Todd Thomas News

Madison Opera presents Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann on Friday, April 15 and Sunday, April 17 in Overture Hall at the Overture Center for the Arts. This will be the company's first production in twenty years of Offenbach's masterpiece, which moves in a fantasy world. It offers showpiece arias for the bravura cast, the gorgeous 'Barcarolle,' and a truly moving tribute to what it means to be an artist.

OPERA NORTH, located in Lebanon NH, is one of the leading summer music festivals in New England (Evans Haile, General Director), celebrating its 33rd season. The company announces the principal cast and creative for West Side Story, with performances from tonight, July 31-August 13.

Sarasota, FL – Sarasota Opera is proud to announce casting for the 2015-2016 fall and winter season, truly the most climactic in the company's 57 year history. The season will feature the final two installments of the 28 year Verdi Cycle – The Battle of Legnano and Aida- in a grand spectacle of music, vocal prowess, awe-inspiring choruses, sumptuous scenery, and luxurious costumes. In addition, the company will present Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, and Mozart's comedic Così fan tutte. 

Sarasota Opera is proud to announce casting for the 2015-2016 fall and winter season, truly the most climactic in the company's 57 year history. The season will feature the final two installments of the 28 year Verdi Cycle – The Battle of Legnano and Aida- in a grand spectacle of music, vocal prowess, awe-inspiring choruses, sumptuous scenery, and luxurious costumes. In addition, the company will present Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, and Mozart's comedic Così fan tutte.

OPERA NORTH, located in Lebanon NH, is one of the leading summer music festivals in New England (Evans Haile, General Director), celebrating its 33rd season. The company announces the principal cast and creative for West Side Story, with performances from July 31-August 13.

The Atlanta Opera celebrates its 35th year of live productions with Giuseppe Verdi's tragic masterpiece, Rigoletto. This new, visually stimulating production is a co-production of Boston Lyric Opera, The Atlanta Opera, and Opera Omaha and was originally directed by The Atlanta Opera's General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun.

I like the title of Harold Ellis Clark's WE LIVE HERE, winner of the NewWorks@TheWorks playwriting competition hosted by Playhouse on the Square and now playing at Theatre Works. If you emphasize the word WE, it offers two different interpretations: (1) It could refer to the racist white characters in the play, who don't relish the idea of ceding part of their predominately white neighborhood in Metarie to the black characters who have had the questionable luck of winning a post-Hurricane Katrina lottery; or (2) it could refer to the black characters themselves, who defiantly (and rightly) have planted their feet on new, if rocky, turf. In fact, any of the three words in the title could be emphasized and, consequently, offer a new facet inviting a different interpretation.

Florida Grand Opera is proud to open its 74thseason with one of the most beloved operas of all time, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, on November 15 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. This vibrant and exotic production delivers all the beauty and grandeur audiences have come to expect of this timeless love story. Puccini's famous music combined with Maestro Ramón Tebar's “intense and precise conducting” (Buenos Aires Herald) is sure to be a beautiful and dramatic start to another exciting season.

Single tickets go on sale at the Sarasota Opera Box Office (61 N. Pineapple Avenue) Today, September 2nd for Sarasota Opera's 2014-2015 Fall and Winter Season, one of the grandest seasons in the company's history. Box office hours are Mondaythrough Friday, 10am - 4pm, and is located at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue in the Pavilion Building at the Sarasota Opera House. Visitwww.sarasotaopera.org for more information.

Single tickets go on sale at the Sarasota Opera Box Office (61 N. Pineapple Avenue) Today, September 2nd for Sarasota Opera's 2014-2015 Fall and Winter Season, one of the grandest seasons in the company's history. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 10am to 4pm, and is located at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue in the Pavilion Building at the Sarasota Opera House. Visit www.sarasotaopera.org for more information.

