Legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade has performed many of opera's greatest roles in her storied career that began in 1970. In June, she makes her Opera Philadelphia debut in an incredible new role written just for her, in the East Coast Premiere of A Coffin in Egypt by composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist/director Leonard Foglia.
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents the West Coast premiere of A Coffin in Egypt, a new chamber opera in one act, based on the play, A Coffin in Egypt by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote, for three performances only, from April 23, 25 and 27 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater. A Coffin in Egypt stars mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, one of opera's most beloved figures, whose formidable bravura has won her wide acclaim. Ricky Ian Gordon, the composer, has also composed The Grapes of Wrath, Rappahannock County, and Orpheus and Euridice. Leonard Foglia, librettist and director, directed Master Class on Broadway and Jake Heggie's opera Last Acts. Check out a look back at opening night and the after party at Flemings Steakhouse below!
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents the West Coast premiere of A Coffin in Egypt, a new chamber opera in one act, based on the play, A Coffin in Egypt by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote, for three performances only tonight, April 23 and April 25 and 27 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater.
The Dallas Opera tonight capped a phenomenally successful season with the announcement that the original Leonard Foglia production of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer's powerful twenty-first century masterpiece, MOBY-DICK, will be returning to the site of its triumphant 2010 world premiere. This limited engagement will begin onFriday, November 4, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents the West Coast premiere of A Coffin in Egypt, a new chamber opera in one act, based on the play, A Coffin in Egypt by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote, for three performances only April 23, 25 and 27 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater. A Coffin in Egypt stars mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, one of opera's most beloved figures, whose formidable bravura has won her wide acclaim. Ricky Ian Gordon, the composer, has also composed The Grapes of Wrath, Rappahannock County, and Orpheus and Euridice. Leonard Foglia, librettist and director, directed Master Class on Broadway and Jake Heggie's Opera Last Acts.
The award-winning Vital Theatre Company's World Premiere of PEACE, LOVE, AND CUPCAKES THE MUSICAL with Book, Music and Lyrics by Rick Hip-Flores, directed by Jennifer Curfman and based on the popular chapter book, PEACE, LOVE, AND CUPCAKES: THE CUPCAKE CLUB written by Sheryl Berk and her 11-year-old daughter Carrie Berk. continues through April 26th, 2014. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
Houston Grand Opera is presenting the World Premiere of A COFFIN IN EGYPT, a one-act chamber opera based on Horton Foote's play by the same title. Known for crafting touching sentimentality and riveting drama, Horton Foote's legacy is sure to be celebrated for centuries to come. However, this operatic adaptation of A COFFIN IN EGYPT browbeats audiences with nostalgic sentimentality and rarely moves us to feel anything.
The new year has already brought notable success for Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where the hotly anticipated American premiere of the long-lost Holocaust opera The Passenger-hailed by the Associated Press as 'the latest coup for a company known for producing new works'-took the national and local press by storm, and where the company's Rigoletto revival was pronounced 'glorious' (Theater Jones). These accolades come at an exciting time for the company, which continues this season's extraordinary line-up with the launch of the first American presentation of a visionary and groundbreaking treatment of Das Rheingold by La Fura dels Baus; the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's A Coffin in Egypt, named one of the twelve 'must-see opera events of the season' (Opera News); a new HGO production of Carmen from Broadway sensation Rob Ashford; and Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, which boasts designs by fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi.
The critical response to Houston's American premiere production of The Passenger was overwhelming. Classical Voice America proclaimed the opera “a masterpiece,” and the Chicago Tribune found it an “engrossing, thought-provoking experience” that “deserves [a place] in the regular repertory.” Houston's production impressed the Houston Chronicle as one “that unites commanding performances and vivid, fast-paced staging,” while the Wall Street Journalcommended the way “conductor Patrick Summers shaped the evening with enormous care.” As for the performers, “top to bottom, the cast is excellent,” asserted the Dallas Morning News. Melody Moore “gave Marta's anguish lyricism and strength” (Wall Street Journal), “Michelle Breedt's instrument seemed ideally suited to the role of Liese” (Classical Voice America), and “Kelly Kaduce was mesmerizing” as Katya (Wall Street Journal). The Toronto Star concluded:
Much like the ocean waters in which the show's title character resides, Washington National Opera's production of Moby-Dick is a bit choppy at times but is nevertheless an imaginative and soaring production. Transferring Herman Melville's 1851 novel into an opera is not an enviable task by any means. Yet, by reframing the story and having it be told in an active voice, rather than the novel's narrative tone, composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer have created a solid work, complete with a gorgeous score, stunning vocals and an eye catching visual design.
Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with the east coast premiere of the new American opera Moby-Dick, today, February 22 to March 8 in the Kennedy Center Opera House.
