53 stories by "John Von Rhein"
Why the Tony Award nominee wanted to tackle the Adam Guettel musical.
If the plethora of activity in Chicago alone is any indication, the field is experiencing a veritable golden age of new American chamber operas. This season is bringing the local premieres, …
Since 1955, when Lyric Opera mounted its first production of "I Puritani" to display Maria Callas in one of her most celebrated bel canto roles, Vincenzo Bellini's final opera has drifted in…
"Turandot," Puccini's unfinished valedictory to the stage, is an elaborate operatic fairy tale. But for fairy tales to really work, there must be magic and mystery the audience can believe i…
What happens when the one and only Bill Murray recites American literature and flexes his pipes on songs from the great American songbook, backed by three accomplished classical musicians at…
In a major cooperative effort by the city's leading producers of ballet and opera, the Joffrey Ballet and Lyric Opera of Chicago announced Friday that the dance company will move its season …
"Johnny Johnson" was Kurt Weill's first work for the American theater, written for New York's Group Theatre in 1936, only three years after the German-Jewish composer managed to escape Nazi …
Contemporary operas about ordinary people crushed by powerful forces they are helpless to control mark another venturesome festival season of the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Both "The Grapes…
It must be hard for those weaned on digital culture to appreciate the enormous impact Walt Disney and his entertainment empire had on my generation. When I was growing up, owning a Davy Croc…
Take away the pretty but dramatically irrelevant window dressing, and the "Carmen" that settled in for a long winter's run over the weekend at the Civic Opera House is pretty much your stand…
In a first collaboration between Lyric Opera, L.A. Opera and the Joffrey Ballet, a new coproduction of the 1774 Paris version of Gluck's opera "Orphee et Eurydice" will debut next season in …
Not to worry, the kids are all right " they are just putting on a Mozart show in their backyard. That's the improbable dramatic premise behind the new production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute…
Welcome to Club Fairy Queen, a louche Vegas lounge and hotel run by a sleazy owner-emcee named Puck. The drinks are spiked and the possibilities of erotic adventure are, as result, practical…
In the interest of truth in titling, one or more of the exclamation points in "Longer! Louder! Wagner!," Lyric Opera's latest collaboration with Second City, could be removed without inflict…
This is the way the world begins. On a darkened stage, lit by a single floor lamp. From the depths of the orchestra emerges the E flat major chord representing the rolling currents of the Rh…
Considering how extensively the orchestral, instrumental and chamber repertory of the 18th century and earlier periods has been mined by modern performers, it's strange that the operas of Fr…
Having devoted its scholarly attention to rarities of Baroque opera, Haymarket Opera Company now has set its sights on rescuing worthy Baroque oratorios from similar modern neglect. As part …
Lyric Opera general director Anthony Freud's bringing in directors from the theater world to help breathe new dramatic life and contemporary relevance into an old art form thus far has produ…
Lyric Opera general director Anthony Freud's bringing in directors from the theater world to help breathe new dramatic life and contemporary relevance into an old art form thus far has produ…
Considering Lyric Opera of Chicago's long and honorable history as a haven for the stage works of Giuseppe Verdi, his "Nabucco" has led a curiously spotty performance life at the company onc…
Considering Lyric Opera of Chicago's long and honorable history as a haven for the stage works of Giuseppe Verdi, his "Nabucco" has led a curiously spotty performance life at the company onc…
The earnest efforts of general director Anthony Freud and music director Andrew Davis to make Lyric Opera of Chicago a leader rather than a follower among the leading American opera companie…
The earnest efforts of general director Anthony Freud and music director Andrew Davis to make Lyric Opera of Chicago a leader rather than a follower among the leading American opera companie…
Seldom has a new opera been overtaken by real-life events quite to the degree that "Bel Canto" has at Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Audience members attending the work's highly anticipated world …
Seldom has a new opera been overtaken by real-life events quite to the degree that "Bel Canto" has at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Audience members attending the work's highly anticipated world p…
