Chicago Opera Theater's MOSCOW, CHERYOMUSHKI Opens 4/14

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) presents the opening production of their 2012 Season, and General Director Brian Dickie's last season with the company, with Shostakovich's Moscow, Cheryomushki.   Performances are April 14, 20, 22, and 25 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park.   

This is Brian's 23^rd Chicago premiere since he became COT General Director in 1999.  

"Shostakovich is one of the great composers of the 20^th century, celebrated as a symphonist and for his string quartets, but a man of the theater as well.  We thrilled to present Moscow, Cheryomushki for the first time in Chicago," said General Director Brian Dickie.  "This piece is a perfect fit for Chicago Opera Theater, breaking new ground for us, but absolutely in tune with what we have tried to do here during the last 13 years.  It is an utterly entertaining satirical operetta perfectly suited to be presented at the Harris Theater, and it's a wonderful showcase for the gifted young future stars which are COT's specialty.  We are all in for a real treat!" 

In 2009, Moscow, Cheryomushki was chosen as The Peoples' Opera, a fundraising initiative where COT audiences picked from one of three operas to be performed in a future season.

This comedic operetta in three acts will be sung in English, in a new adaptation of the libretto by Meg Miroshnik.  The story illuminates the trials of 20^th-century urban Russia: sub-standard living conditions, chronic housing shortages, and love triangles.

COT will present the chamber orchestra version of the score, adapted and arranged by Shostakovich specialist and scholar Gerard McBurney, known in Chicago for his popular series "Beyond the Score" at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  

Alexander Platt returns to Chicago Opera Theater for the first time since he led the critically acclaimed production of La Tragédie de Carmen in 2009.  Chicago Classical Review said "Alexander Platt conducted the chamber ensemble with incisiveness and flexibility, bringing out the clever felicities of Constant's re-scoring, and providing firm dramatic momentum, the opera unfolding in a seamless arc."  Alexander has conducted nine operas during Brian's tenure as General Director – most notably Nixon in China and Death in Venice. www.alexanderplatt.com.

Director Mike Donahue is making his COT debut.  Mike is developing and directing a new musical with Janine Nabers (book) and Sharon Kenny (music/lyrics) at Williamstown Theatre Festival as the 2012 Boris Sagal Fellow.   He will also be directing the World Premiere of Lauren Feldman's Grace, or the Art of Climbing at the Denver Center in January of 2013.  www.mikemdonahue.com 

Anya Klepikov, the Set and Costume Designer, is frequent collaborator with Mike Donahue - Brand, RENT, Tommy, Bacchae, Big Love, Recess, The Animals, God is a DJ, and Electronic City, as well as their winning production proposal for Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar as a part of Opera America's inaugural Director-Designer Showcase in 2009.  Julian Pike, Lighting Designer, returns to COT for his fourth consecutive season.  Last season he designed the lighting for Medea and He/She, and he will also work as Lighting Designer for this season's Teseo.  Choreographer Eric Sean Fogel was recently the Associate Choreographer for Lyric Opera of Chicago's Showboat, and this summer will choreograph a new production of Aida for the Glimmerglass Festival.  Errol Girdlestone returns to Chicago Opera Theater as Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master, after last season's Medea. 

Dominic Armstrong (Sergei) has performed with The Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Theatre St. Louis, and The Wolf Trap Opera.   In 2010, he made his debut at New York City Opera as Francois in A Quiet Place.  Matt Boehler (Drebednev) was previously seen at Chicago Opera Theater in Owen Wingrave (2009)and Don Giovanni (2008).  Matt was at Hawaii Opera Theater this past fall as Nourabad in The Pearl Fishers, and he will sing the title role in Sweeney Todd with Syracuse Opera in February of 2013.  Paul Corona (Barabashkin) returns to Chicago Opera Theater after appearing in Béatrice et Bénédict (2007) and The Abduction from the Seraglio (2006).  Paul made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2010 in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande and Strauss's Capriccio, and was the Grand Prize Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions a few years prior. Last season he completed his residency with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Emily Fons (Masha) is currently a member of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where she has appeared in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Boris Godunov, Carmen, The Mikado, and Lohengrin.  She will next appear as Megacle in Vivaldi's L'Olimpiade with Garsington Opera.   Sophie Gordeladze (Liusia) is from Tbilisi, Georgia and is making her U.S. debut with Chicago Opera Theater.   In the summer of 2010, Sophie made her European operatic debut as Violetta in La Traviata at the Opern Air Festspiele Gars am Kamp in Austria.  Sophie will sing Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at the 2012 Tiroler Festspiele (Austria) in December. Sara Heaton (Lidochka) returns to COT after singing in 2011's Midwest Premiere of Tod Machover's Death and the Powers.  This season, Sara won first prize in the Marie Kraja international singing competition in Albania, and sang Nedda in Pagliacci with Symphony Pro Musica. She will return to The Santa Fe Opera as a second-year Apprentice this summer to cover Leila in The Pearl Fishers. 

Adrian Kramer (Sasha) is making his Chicago debut with COT, and is currently a member of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) Ensemble Studio program. He has appeared with the COC in numerous roles including Marullo in Rigoletto and the Wig-maker in Ariadne auf Naxos, among others. Mr. Kramer has performed with Glimmerglass Opera, Castleton Festival, and the Brooklyn Academy Of Music.   Paul LaRosa (Boris) has recently completed his third and final year as a member of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  Paul made his COT debut in 2011 as Oronte in Medea. He will debut at Central City Opera this summer as Jud Fry in Oklahoma!  Paul Scholten (Baburov) recently completed his final season as a young artist in the Lyric Opera of Chicago Ryan Opera Center.   In the 2011-2012 season, he was seen as Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor and Second Priest in The Magic Flute.  This summer he will cover the role of Zurga in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers at Santa Fe Opera.   Ashleigh Semkiw (Vava) was a Young Artist with Chicago Opera Theater in 2009.  In October 2011, she participated in a collaborative performance art piece, Siren,with Canadian artist Mitchell F. Chan, originally premiered in 2010 in partnership with the Art Institute of Chicago.  Her debut album is due out in 2012. 

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