A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Opens University of Cincinnati's Mainstage 2012-2013 Season Tonight, 10/4

University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music has announced its 2012-2013 mainstage series, including selections from opera, musical theatre and drama.

Full programming and package details for CCM’s 2012-13 Concert Series will be announced later this spring.

Titles and dates are subject to change—rights pending. To order subscriptions, contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183. For additional information, visit ccm.uc.edu.

Read more about the featured productions below.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Written by William Shakespeare
Michael Burnham, director

A madcap misadventure in the complications and miscalculations of love and lust, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the Bard at his comic best. Driven by the magic of the impish Puck and his band of fairies, young lovers, older lovers and even a group of rude tradesmen are caught in a whirlwind of misdirected passion.

Performance Dates: Oct. 3 (preview), Oct. 4–7, 2012

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater

Chess
Music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Book by Richard Nelson
Aubrey Berg, director
Stephen Goers, musical director
Diane Lala, choreographer

Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (of ABBA fame) and lyricist Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and The Lion King) created this rock opera hit that played to sold-out houses in London’s West End and on Broadway. Against the backdrop of the Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, the musical presents an intriguing tale of romantic rivalries, cunning gamesmanship and political tensions playing out in master chess tournaments around the world. Time magazine hailed the work as “one of the best rock scores ever produced.”

Performance Dates: Oct. 25–28, 2012

Location: Corbett Auditorium

Street Scene
Music by Kurt Weill
Lyrics by Langston Hughes
Book by Elmer Rice
Mark Gibson, musical director
Steven Goldstein, director

Based on Elmer Rice’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama, Street Scene is a stirring synthesis of European traditional opera and American musical theatre. A simple story of love, greed and death portrays life in a tenement house between one evening and the next, bringing to poignant life a wide range of multiethniccharacters. Kurt Weill’s Tony Award-winning music is considered by many critics to be his masterpiece. Sung in English with supertitles.

Performance Dates: Nov. 15–18, 2012

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater

The Time Of Your Life
Written by William Saroyan
Diane Kvapil, director

William Saroyan’s sprawling, elegant and bittersweet comedy was the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Critics’ Circle Award. Set in a rundown dive bar in San Francisco, the play is filled with colorful characters, love and the follies of humanity in what the New York Post called a “gleeful, tender and hilarious, probing and elusive” portrait of life.

Performance Dates: Feb. 6 (preview), Feb. 7–10, 2013

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater

The Threepenny Opera
Music by Kurt Weill
Book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht
English Adaptation by Marc Blitzstein
Robin Guarino, director
Roger Grodsky, musical director
Patti James, choreographer

Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, two towering figures of the 20th century stage, weave the riveting story of notorious bandit and womanizer MacHeath (Mack the Knife) and his seedy companions in London’s underworld. Weill’s acid-tinged score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret. Mature subject matter.

Performance Dates: Feb. 28–March3, March 7–10, 2013

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater

The Magic Flute
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder
Mark Gibson, conductor
Nicholas Muni, director

Mozart composed this beloved opera for the person who wants everything. A hero andheroine questing for true love, evil villains, a girl-crazed sidekick and – to add to the lunacy – a whole range of beastly creatures. Mozart’s incredible music reflects and drives all of the merriment of this all-time favorite. Sung in German with English supertitles.

Performance Dates: April 4-7, 2013

Location: Corbett Auditorium

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