Houston, December 17, 2013 – 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.”
Winter brings a trio of momentous house debuts for Richard Tucker Award-winner Stephen Costello. On the heels of headlining La bohème in his first appearances at Munich's Bavarian State Opera (Dec 15-23), he heads home to the States to make debuts at Houston Grand Opera, as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto (Jan 24–Feb 9), and the Washington National Opera, where he revisits Ishmael/Greenhorn, the role he originally created, in the East Coast premiere of Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick (Feb 22–March 8). The tenor will then remain in DC to reprise his star turn as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore (March 20-29). One of today's most compelling exponents of Donizetti's lovelorn peasant, Costello was the obvious choice to sing favorite Nemorino numbers at Lincoln Center's star-studded Richard Tucker Gala last month.
Winter brings a trio of momentous house debuts for Richard Tucker Award-winner Stephen Costello. On the heels of headlining La bohème in his first appearances at Munich's Bavarian State Opera (Dec 15-23), he heads home to the States to make debuts at Houston Grand Opera, as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto (Jan 24–Feb 9), and the Washington National Opera, where he revisits Ishmael/Greenhorn, the role he originally created, in the East Coast premiere of Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick (Feb 22–March 8). The tenor will then remain in DC to reprise his star turn as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore (March 20-29). One of today's most compelling exponents of Donizetti's lovelorn peasant, Costello was the obvious choice to sing favorite Nemorino numbers at Lincoln Center's star-studded Richard Tucker Gala last month.
On 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.
Composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer's award-winning opera Moby-Dick, will be broadcast on THIRTEEN's Great Performances tonight, November 1, 2013 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival.
The new Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is holding a Community Day celebration today, October 27, 2013 from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. to celebrate the delivery of the new venue to Beverly Hills and the greater Los Angeles community. The Wallis transforms the Beverly Hills city block, facing Santa Monica Boulevard, between Crescent and Canon Drives, into the first performing arts center to be built in Beverly Hills: a vibrant arts destination and a major cultural and education hub for audiences of every age, with two distinct, elegant buildings: the renovated historic 1934 Italianate-style Beverly Hills Post Office, now the Paula Kent Meehan Historic Building, and a new, contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater.
The new Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is holding a Community Day celebration on Sunday, October 27, 2013 from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. to celebrate the delivery of the new venue to Beverly Hills and the greater Los Angeles community. The Wallis transforms the Beverly Hills city block, facing Santa Monica Boulevard, between Crescent and Canon Drives, into the first performing arts center to be built in Beverly Hills: a vibrant arts destination and a major cultural and education hub for audiences of every age, with two distinct, elegant buildings: the renovated historic 1934 Italianate-style Beverly Hills Post Office, now the Paula Kent Meehan Historic Building, and a new, contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater.
On January 18, 2014, Houston Grand Opera (HGO) presents the American premiere of The Passenger (1968), a powerful Holocaust opera by exiled Polish-Jewish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg.
On January 18, 2014, Houston Grand Opera (HGO) presents the American premiere of The Passenger (1968), a powerful Holocaust opera by exiled Polish-Jewish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Based on a novel by Auschwitz survivor Zofia Posmysz, The Passenger was recognized as "a perfect masterpiece" by Shostakovich but was censored by the Soviet establishment and never performed in Weinberg's lifetime. It premiered at the 2010 Bregenz Festival, and its subsequent UK premiere at the English National Opera took place only thanks to award-winning British director David Pountney, whose staging inspired the Telegraph to write: "Risky though it may be to label a first production 'definitive,' it is hard to imagine it ever being done better." Now HGO brings the same production across the Atlantic, complete with mezzo-soprano Michelle Breedt, who "excelled" (New York Times) in the leading role at two European premieres. All five of The Passenger's first American performances (Jan 18-Feb 2) will be led byPatrick Summers, HGO's artistic and music director.
Subscription tickets for the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts 2013/2014 Inaugural Season go on sale on Tuesday, October 1 and are available by visiting www.thewallis.org.
Composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer's award-winning opera Moby-Dick, will be broadcast on THIRTEEN's Great Performances Friday, November 1, 2013 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival.
Yale Repertory Theatre has announced that Rene Augesen will play Blanche DuBois and Joe Manganiello will play Stanley Kowalski in its first-ever production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, the Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece by Tennessee Williams. Directed by Mark Rucker, the production, which will open Yale Rep's 2013-14 season, will play tonight, September 20-October 12, at the University Theatre (222 York Street).
Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) 2013–14 season includes the launch of the company's first Ring cycle, in a visionary and captivating production by the Catalan company La Fura dels Baus; the hotly anticipated American premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Holocaust opera The Passenger; the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's A Coffin in Egypt, based on the play of the same name by renowned Texas writer Horton Foote and starring iconic mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade; a new HGO production of Carmen from Broadway sensation Rob Ashford; revivals of Aida, Rigoletto, and Die Fledermaus; and, in tribute to the nation's homegrown musical theater tradition, Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music designed by fashion star Isaac Mizrahi. Through its HGOco S o n g o f H o u s t o n project—winner of the National MultiCultural Institute's Leading Lights Diversity Award—the company continues to celebrate Houston's cultural diversity with the world premieres of two new commissions exploring the city's Vietnamese and Indian communities as part of the East + West series.
Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) 2013-14 season includes the launch of the company's first Ring cycle, in a visionary and captivating production by the Catalan company La Fura dels Baus; the hotly anticipated American premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Holocaust opera The Passenger; the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's A Coffin in Egypt, based on the play of the same name by renowned Texas writer Horton Foote and starring iconic mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade; a new HGO production of Carmenfrom Broadway sensation Rob Ashford; revivals of Aida, Rigoletto, and Die Fledermaus; and, in tribute to the nation's homegrown musical theater tradition, Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music designed by fashion star Isaac Mizrahi. Through its HGOco Song of Houston project-winner of the National MultiCultural Institute's Leading Lights Diversity Award-the company continues to celebrate Houston's cultural diversity with the world premieres of two new commissions exploring the city's Vietnamese and Indian communities as part of the East + West series.
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announces its Inaugural Season beginning with performances by the Martha Graham Dance Company, which open the 500-seat Goldsmith Theater on November 8 and 9, 2013, followed by the play Parfumerie by Miklos Laszlo, adapted by Edward P. Dowdall and directed by Mark Brokaw, from November 26 to December 22, 2013. The romantic tale Parfumerie inspired the films The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Old Summertime, and Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail, as well as the Broadway musical She Loves Me. As a special program, an exhibition on perfume entitled Timeless Scents: 1370-2013, a history of iconic fragrances through the ages is being created especially for The Wallis by Chandler Burr, former New York Times scent critic.
YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) has announced that Rene Augesen will play Blanche DuBois and Joe Manganiello will play Stanley Kowalski in its first-ever production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, the Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece by Tennessee Williams. Directed by Mark Rucker, the production, which will open Yale Rep's 2013-14 season, will play September 20-October 12, at the University Theatre (222 York Street).
The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. The Jeff nominations are out, 'Big Fish' is open, 'Anything Goes' and 'Mormon' perform, plus Jessie Mueller's 'Carousel,' BoHo's 'Spider Woman, new season announcements and those two new Spanish opera productions!
Houston Grand Opera's 41st World Premiere Opera CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA/TO CROSS THE FACE OF THE MOON premiered in the Brown Theater at the Wortham Center on November 13, 2012. The performance played in front of 2,400 patrons, the largest-ever audience in the Brown Theater. Following that rousing premiere, CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA and its original cast opened the 2011 season at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The production ran for six performances. Upon arriving in Paris, 80% of the tickets were already sold, and word of mouth lead to complete sell outs for the final three performances. Last night, the gorgeous and stirring CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA opened in the Wortham Center's Brown Theater again, earning thunderous applause and sincere admiration from the audience.
Spring will bring a trio of striking productions to Houston Grand Opera, starting with the return-by-popular-demand of the world's first mariachi opera - Cruzar la Cara de la Luna ('To Cross the Face of the Moon'). Cruzar - an HGO commission that the company premiered to acclaim in 2010, with the Houston Chronicle calling it 'a multicultural winner' - will run today, March 22-24 at the Wortham Theater Center. Next up is HGO's new production of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (April 18-May 5), conducted by the company's music and artistic director, Patrick Summers, and starring two of today's greatest Wagnerian singers: soprano Nina Stemme as Isolde and tenor Ben Heppner as Tristan, both in their company debuts.
The 2013-2014 season of Washington National Opera (WNO) has just been announced by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello. The season includes Tristan and Isolde, a new production of The Force of Destiny, the East Coast premiere of Moby-Dick, The Elixir of Love, and a new production of The Magic Flute. WNO will also present the world premiere of The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me, a holiday-themed family opera commissioned by WNO and written by acclaimed American composer Jeanine Tesori. A second season of the American Opera Initiative will continue WNO's efforts to commission new American works.
