Lee Blakeley News

Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Susan Graham launches a four-date U.S. recital tour today with pianist Bradley Moore in Myrtle Beach, SC, with the trek including the singer's Kimmel Center recital debut in Philadelphia on April 2. The recital program of Purcell, Berlioz, Poulenc and Cole Porter will be drawn from Graham's second Onyx album, Virgins, Vixens & Viragos. In a review of the recording, the UK's Sunday Times noted: 'It's hard to think of another contemporary singer who could pull off the tour de force Graham achieves here, with numbers ranging over a period of almost 300 years.' Back in New York on April 26, Graham will perform a special concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. The program - titled 'Sculpting Sound' and held in conjunction with the exhibition The Passions of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux - will feature the music of the 19th-century French sculptor's friends and collaborators, including Bizet, Gounod and more. Graham will be joined by pianist Brian Zeger (director of the Juilliard Vocal Arts Department), as well as by bass-baritone Evan Hughes and soprano Layla Claire. This summer, Graham will cap her season in Paris by making her role debut as Anna in The King and I at the Théâtre du Châtelet (June 13-29).

The critically acclaimed Brits Off Broadway festival, host to the UK's most innovative and provocative theater in New York City, returns for its 9th season of New York premieres of new British theater. Presented by 59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer), Brits Off Broadway launches on Tuesday, April 1 and runs through Sunday, June 29. The single ticket prices range from $25 - $70 ($17.50 - $49 for 59E59 Members). Tickets to Brits Off Broadway go on sale on February 28, with a special pre-sale for 59E59 Members beginning February 21. Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org. For more information on Brits Off Broadway, visit www.59E59.org or www.britsoffbroadway.com.

The recent French premiere Opera de Toulon production of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's FOLLIES as well as the spectacularly elaborate, visually and aurally resplendant English-language Theatre du Chatelet production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE will both be arriving on DVD in 2014 according to a new announcement.

Today, on the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, Plácido Domingoannounces the full casting and production details for LA Opera's upcoming production of Falstaff, Verdi's final opera based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. 'All year long, opera houses around the world have been celebrating the bicentenary of Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest of all Italian composers,' said Mr. Domingo, LA Opera's General Director. 'In just a few weeks, we will unveil a new staging of Verdi's comic masterpiece, the crowning glory of his extraordinary career.'

Susan Graham - winner of a Grammy, an Opera News Award, Musical America's Vocalist of the Year, and hailed by the New York Times as 'an artist to treasure' - returns for another compelling season, highlighted by three role debuts. As Houston Grand Opera's 2013-14 Lynn Wyatt Great Artist, she undertakes Prince Orlofsky in the company's first staging of Die Fledermaus in 30 years.

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE is set to be unveiled at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris tonight in a glittery new production, starring theatre and film notable Julian Oveden and featuring a 60-piece orchestra, and it has now been confirmed that the production will be recorded for radio broadcast and streamed live coming up later this month.

LA Opera announces the 2013-2014 season, including Bizet's Carmen, Verdi's Falstaff, Mozart's The Magic Flute, Britten's Billy Budd, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Massenet's Thaïs, L.A. premiere of Wilson/Glass collaboration Einstein on the Beach.

Works & Process at the Guggenheim has announced its spring 2013 season. Since 1984, the performing-arts series has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to leading creators and performers. Each intimate, 80-minute performance uniquely combines artistic creation and stimulating conversation and takes place in the Guggenheim's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed, 285-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater, where new reserved seating is now offered. A reception for the audience and artists follows most programs. Described by the New York Times as "a popular series devoted to shedding light on the creative process," Works & Process is produced by founder Mary Sharp Cronson. Past performance highlights can be viewed at youtube.com/worksandprocess.

THE TALES OF HOFFMANN, SEMELE, and more are set for upcoming performances with the Canadian Opera Company.

THE TALES OF HOFFMANN, SEMELE, and more are set for upcoming performances with the Canadian Opera Company.

The Canadian Opera Company has announced the following upcoming events.

Greta Scacchi and Leslie Caron lead the cast of the Théâtre du Châtele's production of Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC in Paris, which opened last night, February 15. Scacchi plays prominent actress Desiree Armfeldt and Caron stars as Madame Armfeldt.

Greta Scacchi and Leslie Caron will lead the cast of the Théâtre du Châtele's production of Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC in Paris. Scacchi will play prominent actress Desiree Armfeldt and Caron will star as Madame Armfeldt. The production will be directed by Lee Blakeley. Below are production photos from the show which opens February 15, 2010.