A FIERCE GREEN FIRE, Estonian National Ballet and More Set for Napa Valley Opera House, June 2013

The Napa Valley Opera House yesterday announced the following schedule of performances taking place throughout the month of June.

Tickets are available for all shows and can be purchased online at NVOH.org or by calling the box office at (707) 226-7372.

June Performances:

Expressions Music & Theater, Various Recitals

Performances:

· Music & Theater Recital - Saturday, June 1 at 11 a.m.

· Expressions Pre-K & Level 1 Dance Recital - Saturday, June 1 at 2:30 p.m.

· Expressions Level 1 & 2 Dance Recital - Sunday, June 2, 1 p.m.

· Expressions Level 2 & Competition Recital - Sunday, June 2, 5 p.m.

Tickets are available for $10 per person, per show.

Documentary: A Fierce Green Fire

Tuesday, June 4 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available for $7 per person.

The Battle for a Living Planet is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement - grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change. Directed and written by Mark Kitchell, Academy Award-nominated director of Berkeley in the Sixties, and narrated by Robert Redford, Ashley Judd, Van Jones, Isabel Allende and Meryl Streep, the film premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2012, has won acclaim at festivals around the world, and in 2013 begins theatrical release as well as educational distribution and use by environmental groups and grassroots activists.

Running time: 101 minutes

Brian Culbertson's Napa Valley Jazz Getaway

Performances:

· Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m.

· Friday, June 7 at 7 p.m.

For event information and to purchase tickets, visit http://napavalleyjazzgetaway2013.com/.

Film: Paul McCartney - Wings Over America

Saturday, June 8 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available for $10 per person.

ROCKSHOW is a 1980 concert film by Wings, filmed during their 1976 North American tour. It features 30 songs from four concerts of the tour: New York, May 25 (four songs); Seattle, Washington, June 10 (five songs); Los Angeles, California, June 22 (15 songs); and Los Angeles, California, June 23 (six songs). This was part of the Wings Over the World Tour that also spawned the triple live album Wings Over America. McCartney remained reluctant to make the entire film available to the general public until now.

Running time: 141 minutes (includes exclusive 12-min interview with Paul McCartney)

Film: The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Monday, June 17 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available for $10 per person.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows the journey of two drag queens and a transsexual woman, played by Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, and Terence Stamp, across the Australian Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a tour bus that they have named "Priscilla", along the way encountering various groups and individuals.

Rated: R

Running Time: 104 minutes

Fatoumata Diawara

Thursday, June 20 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available starting at $15 per person.

On her debut album, singer/songwriter Fatoumata Diawara - called "the most beguiling talent to hit the world music scene in some time" - uses elements of jazz, pop, and funk along with her ancestral Wassoulou tradition, accompanying her voice with rhythmical guitar playing and her own percussion work. Her lyrics touch on such serious and personal subjects as a woman's right to choose her spouse, and the songwriter's own painful experience with the African practice of being raised away from her parents.

Mariachi Divas

Saturday, June 22 at 8 p.m.

Ticket are available starting at $25 per person.

Directed and founded by trumpet player Cindy Shea in 1999, Mariachi Divas have made big waves on the national and international music scene. Mariachi Divas are a unique, multi-cultural, all female ensemble, imbued with the true flavor of Los Angeles and have been represented by women of a wide variety of descents. In 2009, Mariachi Divas won the Grammy Award for Best Regional Mexican Album of the year for their release, Canciones De Amor.

Tuesday Night Flicks: Adam's Rib (1949)

Tuesday, June 25 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available for $7 per person.

Successful attorney Amanda Bonner (Katharine Hepburn) decides to defend Doris (Judy Holliday), who stands accused of the attempted murder of her husband (Tom Ewell) and his mistress (Jean Hagen), while Bonner's lawyer husband, Adam (Spencer Tracy), signs on as the prosecuting attorney. The sensational trial that ensues finds them sitting at opposing sides of the courtroom -- and the dinner table. Not only do Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy throw comedic sparks , but their exquisite verbal jousting was scripted by the outstanding husband-wife team of Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon. The result is one of Hollywood's greatest comedy classics, still packing a punch with its sophisticated gender politics. Arguably the best of the Tracy-Hepburn vehicles, Adam's Rib shows the stars at their finest in roles that not only made their off-screen love so entertainingly obvious, but also defined their timeless screen personas--she the intelligent, savvy, rebellious woman ahead of her time, he the easygoing but obstinate modern man who can't help but love her. Screen teams don't get any better than this.

