Tazewell Thompson News

Washington National Opera (WNO) will present the D.C. premiere of Tony Award®-winning composer Jeanine Tesori and librettist Tazewell Thompson's poignant new opera Blue, March 15-28, 2020, in the Eisenhower Theater. Blue -a WNO co-production-positions one of America's most pressing social issues at the center of the opera stage at the nation's performing arts center.

I admit this is an absolutely personal, totally one-sided view of what gave one man opera thrills last year and what I will look back on with delight. Some are old works, some are new, some are individual performers, some are ensembles, some are complete productions, some are merely the highlight of an evening, most are domestic, a few are foreign. In any case, as the new decade begins, I recall that these are the vocal highlights that made my heart beat a little faster and made me look forward to the year ahead.

OPERA America has awarded $220,000 in Repertoire Development Grants to The American Opera Project (New York, NY) in consortium with Seagle Music Colony (Schroon Lake, NY), Beth Morrison Projects (New York, NY), Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Diego Opera and The Dallas Opera. The grants provide technical and financial support to OPERA America Professional Company Members and their producing partners to enhance the quality, quantity and creativity of new American opera and music theater.

Baritone Gordon Hawkins will sing the role of The Reverend in Washington National Opera's upcoming co-commissioned production of Tazewell Thompson and Jeanine Tesori's Blue, March 15a?"28, 2020. Hawkins replaces the previously-announced Lester Lynch, who has withdrawn for personal reasons.

On Sunday, November 3, at 3 PM, at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester, MassOpera presents a special concert performance of Freedom Ride by Boston-based composer Dan Shore.

Ma-Yi Theater Company's world premiere of Felix Starro, a new musical by Jessica Hagedorn and Fabian Obispo, opened at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd St.) last night. Scroll down for photos of the opening night party at The Brazen Tavern.

A summer's trip to Cooperstown, NY, is for two distinct audiences: Those who come for the Baseball Hall of Fame and those, like me, who come for the opera--the Glimmerglass Festival, under General Director Francesca Zambello, where i caught up with the John Corigliano-William Hoffman THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES, the brand-new BLUE by Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson and a program with Supreme Court Justice (and opera buff) Ginsburg commenting on some of her favorite works.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces select cast members for upcoming productions as part of the company's 2019/20 Season in advance of single tickets going on sale July 30, 2019.

Blue, a new work by Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson, had its world premiere at The Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York, this weekend.

John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles delighted operagoers at The Glimmerglass Festival July 13 in the company's new production of the work.

More artists and activities have been added to the REACH Opening Festival, the free 16-day celebration highlighting the many and varied ways that the Kennedy Center's newly expanded campus will connect, inspire, and engage audiences and artists. Please see below for an updated artist roster, and visit https:cms.kennedy-center.orgfestivalsreach for additional information.

Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Show Boat opened at The Glimmerglass Festival July 6 in the company's first-ever production of America's original "musical play."

Something old, something new…there's still plenty going on for fans of opera and classical vocal music in the Northeast now that summer is upon us. Here's a taste of what to look for.

Klea Blackhurst will perform her one-woman show featuring tunes made famous by Ethel Merman at The Glimmerglass Festival on Sunday, July 28, at 6:00 p.m. Additionally, Blackhurst will portray Parthy Ann Hawks in the Festival's performances of Show Boat, running July 6 through August 24. Blackhurst replaces Christine Ebersole, whose commitments have changed this summer due to professional reasons, including her role in the new CBS comedy series Bob Hearts Abishola.

There's a glorious sound coming from Arena Stage. From out of the mists of time, in monochromatic colors as if from a tintype, comes the sublime harmonizing of 13 voices, giving an idea of the transporting power of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater presented the American Voice Award to U.S. Representative John Lewis (D-GA) on Thursday, May 9, 2019.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will present the American Voice Award to U.S. Representative John Lewis (D-GA) on Thursday, May 9, 2019. Beginning at 6:00 p.m. the evening will include a cocktail reception in the Bank of America Lower Lobby with a seated dinner in the Molly Smith Study. Tazewell Thompson, playwright and director of Jubilee, will give remarks. Jubilee is inspired by the world-renowned a cappella African American ensemble born on the campus of Fisk University. Rep. Lewis is a graduate of Fisk University. The seated dinner will feature the presentation of the American Voice Award to U.S. Representative John Lewis.

Mezzo Joyce DiDonato knows quite a bit about being Cinderella--after all, she's played the title characters in Rossini's CENERENTOLA and Massenet's CENDRILLON at the Met and other major opera houses. But it also appears she's a first-rate “fairy godmother,” as she proved with a group of emerging artists in a series of Master Classes in Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Room of the Resnick Education Wing last week.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces today its 2019/20 Season-featuring an expansive line-up of plays, musicals, new work, and presentations from around the globe to engage one of the broadest audiences of any theater in America today.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for the world premiere of Tazewell Thompson's inspirational a cappella music infused play, Jubilee. Inspired by the world-renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers, this uplifting new work chronicles the bold African American ensemble as they travel the world, captivating kings, queens and audiences with hymns and spiritual songs supported by their rich voices. Written and directed by Thompson with vocal arrangements and music direction by Dianne Adams McDowell, Jubilee runs April 26 - June 2, 2019 in the Kreeger Theater.