Napa Valley Opera House Announces Their Winter/Spring 2010 Season Line Up
By: Gabrielle Sierra Dec. 02, 2009
Tickets for the Napa Valley Opera House's Winter/Spring 2010 Season go on sale to the public Monday, December 14! Please see the listings for our exciting Fall shows below.
A note from Artistic Director Evy Warshawski -
Welcome to a new season of great artistry and happy 2010! We're completing final details for a variety of exciting projects that we hope you will enjoy.
That one, singular sensation-composer/pianist/singer Marvin Hamlisch-rings in the New Year with a performance and party on December 31. Join us for the 8:30pm show in the upstairs theatre and then party down to the midnight hour in the Café Theatre. We'll have a DJ rocking the night away plus dancing, champagne, desserts and plenty of noisemakers! Mr. Hamlisch will draw the winner of a new 2010 Prius (with thanks to Jimmy Vassar Chevrolet/Toyota), so buy your raffle tickets now (details at www.nvoh.org/car).
Good things come in threes. Marvin Hamlisch's appearance at the Opera House is the first of three events celebrating A Chorus Line, the 1976 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play (with songs composed by Mr. Hamlisch). In April, we're screening the documentary Every Little Step (see p. 9) and in May, the Opera House will produce the play for the Opera House stage featuring a cast chosen from high school and community college-age students. Watch our website for audition and performance information.
January 30, 2010 is a historic date for our historic theatre. 130 years ago, in January 1880, a sold-out crowd witnessed the first performance on stage celebrating the completion of a cultural landmark for the City of Napa. We're having a year-long birthday tribute beginning with a performance by internationally acclaimed soprano, Ruth Ann Swenson, followed by a birthday celebration and preview of 130th tribute activities. See p. 4 for information.
April is "Jazz Appreciation Month," and we celebrate with three stellar evenings: The Gene Krupa Orchestra with The Four Freshmen; Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour; and Pat Metheny's Orchestrion Tour (featuring 28 electronic robots!).
We welcome the newly-created Napa Valley Jazz Society and look forward to partnering with them to keep jazz front and center. (For information on the NVJS, e-mail hartvineyard@comcast.net).
Speaking of partnering, we welcome to the fold Blue Oak School, Lucky Penny Productions and Napa School of Music. And we're happy to continue our partnership with Jon Fox Productions and Pocket Opera.
Marvin Hamlisch: One Singular, Sensational New Year's Eve Celebration
A Napa Valley Opera House League fund-raising event
Thurs., Dec. 31
8:30pm, $165: show & party
$95: show only
One of only two individuals awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony and Pulitzer Prize, Mr. Hamlisch, on solo piano, will present an evening of songs perfect for celebrating the New Year. Hamlisch will play favorites from classics like A Chorus Line, The Way We Were and The Sting. A festive party in the Café Theatre follows the performance, with dancing, dessert and champagne.
HOTEL & RESTAURANT PARTNERS
The Westin Verasa Napa is offering a discounted room rate for Opera House guests. Please visit www.westinnapa.com > Special Offers for more information. Enjoy a great pre-show dining experience just a short walking distance from the Opera House at one Napa's finest restaurants. Please check our website at www.nvoh.org for details.
The Sound of Music Sing a-long
Sat., Jan. 9, 7pm, $12
An Evening with Perla Batalla
Fri., Jan. 15, 8pm, $21
Photos: http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=149502
Grammy-nominated vocalist, composer and arranger Perla Batalla has worked with luminaries such as Leonard Cohen, k.d. lang, Nick Cave and Laurie Anderson, among others. It's been said that she has "one of the most breathtaking voices on planet Earth." Since leaving her parents' Spanish language record store in Venice, CA as a teenager, Perla has been enchanting audiences throughout the world in venues like the Kennedy Center, UCLA's Royce Hall and the Sydney Opera House. Returning to the Opera House, Perla and her band will present a compilation of original compositions interspersed with traditional Spanish language classics arranged to reflect her rich bi-cultural personal and musical heritage. Perla takes the timeless songs she heard growing up and molds their rhythmic and melodic forms to create a stunning cross-pollination of trend and tradition. An evening not to be missed!
This activity is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Best of SF International Comedy Competition
Sat., Jan. 16, 8pm, $30 / $35
Hosted by San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition winner Tom Simmons.
Fri., Mar. 12, 8pm, $30 / $35
Hosted by 33rd Annual SF Stand-Up Comedy Competition finalist Mo Mandel.
