Mozart's
〰️
Così fan tutte
〰️
Mozart's 〰️ Così fan tutte 〰️
Così fan tutte
Joachim Schamberger, director;
Benjamin Manis, conductor;
Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra;
Northwestern University Opera Theater, Evanston, IL
Lifan Deng, Don Alfonso
With Mozart’s memorable melodies and Lorenzo Da Ponte’s comedic libretto, Così fan tutte has become an enduring audience favorite. In this present-day setting of the classic tale, Ferrando and Guglielmo agree to a wager with reality show producer Don Alfonso, who is confident he can prove that their fiancées, Dorabella and Fiordiligi, are fickle. The two young men pretend to have been called off to war, then visit their betrotheds in disguise—and thus begins the test of the women’s fidelity.
Il nostro posto nel mondo
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Il nostro posto nel mondo 〰️
Our Place in the World
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Our Place in the World 〰️
IL NOSTRO POSTO NEL MONDO
Marco Emanuele, music;
Marco Gnaccolini, libretto;
Claire DiVizio, director;
Lígia Pucci, conductor;
Thompson Street Opera Company, Chicago, IL
Lifan Deng, Voce 2
Please join us for this double bill of works about queer love and loss. First is the World Premiere of Wet Dirt by Collin Kemeny with libretto by Andrea L. Hart, which follows a couple whose relationship is struggling after a mutual friend’s death. Following an intermission will be our first work in Italian: the US premiere of Il nostro posto nel mondo (Our Place in the World) by Marco Emanuele and Marco Gnaccolini, in which two soulmates find each other in multiple reincarnations across time, gender, and even species.
Ruddigore
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Ruddigore 〰️
Ruddigore
Shane Valenzi, Stage Director;
Matthew Sheppard, Music Director;
The University Chamber Orchestra, University of Chicago;
Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, Chicago, IL;
Lifan Deng, Old Adam Goodheart;
Ivan @ibips, photos.
Equal parts spectacle and satire, Ruddigore; or, The Witch’s Curse features Gilbert and Sullivan's topsy-turvy take on classic British melodrama: kindhearted villains, damsels in distress who would rather be kidnapped than rescued, and a comical family secret. The operetta features the memorable "Chorus of Ancestors," in which a nobleman must face his family's past — literally — as his predecessors' portraits come alive and argue with him.
GSOC’s 2024 production of Ruddigore promises to delight audience members of all experience levels—from Savoyard aficionados to light opera novices—and director Shane Valenzi promises the show “will be a true testament to the enduring power and beauty of Gilbert & Sullivan for generations to come
The Music Man
〰️
The Music Man 〰️
The Music Man in Concert
Aaron Reese Boseman, director;
Aaron Kaplan, Conductor;
JAM Orchestra;
Metropolis Performing Arts Center, Arlington Heights, IL;
Lifan Deng, Olin Britt;
Jennifer Heim, photos.
Presented as a concert staging with more than 40 dynamic performers backed by a 25-piece orchestra, this is a rare opportunity to hear Meredith Willson’s charming, six-time Tony Award-winning musical with the power and grandeur it deserves.
The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a band that he vows to organize – despite the fact that he does not know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip towns with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain’s fall.
