Director Anthony Minghella’s sumptuous and visually stunning production of Madama Butterfly is matched perfectly to the sweeping lush melodies of Giacomo Puccini.  Lovingly directed and choreographed by Carolyn Choa, Mr. Minghella’s widow (Mr. Minghe …Read more

Two queens, two religions, one throne, and one man equals constant conflict, and the Metropolitan Opera’s spellbinding production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda does not disappoint!  From the opening roll of the timpani to the frenzied violins …Read more

Phrases, hashtags and statistics abound about gender and racial parity in the American theater today. Theater artist Nandita Shenoy, a multi-talented petite powerhouse, doesn’t just talk about these pressing issues, she’s doing something about it.  H …Read more

Lawrence Edelson, founder and producing artistic director of American Lyric Theater (ALT) wears many hats in the opera world and beyond.  For the past nine years, ALT’s Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP) has been a vital and important par …Read more

Recently, I had the pleasure of talking about the new play I and You by Lauren Gunderson, having its New York premiere Off Broadway at 59E59, and the process of developing new work with theater director Sean Daniels.  A few days later, I had the good …Read more

Invigorating fun best describes an early Sunday afternoon conversation with theater director Sean Daniels in the empty 59E59 theater, where Friday night I’d just seen the first preview of Lauren Gunderson’s stunning two hander I and You, a tour de fo …Read more

Brooklyn-based Canadian librettist Royce Vavrek is a very busy man these days, and New York audiences are very lucky!  This month, the 2016 Prototype Festival features two of his operas, Angel’s Bone with composer Du Yun and Dog Days with composer Da …Read more

Three ordinary people, a husband, a wife and a woman, meet at a shabby hotel by the sea with only a 4th floor, only one room on that floor and only one employee, a porter.  But the action of The Last Hotel, a dark and devastating new opera by compose …Read more

A family’s struggle to survive in post-apocalyptic America is bleak subject matter, but the New York City premiere of Dog Days, a groundbreaking chamber opera with intrusive elements of heavy metal music, manages to give us a small ember of hope amid …Read more

Deep into the process of rehearsing and shaping their new musical theater piece The Good Swimmer, a First Look Presentation at the 2016 Prototype Festival, librettist Donna Di Novelli  and composer Heidi Rodewald took a few minutes of precious time t …Read more