African Children's Choir
Sat., Jan. 23, 8pm, $35 / $40
Photos available upon request
Comprised of some of the neediest and most vulnerable children in their countries, many of whom have lost one or both parents, the African Children's ChoirTM helps these children break away from the everyday cycle of poverty and hopelessness.
A Night of Music for New Orleans
Fri., Jan. 29, 7:30pm, $25
Napa Valley's top student musicians perform in a benefit concert for New Orleans victims. Hear violinists, flutists, pianists, vocalists and more in this classical concert that sells out every year. Proceeds support 40 local high school students and assist with completing the rebuilding of a community center in New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina. A dessert reception with music will follow in the lobby.
Napa Valley Opera House 130th Anniversary Celebration featuring Ruth Ann Swenson
Saturday, January 30, 7pm
Performance & Party: $130, Performance only: $75
Photos available upon request
It's a milestone year for the Napa Valley Opera House! Help us honor the 130th anniversary of the Opera House's first performance in January 1880 with an event featuring renowned soprano Ruth Ann Swenson followed by a reception in the Cafe Theatré featuring live music, sparkling wine, dessert and merriment befitting 130 years of history. Rarely seen historic photos and memorabilia will illuminate the roots of this beautiful, long-standing cultural cornerstone of the Napa Valley.
With her performance, Ruth Ann Swenson, accompanied by Whitney Crist on piano, honors the tradition of Louisa Tetrazzini, the widely famous Italian soprano of the early 1900s who performed on the Opera House stage. Ms. Swenson has won critical acclaim for her performances in the world's major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera National de Paris, Royal Opera Covent Garden, and Berlin State Opera, as well as in many other international opera houses and concert halls. She is praised as an artist with an instrument of uncommon warmth and beauty matched by dazzling technical abilities. She will perform pieces by Handel and Gershwin, tunes from Broadway and film, and a tribute to Tetrazzini.
Underwritten in part by Presentation Circle Artists Berit and Robert Muh and Benefactors Anne and Greg Evans and The Jewish Community of Napa ValleySoul Street: Breakin' Backwards
Sat., Feb. 6, 7pm, $25/$30
Hip hop dance workshop: 10am - 2pm, $15
Soul Street Dance of Houston presents their newest concert Breakin' Backwards - where bustin' moves take on decades past. Four male street dancers perform their special contemporary mix of choreography to the most popular music of the decades. Music selections include: Count Basie, Elvis Presley, The Temptations, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson and more.
Soul Street performers offer a hip hop dance workshop for participants of all ages. For information, email evy@nvoh.org. Space is limited.
The Bobby Hutcherson Quartet
Sat., Feb. 13, 8pm, $35/$40
Photo available upon request
Throughout his prolific 35-year career, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson has proven to be one of the most innovative and endearing figures in contemporary jazz. His adventurous Blue Note recordings of the 1960s helped to expand the use of the vibes in jazz, by bringing together free-jazz melodic ideas with a pure capacity for swinging. Today, Hutcherson's performance schedule keeps him globe-trotting most of the year, a testament to his international stature as one of the most innovative jazz artists of our time. For their Opera House debut, The Quartet will be featuring work from the new CD, Wise One.
Lucky Penny Productions presents
The Shape of Things by Neil LaButeFeb. 17 - 20, 8pm; Feb. 21, 2pm, actors and performers will be on the Opera House stage, $25
Evelyn is an art student who plays Pygmalion when she sets out to make over AdaM. Adam is ready to do just about anything to become the man she wants him to be. Adam's friends Phillip and Jenny aren't sure what to make of Adam's transformation and how the insistent Evelyn has commandeered his life. Neil LaBute's cutting, wicked comedy challenges the American obsession with outward appearance and asks "How far will you go for approval? For love? For art?"
The Love List by Norm Foster
April 29 - May 1, 8pm; May 2, 2pm, Cafe Theatre, $25
The Love List tells the story of two men who write a list of qualities defining the perfect woman, and much to their surprise, she appears. Called hilarious, sharp and irresistibly funny, the play examines the quest for perfection and unexpected consequences.
Garage Band 101
Fri., March 5, 7pm, $12
The Wailin' Jennys
Sat., March 6, 8pm, $30/$35
Photos: http://herschelfreemanagency.com/jennys/jennys.html#press
Three extraordinary voices, two founding singer-songwriters, one singular vision: The Wailin' Jennys continue to evolve into far more than the melodious sum of their individual talents five years after blowing in on a fresh acoustic breeze from Canada's mid-western heartland.
