Kurt Weill News

The final evening of performances for the Mabel Mercer Foundation's 29th New York Cabaret Convention, held at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, was a showcase for many cabaret legends, bringing back glamour, sparkle, and class to the proceedings.

American Symphony Orchestra's 2018-19 season will open with A Walt Whitman Sampler on October 17 at Carnegie Hall, and has announced that rising American soprano Angel Blue will sing the New York premiere of Franz Schreker's Vom ewigen Leben (From Eternal Life). Dubbed by Placido Domingo as "the next Leontyne Price," the young opera singer and BBC Proms host/presenter will next appear in September at the Metropolitan Opera as Musetta in La Boheme, and in the Royal Opera's production of La Traviata as Violetta in January 2019. Edward Nelson is the guest soloist for the New York premiere of Kurt Weill's Four Walt Whitman Songs. Both vocalists will also perform in Ralph Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony.

Riverside Symphony opens its 38th season on Friday evening, November 16th at Alice Tully Hall. Music Director George Rothman will lead the orchestra in a boldly innovative program headlined by American composer Stephen Hartke's new piano concerto, Ship of State and featuring Xak Bjerken, the pianist for whom the piece was written. Franz Schreker, known mainly as an opera composer in a short but illustrious career derailed by rising anti-Semitism in early 1930s Germany, is enjoying something of a worldwide revival. His otherworldly, hyper-Romantic Chamber Symphony-which has attained an almost cult-like status- and Kurt Weill's universally adored Little Threepenny Music, complete the program.

New Repertory Theatre presents So Deep is the Night: An Evening of Song with Ute Gfrerer, a cabaret-style concert for one night only, Monday, October 29, 2018 at 7:30pm. Gfrerer will be accompanied by Asher Denburg (piano) and Caitlin Thomas (cello). The special event takes place on the mainstage at the Mosesian Center for the Arts located at 321 Arsenal Street in Watertown, MA. Tickets, on sale now, are $30-40 and may be purchased by calling 617-923-8487 or by visiting www.newrep.org. 

Named for the groundbreaking African American contralto, the Marian Anderson Vocal Award recognizes a young American singer in opera, oratorio, or recital repertoire with outstanding promise for a significant career. Washington National Opera (WNO) named bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the 2018 recipient earlier this year and is pleased to present him in concert today, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $39.

Independent Shakespeare Co.(ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival announce the world premiere of interdisciplinary artist Kalean Ung's original solo work, LETTERS FROM HOME, directed by Marina McClure, with music by Chinary Ung. LETTERS FROM HOME will play October 26 - November 18 at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #130 in Atwater Village.

 Ellen Berelson, Chair of Washington National Opera's (WNO) Board of Trustees, and Timothy O'Leary, WNO's new General Director, announce important updates to the company's leadership structure, laying the groundwork for a new era of bold artistic plans and service to the Washington community. WNO has renewed the engagement of Francesca Zambello as Artistic Director for three years, following a unanimous vote by the WNO Board of Trustees to extend her contract. Also announced is the appointment of American conductor Evan Rogister as Principal Conductor through the 2021-2022 season. Additionally, O'Leary and Zambello have completed the formation of WNO's new management team through key hires for top administrative posts.

Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin is pleased to announce that the musical ROOMS a rock romance with book by Paul Scott Goodman and Miriam Gordon, music and lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman, and directed by MetroStage Artistic Associate Thomas W. Jones II will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a new production at MetroStage, running Oct 11-Nov 11.

“La idea central del proyecto es acercar al público a la música vocal en México. Se trata de una oferta cultural accesible para cualquier persona, incluso en términos económicos”, comenta el tenor Gustavo Cuautli, quien forma parte del colectivo Alandár Ópera.

American Symphony Orchestra's 2018-19 season will open with A Walt Whitman Sampler on October 17 at Carnegie Hall, and has announced that rising American soprano Angel Blue will sing the New York premiere of Franz Schreker's Vom ewigen Leben (From Eternal Life).

This October, Artistic Director and Conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) return to Carnegie Hall with two all-Berlioz concerts in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. On Sunday, October 14 at 3:00 p.m., the program features the overture to Le Corsaire; La mort de Cleopatre and selections from Les Troyens, Part II, Op. 5, with mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot as soloist; and Harold in Italy, Op. 16, with violist Antoine Tamestit as soloist.

'Urinetown, The Musical' is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides he's had enough, and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom!

This October, Artistic Director and Conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) return to Carnegie Hall with two all-Berlioz concerts in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. On Sunday, October 14 at 3:00 p.m., the program features the overture to Le Corsaire; La mort de Cléopâtre and selections from Les Troyens, Part II, Op. 5, with mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardotas soloist; and Harold in Italy, Op. 16, with violist Antoine Tamestit as soloist.

Named for the groundbreaking African American contralto, the Marian Anderson Vocal Award recognizes a young American singer in opera, oratorio, or recital repertoire with outstanding promise for a significant career. Washington National Opera (WNO) named bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the 2018 recipient earlier this year and is pleased to present him in concert on Thursday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $39.

Theatre historian Ethan Mordden pulls back the curtain on his career to discuss how he fell in love with musical theatre, what musicals are deserving of a second look, and why Bob Fosse is the most iconic choreographer in musical theatre history.

Riverside Symphony will launch a new season of premieres, rarities, and beloved classics at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on Friday evening, November 16. Under the baton of founding Music Director, George Rothman, the orchestra's 2018-19 New York season will commence with a chamber orchestra program featuring the New York premiere of Stephen Hartke's Ship of State with pianist Xak Bjerken in his New York concerto debut. Hartke has been a mainstay of Riverside Symphony's contemporary programming over the years, a relationship memorialized in the orchestra's critically acclaimed recording of this distinguished American composer's Symphony No. 2 and Violin Concerto, "Auld Swaara." Franz Schreker's stunning Chamber Symphony-rarely performed despite its almost cult-like following-and Weill's Little Threepenny Music complete the program.

Ted Sperling, Artistic Director of MasterVoices, announced details of the acclaimed ensemble's 77th season, celebrating the power of the human voice to unite, inspire and connect since 1941. The upcoming season will be framed by two major musical events, the New York premiere of a multi-media version of Handel's oratorioIsrael in Egypt performed at Carnegie Hall, and a new adaptation of the Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin-Moss Hart avant-garde musical, Lady in the Dark, starring Victoria Clark at New York City Center. Lady in the Dark has not been seen in New York since it was presented at New York City Center in 1994 as part of the inaugural Encores! season.

Honoring the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and the beginning of the Weimar Republic (1918-2018)   International chanteuse Adrienne Haan will be featured in a Joseph Barry Production, Voluptuous Weimar-A Tribute to Berlin's Golden Age.  Haan's performance celebrates the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and the beginning of the Weimar Republic with musical selections that characterize Berlin during the 1920's and early 30's as a time of change.  The program under the musical direction of  pianist Richard Danley includes Spoliansky's, It's All a Swindle, Hollaender's Falling in Love Again, Berlin's Puttin' on the Ritz and Porter's Night and Day. Ms. Haan will perform with the Grammy-award winning 1920's Big Band, Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks. 

He has kept audiences in stitches for over forty years and today its Rob and Kevin's turn as Emmy Award winner Bruce Vilanch, the man behind the quips heard at the Tonys, Oscars, and Emmys swings by Shetler Studios to discuss his career as a writer, actor, and activist!

Broadway and television star Bebe Neuwirth is set to open Kean Stage's 2018/19 season with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 15, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 16, at Enlow Recital Hall.