Single tickets go on sale at the Sarasota Opera Box Office (61 N. Pineapple Avenue) Tuesday, September 2nd for Sarasota Opera's 2014-2015 Fall and Winter Season, one of the grandest seasons in the company's history. Box office hours are Mondaythrough Friday, 10am – 4pm, and is located at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue in the Pavilion Building at the Sarasota Opera House. Visitwww.sarasotaopera.org for more information.

Single tickets go on sale at the Sarasota Opera Box Office (61 N. Pineapple Avenue) Tuesday, September 2nd for Sarasota Opera's 2014-2015 Fall and Winter Season, one of the grandest seasons in the company's history. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 10am to 4pm, and is located at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue in the Pavilion Building at the Sarasota Opera House. Visit www.sarasotaopera.org for more information.

Single tickets will go on sale exclusively ONLINE at www.sarasotaopera.org Friday, August 1st, 2014 for Sarasota Opera's 2014-2015 Fall and Winter Season, one of the grandest seasons in the company's history. Highlights include the return of some of Sarasota Opera's most popular productions, acclaimed artists, and the Sarasota Opera premieres of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel as well as the Verdi masterpiece Don Carlos in the original Paris version.

General and Artistic Director Michael Egel and the Board of Directors have announced casting for the operas of the 42nd Summer Festival Season. The three, full-scale grand operas will be presented in 15 performances between June 27 and July 20, 2014 at the Blank Performing Arts Center in Indianola Iowa. A fourth production will run for 3 performances on July 10 and 19 at the newly renovated Des Moines Social Club in Des Moines as part of the company's newly-minted 2nd Stages Series. The Summer Festival Season repertory includes the return of a timeless operatic classic paired with two operas which will be company premieres - the first is a modern masterpiece and the second is a sparkling farce by opera's greatest comedic composer, Rossini. It's truly a season for everyone from first-time opera-goers to lifelong devotees highlighted by Des Moines Metro Opera's exceptional attention to details, including casting some of the most remarkable vocal talent in America today.

Last presented by Florida Grand Opera in 2007, Puccini's Tosca is a riveting psychological drama that builds up to one of opera's most stunning conclusions. Torture, murder, and suicide return to the Arsht Center on March 29, 2014, with an exciting double cast and timeless sets by Ercole Sormani.

In 1994, Bette Midler returned to New York after nearly 20 years in Los Angeles, and started the New York Restoration Project, a non-profit organization devoted to bringing abandoned and neglected parks, gardens, and open spaces in all five boroughs back to life. NYRP includes the beautiful New Leaf Cafe in Fort Tryon Park as part of its success, and is committed to helping restore parks and gardens devastated by Hurricane Sandy. The organization just held its 12th Annual Spring Picnic and you can check out full coverage below!

Florida Grand Opera (FGO) announces its 73rd continuous season of grand opera featuring an innovative new vision with provocative repertoire under the direction of General Director and CEO Susan T. Danis. In addition to a wealth of exciting artists making their debuts with the company, the 2013-2014 season features: the Southeast American premiere of Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra followed by Verdi's Nabucco, Puccini's Tosca, and Massenet's Thaïs.

The one-night-only concert included songs from See Rock City & Other Destinations, cut songs, and new songs from upcoming projects by composer Brad Alexander and lyricist/bookwriter Adam Mathias. Check out photos from inside the concert below!

Single tickets go on sale to the general public today, Aug. 1, for Lyric Opera of Chicago's 58th season. The internationally renowned company will present grand opera with exceptional casts and productions in its beautiful home, the historic Civic Opera House. Lyric will offer 68 performances of 9 operas in the 25-week season, including 6 new-to-Chicago productions, Saturday, October 6, 2012, through Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Single tickets go on sale to the general public Wed., Aug. 1, for Lyric Opera of Chicago's 58th season. The internationally renowned company will present grand opera with exceptional casts and productions in its beautiful home, the historic Civic Opera House. Lyric will offer 68 performances of 9 operas in the 25-week season, including 6 new-to-Chicago productions, Saturday, October 6, 2012, through Saturday, April 6, 2013.