Back by popular demand, the Wailin' Jennys have toured three continents, and are enjoying burgeoning international acclaim and a rapidly growing fan base. They continue to garner rave reviews for their album, Firecracker, which has spent over 30 weeks in the Top 5 on the Billboard Bluegrass chart, and has charted in the Top 20 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers, Top Independent Albums and Top Internet Albums. Firecracker also rose to #2 on the Amazon Top Sellers Chart.
Pocket Opera: La Cenerentola (Cinderella)
Sun., March 7, 2pm, $30/$35
Once upon a time, a very sweet girl nicknamed Cinderella lived with her foolish stepfather and her two jealous half-sisters who treated her badly and kept her in rags. A handsome prince in search of a wife gave a ball to which only two of the three girls were invited. Experience Rossini in a sparkling mood.
Capitol Steps
Sat., March 13, 5pm & 8pm, $40
Photos: http://www.capsteps.com/live/bookings.html
The Capitol Steps return to the Opera House for another rousing night of hilarity. The group began as Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. In the years that followed, many of the Steps ignored the conventional wisdom ("Don't quit your day job!"), and although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of 18 Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience. Since they began, the Capitol Steps have recorded 29 albums, including their latest, Obama Mia! They've been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, and can be heard four times a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their Politics Takes a Holiday radio specials.
Jake Shimabukuro
Fri., March 19, 8pm, $30/$35
Photos: http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/?t=gallery
Jake Shimabukuro is recognized as one of the world's most exciting and innovative ukulele players and composers. Renowned for lightning-fast fingers and revolutionary playing techniques, playing jazz, blues, funk, classical, bluegrass, folk, flamenco, and rock, Jake's mission is to show everyone that the ukulele is capable of so much more than traditional Hawaiian music.
BeauSoleil
Sat., March 27, 8pm, $30 / $35
Photos: http://www.yeproc.com/press_kits.php?artistId=12846
Since forming in 1975, Grammy Award winners BeauSoleil have claimed their undisputed role as the most esteemed Cajun group in music. BeauSoleil with Michael Doucet takes the rich Cajun traditions of Louisiana and artfully blend elements of zydeco, New Orleans jazz, Tex-Mex, country, blues and more into a satisfying musical recipe. From The Grand Ole Opry to Newport Folk, from concert hall to dance floor, the music of BeauSoleil continues to captivate audiences the world over.
The Gene Krupa Orchestra with the Four Freshmen
Friday, April 9, 8pm, $40/$45
Photos: http://producersinc.com/BandInfo.php?Band=genekrupaorchestra
Carnegie Hall, January 16, 1938- The Benny Goodman Orchestra swings its way into big band history. Gene Krupa, pounding out SING SING SING on the tom toms, made his own bit of big ban d history that night, changing the course of drumming forever. By the late 1930s Gene Krupa had emerged as a national phenomenon and his appearances on stage and film catapulted him to superstar status.
Now leading the new Gene Krupa Orchestra, accomplished musician Michael Berkowitz brings the Krupa magic back to life for a whole new generation.
Joining the orchestra is the current incarnation of The Four Freshmen, a group that had a profound influence on American Jazz and pop singing. The group began in 1948 as four students at Butler University in Indiana. They played nearly every college in the USA, performing in all fifty states and 44 countries from Asia to Australia.
Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour
Sat., April 17, 8pm, $40/$45
Photos: http://www.cami.com/?webid=1974
The Monterey Jazz Festival has been a nexus for great jazz performances for over 50 years. This tour brings that Monterey magic to Napa, featuring a stunning combination of current jazz greats: Kenny Barron, "one of the top jazz pianists in the world," according to The LA Times, violinist Regina Carter, who Time Magazine says "takes the listener into the future of jazz," seven-time Grammy nominee Kurt Elling, whom The San Francisco Chronicle calls "the most flamboyantly creative jazz singer to emerge in the last decade;" and Russell Malone with what All About Jazz calls his "unique guitar voice." You don't have to go to Monterey to hear the best in jazz - we're bringing it to Napa!
Screening of Every Little Step
Fri., April 23, 8pm, $12
This 2009 documentary film explores the journey of A Chorus Line from its initial idea to its current Broadway revival and goes behind the scenes with exclusive interviews and footage of the revival's audition process, revealing the dramatic journey of the performers. On hand will be the director and actors from the NVOH production of A Chorus Line, premiering in May 2010.
Pat Metheny: The Orchestrion Tour
Sun., April 25, 7pm, $55/$65/$75
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