James Schuette News

Opera Theatre St. Louis has produced many wonderful productions, and a handful of simply perfect ones. Their production of 'Regina' is among the latter.

The Opéra de Montréal has an exciting 39th season planned for the 2018-2019 production year. The Place des Arts lineup includes classics like Rigoletto, Das Rheingold, Carmen and the anticipated Canadian premiere of the jazz-opera Champion. In addition to these four operas, a chamber opera called Twenty-Seven will be presented at the Centaur Theatre and a concert with soprano Joyce El-Khoury and Pianist Laurent Philippe will be held at the Festival du Monde Arabe.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2017 2018 season with the company premiere of Handel's magical Baroque opera Alcina - starring megawatt soprano Angela Meade in the title role - November 4 19, 2017, in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

The Pirates of Penzance--opera or operetta? The answer to that question seems important to some opera lovers who believe a 'serious' opera company doesn't do operettas. Too bad for them if their doubts made them miss out on San Diego Opera's hugely entertaining production. A nearly sold-out audience laughed frequently as Gilbert and Sullivan made fun of inept but kind-hearted pirates, cowardly policeman trying their best, and even Queen Victoria, who made a non-singing appearance with the signature rotation of the raised royal hand. While musicologists, historians and purists at home argued about the correct classification of the work, excellent operatic singers delivered clever lyrics and threw themselves into the light-heartedly silly plot.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2017 2018 season with the company premiere of Handel's magical Baroque opera Alcina - starring megawatt soprano Angela Meade in the title role - November 4 19, 2017, in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

What a show! Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened The Grapes of Wrath, a work by Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie. I have never in my life been more emotionally moved by an opera than by this glorious production.

Known for staging “the ultimate in intimate productions” (The New York Times), On Site Opera (OSO) presents the U.S. premiere and new site-specific production of Darius Milhaud's La mère coupable (The Guilty Mother). For the premiere, OSO partners with the Darius Milhaud Society and the award-winning International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). The site-specific production celebrates the 125th birthday of Milhaud and is dedicated to Katharine Warne, composer and founder of the Darius Milhaud Society. La mère coupable also marks the completion of OSO's three-year Figaro Project, in which the company is staging lesser-known operatic adaptations of French playwright Beaumarchais' (1732-1799) famed trilogy of Figaro plays.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City concludes its 59th season with Gilbert & Sullivan's delightful comic operetta The Pirates of Penzance  April 22, 26, 28, 29, and 30 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in English with English titles. High res production and artists' photos can be downloaded here .

Abingdon Theatre Company, under the artistic direction of Tony Speciale, presents the world premiere of CHESS MATCH NO. 5, conceived and directed by Anne Bogart, with text arranged by Jocelyn Clarke from the words of John Cage. Created by Siti Company, CHESS MATCH NO. 5 began previews March 9, and opened officially last night, March 19, in Abingdon's June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street).

Abingdon Theatre Company, under the Artistic Direction of Tony Speciale, offers talkbacks following performances of SITI Company's world premiere CHESS MATCH NO. 5 on March 21 and 22 at 7:00PM with co-stars Will Bond (Bob) and Ellen Lauren (Room); and on March 30 at 7:00PM and March 31 at 8:00PM with director Anne Bogart at Abingdon's June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street).

Abingdon Theatre Company, under the artistic direction of Tony Speciale, presents the world premiere of CHESS MATCH NO. 5, conceived and directed by Anne Bogart, with text arranged by Jocelyn Clarke from the words of John Cage. Created by SITI Company, CHESS MATCH NO. 5 began previews March 9, with an official press opening March 19, in Abingdon's June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street).

Abingdon Theatre Company, under the artistic direction of Tony Speciale, presents the world premiere of CHESS MATCH NO. 5, conceived and directed by Anne Bogart, with text arranged by Jocelyn Clarke from the words of John Cage.

Known for staging 'the ultimate in intimate productions' (The New York Times), On Site Opera (OSO) presents a trio of exciting new site-specific opera productions in 2017, beginning May 11-13 with Mozart's rarely-performed early opera The Secret Gardener (La finta giardiniera) at the West Side Community Garden.

In the video below, director Anne Bogart discusses the world premiere of CHESS MATCH NO. 5, a new play based on texts from the many public conversations with American composer, writer, artist and philosopher John Cage, beginning previews March 9 at Abingdon Theatre Company (312 West 36th Street, 1st Street)!

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2016-2017 season with the company premieres of two modern American masterworks of opera: Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's Dead Man Walking, February 25-March 11, 2017 in the Opera House, and Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer's Champion, March 4- 18, 2017 in the Opera House. Both operas explore the theme of social justice which is often associated with John F. Kennedy and are presented as part of JFKC, the Kennedy Center's season-long celebration of President Kennedy's centennial. Using many of the same designers and scenic elements, the directors of each opera have worked collaboratively to create two distinct worlds in each new production to showcase the issues of Justice, Courage, and Freedom at the heart of these two compelling stories. An additional special event will continue the exploration of these themes: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will headline Justice at the Opera on Thursday, March 9, 2017 in the Opera House.

Abingdon Theatre Company, under the artistic direction of Tony Speciale, presents the world premiere of CHESS MATCH NO. 5, conceived and directed by Anne Bogart, with text arranged by Jocelyn Clarke from the words of John Cage.

In the fall of 1987, Houston Grand Opera's world premiere of Nixon in China made political headlines and galvanized the opera world. Thirty years later, John Adams's trailblazing opera returns in a new-to-Houston production that sheds light on the electronic media's role in political history, just as a new media-savvy American president takes office.

MasterVoices raised over $200,000 at its 2016 Fall Galain support of its artistic and outreach programs on October 20. The event featured the New York premiere performance of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's opera 27 starring Metropolitan Opera mezzo Stephanie Blythe as Stein, Heidi Stober, Theo Lebow, Tobias Greenhalgh, and Daniel Brevik directed by James Robinson and conducted by MasterVoices' Artistic Director Ted Sperling with 150 singers of MasterVoices and Orchestra of St. Luke's. The evening featured Scenic Design by Allen Moyer, Costumes by James Schuette and Lighting by James. F. Ingalls.

In many ways, '27'--the 90-minute the chamber opera about Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas and their circle, composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a Royce Vavrek libretto--is an old-fashioned love story. It just happens to be about two women who entertained and collected (in all senses) some of the most important visual artists and writers of the first half of the century. And it happens to take place when Paris was still the hub of the artistic world and 27 rue de Fleurus, the women's home, was its epicenter.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season, beginning with the New York premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's 27, specially adapted for MasterVoices, on October 20 and 21, 2016 at 8pm at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, New York City.