On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees.
Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.'
Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.
Cinematic Opera/Operatic Cinema: Reflections on the Merging of Media, a collaboration between New York City Opera and the Film Society of Lincoln Center that is part of City Opera's Opera Matters program, will be concluded on January 25th with screening of Moses and Aaron.
Bristol Riverside Theatre presents the World Premiere of What You Will, a BRT original interpretation of Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night from February 10 through March 1, 2009. A daring and bold take on the classic comedy that combines the language of Shakespeare with contemporary rhythms and movement, What You Will is conceived and co-directed by BRT Artistic Director Keith Baker and Donald Byrd, acclaimed choreographer of Broadway's The Color Purple and Artistic Director of Seattle's Spectrum Dance Theater. Music direction and original music by hip hop producer Justin Ellington completes the marriage of text, high-energy movement and heart-pounding music.
What You Will begins previews February 10, opens February 12, and closes March 1, 2009. Tickets are $29 - $37, with $10 student tickets, and are available by calling the Box Office at (215) 785-0100 or visiting the theatre at 120 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, with information online at www.brtstage.org. [A full performance schedule follows on page 4.]
In this new interpretation, Shakespeare's original text is heard with a distinctively contemporary American voice as the worlds of modern urban and classical theatre are fused. In What You Will (Shakespeare's full title for the play was Twelfth Night, Or What You Will), the social center of Illyria is Club 12th Night - a place where pranks and disguises, playful games and folly rule. A shipwrecked woman stumbles into the club, beginning a chain of events leading to an astonishing conclusion. Mistaken identities, intrigue, music, a beautiful heiress, drunken partiers, and a spiteful servant merge with a hip-hop rhythm in Shakespeare's enchanting tale of revelry and love.
Broadway diva Lauren Kennedy will make a special guest appearance at James Barbour's new concert series 'LOVE SONGS', Saturday, January 31
Due to the overwhelming audience and critical response Sardi's management has scheduled additional Saturday evening concerts with Broadway star and vocal power house, JAMES BARBOUR.
The new concert series, entitled 'LOVE SONGS' will premiere on Saturday, January 31st and continue through Saturday, February 28th at Broadway's premiere destination, SARDI'S (234 West 44th Street - between Broadway & Eighth Avenue).
Special Valentine's Concerts are scheduled on Friday, February 13th and Sunday, February 15th.
BROADWAY DIVA, LAUREN KENNEDY, will be Mr. Barbour's Special Guest Artist on Saturday, January 31st.
Fresh from igniting audiences to thundering standing ovations for his emotionally blistering portrayal of Sydney Carton in 'A TALE OF TWO CITIES' at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, MR. BARBOUR'S Concert Series Event is quickly becoming an audience magnate in the Broadway neighborhood.
The Washington Post reports that music impresario Quincy Jones' passionate call for President-elect Barack Obama to give the arts and humanities a Cabinet-level post is gaining momentum online. By yesterday reports The Post, over 76,000 people had signed the online petition, started by two New York musicians who were inspired by producer Quincy Jones.
In a radio interview in November of last year, Jones described the country needing a minister of culture, like France, Germany or Finland has. And he said he would 'beg' Obama to establish the post.
The Tony Award-winning Old Globe presents the Pulitzer Prize-winning Six Degrees of Separation, by John Guare (The House of Blue Leaves, Landscape of the Body), directed by Trip Cullman, to run in the Old Globe Theatre January 10 - February 15 (press opening: Thursday, January 15 at 8pm). Broadway veteran Karen Ziemba, who will play 'Ouisa,' won the Tony for the musical Contact and was nominated for her work in Steel Pier, Never Gonna Dance and Curtains!.
The Board of Directors of New York City Opera has announced the appointment of George Steel as the company's new General Manager and Artistic Director. Mr. Steel is expected to assume his responsibilities as of February 1, 2009.
New York City Opera is proud to present the company premiere of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra in concert on January 15 and 16, 2009 at 8 PM in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium. Soprano Lauren Flanigan sings the role of Cleopatra opposite baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes, in his New York City Opera debut, as Antony. The cast includes rising tenor Simon O'Neill as Caesar and City Opera favorites David Pittsinger as Enobarbus, Sandra Piques Eddy as Charmian and Laura Vlasak Nolen as Iras. City Opera Music Director George Manahan will conduct. The company's celebration of Samuel Barber's upcoming centennial will also include a Symposium on Antony and Cleopatra on Saturday, January 10, co-presented by and taking place at Miller Theatre at Columbia University, which will feature City Opera soprano Elizabeth Futral in a unique recital of musical depictions and evocations of Cleopatra.
