At a time when our nation is wrestling with tough questions about immigration, Houston Grand Opera is bringing back its bilingual production of Cruzar la Cara de la Luna / To Cross the Face of the Moon, a moving story that chronicles the joys and struggles of three generations of a family divided between countries and cultures through the rich melodies of mariachi. HGO presents three special performances on May 17, 19, and 20 in the HGO Resilience Theater at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Composed by Jose 'Pepe' Martinez with libretto by Leonard Foglia and known as the world's first mariachi opera, Cruzar has been performed to audiences around the world, including in New York City in January 2018. HGO's production will feature the Grammy Award-winning Mariachi Los Camperos. Tickets for these productions at the HGO Resilience Theater in the George R. Brown Convention Center are available at HGO.org. Parking is available at the Avenida North Garage located at 1815 Rusk Street, across from Resilience Theater. A sky bridge connects the parking garage to the GRB, and clear signage directs patrons to the theater. More information about parking can be found here.
Garden Theatre will continue its 2017-2018 season with the soaring musical epic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Victor Hugo's classic tale of hope, love and passion, with a book by Peter Parnell (On A Clear Day You Can See Forever - Broadway revival) and music by composer Alan Menken (Newsies) and lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), soars to life in this emotionally charged retelling of the celebrated classic. Directed and choreographed by Rob Winn Anderson, performances begin today, April 27 at 8:00 p.m. with a limited run through Sunday, May 27, 2018.
The Dallas Opera is proud to present an afternoon of magnificent orchestral works and one of the most gifted pianists in classical music today. American pianist Andrew von Oeyen and The Dallas Opera Orchestra will perform a genuinely exciting twentieth-century masterworks: Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor.
The Second City announced today that SNL vet Julia Sweeney's one-woman show Julia Sweeney: Older and Wider will move to the theater's e.t.c. stage for a six-week run beginning April 24, 2018. Sweeney has been honing her first-ever stand-up show in front of live audiences since she began a January workshop run in one of Second City's studio theater spaces. Julia Sweeney: Old and Wider will run on the e.t.c. stage at The Second City April 24 - May 30, 2018.
On Tuesday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall, acclaimed American tenor Lawrence Brownlee presents the New York premiere of Cycles of My Being, a new song cycle composed by Tyshawn Sorey with lyrics by Terrance Hayes that explores the realities of life as a black man in America. Brownlee—hailed as one of “the world's leading bel canto tenors” by the Associated Press—is conducted by composer Tyshawn Sorey and joined by violinist Randall Goosby, cellist Khari Joyner, clarinetist Alexander Laing, and pianist Kevin Miller for Cycles of My Being, which is co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall as part of the Hall's 125 Commissions Project. The program opens with Schumann's Dichterliebe, to be performed alongside pianist Myra Huang.
Nothing's better than learning from the pros. And that's exactly what Opera Orlando and Valencia College have in store for the college's voice students this spring. Two of Opera Orlando's stars from their upcoming production of Rossini's "Cinderella" -- baritone Craig Irvin and soprano Samantha Barnes Daniel -- will teach master classes at Valencia College during March and then return to the college in April for a joint recital with their students.
Due to a scheduling conflict, performances of The Broadway Princess Party-starring two- time Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes (Cinderella, Bonnie & Clyde), Tony Award nominee Susan Egan (Beauty and the Beast, Thoroughly Modern Millie), Courtney Reed (Aladdin, In The Heights) and music director Benjamin Rauhala-have been moved to Saturday, June 2 (8 p.m.) and Sunday, June 3 (5 p.m.). Customers who purchased tickets for Friday, June 1 will be moved to another performance or issued a refund.
Shakespeare Theatre Company today announces the cast of Lerner and Loewe's multiple Tony Award-winning musical Camelot. Directed by STC Associate Artistic Director Alan Paul (Kiss Me, Kate; Man of La Mancha), the classic musical will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St NW) from May 22 through July 1, concluding STC's 2017-2018 mainstage season.
The Second City announces the cast for The Second City e.t.c.'s 42nd Revue. Under the direction of Annelise Toft with music direction byJacob Shuda, The Second City e.t.c.'s 42nd Revue features Emily Fightmaster, Sayjal Joshi, Katie Kershaw, Andrew Knox, Alan Linic and Jasbir Singh Vazquez. The stage manager is Laura Hum. The official press opening is Friday, April 6 at 8pm.
I spoke recently with Elaine Alvarez who will be singing the lead role this weekend in the San Diego Opera's production of Florencia en el Amazonas by Mexican composer Daniel Catan and librettist Marcela Fuentes-Berain. Alvarez told me that when she got a call from the San Diego Opera's General Director David Bennett, 'I was at a train station in France, and it was cold. I started jumping up and down! And he was like, 'Do you think you're going to be ready to sing this? Is this in line now with where your voice is.' And I'm like, a hundred percent! Yes! Yes! Yes!' Spanish was her first language, Florencia appealed to her Latin heritage, and she knew her voice was ready. She'd sung Beatrice in Catan's earlier opera Rappaccini's Daughter and was delighted with the opportunity to make her San Diego debut with another of his works.
