Los Angeles Opera News

Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, presents an Opening Night Cabaret to kick of the Spring 2020 Season on Monday, January 6, 2020 at 7:30pm.  

'Tis the season for the popular Christmas-themed ballet THE NUTCRACKER to fill stages around the world offering families the chance to experience the emotionally engaging story of Clara and the dreamlike journey she takes to the Land of Sweets with the Nutcracker as her guide. During the December 7 and 8 weekend, The Soraya's resident dance company, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, perhaps best known for edgy programs featuring the most notable contemporary choreography, kicked off the troupe's fifth Soraya season at Cal State Northridge with something different: the most traditional of story ballets. With Tchaikovsky's original music, this storybook production, choreographed by ASFB executive director Jean-Phillippe Malaty and artistic director Tom Mossbrucker, set THE NUTCRACKER in the Victorian era, beginning with the resplendent holiday party and concluding with the fantastical scenes in the second act centered around a bright and colorful carousel.

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) has announced the recipient of the 2019-20 Cage Cunningham Fellow, lighting designer Jennifer Tipton. This is the fourth award of BAC's distinguished fellowship established in 2015 to support artists who embody John Cage and Merce Cunningham's commitment to artistic innovation.

San Diego Opera's 2019-2020 mainstage season continues with Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, which opens on Saturday, February 8, 2020 at the San Diego Civic Theatre for four performances.

The highly-anticipated return engagement of Sir Patrick Stewart's acclaimed oneman version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL to benefit City Harvest and Ars Nova will play for two nights only, December 11 and December 13, at Theater 511 (511 West 54th Street). Two tickets per benefit performance will now be offered for $25 to TodayTix Lottery winners.

What: Houston Grand Opera and world-renowned tenor Lawrence Brownlee bring together international stars J'Nai Bridges, Nicole Heaston, Reginald Smith Jr., Russell Thomas, Nicholas Newton and Kevin Miller (piano) for a one-night only concert event. 'Giving Voice: Lawrence Brownlee and Friends Sing Opera, Gospel, and Standards' was created to celebrate Houston's diverse community and showcases the power of voice and song. The intimate evening was the brainchild of Brownlee and Houston Grand Opera is proud to support this initiative. During the concert, audiences will be treated to a program that ranges from opera classics, to spirituals, gospel, and standards. All concert guests will be invited to mix and mingle with the artists following the performance.

Wagnerian vaudeville, parody pastiche, and Bayreuth burlesque await guests at DAS RHINESTONE, an evening of serious singing, sequins, and plenty of WTF operatic moments to get you in or distract you from the holiday spirit. Zachary James, appearing courtesy of The Metropolitan Opera, brings Wagner's diva daddy Wotan to glittering, semi-nude life at this one night only event on December 23 at New York's The Slipper Room (167 Orchard Street).

Works & Process at the Guggenheim  has announced its spring 2020 season. Since 1984, the performing arts series has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to leading creators. The intimate Frank Lloyd Wright­-designed Peter B. Lewis Theater is the venue for these seventy-minute programs that explorethe creative process through stimulating discussions and riveting performance highlights. One-of-a-kind productions created for the Guggenheim's rotunda offer a unique experience of the landmark museum. Additional information is available at worksandprocess.org.

DACAMERA's 2019a?"20 season continues with Mozart and Aucoin at Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The world-renowned Brentano Quartet returns to DACAMERA's stage for the premiere of a new work by composer Matthew Aucoin, for DACAMERA and Carnegie Hall. The ensemble will also perform Maurice Ravel's String Quartet in F Major and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quintet No. 2 in C Minor, K. 406/516.

On Saturday evening, November 16, 2019, Los Angeles Opera presented Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schickaneder's 1791 singspiel, The Magic Flute. The unusual production, which involved the appearance of screens reminiscent of 1920s silent films, was originally devised by Barry Kosky, Suzanne Andrade, and Paul Barritt for Berlin's Komische Oper. 

Shea's Performing Arts Center announced Six-Time Tony Award-Winning Broadway Star, Audra McDonald will be headlining Shea's Black-Tie Gala on Saturday, April 25, 2020!

San Diego Opera's 2019-2020 season continues with a special one-night-only event on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 7:30 PM when soprano Ailyn Pérez and tenor Joshua Guerrero perform in concert at the Balboa Theatre. They will be accompanied by pianist Abdiel Vázquez. Ailyn Pérez is no stranger to San Diego Opera, having made her Company debut as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in 2010, returning to sing Marguerite in Faust in 2011, and in recital in 2014. In demand at all the major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, and Opéra National de Paris, Ms. Pérez is the winner of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award, the 15th annual Plácido Domingo Award, and the 14th annual Opera News Award. 

Musical Theatre West celebrates the holiday season with the classic movie-turned- Broadway musical Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn December 6-15 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.  Tickets are on sale now at www.musical.org, by calling (562) 856-1999, or at the Musical Theatre West Box Office.  Tickets start at $20.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's classic THE MAGIC FLUTE opens this week at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Saturday November 16, 2019; under the baton of James Conlon (with Grant Gershon conducting on December 1, 12 and 15). This will be the third LA Opera mounting of 1927 and Barrie Kosky's avant-garde THE MAGIC FLUTE merging animation with live performance. I had the chance to present a few questions to Bodgan Volkov, who's making his Los Angeles Opera debut as Tamino, the prince and current bearer of the magic flute.

This Fall marks the culmination of the 36th season of the Verdi Chorus, who will present their Fall Concert, Sound and Fury, for two performances only at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica on November 16 and 17.  Led by Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, the Verdi Chorus is the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus. This program, which Ketchum says  includes a?oesome of the most powerful moments from some of the greatest operatic works,a?? will feature selections from two Verdi operas a?" Otello and Il trovatore; two Puccini operas a?" Turandot and Tosca; as well as sequences from Lehár's The Merry Widow.

DACAMERA's 2019a?"20 season continues with Mozart and Aucoin at Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The world-renowned Brentano Quartet returns to DACAMERA's stage for the premiere of a new work by composer Matthew Aucoin, for DACAMERA and Carnegie Hall. The ensemble will also perform Maurice Ravel's String Quartet in F Major and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quintet No. 2 in C Minor, K. 406/516.

On the evening of October 20, 2019, Los Angeles Opera presented a recital by Javier Camarena and pianist Ángel Rodríguez at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Camarena is the Mexican tenor who made news at the Metropolitan Opera when he and the orchestra under Fabio Luisi repeated their rendition of Don Ramiro's aria 'Si, ritrovarla io giuro' (a?oeYes,  I'll find her, I sweara??) from Rossini's La Cenerentola.

The Center for the Arts at George Mason University continues the 2019/20 season this November and December with an array of dance, theater, opera, and music from around the world through programs from Great Performances at Mason, the Family Series, as well as signature events from Mason's College of Visual and Performing Arts.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature Once On This Island, The Light in the Piazza, Sweeney Todd and more!

L.A. Opera presents The Light in the Piazza!Renée Fleming and Emmy winner Dove Cameron star as Margaret and Clara Johnson, two American tourists in Italy. Their grand vacation plans take an unexpected detour when young Clara is swept off her feet by a local charmer. Brian Stokes Mitchell plays the role of Signor Naccarelli, the debonair father of a wealthy Florentine family.