New York City Opera News

Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in classical music, he has won Oscar, Golden Globe and World Soundtrack Awards

Generations around the world have grown up with Fiddler on the Roof and such unforgettable, iconic songs as "If I Were a Rich Man" and "Sunrise, Sunset." But getting to the "final Fiddler" was a fascinating process, and on May 30, 31 and June 1-closing the 2015 Lyrics & Lyricists season-lyricist Sheldon Harnick takes us inside the creation and history of this cultural landmark.

As part of its spring 2015 Performing Arts Season and ongoing Society-wide series Stories from the War, marking the 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII, Japan Society presents a rare double bill noh program, New and Traditional Noh, offering Holy Mother in Nagasaki written in 2005 and Kiyotsune written in the medieval period.

The Downtown Urban Theater Festival (Reg E. Gaines, Artistic Director) will present its 13th annual season in New York City today, May 13th - 30th, 2015.

The Muny announced today its complete cast for Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine's (book) Into The Woods, playing July 21-27. The production will be directed by Gary Griffin, choreographed by Chris Bailey and music directed by Brad Haak.

Orange County, Calif.-May 11, 2015-One of America's most versatile and prolific living composers, Andre Previn, joins Pacific Symphony as the honored guest and focus of the 15th American Composers Festival (ACF). Previn, who has been called one of America's least easily categorized musicians, began his remarkable career as a Hollywood "wunderkind" and a best-selling jazz pianist. Now 86, Previn has received four Academy Awards for his work in film, 10 Grammy Awards for his recordings (plus one more for his Lifetime Achievement), and he is also an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He's held a series of major conducting posts, including the L.A. Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, but now exclusively composes. The concert is led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, whose great admiration for the legend shaped this year's ACF to reveal the scope of Previn's prowess as a composer. 

Murder, musical mayhem and a madcap mystery will be on stage when Philadelphia Theatre Company presents the killer musical MURDER FOR TWO, running June 6-28 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets).  With book and music by Joe Kinosian, book and lyrics by Kellen Blair, and direction by Scott Schwartz, the hilarious whodunit features a two-man cast, with one actor investigating the crime and the other playing all the suspects -- and both playing the piano. 

The Old Globe presents George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man, helmed by celebrated director Jessica Stone, who recently made her Globe debut with Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

Pittsburgh CLO's production of MAN OF LA MANCHA will feature performances from Broadway's very best including Tony Award-nominee Ron Raines as Cervantes/Don Quixote, Greg Hildreth as Sancho and Jackie Burns as Aldonza.

Now it its 19th season, Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF) continues its bold new approach in presenting music that is elevating, entertaining and transforming. Opera In Paradise (July 15-26), one of four 'mini' festivals taking place during the Festival, is no exception, as some of the biggest names on the opera world, along with top-tier emerging talent through CBMF's acclaimed training program, the Crested Butte Opera Studio, join the Festival for a six-week residency.

From May 28 - June 7, 2015 Houston Ballet offers up a mixed repertory program titled Morris, Welch & Kylian featuring three of today's most dynamic and musical choreographers. A world premiere of The Letter V by acclaimed American choreographer Mark Morris, the world premiere of Stanton Welch's Zodiac and the revival of Ji?i Kylian's iconic Svadebka make this program a must-see for all ballet lovers. Zodiac is made possible through the generosity of Leticia Loya. Houston Ballet will give six performances of Morris, Welch & Kylian at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston.  Tickets start at $20, and may be purchased at www.houstonballet.org, or by calling 713 227 2787. 

The Muny announced today several principal cast members for the seven shows in its spectacular 97th season, which opens on June 15 with My Fair Lady. Full casts and companies will be announced throughout May.

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, New York Live Arts' Resident Dance Company, today announced the launch of a new partnership with Loyola Marymount University (LMU). The partnership with the Los Angeles based university marks the first of its kind, adding to the Company's existing collegiate education programs. Spanning a total of four years, the partnership will bring the Company's works and their pedagogical and performative philosophy to LMU's campus and the Los Angeles area.

From simple beauty to dazzling grandeur, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor" requires extreme virtuosity from its soloist, making it an ideal centerpiece for Pacific Symphony's upcoming concert, "Beethoven's 'Emperor.'" Pianist Barry Douglas, gold medal winner at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, travels from Ireland to tackle this famous concerto under the direction of Grammy-winning guest conductor John Nelson. Nelson, a Costa Rican native, also leads the orchestra in a performance of Schumann's alternately broody and ebullient Symphony No. 2 in C Major, which was premiered in October 1846 under the direction of another well-known composer, Felix Mendelssohn. The Symphony opens the concert with Carl Maria von Weber's imaginative Overture to "Oberon," an opera of magic and elves.

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music has announced the winners of its two major composition prizes scheduled for world premieres during the 2015-16 season. First-year graduate student Michael Kropf '16 won the Highsmith Award, SFCM's top composition prize for a current student or recent graduate, for his orchestral piece High Spirits. Eric Choate '14 was named the competition's first-ever runner-up for his work Sonora. Conductor Scott Sandmeier leads a reading of both works on May 6 and the Conservatory Orchestra will premiere High Spirits next season. Alumnus Jeffrey Parola '05, recipient of the Conservatory's prestigious Hoefer Prize, receives a $15,000 commission and holds a week-long teaching residency next season, culminating in a premiere performance and recording of his work. SFCM also announced alumnus Ilya Demutsky '09 as the Hoefer Prize winner for 2016-17.

Theater 2020, Brooklyn Heights' professional theater company is pleased to announce a modern reality flavor setting of William Shakespeare's  "The Merry Wives of Windsor" starring David Fuller, and running 12 performances in Brooklyn Heights, Friday, May 22nd through Sunday, June 14th, 2015. Press is invited beginning Saturday, May 23rd.

The Downtown Urban Theater Festival (Reg E. Gaines, Artistic Director) will present its 13th annual season in New York City from May 13th - 30th, 2015. 

John King's residency at The Stone is an immersion into works from the past 20 years from his catalogue, including 7 world premieres performed by FLUX and Secret Quartets, TILT Brass, String Noise, Jenny Lin, Jeanann Dara and Carol To.

Stephanie Blythe--who's at the Met these days singing Baba the Turk in Stravinsky's THE RAKE'S PROGRESS--“abhors labels.” That's why, despite a cavernous voice that has become even deeper with age and could easily be termed mezzo or contralto, she tells me to call her “a girl singer.”

North Carolina Theatre, the region's premiere nonprofit professional regional theatre producing professional Broadway musical revivals, presents Next to Normal, playing tonight, May 1 to May 10, 2015 at A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!