The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL) will hold its annual Spring Gala at New York's Metropolitan Club (1 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022) on Thursday evening, April 5, 2018, starting at 6:00 pm. The organization will honor renowned opera singer and recitalist Stephanie Blythe with the NYCHORAL Music Excellence Award for her contributions to the musical profession, as well as Sylvia R. Hoisington who is celebrating her 50th season with the chorus. Produced in partnership with the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, the evening's showcase performance will feature soprano Amanda Majeski and tenor Ben Bliss, both of whom will be participating in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Cosi fan tutte from March 15 to April 9, 2018. Members of the NYCHORAL Chamber Ensemble will also perform. The evening will feature a silent auction of unique items and experiences. The program is as follows:
LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is thrilled to present the sixth show in its 97th season, the world premiere of NATHAN GUNN FLYING SOLO, written and directed by Hershey Felder, with musical direction by Michael Bagby.
The Second City announces the extension of The Second City's She the People: Girlfriends' Guide to Sisters Doing It for Themselves, a show the Chicago Tribune calls "empowering entertainment" and the Sun-Times raves is "one of the funniest revues Second City has produced in the past 20 years." A sketch show created, designed and performed entirely by the women of Second City, She the People features the talents of Carisa Barreca, Alex Bellisle, Katie Caussin and Kimberly Michelle Vaughn in addition to newcomers Emma Pope and Kaye Winks. Under the direction of Carly Heffernan with musical direction by Mary Mahoney, She the People now plays through May 27, 2018 in The Second City's UP Comedy Club. Tickets start at $26 and can be purchased at the box office, by phone at 312-337-3992 or online at www.secondcity.com. UP Comedy Club is located on the 3rd floor of Piper's Alley at 230 W North Ave., Chicago.
Lyric Opera of Chicago's new production of Gounod's Faust is inspired by the works of multimedia artist John Frame (theatrical debut). Find out what happens when a deal with the devil goes awry. Lyric's new Faust is conducted by Emmanuel Villaume and directed by Kevin Newbury.
The princesses are throwing a ball, and you're invited! Broadway's Cinderella, two- time Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes, brings a couple of her radiant leading lady friends-Tony Award nominee Susan Egan (Beauty and the Beast, Thoroughly Modern Millie) and Courtney Reed (Aladdin, In The Heights) along with music director Benjamin Rauhala-to Feinstein's at the Nikko on Friday, June 1 (8 p.m.) and Saturday, June 2 (8 p.m.) to create a dazzling evening of musical magic.
American baritone Nathan Gunn and pianist Julie Gunn, partners in life and often on stage, will make their debut at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in an evening of cabaret by iconic composers ranging from Leonard Bernstein and Cole Porter to Billy Joel and Tom Waits. The evening concert from an eclectic American Songbook joins Bernstein at 100, the worldwide celebration of the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein, one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history. An Evening with Nathan and Julie Gunn takes place Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 7:30pm in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis.
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre [NBT] announces today the cast of the final workshop production for the 49th Season to conclude the I Am Soul Playwriting Residency for playwright Derek Lee McPhatter. McPhatter's workshop production will be Serious Adverse Effects which will be directed by Mary E. Hodges.
Rossini's Semiramide is presented at the Met for the first time in 25 years, with eight performances beginning February 19, 2018, led by Maurizio Benini. The cast, comprised of artists considered by many to be amongst the world's leading bel canto singers, includes Angela Meade in the title role, Elizabeth DeShong as Arsace, Javier Camarena as Idreno, Ildar Abdrazakov as King Assur and Ryan Speedo Green as the High Priest Oroe. On March 10, 2018, the production will be transmitted to cinemas throughout the world as part of the Met's Live in HD series.
Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce that Irina Dvorovenko ('The Americans'), a former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer, Tony Award nominees Tony Yazbeck (ON THE TOWN, FINDING NEVERLAND) and Peter Friedman (RAGTIME, The Vineyard's THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND...), and Teagle F. Bourgere (THE CRUCIBLE, A RAISIN IN THE SUN) will be featured in the world premiere of THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE, an original work fusing dance, drama and music by legendary composer and four-time Tony Award winner John Kander (CABARET, CHICAGO), Tony Award nominee playwright David Thompson (STEEL PIER; FLORA, THE RED MENACE), and five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman (THE PRODUCERS, CONTACT). Performances will begin May 4, 2018 with opening night set for May 23. Kander, Thompson, and Stroman previously collaborated at The Vineyard on THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS.
Utah Opera Artistic Director Christopher McBeth today announced Utah Opera's 2018-19 season. Featuring two new productions by the company's in-house Production Studios, Utah Opera's 41st season runs from October 2018 to May 2019 and comprises three main-stage productions at Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre and a semi-staged production at Abravanel Hall.
