Houston Grand Opera News

In support of their continued commitment to new play development through their Foundry Stage Series, First Stage, one of the nation's leading theaters for young people and families, is proud to announce their Playwrights-in-Residence: Alice Austen, James DeVita, John Maclay and Alvaro Saar Rios.

Boundless Theatre Company will present a production of Migdalia Cruz's Fur, directed by Elena Araoz. The production will run from November 1st to November 24th as part of the Next Door Series at NYTW, located at 83 East 4th Street.

Que venga el público a ver esta ópera que rompe muchos paradigmas y se disfruta enormemente, dijo el tenor mexicano Alan Pingarrón sobre la obra Salsipuedes, de Daniel Catán, en la que se abordan muchos temas de actualidad y hay una gran identificación con los personajes, que reflejan nuestro ser como mexicanos y latinoamericanos.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop) has announced that it will produce Intimate Apparel, a new opera with music by Ricky Ian Gordon and a libretto by Lynn Nottage, based on her critically acclaimed play.  The production, which will be directed by Bartlett Sher, will begin previews Thursday, February 27 and open on Monday, March 23 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street). 

The National Puerto Rican Day Parade (NPRDP) Board of Directors announced additional themes and tributes that will make up its 2019 celebration.  Under the theme, "One People, Many Voices," the Parade will continue celebrating the best of Puerto Rican culture and history, paying tribute to key historical figures and raising awareness on issues of importance in the community.  The Parade also announced several distinguished Puerto Ricans that will round out its roster of honorees to march up Fifth Avenue on June 9.  

Folks Operetta continues its Reclaimed Voices Series with Paul Ábraham's exotic jazz operetta, The Flower of Hawaii featuring soprano and former Ms. Illinois Marisa Bucheit (2014) as Princess Laya/Suzanne. 

San Francisco Opera presents Anton n Dvo k's Rusalka at the War Memorial Opera House, June 16 28, in David McVicar's thoughtfully conceived and brilliantly executed (Chicago Tribune) production. The Czech fairy tale opera features a cast headed by Rachel Willis-S rensen in her role debut as Rusalka, Brandon Jovanovich as the Prince, Jamie Barton as Je ibaba, bass Kristinn Sigmundsson as Vodn k and Sarah Cambidge as the Foreign Princess. South Korean maestra and Houston Grand Opera Principal Guest Conductor Eun Sun Kim leads the cast and San Francisco Opera Orchestra in her first Company engagement. Chorus Director Ian Robertson prepares the chorus.

On June 7 at 8pm, June 8 at 6pm, and June 9 at 3pm, Utopia Opera presents the New York Premiere of SOME LIGHT EMERGES, a chamber opera by Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell, & Kimberly Reed, in a fully-staged production performed with its original orchestration at the Ida K. Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College (695 Park Avenue). Drama Desk Award-nominee David Schweizer directs and Utopia founder and artistic director William Remmers conducts. Q&A sessions with Laura Kaminsky, Kimberly Reed, and members of the cast and crew follow each performance.

Lyric's new grand-scale coproduction of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece West Side Story opens tonight and features Broadway star Corey Cott as Tony and rising star Mikaela Bennett as Maria. Additional lead casting includes Brett Thiele (Riff),Amanda Castro (Anita), Manuel Stark Santos (Bernardo), and Adam Soniak (Action). Performances run through June 2, 2019 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago. Tickets are on sale now starting at $29 and can be purchased at lyricopera.org/wss or by calling 312-827-5600.

In celebration of four-time Tony Award winner Terrence McNally's 80th birthday, producers Hunter Arnold, Debbie Bisno and Tom Kirdahy announce a new Broadway production of Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, starring Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Audra McDonald and two-time Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon, directed by Obie Award winner Arin Arbus.

Washington Nation Opera closes out the 2018-2019 season with a sampling of famous works from three of opera's most iconic comedies. The rising stars of Washington National Opera's training program, the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists,  command the stage in a program entirely their own. Comedy and chaos ensue as the Young Artists perform a program of beloved comic scenes from three classic operas: Rossini's La Cenerentola, Strauss's Die Fledermaus, and Verdi's Falstaff. Falstaff, Verdi's final opera, is one of three operas he based on Shakespeare's work, the other two being Macbeth and Otello. WNO performs Otello this fall to open the 2019-2020 season. Joseph Colaneri conducts the WNO Orchestra for this program and David Paul directs.

Acclaimed Broadway performer Corey Cott and rising star Mikaela Bennett will headline Lyric Opera of Chicago's premiere of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's groundbreaking American musical West Side Story, presented from May 3 - June 2, 2019 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago (press opening May 4, 2019).

The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) will honor the Vice Chair of its board, Anh-Tuyet Nguyen, and the Australian Consulate General – New York at its 2019 Spring Gala on Wednesday, May 8.

Imagine getting ready for an evening at the theatre - most of us are excited and eager, anticipating an entertaining evening of dinner or maybe drinks with friends, then the thrill of the curtain rising. Now imagine you are a member of the population whose mode of transportation is a wheelchair or walker, or someone whose hearing or vision loss prevents the sights and sounds of the stage from being clear. Suddenly an evening out becomes a minefield of obstacles that can hinder or even prevent full enjoyment. That sense of excitement becomes anxiety. Logistics such as parking and stairs that most take for granted can easily become a barrier to an evening of music, theatre or dance.

Bridesmaids: A Dance Narrative is set to premiere this August in NY. Directed/Choreographed by Steven Paul Blandino, this production will follow the lives of five Bridesmaids, a Bride, a Groom, as well as an Ensemble on a journey of love, jealousy, and everything in between. Bridesmaids: A Dance Narrative will try out a NY Premiere performance at Dixon Place, additional details to follow.

The Solti Foundation released its 2019 Career Assistance Awards today, raising the number of Career Assistance Awards the organization has granted since turning its focus to exclusively assisting young American conductors in 2004 to 78. Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of The Solti Foundation U.S. and Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair, announced the names of the ten recipients of the 2019 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Awards. The young conductors work throughout the United States, and abroad, and hold posts in California, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Utah,Washington, Wyoming, and abroad in Brazil and Canada.

The Kansas City Chamber Orchestra is pleased to announce that acclaimed Kansas City conductor, Ward Holmquist, will guest conduct their upcoming concert.

The San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS) brings its 2018-19 concert season to a close next month with a special concert by acclaimed countertenor Iestyn Davies joined by the brilliant young lutenist Thomas Dunford, dubbed the Eric Clapton of the lute (BBC Music Magazine). Together they will perform songs by Dowland, Purcell and Handel. This concert will take place at 4 p.m., Sunday, May 19, at First Congregational Church in Berkeley. Individual tickets, $15 to $56, are available for purchase online at sfems.org.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion of American opera, is pleased to announce the recipients of the third cycle of Innovation Grants, generously funded by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation.

The Brotherhood/Sister Sol (Bro/Sis) -- Harlem's nationally acclaimed social justice, youth development, and education organization -- will honor legendary dance choreographer Bill T. Jones, civil rights litigator Debo Adegbile, and TV producer and Black Girls Rock! founder Beverly Bond at its 15th Annual VOICES Gala in New York City on May 21 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, it announced today. The annual charity gala, which raises critical funds for Bro/Sis' life-changing education programs and support services, will be hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist and ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts.