School of the Americas - 2006 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 15

After an absence of 82 years, Puccini's bittersweet romance La Rondine returns to the Met in a new production with a gala premiere performance on New Year's Eve. La Rondine stars Angela Gheorghiu as Magda, the Parisian socialite, and Roberto Alagna as Ruggero, her lover. Lisette Oropesa, Marius Brenciu, in his Met debut, and Samuel Ramey are the other principal singers. Marco Armiliato conducts.

Julie Taymor's hit production of Mozart's The Magic Flute returns to the Met as this season's special holiday presentation beginning December 22. The abridged, English-language version is specially priced to appeal to families and will have four matinees and one holiday evening performance, running through January 1.

Puccini's most popular work returns to the Metropolitan Opera on Monday, December 15, at 8:00 p.m. in the visually stunning classic production by Franco Zeffirelli. Fr?d?ric Chaslin conducts the performances which run through Saturday, January 10, 2008 and feature Mexican tenor Ram?n Vargas and Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska as Puccini's star-crossed lovers, Rodolfo and Mim?. Fellow Bohemians in the cast are portrayed by Susanna Phillips as Musetta in her Met debut, Mariusz Kwiecien as the painter Marcello, Tommi Hakala as the musician Schaunard, and Oren Gradus as the philosopher Colline. Paul Plishka sings both Benoit and Alcindoro. Massimo Giordano sings Rodolfo in the final two performances.

Daniel Barenboim Makes his Met Debut conducting Tristan and Isolde on November 28 Katarina Dalayman and Peter Seiffert sing the title roles for the first time at the Met, and René Pape reprises his acclaimed portrayal of King Marke

Puccini's most popular work returns to the Metropolitan Opera on Monday, December 15, at 8:00 p.m. in the visually stunning classic production by Franco Zeffirelli. Fr?d?ric Chaslin conducts the performances which run through Saturday, January 10, 2008 and feature Mexican tenor Ram?n Vargas and Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska as Puccini's star-crossed lovers, Rodolfo and Mim?. Fellow Bohemians in the cast are portrayed by Susanna Phillips as Musetta in her Met debut, Mariusz Kwiecien as the painter Marcello, Tommi Hakala as the musician Schaunard, and Oren Gradus as the philosopher Colline. Paul Plishka sings both Benoit and Alcindoro. Massimo Giordano sings Rodolfo in the final two performances.

Ren?e Fleming and Thomas Hampson star in the Met's first new production of Jules Massenet's richly melodic Tha?s in thirty years. The rarely performed opera opens at the Met on Monday, December 8, and runs through January 8, with the December 20 matinee transmitted live worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD series. 'Fleming and Hampson made a heavenly match,' Chicago Sun-Times critic Wynne Delacoma wrote when this production, which comes from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, opened there in 2002.

Ren?e Fleming and Thomas Hampson star in the Met's first new production of Jules Massenet's richly melodic Tha?s in thirty years. The rarely performed opera opens at the Met on Monday, December 8, and runs through January 8, with the December 20 matinee transmitted live worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD series. 'Fleming and Hampson made a heavenly match,' Chicago Sun-Times critic Wynne Delacoma wrote when this production, which comes from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, opened there in 2002.

LAByrinth Theater Company (John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Co-Artistic Director; John Gould Rubin, Co- Artistic & Executive Director) opens its alternative festival of free staged readings, Live Nude Plays (November 16-19, 2008).

LAByrinth Theater Company (John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Co-Artistic Director; John Gould Rubin, Co- Artistic & Executive Director) opens its alternative festival of free staged readings, Live Nude Plays (November 16 ? 19, 2008).

Daniel Barenboim Makes his Met Debut conducting Tristan and Isolde on November 28 Katarina Dalayman and Peter Seiffert sing the title roles for the first time at the Met, and René Pape reprises his acclaimed portrayal of King Marke

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will begin its second Native Theater Festival on Wednesday, November 12. This

Noted director Robert Lepage makes his Met debut with a technologically innovative new production of Hector Berlioz's masterpiece, La Damnation de Faust, opening on November 7. Music Director James Levine will conduct the first staging of the work at the Met since 1906, with Marcello Giordani in the title role, Susan Graham as Marguerite, and John Relyea as Méphistophélès.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced casting today for the second year of the Native Theater Festival, a four day festival dedicated to presenting extraordinary theatrical work by Native theater artists from the U.S. and Canada.

The Met's acclaimed production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, directed by the late Academy Award-winning film director Anthony Minghella, returns to the stage for twelve performances beginning Friday, October 24, 2008. Reprising their portrayals in the production this season are sopranos Patricia Racette and Cristina Gallardo-Domâs in the title role, tenors Roberto Aronica and Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, and baritone Dwayne Croft as Sharpless. Patrick Summers conducts the opera for the first time at Met.

LAByrinth Theater Company (John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Co-Artistic Director; John Gould Rubin, Co-Artistic & Executive Director) have announced that their annual BARN SERIES will begin on October 23rd, 2008.

Noted director Robert Lepage makes his Met debut with a technologically innovative new production of Hector Berlioz's masterpiece, La Damnation de Faust, opening on November 7. Music Director James Levine will conduct the first staging of the work at the Met since 1906, with Marcello Giordani in the title role, Susan Graham as Marguerite, and John Relyea as Méphistophélès.

The Met's acclaimed production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, directed by the late Academy Award-winning film director Anthony Minghella, returns to the stage for twelve performances beginning Friday, October 24, 2008. Reprising their portrayals in the production this season are sopranos Patricia Racette and Cristina Gallardo-Domâs in the title role, tenors Roberto Aronica and Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, and baritone Dwayne Croft as Sharpless. Patrick Summers conducts the opera for the first time at Met.

The Down Syndrome Association of Houston is proud to announce that the 2nd Annual DSAH, 'Evening With The Stars' Gala, will be held on Saturday October 4, 2008 at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Downtown Houston, benefitting the Down Syndrome Clinic of Houston at Texas Children's Hospital.

Franco Zeffirelli's lavish production of Verdi's poignant masterpiece about love and sacrifice, La Traviata, returns to the Metropolitan Opera stage on October 20 for nine performances through November 20, 2008. Anja Harteros sings the title role for the first time at the Met.

LAByrinth Theater Company (John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Co-Artistic Director; John Gould Rubin, Co-Artistic & Executive Director) has announced the complete lineup for its two annual festivals of free staged readings, the Barn Series (October 23 - November 15, 2008) and Live Nude Plays (November 16 - 19, 2008), as well as its next workshop production, Philip Roth in Khartoum (December 4 - 21, 2008), launching the second season of Public LAB.

Continuing its innovative use of electronic media to reach a global audience, the Metropolitan Opera introduces Met Player, a new subscription service that will make its extensive video and audio catalog of full-length performances available to the public for the first time online, and in exceptional, state-of-the-art quality. Beginning on October 22, 120 historic audio recordings and 50 full-length opera videos will be available during the first month of the new service, including over a dozen of the company's acclaimed The Met: Live in HD transmissions, known for their extraordinary sound and picture quality. New content, including HD productions and archival broadcasts, will be added monthly.

The Metropolitan Opera opens its 2008-09 season on September 22 with a gala performance that kicks off its 125th anniversary, starring Renée Fleming in three fully-staged scenes, including some of her most acclaimed portrayals. Costumes for Fleming have been specially created for each of the scenes in the Opening Night Gala by three of the world's legendary fashion designers: John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.

LAByrinth Theater Company (John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Co-Artistic Director; John Gould Rubin, Co-Artistic & Executive Director) enters the arena of power chords and monster riffs on October 20th, to present the sixth annual benefit featuring Celebrity Charades: this year's event will be a battle of the bands, invoking the theme 'We Will Rock You' at concert venue Terminal 5 (610 West 56th Street, at 11th Avenue).

Two of opera's leading sopranos - both acclaimed for their dramatic and vocal skills - sing the demanding title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor for the first time at the Met this season. In the opening performance, October 3, 2008, Diana Damrau - who last season became the first soprano to achieve the feat of singing both leading soprano roles in Mozart's Die Zauberflote, Pamina and the Queen of the Night, in the same Met season - sings the role of Lucia for the first time in her career. Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is her beloved Edgardo in his Met role debut.

When Erwin Schrott took on the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni last year at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, The New York Times wrote: 'The surprise was the riveting Giovanni: the seductively handsome young Uruguayan bass Erwin Schrott, who boasts a strong, dusky voice and chiseled physique. Exuding charisma, he galvanized the audience with his unabashedly narcissistic portrayal.' Now Schrott, who sang the role when the Met toured Japan in 2006, is bringing his portrayal to the Met stage for the first time beginning Saturday, September 27.