Lyric Opera Of Kansas City Presents Their 51st Season Lineup

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City will present a 51st season of opera evoking emotions from grief to glee. To celebrate the Lyric's 50th birthday and Puccini's 150th birthday, the Lyric will open its season with the opera that started it all in Kansas City in September of 1958, Puccini's La bohème. Opera aficionados will be thrilled to hear that the Lyric will produce the Kansas City premiere of Handel's Julius Caesar in November, the first baroque opera ever to be performed at the Lyric. March will bring Verdi's spellbinding tragedy La traviata to the Lyric Stage and audiences young and old alike will enjoy everyone's favorite posing pirates in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance in May.

All four full-length operas will be presented in their original language with English text projected above the stage.

La bohème by Giacomo Puccini sung in Italian with English subtitles

Sept. 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 2008
Puccini's masterpiece has inspired audiences for more than 100 years with its glorious melodies illuminating the eternal story of starving bohemians and star-crossed lovers in the Latin quarter of Paris. Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions grand prize winner Alyson Cambridge (Mimi) has received critical acclaim for the role she will portray at the Lyric: "Mimi took the stage, the music shifted, and her impossibly smooth, stunning vocals filled the room...[she] sang the role of Mimi with a full and beautiful voice," The Boston Globe (2007).

Julius Caesar
(Lyric Opera Premiere)
by George Frideric Handel sung in Italian with English subtitles
Nov. 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 2008

Millions rush to hear Handel's Messiah every December. Be among the first in Kansas City to see history's legendary power couple portrayed in Handel's most popular opera. Since ancient times, women have wanted to rule the throne, and Cleopatra was one of the first to win her prize. The beauty will use Handel's exquisite baroque music to seduce Caesar, ruler of the Roman Empire and man of her desires; gain control of Egypt; and captivate your soul. This local premiere features the same set that launched opera legend Beverly Sills' career.
La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi sung in Italian with English subtitles

March 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 2009
In Verdi's spellbinding tragedy, heartfelt music will touch your entire emotional spectrum from romantic bliss to eternal anguish. The tragic ending will leave your heart aching and give new meaning to being hopelessly in love. Metropolitan Opera Star Mary Dunleavy (Violetta) has received rave reviews for her performances of Violetta from Opera News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Village Voice and San Francisco Chronicle.

The Pirates of Penzance
by Gilbert & Sullivan
sung in English with subtitles
April 25, 27, 29 & May 1, 3, 2009

Gilbert & Sullivan's swashbuckling tale of duty gone wrong will tickle your funny bone. Audiences young and old will be swept away to the zany port of Penzance where everyone's favorite "model of a modern major-general" will leave you aching from laughter over the slight miscalculation of a February 29th leap year birthday. Recent Lyric director Dorothy Danner (The Merry Widow 2006) will return to the Lyric to direct her signature piece.

Season ticket prices range from $60 to $240. For ticket information, contact the Lyric Opera Ticket Office at (816) 471-7344 or toll free at (877) OPERAKC (673-7252), visit www.kcopera.org or visit the Lyric Opera ticket office at the Lyric Theatre, 11th and Central Streets in downtown Kansas City. Season ticket holders receive a substantial discount - four shows for the price of three. Single tickets will go on sale to the general public on August 18, 2008.
The Lyric Theatre is fully accessible and provides assistive listening devices plus Braille and large print programs. Service animals are welcome. For more information on the Lyric Opera, visit www.kcopera.org. All dates, operas and artists are subject to change.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City is a member of OPERA America, and this season is made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Missouri Arts Council.

2008-2009 CAST LIST
LA BOHÈME
Rudolfo - Michael Fabbiano
Mimi - Alyson Cambridge
Musetta - Katrina Thurman
Marcello - Daniel Belcher
Colline - Matthew Trevino
Conductor - Ward Holmquist
JULIUS CAESAR
Conductor - Ward Holmquist
LA TRAVIATA
Violetta - Mary Dunleavy
Alfredo - Chad Shelton
Germont - Lester Lynch
Conductor - Ward Holmquist
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
Stage Director - Dorothy Danner
Mabel - Nili Riemer
Frederic - Chad Johnson
Pirate King - Markus Beam
Ruth - Jennifer Roderer
Major General Stanley - Bob Brand
Sergeant - John Stephens

 

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