karita Mattila, who is ill. These will be Racette's first performances of Tosca at the Met, although she had already been invited to sing the role at the Met in a future season.

The American Repertory Theater is pleased to announce the cast for Johnny Baseball, a world premiere musical about the Red Sox, with music by Robert Reale, lyrics by Willie Reale, book by Richard Dresser, story by Richard Dresser and Willie Reale, with musical direction and vocal arrangements by Wendy Bobbitt Cavett; musical arrangements by Bruce Coughlin.

One man's obsession with a lucky card trick turns the fates of three in Tchaikovsky's vibrant melodrama. Russian tenor Vladimir Galouzine returns to HGO as the tormented Herman, internationally renowned soprano Tatiana Monogarova makes her HGO debut as his beloved Lisa, and Vasily Ladyuk is the dashing Prince Yeletsky.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents BATTLE OF BLACK AND DOGS by Bernard-Marie Koltès, translated by Michaël Attias, and directed by Robert Woodruff, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, at York), April 16-May 8. Opening Night is Thursday, April 22.