Michael Mitchell News

Brandon Phillips is a highly regarded and versatile conductor, sought after for symphony concerts by all South African orchestras, as well as for ballet, crossover and pop concerts, and now opera. Phillips will conduct selected performances of THE MAGIC FLUTE, which opens at the Artscape Theatre next week.

In the fictional NSW coastal town of Coriole, preparations are underway for the annual Australia Day celebrations and the organising committee are thrashing out the details amidst disagreements over politics, patriotism and progress.

Cape Town Opera is excited to announce the staging of its first Wagner opera in seventeen years since TANNHÄUSER in 2000. Director Matthew Wild's new production of DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER will unleash the ghosts of Dutch colonialism in the Mother City to thrilling effect.

The Apollo Theater today announced details of its upcoming 2017-2018 season. Marking the first full season with Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes at the helm of the legendary theater's artistic and community programs, it will encompass commissions, premieres, and collaborations with local, national, and international artists working across a range of disciplines and genres-from dance and theater to jazz, soul, and opera.

The Oakland University Chorale, under the direction of music professor Michael A. Mitchell, has been invited to join the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for a series of shows this weekend as the DSO presents 'A Night at the Academy Awards.'

The Oakland University Chorale, under the direction of music professor Michael A. Mitchell, has been invited to join the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for a series of shows this weekend as the DSO presents 'A Night at the Academy Awards.'

Cape Town Opera's 2017 season launches with an explosive meeting of South Africa's foremost young singers directed by a veteran theatrical innovator. It includes a major new international musical and brings acclaimed international singers to the stage for the third in the Naspers Grand Masters series.

Full of energy and fiery Spanish sensuality, Georges Bizet's CARMEN, one of the world's most popular operas, will return to the Artscape Opera House in a revival of Cape Town Opera's 2011 production.

'We do art because of what it does for us - how it transforms us,' actor Gregg Goodbrod states with quiet conviction. 'Being an actor helps me to understand other people and see their lives and my own from a different perspective. That's why doing a play like Ghost becomes a journey that really resonates for me.' Goodbrod is speaking about his emotionally and physically demanding role as Sam Wheat in the new chamber version of the original 1990 movie and 2011 stage musical, which is currently playing at Maine State Music Theatre. He uses an example of the scene in which Sam, now a ghost, watches his beloved Molly sort through his belongs. 'I am really very Method as an actor, so I try to get into it completely and feel the actual feelings. And as I am watching Liz [Shivener] play this scene, it suddenly hits me that all these things are not what are important. If I were go, I know it is the love that I would miss. That's why I am an actor - so I can take these journeys and learn new lessons.'

'We are all Irish. Everyone loves the free, spirited, easy come-easy go air of the Irish, and this show makes everyone want to be Irish all the time - not just on St. Patrick's Day.' There is a twinkle in his eye, as Maine State Music Theatre's Artistic Director, Curt Dale Clark, utters those words. Immediately his sentiments are seconded by the show's director/choreographer, Marc Robin, and Portland Stage's Artistic Director, Anita Stewart, all three of whom will be joining forces to create Frank McCourt's play with music, The Irish and How They Got That Way, from August 16- September 4, 2016, at Portland Stage.

For the last year and a half, San Francisco Bay Area woodwind expert Steven Lugerner has been digging into the music of jazz legend Jackie McLean with Jacknife, Lugerner's hard-hitting West Coast post-bop quintet. The group has completed work on an album, 'The Music of Jackie McLean,' slated for release today, April 22 by Primary Records, and will be touring the West Coast next month with special guest Larry Willis, the virtuoso pianist and former McLean sideman.

For the last year and a half, San Francisco Bay Area woodwind expert Steven Lugerner has been digging into the music of jazz legend Jackie McLean with Jacknife, Lugerner's hard-hitting West Coast post-bop quintet.

Although the production doesn't quite soar, LOST IN THE STARS is a welcome addition to the WNO season simply because it's not performed very frequently - at least in comparison to other more familiar works that transcend the opera-musical divide.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 60th anniversary season with the company premiere of Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson's LOST IN THE STARS, February 12-20 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 60th anniversary season with the company premiere of Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson's LOST IN THE STARS, February 12-20 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

Cape Town Opera hopes to provide a feast for opera lovers with its 2016 season, which was recently announced in the Mother City. The company's young international opera stars have joined forces with a new team of award-winning creative minds to make next year a memorable one for grand opera.

Cape Town Opera's FOUR:30, presented in collaboration with UCT Opera School, pairs up four notable South African composers with four acclaimed writers to create half hour works that are powerful and innovative, telling contemporary African stories in imaginative new ways.

Cape Town Opera's FOUR:30, presented in collaboration with UCT Opera School, pairs up four notable South African composers with four acclaimed writers to create half hour works that are powerful and innovative, telling contemporary African stories in imaginative new ways.

NASPERS and Cape Town Opera in collaboration with the UCT Opera School, proudly presents Donizetti's MARIA STUARDA at Artscape for two riveting performances on Saturday, 7th November and Sunday, 8th November 2015 at Artscape.

ROLEX presents Career Transition For Dancers' 30TH ANNIVERSARY PEARL JUBILEE: A STAR-STUDDED RETROSPECTIVE on Monday, September 28, at 7:00 pm in association with the Lloyd E. Rigler - Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation, at New York City Center, 131 West 55 Street (btwn. 6 & 7 Aves) NYC followed by 'Supper With The Stars' in the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton New York. Just announced, presenters for the Gala include: Michael Douglas, Cynthia Gregory, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Catherine Zeta-Jones!