Running Time: 101 minutes

Mark Hummel's Blues Harp Blowout: Little Walter Tribute

Thursday, June 27 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available starting at $25 per person.

Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowout returns to the Opera House, this time paying tribute to Blues Harp great, Little Walter. For the past 22 years, Mark Hummel has been putting together these great all-star performances. On this, his third trip to the Opera House, Mark joins forces with Corky Siegel, James Harman & Little Charlie Baty along with the Blues Survivors paying tribute to the great Little Walter.

Greg Brown

Saturday, June 29 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available starting at $25 per person.

Greg Brown was born in the Hacklebarney section of southeastern Iowa and raised by a family that made words and music a way of life. His seasoned songwriting, storytelling, and music are deeply rooted in that place. He moves audiences with warmth, humor, a thundering voice and his unpretentious musical vision.

Estonian National Ballet

Sunday, June 30 at 4 p.m.

Tickets are available starting at $30 per person.

The Estonian National Ballet will perform Marina Kesler's "Othello" and Tiit Helimet's "Time."

"OTHELLO"

Marina Kesler's ballet is inspired by one of the most captivating and exciting dramas of all times - William Shakespeare's Othello and by Arvo Pärt's music. Our daily life does not pass uneventful and everyone has something to learn. But when do we lose control of our fate, so that our fate becomes in control of us? The production stresses the timelessness of human nature and depicts people's ability of making choices. The moment of decision is preceded by a borderline state, where it is still possible to choose the line of action - good or bad. In the moment of confusion, when tormented by heartache and disappointment, decisions are made that cannot be undone. By choosing evil, you may lose everything.

In 2007 Marina Kesler received the Estonian Theatre Award for the humane message and interesting choreography of her ballet Werewolf that premiered in the Estonian National Opera.

"TIME"

Tiit Helimets ballet is inspired by TIME. How does our life change with TIME? How do we change with TIME? What will be created trough TIME and what will be destroyed? The ballet is constructed as elements of time (minutes, an hour, seconds, and lastly a century). First movement represents minutes and two couples on the stage represent opposition in their movement style. Second movement represents an hour and a god like figure creates a being and deliberates if a creature has a chance for survival or not. Third movement is about seconds and represents our new lifestyle where genders are mixed and lifestyle has become too fast causing world to explode. Fourth movement represents century, where the mother of earth raises and gives another opportunity for human survival bringing the ballet back to the beginning again.

Paula Matthusen is a composer of electro acoustic music who collaborates with choreographers and theatre companies in creating and designing productions. In addition she realizes sound installations. Her work often considers discrepancies in musical space - real, imagined, and remembered.

Abi Basch is a playwright and director whose work has been produced in the U.S. by renowned companies and festivals. Abi is a core member of kInDeRdEuTsCh pRoJeKtS, a German/American physical theater company that generates movement-based multi-media plays and performance installations based on her scripts.

The Napa Valley Opera House is located in the heart of Downtown Napa and is one the city's only event venues. The Opera House originally opened its doors in 1880 and remains one of Napa's most important cultural icons. During the 1980's and 1990's the Opera House experienced a multi-million dollar renovation and reopened for performances in 2003. Since the reopening, the Opera House has recaptured its original grandeur and then some. Drawing the biggest names in music, the venue has welcome talents such as Shawn Colvin, Chris Botti, Wynston Marsalis and the renowned Emerson String Quartet. For more information about the Napa Valley Opera House or to purchase tickets to a show, visit www.NVOH.org. You can also "like" the Opera House on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/NapaValleyOperaHouse and follow the event venue on Twitter at @NVOH.

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