Verona News

For the first time in their 91-year history, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, “one of the leading European orchestras” (The Independent), will tour the U.S., visiting four major markets in October. The Orchestra, under the direction of its Chief Conductor Muhai Tang, will appear first at Symphony Hall in Chicago on October 6th, then at Severance Hall in Cleveland on October 7th, at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, MD on October 8th, and at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium in New York City on October 9th. The ensemble will bring two programs on tour, performing repertoire ranging from Khachaturian to Tchaikovsky to Sibelius. At Severance Hall and the Strathmore Center, the Orchestra will add a ballet suite by Stevan Hristi?, a founder and first principal conductor of the Orchestra (1923-1934). At Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall, the Orchestra will add arias from Verdi's Rigoletto and Macbeth, to be sung by the Serbian baritone Željko Lu?i?, a Met Opera sensation. Tickets for the tour, on sale now, have been set at family-friendly prices and can be obtained on venue websites.

On Sunday, October 26, 2014, at 4 p.m., a concert titled Bach – A Three Part Invention will open “Castleton in Performance,” the 2014 fall series presented by the Castleton Festival in Virginia. This concert is dedicated to the memory of Lorin Maazel, one of the great conductors of the 20th and 21st centuries, who was the founder and artistic director of the Castleton Festival.

Saimir Pirgu made his Royal Opera role debut as the Duke of Mantua on 12 September 2014, and sings the role for all Cast A performances.

Rogue Machine presents the World Premiere of NICE THINGS by Vince Melocchi Opening October 4, 2014 with reception to follow 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, 3pm on Sundays through November 23, 2014 5041 W. Pico Blvd., LA, CA 90019

VERONA, N.J., Sept. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ 'As his eyes met mine, I felt a sudden, powerful sensation wash over me. I saw him in a flash of white light and knew that image would be engraved in my memory forever.' Marcia Gloster, author of 31 Days: A Memoir of Seduction.

MULTISTAGES has announced the new musical by award-winning Anita Velez-Mitchell, platinum-winning composers Dean Landon and Anika Paris, TEMPLE OF THE SOULS, with musical direction by Bruce Baumer and directed by Artistic Director Lorca Peress. TEMPLE OF THE SOULS will play a limited engagement at Theater for the New City - Johnson Theater (155 First Avenue, btw 9th/10th, NYC). Performances begin tonight, September 16 and continue through Sunday, September 28. Opening Night is Thursday, September 18 (8 p.m.).

The Royal New Zealand Ballet is delighted to announce the appointment of 36 year old Italian Francesco Ventriglia as the company's new artistic director.

The Guthrie Theater presents the first production on the Wurtele Thrust Stage in the 2014-2015 season, Wendy Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Heidi Chronicles. Under the direction of 2014 Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman (Broadway's Violet, Chinglish, Well), The Heidi Chronicles will feature the talents of Kate Wetherhead, Ben Graney, Tracey Maloney and Zach Shaffer, as well as Sam Bardwell, Eleonore Dendy, Mo Perry and Stacia Rice.

THE RSC's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shakespeare's early exuberant romantic comedy about friendship and betrayal, was captured live Wednesday September 3, 2014 to be screened in US Cinemas September 20 - October 20, 2014. Directed by Simon Godwin, the production stars Mark Arends (Proteus); Elliot Barnes-Worrell (Outlaw); Martin Bassindale (Speed); Pearl Chanda (Julia); Nicholas Gerard-Martin (Thurio); Robert Gilbert (Outlaw); Jonny Glynn (The Duke of Milan); Molly Gromadzki (Host/Singer); Youssef Kerkour (Sir Eglamour); Sarah MacRae (Silvia); Michael Marcus (Valentine); Roger Morlidge (Launce); Keith Osborn (Antonio); Leigh Quinn (Lucetta) and Simon Yadoo (Panthino/Outlaw). Below, BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you an exclusive clip from Act IV, Scene II. Check it out below!

Signature Theatre has announced the cast of Elmer Gantry, a musical version of Sinclair Lewis' best-selling novel, directed by Signature's Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (Broadway's Follies, Million Dollar Quartet). Schaeffer collaborated on the last production of Elmer Gantry at Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatre in Chicago with authors John Bishop (book), Mel Marvin (music) and Bob Satuloff (lyrics) in 1998; the show has not been produced since then. This will be the 5th production in the show's history. Running in the MAX Theatre October 7 - November 9, Signature's production will include several brand new songs by Mel Marvin and Bob Satuloff and a reimagined script that John Bishop worked on until his death in 2006.

Bjork: Biophilia Live, the documentary film capturing the multidimensional concert centered on Bjork's eighth studio album, will begin a limited series of premiere screenings at festivals, museums, libraries, galleries and cinemas worldwide

Two River Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, announces the cast and creative team for its production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's Camelot, directed by David Lee with music direction and orchestrations by Steve Orich (Jersey Boys) and choreography by Mark Esposito (South Pacific with Reba McEntire). The production will run November 15-December 14, 2014, with the opening night on Friday, November 21 at 8pm. Tickets starting at $20 and ticket packages for Two River's season are available from 732.345.1400 or www.tworivertheater.org. The lead production sponsor for Camelot is Investors Bank.

Stoneham Theatre opens its 15th season with Doubt, John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, featuring Karen MacDonald and Gabriel Kuttner in the two lead roles. Performances run from tonight, September 11-28 at Stoneham Theatre, 395 Main Street in Stoneham.

The award-winning companies VS. Theatre and Firefly Theater & Films are co-producing the West Coast Premiere of a newly revised version of Itamar Moses' COMPLETENESS.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will open their 2014-15 season with Olives and Blood at the Nafe Katter Theatre October 2nd - 12th. Written by Michael Bradford, this new play stars Martin Sola as Juan Luis Trescante Medina, the aging fascist who claims responsibility for the murder of poet-playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, played by Nicholas Urda.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Ricky Saunders "In A World of His Own" on September 24th, 2014 at 7 p.m. In this dynamic evening, Ricky uses storytelling through music from stage, screen and Top 40 to fantastically paint his one-of-a-kind journey of growing up. The show chronicles everything from the days of "The Saunders Performing Arts Center," a mid-Nineties makeshift theatre venue in the basement of his parents' conservative house in a suburb of Buffalo, to the Great Escape to his own personal "Neverland": New York City. Soar through the world of his imagination through his personal trials of faith, trust, wanderlust and finding the courage of being yourself in an industry that is difficult to break into.

San Francisco Opera presents the Company premiere of Carlisle Floyd's two-act opera Susannah today, September 6 at the War Memorial Opera House.

MULTISTAGES has announced the new musical by award-winning Anita Velez-Mitchell, platinum-winning composers Dean Landon and Anika Paris, TEMPLE OF THE SOULS, with musical direction by Bruce Baumer and directed by Artistic Director Lorca Peress. TEMPLE OF THE SOULS will play a limited engagement at Theater for the New City - Johnson Theater (155 First Avenue, btw 9th/10th, NYC). Performances begin Tuesday, September 16 and continue through Sunday, September 28. Opening Night is Thursday, September 18 (8 p.m.).

MULTISTAGES is pleased to announce the new musical by award-winning Anita Velez-Mitchell, platinum-winning composers Dean Landon and Anika Paris, TEMPLE OF THE SOULS, with musical direction by Bruce Baumer and directed by Artistic Director Lorca Peress. TEMPLE OF THE SOULS will play a limited engagement at Theater for the New City - Johnson Theater (155 First Avenue, btw 9th/10th, NYC). Performances begin Tuesday, September 16 and continue through Sunday, September 28. Opening Night is Thursday, September 18 (8 p.m.).

San Francisco Opera's 2014-15 Season opens tonight, September 5, 2014 with a dramatic new production of Vincenzo Bellini's bel canto masterpiece Norma, starring American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in one of opera's most dazzling and demanding roles. American mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas is the young priestess Adalgisa; Italian tenor Marco Berti is Pollione; and American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn is Oroveso. Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus and Director Kevin Newbury and set designer David Korins return to San Francisco Opera to premiere this vivid, large-scale new co-production with Toronto's Canadian Opera Company, Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Norma runs for seven performances through September 30.