Leonard Foglia News

The Dallas Opera has released soprano Elza van den Heever from singing the upcoming matinee performance of Vincenzo Bellini's NORMA on Sunday, May 7, 2017 at 2:00 p.m., due to a family emergency.  Acclaimed Italian-Canadian soprano, Aviva Fortunata, will assume the role of the betrayed Druid priestess.

An elite group of nineteen of the most talented young opera singers in the country competed this weekend for prestige and prizes in the 29th Annual Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition.

The Dallas Opera presents The Everest Trio, culminating in a semi-staged performance of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer's critically acclaimed 2015 masterpiece,Everest, on the stage of the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. This one-time-only performance on Friday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. will be conducted by Dallas Opera Music Director Emmanuel Villaume and directed by Leonard Foglia, who staged the earlier world premiere.

The Dallas Opera announces one remarkable evening of music, competition, and celebration as two great traditions come together. The Dallas Opera Springs Gala 2017returns this year in partnership with the final round of the 29th Annual Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. The events focus on encouraging the next generation of artists with proceeds from the Gala to support the company's education programs.

In honor of its 60th Season, The Dallas Opera is elated to present Celebrate 60: Past, Present, and Future, a week of public performances and special events designed to pay tribute to the company's founding and illustrious history, to celebrate six decades on the national and international stage, and to demonstrate TDO's commitment to the highest levels of artistic excellence and innovation.

The Dallas Opera is thrilled to present—for the first time on our stage—Vincenzo Bellini's suspense-filled masterpiece of the bel canto repertoire, NORMA, starring the phenomenal South African-born soprano Elza van den Heever in the title role of a Druid priestess wronged by the man she loves.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, is pleased to announce it has awarded grants to 10 opera companies through The Opera Fund: Audience Development grant program, which promotes deep learning experiences about new or infrequently produced American operas and music-theater works. Each grant supports audience development activities associated with a specific work being produced by a Professional Company Member of OPERA America.

Second Stage Theatre presents the New York premiere production of Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tracy Letts' play, MAN FROM NEBRASKA, directed by David Cromer.

Second Stage Theatre presents the New York premiere production of Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tracy Letts' play, MAN FROM NEBRASKA, directed by David Cromer. MAN FROM NEBRASKA begins previews tonight, January 26, 2017 at the Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd Street). Opening night is Wednesday, February 15.

Due to extremely high ticket demand, Anna Deavere Smith's critically acclaimed new work, NOTES FROM THE FIELD, has added a performance at 1pm on Wednesday, December 14. The production plays through Sunday, December 18th at Second Stage Theatre (305 West 43rd Street).

Just announced, Annette O'Toole will assume the role of Nancy Carpenter in the upcoming New York premiere production of Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tracy Letts' play, MAN FROM NEBRASKA, directed by David Cromer.

Houston Grand Opera continues its cycle of holiday operas with the world premiere of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The timeless tale follows a troubled banker whose guardian angel shows him the lasting impact our lives can have on those around us.

Houston Grand Opera continues its cycle of holiday operas with the world premiere of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The timeless tale follows a troubled banker whose guardian angel shows him the lasting impact our lives can have on those around us.

San Francisco Opera will present the West Coast premiere of It's a Wonderful Life, a new opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, during the 2018-19 Season at the War Memorial Opera House. An opera in two acts, It's a Wonderful Life is a co-commission and co-production with Houston Grand Opera and Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music and is based on Frank Capra's beloved 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life, by permission of Paramount Licensing, Inc., and "The Greatest Gift," a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern.

San Francisco Opera will present the West Coast premiere of It's a Wonderful Life, a new opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, during the 2018-19 Season at the War Memorial Opera House. An opera in two acts, It's a Wonderful Life is a co-commission and co-production with Houston Grand Opera and Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music and is based on Frank Capra's beloved 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life, by permission of Paramount Licensing, Inc., and 'The Greatest Gift,' a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern.

Second Stage Theatre will host a special post-performance conversation between Anna Deavere Smith and The Atlantic journalist and New York Times bestselling author, Amanda Ripley, one of the interview subjects Ms. Smith portrays in her acclaimed new work, NOTES FROM THE FIELD.

Due to extremely high ticket demand, Anna Deavere Smith's critically acclaimed new work, NOTES FROM THE FIELD, will extend for one week and will now play through Sunday, December 18th at Second Stage Theatre (305 West 43rd Street). The production, directed by Leonard Foglia and featuring original music composed and performed by Marcus Shelby, opened to rave reviews on November 2nd and was originally scheduled to close on Sunday, December 11th.

The Dallas Opera is very proud to present the eagerly anticipated revival of an historic Dallas Opera production: Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's critically acclaimed twenty-first century masterpiece: MOBY-DICK, starring world-renowned heldentenor Jay Hunter Morris as Captain Ahab.

Second Stage Theatre's New York Premiere production of NOTES FROM THE FIELD: DOING TIME IN EDUCATION, the latest work created, written and performed by groundbreaking theatre artist Anna Deavere Smith with music composed and performed by Marcus Shelby and directed by Leonard Foglia, opened just last night, November 2, 2016 at the Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd Street). 

Placed throughout Anna Deavere Smith's revealing new theatre piece, NOTES FROM THE FIELD, are violent video clips that have become all too familiar to any American with access to YouTube.