The new year has already brought notable success for Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where the hotly anticipated American premiere of the long-lost Holocaust opera The Passenger-hailed by the Associated Press as 'the latest coup for a company known for producing new works'-took the national and local press by storm, and where the company's Rigoletto revival was pronounced 'glorious' (Theater Jones). These accolades come at an exciting time for the company, which continues this season's extraordinary line-up with the launch of the first American presentation of a visionary and groundbreaking treatment of Das Rheingold by La Fura dels Baus; the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's A Coffin in Egypt, named one of the twelve 'must-see opera events of the season' (Opera News); a new HGO production of Carmen from Broadway sensation Rob Ashford; and Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, which boasts designs by fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi.
David B. Devan, General Director and President of Opera Philadelphia, today announced the commissioning of a new opera based on the life of legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker (1920-1955), one of the most influential soloists in the history of jazz and a central figure in the development of bebop. American tenor Lawrence Brownlee will star as Parker in a work written for him by composer Daniel Schnyder, with a libretto by poet and playwright Bridgette A. Wimberly. Soprano Angela Brownwill costar as Charlie's mother, Addie Parker. The opera is being developed in partnership with Gotham Chamber Opera.
Tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 21, the University of Chicago and the Harris Theater for Music and Dance will present On Grace, a work-in-progress staged performance conceived and created by renowned actress/playwright Anna Deavere Smith, in collaboration with cellist Joshua Roman. The performance will be directed by Leonard Foglia. The event is the culmination of Smith's 2014 Presidential Arts Fellowship at UChicago and the first formal collaborative arts partnership between UChicago and Harris Theater.
The award-winning Vital Theatre Company has announce the World Premiere of PEACE, LOVE, AND CUPCAKES THE MUSICAL with Book, Music and Lyrics by Rick Hip-Flores, directed by Jennifer Curfman and based on the popular chapter book, PEACE, LOVE, AND CUPCAKES: THE CUPCAKE CLUB written by Sheryl Berk and her 11-year-old daughter Carrie Berk. The production opens at Vital Theatre on 76th Street on Saturday, March 15th at 7:00 pm. Performances continue Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 pm through April 27th, 2014. All tickets are $30.00. For tickets and information, please visit vitaltheatre.org, peaceloveandcupcakesthemusical.com or call (212) 579-0528. Vital Theatre is located at 2162 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY (at West 76th Street and Broadway) on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Today in 1931, Broadway veteran James Earl Jones was born. He has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences. He has acted in many Shakespearean roles: Othello, King Lear, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Abhorson in Measure for Measure, and Claudius in Hamlet. On April 7, 2005, James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams headed the cast in an African-American Broadway revival version of On Golden Pond, directed by Leonard Foglia and produced by Jeffrey Finn. In February 2008, he starred on Broadway as Big Daddy in a limited-run, all-African-American production of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen and mounted at the Broadhurst Theatre. In October 2010, Jones returned to the Broadway stage in Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy along with Vanessa Redgrave at the Golden Theatre. In November 2011, Jones starred in Driving Miss Daisy in London's West End, and on November 12 Jones received his honorary Oscar in front of the audience at the Wyndham's Theatre, which was presented to him by Ben Kingsley.
The University of Chicago and the Harris Theater for Music and Dance will present next month On Grace, a work-in-progress staged performance conceived and created by renowned actress/playwright Anna Deavere Smith in collaboration with cellist Joshua Roman. Leonard Foglia will direct the performance on Jan. 21, 2014. The event is the culmination of Smith's 2014 Presidential Arts Fellowship at UChicago and the first formal collaborative arts partnership between UChicago and Harris Theater.
Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with the east coast premiere of the new American opera Moby-Dick, February 22 to March 8 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Written by composer Jake Heggie and featuring an English- language libretto by Gene Scheer based on Herman Melville's 19th-century literary classic, Moby-Dick sweeps audiences straight out to the high seas with its massive nautical sets and dazzling multimedia visual effects, in what is perhaps the most technically challenging opera WNO has ever mounted. Renowned American director Leonard Foglia leads a talented all- American cast in performances conducted by Evan Rogister, a dynamic young American maestro making his WNO debut.
Wow, is 2013 almost over already? Looking back over these last 365 days, we can't help but bubble over with joy when we reflect on Houston's ever-growing, diverse, and expansive theatre scene. Living in the fourth largest city in the United States and being involved in the second largest theatre district guarantees us, the denizens of Houston, and visitors of the city access to some of the absolute best theatre that this nation has to offer.
The opening months of 2014 bring into focus the strengths of Houston Grand Opera (HGO), which launches the new year with an extraordinary line-up. This comprises the world premieres of three important new commissions -Ricky Ian Gordon's A Coffin in Egypt, named one of the twelve "must-see opera events of the season" (Opera News), and two works exploring Houston's Vietnamese and Indian communities, courtesy of HGO's award-winning Song of Houston project; the hotly anticipated American premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's long-suppressed Holocaust opera, The Passenger, in the production that took Europe by storm; the first American presentation of a visionary and groundbreaking treatment of Das Rheingold by Catalan's La Fura dels Baus; a new HGO production of Carmen from Broadway sensation Rob Ashford; a revival of Rigoletto; and a restaged production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, which boasts designs by fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi. As the Houston Press recently noted, "Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers is thinking bigger than ever."
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