Written by Michael Zwiebach The 20th century is littered with the corpses of high-minded comic operas . Satire is what closes on Saturday night, said George S. Kaufman, whose witticism has passed into theater folklore. Fearlessly, composer Jake Heggie and his long-time librettist Gene Scheer took up the challenge with The Judgment of Paris —...
Written by Joshua Kosman July 19, 2026 Festival Napa Valley celebrates its 20th year with the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “The Judgment of Paris” opera at Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena on Saturday, July 18. Most operas are written to be repertory items, performed in one theater this year and...
Written by Stephen Wilson July 14, 2026 The producers of Hadestown have unveiled a star-studded new cast for the hit West End musical, with Nathan Sykes , Danielle de Niese , Shaun Dooley , Fayth Ifil and Malinda Parris joining the company from 15 September 2026. The announcement comes as the Tony and Grammy Award-winning...
Written by Tanyel Gumushan July 14, 2026 Hadestown has unveiled new leads at the Lyric Theatre, as the show celebrates its 1000th performance this week. The award-winning musical retells the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice and of Hades and Persephone. It features music, lyrics and book by Anaïs Mitchell, with direction by Rachel Chavkin. Set...
Written by Planet Hugill June 8, 2026 Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro ; Elinor Rolfe Johnson, Timothy Nelson, Ellie Neate, Jack Sandison, Abbie Ward, director: Danielle de Niese, conductor: Orlando Jopling, Wild Arts; Layer Marney Tower Reviewed 7 June 2026 Danielle de Niese makes her directorial debut, encouraging a fine cast to give us a...
