South Africa's Celebrated Isango Ensemble Returns To Boston With THE MAGIC FLUTE

ArtsEmerson will welcome back the Isango Ensemble with their re-imagination of Mozart's classic opera, The Magic Flute, as the first of five reprise productions in its 10th Anniversary Season. The internationally celebrated group of Cape Town artists and musicians return to take on the beloved and timeless tale with marimbas, oil drums, inventive design, and bold energy, as a young prince tries to win the love of a princess whose mother is the Queen of the Night.

Adapted and directed by Mark Dornford-May, The Magic Flute plays five performances only, November 6 -10, 2019, at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, where the show enjoyed a blockbuster ArtsEmerson run in 2014. Tickets may be purchased at www.ArtsEmerson.org, by phone at 617.824.8400 or at the box office.

Tickets may also be purchased as part of an ArtsEmerson Season Package, featuring savings up to 40%. Groups of 10+ attending a performance save 20%-30%. For more information, contact the box office at tickets@artsemerson.org or 617.824.8400.

The Magic Flute is a journey toward self-knowledge, and compassion; one that is intended to engage its entire audience. It is undeniably joyful and as The Boston Globe declared, "[an] ingenious mix of Mozart's 1791 opera and contemporary African culture." Director Mark Dornford-May says "it was created to be performed in a suburban theatre for "ordinary" people, not the aristocracy. It is a world-beating piece of music storytelling, and it has always belonged to Everyman."

This engagement marks the third time ArtsEmerson is hosting Isango Ensemble at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. The original October 2014 engagement of The Magic Flute marked their first appearance, and based on the overwhelming enthusiasm for the company, they returned the following season in November 2015 with two shows presented in repertory: uCarmen and A Midsummer Night's Dream, again captivating local audiences.

Known around the globe for their commitment to creating work that reflects and unites a diverse South African nation, Isango's productions speak across racial, economic and political divides through an experience that can only be described as "pure Isango."

"It is great to be coming back to Boston," says The Magic Flute director Mark Dornford-May. "Our relationship with Arts Emerson is one that is very special to all of us in Isango, in many ways it feels like our American home. To be playing The Magic Flute in that wonderful space is a privilege, and hopefully we will see old friends in the audience as well as make some new ones."

"With our 10th season we wanted to show Boston both where we have come from and where we are going," says ArtsEmerson Artistic Director David Dower. "So we commissioned five new works and brought back five projects from the first nine years that, taken together, reveal ArtsEmerson's DNA. Leading off with The Magic Flute as the first returning project was a no-brainer. This company has captured the hearts of thousands of Bostonians with their ArtsEmerson performances and Flute was their first visit to us. The joy, the virtuosity, the power of 19 people and all those marimbas on stage, the unexpected setting of this classic opera as an African folk tale, all contribute to the surprise and enduring popularity of this show. People fairly float out of the theater at the end. That kind of joy is too rare and right on time."

Mozart's classic opera, The Magic Flute, has been completely re-imagined, transformed and translated into multiple dialects (including English, Xhosa, Zulu and Tswana) by the Isango Ensemble- but the story remains the same.

Ticket Information:

Online: ArtsEmerson.org

Phone: 617-824-8400

In Person: (Advance): Paramount Center Box Office (559 Washington Street) open Tuesday-Saturday from 10am-6pm

In Person (Within 2 hours of show): Cutler Majestic Box Office (219 Tremont Street)

Prices range from $25-$105 (subject to change)

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