Deborah Voigt Joins Rufus Wainwright For BBC Proms Performance

Operatic soprano Deborah Voigt joined pop star Rufus Wainwright at the 2014 BBC Proms. Watch the two sing "If I Loved You" from the musical Carousel and Ms. Voigt sing "Quand j'étais jeune étudiante" from Wainwright's opera Prima Donna, after the jump.

Ticket Frenzy May Occur For "The Sound Of Music" In New Zealand

"Climb Every Mountain, Ford Every Stream"
Lesley Garrett will take over as head of the Abbey in
The Sound of Music. (Photo: Simon Fowler)

"The world’s most popular musical is coming to New Zealand! Lunchbox Theatrical Productions and David Atkins Enterprises present Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Ian and the Really Useful Group’s London Palladium Production of The Sound of Music. The lavish and much-anticipated London production of The Sound of Music comes to New Zealand in September. Tickets to the Auckland season go on sale tomorrow – exclusively to those who have registered on waitlists. The Auckland season will run from 3 October at The Civic theatre for a strictly limited time, following on from a season at Wellington's St James Theatre from 12 September. This acclaimed production of the legendary Rodgers and Hammerstein musical premiered at the home of West End musical theatre – the London Palladium – where it celebrated a record-breaking 954 performances and was seen by well over 2 million people, before going on to enjoy sell-out performances internationally. Fans are urged to act swiftly to avoid disappointment as waitlists for these tickets have exceeded any other waitlists for a major musical in Auckland during the past three years....Reprising her West End role especially for the New Zealand tour is international opera star Lesley Garrett as the Mother Abbess. Britain’s most popular soprano, Lesley Garrett CBE has found fame on the stage, on TV and as a recording artist, winning both critical acclaim and the affection of many fans and music lovers. Lesley’s operatic career includes lead roles with the Royal Opera at Covent Garden in London, English National Opera at the London Coliseum, the internationally renowned Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Welsh National Opera as well as Opera North. Internationally she has performed in operas or in concert throughout Europe, the USA, Australia, Russia, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea. Her major television appearances include Lesley Garrett…Tonight, The Lesley Garrett Show, The Singer, Sacred Songs and Lesley Garrett – Desert Dreams for the BBC. Lesley has 14 solo CDs to her credit." [Source] A photo of Ms. Garrett as Mother Abbess, after the jump.

Nathan Gunn And Mandy Patinkin Duet Show Scheduled Out To 2015

Patinkin (left) and Gunn (right) carry on the tradition
of pairings like Frank Sinatra & Luciano Pavarotti and
Carol Burnett & Beverly Sills in their show of
musical tunes combined with opera excerpts.

Despite having to cancel their appearance at the Ravinia Festival this summer due to Mandy Patinkin's filming schedule for Homeland, the duo continues to take their show on the road. The Charlotte Observer is announcing their participation in the 2014-15 concert series lineup:

March 18: “An Evening With Mandy Patinkin and Nathan Gunn” pairs the Homeland star with a quasi-operatic tenor and the baritone with Metropolitan Opera experience and a popular approach. You may get songs from musicals known well (Carousel) or less well (The Secret Garden), Americana, ’70s pop tunes, even a medley of “Singing in the Bathtub” and “Largo al factotum” from The Barber of Seville. Gunn’s wife and music director Julie Jordan Gunn and Patinkin’s longtime accompanist, Paul Ford, join them onstage. [Source] 

Watch a video of the two performers discussing how they met and came up with the idea for the show, after the jump.