Kirsten Ch?vez will sing the role of Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice at the Met on January 14, replacing Stephanie Blythe, who is ill.
Ch?vez was a winner of the 1999 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and made her company debut in 2005 as Merc?d?s in Carmen. At the Met, she has also appeared as Sondra Finchley in Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy and as Bersi in Andrea Ch?nier. She has sung with numerous companies both in the U.S. and abroad including New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, San Diego Opera, Opera Australia, the Caramoor Festival, and opera houses in Philadelphia, Graz, Hannover, and Tokyo.
Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award?-winner in years is coming to the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will play a two-week engagement from February 10-22, 2009. Curtain times for the U.S. Bank Broadway Series presentation are Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m.; Sunday, February 15 at 2 & 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, February 22 at 2 p.m. There is also a weekday matinee on Thursday, February 19 at 1 p.m.
Pittsburgh CLO is proud to announce the cast and creative team for the premiere of My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, which runs February 12 through May 10 at the CLO Cabaret. Relive the magic of an American legend with 56 of his greatest songs, including 'Fly Me to the Moon,' 'Young at Heart,' 'All the Way,' and, of course, 'My Way.' Tickets are available online at pittsburghCLO.org, or by calling 412-456-6666.
In February of 2009, in honor of the bicentennial of Joseph Haydn's death, Gotham Chamber Opera will present the New York City stage premiere of L'isola disabitata (Desert Island) in a new production staged by Mark Morris at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College.
Kaufman Center and New York Festival of Song (NYFOS, www.nyfos.org), will present Voices of the Jewish Diaspora on Tuesday and Thursday, February 10 and 12, at 8 PM at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center. It is the third subscription program this season for the New York Festival of Song, whose 2008 CD Spanish Love Songs, featuring Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Joseph Kaiser, Steven Blier and Michael Barrett (Bridge Records) was named one of the 'Best Of the Year' by Opera News. The program features songs in many languages celebrating the culturally diverse Jewish communities that flourished as the tribes of Israel spread out across the globe: Sephardic melodies arranged by Roberto Sierra; Second Avenue specialties by Irving Berlin and Abraham Ellstein; art songs by Ravel and Mahler; plus music by Gershwin, Bernstein, and Harold Rome.
Grammy-nominated soprano Caroline Worra takes over singing duties in Estonian composer Arvo P?rt's L'abb? Agathon - the world premiere operatic version this weekend at the Guggenheim Museum's Peter B. Lewis Theatre on Sunday, January 11 and Monday, January 12, 2009 at 7:30 PM. L'Abb? Agathon will be re-imagined by French visual artist Sophie Calle, with a film installation by Ms. Calle.
The Tony Award-winning Old Globe presents the Pulitzer Prize-winning Six Degrees of Separation, by John Guare (The House of Blue Leaves, Landscape of the Body), directed by Trip Cullman, to run in the Old Globe Theatre January 10 - February 15 (press opening: Thursday, January 15 at 8pm). Broadway veteran Karen Ziemba, who will play 'Ouisa,' won the Tony for the musical Contact and was nominated for her work in Steel Pier, Never Gonna Dance and Curtains!.
Grammy-nominated soprano Caroline Worra takes over singing duties in Estonian composer Arvo P?rt's L'abb? Agathon - the world premiere operatic version this weekend at the Guggenheim Museum's Peter B. Lewis Theatre on Sunday, January 11 and Monday, January 12, 2009 at 7:30 PM. L'Abb? Agathon will be re-imagined by French visual artist Sophie Calle, with a film installation by Ms. Calle.
Bristol Riverside Theatre concludes its Bridges Informance Series with Donald Byrd's renowned Spectrum Dance Theatre on Friday, January 9. Byrd recently choreographed Broadway's Tony-nominated hit The Color Purple, and he is the collaborator and co-director for BRT's upcoming World Premiere of What You Will.
Jon Montgomery's Hell's Kitchen The Musical welcomes tap sensation Omar Edwards to the cast in the role of Harlem Gangster, Renny,' The Duke ' Carter. Omar: - Bring In The Noise, Black & Blue, Showtime At The Apollo, Dave Chapelle's Road Show, Ellen Degeneres and much more in his wonderful career.
Director-choreographer Mark Morris's much-lauded 2007 production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice returns to the repertoire, with Stephanie Blythe taking on one of the pinnacles of the mezzo-soprano repertory, the role of Orfeo, for the first time in her career. Soprano Danielle de Niese, an acclaimed singer of eighteenth-century music and a graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, sings Euridice for the first time at the Met. Heidi Grant Murphy returns as Amor, which she performed at the production's premiere in 2007.
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