Houston Grand Opera News

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.

The Gershwins' beloved opera Porgy and Bess - recognized as an American masterpiece - plays the Aronoff Center's Procter & Gamble Hall on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 8:00 PM as part of the Cincinnati Arts Association's 2009-10 Season of Classic Nights Out.

Seven new productions, including two company premieres and the first two parts of a new Ring cycle, featuring many of the world's greatest singers and conductors, will highlight the Metropolitan Opera's 2010-11 season.

Famed director/producer Hal Prince will receive the annual award for achievement in the theater from the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, the New York Times is reporting. Executives of the Theatre Center announced Monday that Price will receive the award at a ceremony April 5th.

National Tour of PORGY AND BESS Plays Final Performance at Southern Theatre 2/21.

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 on Friday, April 30, and Saturday, May 1, to the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South) at New York University.

George Robert Merritt, Jr. of Hawthorne, N.J. passed into eternal life on Monday, February 15, 2010 at the age of 67. He leaves behind his devoted wife, Bobbie, of 18 years of marriage, his beloved step-daughter and son-in-law, Jodi and Andrew of NY, his pride and joy grandchildren, Joshua, Olivia and Paris, 5 loving God-children, Kristen, Natlalie, Ricki, Anna and Josiah, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was the son of Mary Hawes of Ct., the brother of Philip, Henry, Rachel, Natalea, Roderick, Ralph, Sue, Patti and Tom. He was pre-deceased by his brothers, Andy and Ken. A Celebration Service will be held on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 7:00 PM at: Calvary Baptist Church, 123 West 57th St., New York City, N.Y.

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of George Gershwin's enduring masterpiece, a new production of Porgy and Bess has been mounted-with full approval of the Gershwin estate-by veteran opera producer Michael Capasso (General Director of New York's vibrant Dicapo Opera). Featuring a stellar cast, live orchestra, and brand new sets, costumes, and lighting, this groundbreaking opera weaves a tale of prejudice, love, and tragedy. Incorporating a wealth of blues and jazz into the classical art of opera, Gershwin considered Porgy & Bess his finest work with songs such as 'Summertime' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So.' Columbus resident and OSU graduate Eric McKeever will be performing the role of Jake for the national tour which runs through June.

Harold Prince and Susan Stroman will direct an all-American cast including Kate Baldwin, John Cullum, Shuler Hensley, Judy Kaye and Mandy Patinkin, in the world premiere of Paradise Found at the Menier Chocolate Factory this spring.

The Opera Orchestra Of New York presents soprano Eglise Gutiérrez in recital on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at Merkin Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m. accompanied by pianist Danielle Orlando.

Variety reports this morning that A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC helmer, Trevor Nunn, is set to direct a revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's ASPECTS OF LOVE for London's Menier Chocolate Factory. Nunn directed the show's premiere in 1987, as well.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City will present Verdi's Rigoletto March 20, 24, 26, and 28, 2010.

Based on Carlyle Brown's own travels in West Africa, The Fula from America is the story of one African-American's search for an African identity.

WhatsOnStage.com is reporting Mandy Patinkin will star in the upcoming production of PARADISE FOUND, the new musical co-directed by theatre legends Susan Strohman and Hal Prince. The musical will play the Menier Chocolate Factory from May 19th through June 26th. The show is expected to move to New York sometime following the Chocolate Factory run.

The musical merger of soprano, Leslie Giammanco and pianist, Stephen Sulich, bring you two exciting concerts for voice and solo piano.

'It was early 1982 and I was a voice major at the Manhattan School of Music. Houston Grand Opera was mounting a revival of SHOW BOAT starring Donald O'Connor...'

California Stage of Sacramento will be presenting the Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill musical, The Threepenny Opera, begining February 5th. This classic show tells the story of what happens when the banks get richer and the poor get poorer. The musical incorporates the tale of the doomed love affair of Mac Heath, London's reining thief, and Polly Peachum, the deceptively sweet daughter of a successful businessman who specializes in human misery and controls the city's beggars. Based loosely on John Gay's much earlier Beggars' Opera, it is filled with betrayals, schemes, revenge, reversals of fortune, and Weill's famously dissonant score.

Houston Grand Opera General Director and CEO AnthonyFreud announced today the company's 2010-2011 season, which runs from October 22, 2010 toMay 10, 2011 with thirty performances of six operas.

The Sundance Institute has chosen 8 playwrights to take part in their annual Sundance Institute Playwrights Retreat, Variety is reporting. The retreat began Monday, February 1st, and the residency will last through February 19th. The residency will take place in Ucross, Wyoming.

The Opera Orchestra Of New York presents soprano Eglise Gutiérrez in recital on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at Merkin Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m. accompanied by pianist Danielle Orlando. The Vidda-Award winning soprano in her New York Recital Debut will perform a wide ranging program of songs and arias by Handel, Caccini, Paisiello, Thomas, Rachmaninoff, Lecuona and Gershwin.