Jacob A. Climer

Des Moines Metro Opera Reveals New Director for Strauss's SALOME

Des Moines Metro Opera has revealed a new director for their upcoming production of Strauss's SALOME, ensuring a fresh vision for the classic opera.

Des Moines Metro Opera Reveals Cast Updates for Debussy's PELLEAS & MELISANDE

Des Moines Metro Opera has revealed cast updates for Debussy's PELLÉAS & MÉLISANDE, featuring new performers in key roles. Learn how to purchase tickets!

Review: UNKNOWN SOLDIER at Arena Stage

'Unknown Soldier' is a beautifully performed show with a fascinating exploration of memory, love, and loss, but its main flaw is that it is a show seeking out answers to a mystery it not only fails to resolve, but further convolutes at every turn. While there’s truth in that, it’s also a little dissatisfying, as life itself often is.

Video: In Rehearsal with Judy Kuhn for UNKNOWN SOLDIER

Watch as Judy Kuhn talks about joining the company of Unkown Solider at Arena Stage. Said Kuhn on the project 'I play Lucy Anderson... She's a woman who has had a fantasy about what her life should or could have been. I love doing theater, it's so collaborative and there's nothing more collaborative than a new musical.'

Judy Kuhn, Kerstin Anderson, Perry Sherman & More to Star in UNKNOWN SOLDIER D.C. Premiere

The cast and creative team has been revealed for Unknown Soldier at Arena Stage. See who is starring and learn how to purchase tickets.

Alley Theatre Announces The Cast & Creative Team For THE ODYSSEY

The Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre has announced the cast and creative team of The Odyssey, written by Nobel Prize Winner Derek Walcott. This adventure classic infused with Afro-Caribbean elements runs March 24 – April 16, 2023 in the Neuhaus Theatre and is directed by Christopher Windom.

Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Des Moines Metro Opera

Starting a theatre company is no easy feat, but for a theatre to be around for 50 years is something worth celebrating. You can celebrate 50 years with Des Moines Metro Opera this summer, which just opened up its 50th season with two spectacular productions. The season opened up a sold-out run of The Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess' with Simon Estes in his farewell performance. I've heard excellent things about the production. The opera continued its opening weekend with 'The Voice' finalist John Holiday in Benjamin Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' based on the Shakespeare play by the same name.

BWW Review: (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS by Bates and Campbell under Zvulun Closes the Circle on Apple's Creation

On Saturday night, Version 2.0 of the Mason Bates-Mark Campbell opera, THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS, opened brilliantly as a mainstage production of the Atlanta Opera, in its East Coast premiere, under Tomer Zvulun’s taut direction and Michael Christie’s smart baton. To say the audience greeted the work joyfully would be an understatement.

RIGOLETTO, THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, and More Announced for Utah Opera 2022-23 Season

Opera represents the full range of the human experience—so it is fitting that people of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences will find relevance in Utah Opera's four productions in the 2022-23 season at Salt Lake City's Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre.

BWW Review: THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS at Lyric Opera

Mason Bates' modern score underlies this unflinching look at controversial Apple co-founder.

BWW Opera Preview: If You're Dreaming of Live Opera, Here Are Some to Think About This Spring

Can we talk—about live opera in New York and elsewhere on the East Coast in the coming months?

59E59 Theaters Announces Casting for BAROCOCO and FIRST DOWN

59E59 Theaters has announced the casts of BAROCOCO and First Down. BAROCOCO will begin previews February 9 and open February 13 for a run through March 6, 2022. First Down is scheduled to start performances on February 18 and open February 24, ending its limited run on March 5, 2022.

Des Moines Metro Opera Announces 50th Anniversary Season And $15 Million Endowment Campaign

Des Moines Metro Opera's General and Artistic Director Michael Egel announced today the repertory for the company's 50th Anniversary Season alongside the launch of the public phase of a $15 million fundraising campaign, 50 Next: Giving Voice to the Future.

BWW Review: PLATEE at Des Moines Metro Opera: An Exciting Updated Production for a Classic Opera

Pink, voguing, drag, stiletto heels, opera, seeing that list, you may feel that opera seems out of place, but you couldn't be more wrong. On July 10, Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) took all those and melded them together as they opened the company's premiere production of 'Platée.' While many companies may have taken a more classical approach to this opera, DMMO took the risk of taking a modern approach to this opera. After seeing this production on the 10th, I can tell you with certainty the risk certainly reaped the rewards that go with it.

Des Moines Metro Opera Announces Repertory for 2021 Summer Festival

Des Moines Metro Opera announced today the repertory for the organization's 2021 Summer Festival, which runs July 2 through July 25, 2021.

Virtual Theatre Today: Friday, July 10- with Kate Shindle, Bernadette Peters & More!

Today (July 10) in live streaming: Kate Shindle visits Backstage Live, Bernadette Peters sings for BC/EFA and so much more!

Utah Opera Offers Free Streaming Of Rachel Portman & Nicholas Wright's THE LITTLE PRINCE

Utah Opera Artistic Director Christopher McBeth today announced plans to stream Utah Opera's performance of Rachel Portman and Nicholas Wright's a?oeThe Little Prince.a?? The production, which was recorded in January 2019, is available for complimentary, on-demand streaming at utahopera.org starting Monday, June 22, 2020 at 7 PM MDT through Wednesday, August 5, 2020.

BWW Review: Michael Friedman/Daniel Goldstein's Captivating UNKNOWN SOLDIER Explores The Unreliability Of Memory And The Romance Of Imagination

For BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, Michael Friedman whipped up an emo rock score that comically skewered white male privilege. For LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST his music and lyrics embraced the open-hearted awkwardness of lovers testing the waters of adulthood, and in THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, they nostalgically provided a tapestry of pop harmonies, soul and rap. And then there was the abundance of fresh material created for The Civilians, the investigative theatre company he co-founded.

Kerstin Anderson, Estelle Parsons, Margo Seibert and More to Star in Michael Friedman's UNKNOWN SOLDIER

Playwrights Horizons (Artistic Director Tim Sanford, Managing Director Leslie Marcus) today announced the cast and creative team of Unknown Soldier, a sweeping, elegiac chamber musical that melts time, spanning three generations as it follows a woman's journey to unearth the secrets buried in her family's past. With a book and lyrics by Daniel Goldstein, making his New York writing debut, Unknown Soldier is also the last work from the late, beloved Michael Friedman (music and lyrics) to be premiered in the city. Together, they created a work that profoundly illustrates the search into the existences of those who've passed, connecting the love and loss, hope and regret of two womena?'and a country forever scarred by wara?'across a century. Unknown Soldier follows Ellen Rabinowitz, a woman who's inherited her grandmother's homea?'and with it, a clue that her understanding of her family and of herself are incomplete. Directed by Trip Cullman and choreographed by Patrick McCollum, this New York premiere production will take place in the Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons (416 West 42nd Street), February 14-March 29, 2020.

Utah Opera Stage New Production of Rachel Portman & Nicholas Wright's THE LITTLE PRINCE

In January 2019, Utah Opera unveils its new production of composer Rachel Portman and librettist Nicholas Wright's 'The Little Prince' (2003), an operatic adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's classic children's novella published 75 years ago