Christine Brewer Talks About Doing Musical Theater For The First Time

The soprano leads a chorus of nuns in The Sound of Music. (Photo: Todd Rosenberg/BWW)

"Christine Brewer usually goes several days between performances. As a dramatic soprano who specializes in the taxing roles of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner, rest is important to conserve her voice and her strength. Not this time. This time, as the Abbess in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music at Lyric Opera of Chicago, she’s on a musical theater schedule of eight performances a week, including just one day off and two days with two shows, a matinee and an evening performance. 'This is an unusual schedule for me,' the Lebanon, Illinois-based singer said in a telephone interview last week. 'I’ve never done a musical theater piece before. I don’t sing that much (in the show), but when I do, it’s big guns. I'm eating a lot of chicken soup and taking my vitamins.'....Brewer worked on her dialogue in St. Louis with her voice teacher, Christine Armistead, and with director Mark Bruni, 'and then it was Jenn [Gambatese]. She'd say, 'Let’s just run the lines.' We’ve developed a really nice relationship on and off stage. Words are so important in singing, and this is really giving me a chance to bring that to my mind in a different way.' She's connected with others in the cast, too. 'When you’re in an intimate, very emotional preparation and performance, it’s like family,' Brewer said. 'I knew (soprano) Elizabeth (Futral, who plays Elsa), and some of the women from the chorus, and that was it. The first days were a little tense; the musical theater people had never worked in an opera house, with such a big space to rehearse in, such a big stage, and a full orchestra.' They had some trouble adjusting to the idea that singers regularly fill that giant auditorium with sound with no amplification....In her free time, Brewer is working on her music for Dialogues of the Carmelites at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. 'I'm feeling holy,' she joked, with back-to-back nun roles." [Source] A picture of Elizabeth Futral, as Elsa, is after the jump.

Deborah Voigt Recognized By Casita Maria Center For Arts

Honoree Deborah Voigt is seen at far right.

"Casita Maria Center honored Deborah Voigt for her outstanding contributions to music at its Musicale benefit on Tuesday, May 13th at 6:00 pm at the home of Maria Eugenia and William Haseltine in Manhattan. The Musicale featured performances by the acclaimed pianist Alexander Romanovsky and the students of the Casita Maria Music Program. The proceeds from the Musicale will benefit Casita Maria’s Music Program, founded by Gaetana Enders, a board member of the organization." [Source] Also check out a video of Ms. Voigt, performing with soprano Kristin Chenoweth for "The Evolution of the Soprano" at Carnegie Hall that took place on May 3, 2014, after the jump.

Audra McDonald In Acclaimed "Sound Of Music" Performance On NBC

Teddy Tahu Rhodes Runs On Coffee, Wine, And Beer

(Photo: Cal Crary)

"His grand baritone and tall, brawny bearing have made Teddy Tahu Rhodes a pop star of the opera circuit and beyond. The cooly reserved New Zealander and one-time accountant is returning to the role of French expatriate Emile de Becque in Opera Australia's terrific production of South Pacific, a love story set during World War II. Reprising her part alongside Rhodes in last year's hit season of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical is screen favourite Lisa McCune as Nellie Forbush, the nurse who falls for the wealthy plantation owner with a chequered past. Their apparent chemistry off-stage as well as on drew considerable attention last year, but Rhodes neatly sidestepped a question here about the two of them. Reports suggest they are also set to pair up on stage next year as leads in another musical classic, The King and I." Read all about his daily routine, from what gets him going in the morning to post-performance activities, by clicking here. [Source]

The Sad Reality of How Many New Yorkers Get to Attend the Opera

Operatic Flair: A scene from Starlight Express

In a recent article written by Mark Brennan Rosenberg for the Huffington Post, the author debunks some fantasies about living in New York City. A excerpt reveals much about how some New Yorkers are getting their opera:

It's the epicenter of culture.

New York has more to offer culturally than almost any other city in the world. However, I don't care what anyone says, no one really likes going to the ballet, the opera or museums. If you have actually gone to the opera this year, it was because your friend had a free ticket and it was: "A very New York thing to do and there wasn't a good party happening that night" so you took the ticket, but didn't pay for it because you're too broke to afford that shit, even though you're working three jobs. Deep down inside, you know that you'd rather be watching Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Don't front. You know you would. As bad as that crap is, people being flung from the rafters and nearly meeting their death in order to entertain you is much more thrilling that a fat woman singing a language you never bothered to learn. Come on, admit it, it's okay, no one will criticize you... except for your friend who invited you to the opera who thinks that "all theater is trash" but secretly listens to the cast recording of Starlight Express every night before he goes to bed so that he can make fun of you to your face and not look like a hypocrite.

[Source]