Chicago Opera Theater Calendar of Events May and June, 2003 General Information Call the Chicago Opera Theater Box Office to purchase tickets, make seminar reservations or for general information. Phone:  312.704.8414 www.chicagooperatheater.org     COT May/June Calendar    Chicago Opera Theater’s Onsite Insights Pre-performance talks at the Athenaeum Theatre give the audience unique perspective on the opera they are about to attend.  COT takes great care in choosing speakers who know the production intimately. Agrippina Onsite Insights feature the production’s versatile director  Lillian Groag; the fast rising star conductor Emmanuelle Haïm; early music specialist and founder of the Newberry Consort, Mary Springfels; Dr. Raymond Ciacci, a staff member at the University of Chicago’s Basic Program for Adults; and COT Resident Assistant Stage Director Andrew Eggert.  This program is open to all Agrippina ticket holders.   Wed., Apr. 30;  6:30 p.m.  Fri., May 2; 6:30 p.m.  Sun., May 4;  2:00 p.m.  Thurs., May 8;  6:30 p.m.  May 10;  6:30 p.m.  Chicago Opera Theater presents Agrippina Composed in the early 18th century, Agrippina helped establish  composer George Frideric Handel’s international reputation.  Set in Rome around 50 AD, Agrippina follows the struggle for power that ensues when word reaches Rome that the emperor Claudius has died at sea.  The emperor’s wife Agrippina schemes to ensure the succession of Nero, her son from a previous marriage.  But her plan sours when Claudius unexpectedly returns.  Though mayhem and comedy ensue, the opera essentially questions whether there can be an enduring balance between political ambition and love. Chicago Opera Theater is proud to bring together an artistic team headed by versatile director/playwright/actor Lillian Groag, and rising French conductor Emmanuelle Haïm, a former member of Les Arts Florissants and one of the most in-demand young interpreters of the baroque repertoire.  Sung in Italian with English supertitles.   Wed., April 30;  7:30 p.m.  Fri., May 2;  7:30 p.m.  Sun., May 4;  3:00 p.m.  Thurs., May 8;  7:30 p.m.  Sat., May 10;  7:30 p.m.  TICKETS:  $35- $75   Students half price  LOCATION:  Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago  BOX OFFICE:  (312) 704-8414 or www.chicagooperatheater.org     City of Chicago’s Holocaust Remembrance Day The cast and chorus of Chicago Opera Theater’s production of  Brundibár join Mayor Richard M. Daley and other Chicago area school  children in an annual program to honor those who were victims of the  Holocaust and to remind the public to learn lessons from a dark past.  The cast and chorus of Brundibár, made up of  Chicago area students, will perform selections from the opera, which was originally staged in the concentration camp Theresienstadt during World  War II.    Thurs., May 8;  12:00 p.m Harold Washington Library Winter Garden 400 S. State Street Chicago Chicago Opera Theater Young Artist Recital Come and hear Chicago Opera Theater’s Young Artists amongst the beautiful artwork of Roosevelt University’s historic Ganz Hall. This is  your chance to be seated up close to the performers and to experience . the beauty of their voices as they charm you with selections from their engaging repertoire of songs and arias by such composers as Handel, Mozart, Massenet, Verdi, Heggie, and Samuel Barber.  Part of Chicago Opera Theater’s Opera Insights learning programs for adults.   Fri., May 9;  7:30 p.m. Roosevelt University Ganz Hall 430 S. Michigan Ave  ADMISSION: FREE   Chicago Opera Theater Young Artist Recital Come and hear Chicago Opera Theater’s Young Artists in the warm    surroundings of the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall.  This is your chance to be seated up close to the performers and to experience the beauty of their voices as they charm you with songs from their engaging repertoire of Eastern European works.  Part of Chicago Opera Theater’s Opera Insights learning programs for adults.   Mon., May 19;  12:15 p.m. Chicago Cultural Center 78 E. Washington St. ADMISSION: FREE     Chicago Opera Theater’s Andrew Patner Lecture A lunchtimes series at the Chicago Cultural Center.  Celebrated music   commentator, critic and WFMT radio contributor Andrew Patner builds    anticipation for upcoming Chicago Opera Theater productions through his studied and witty presentation.  Patner will be discussing the forthcoming (June) Chicago Opera Theater double-bill production of Hans Krása’s Brundibár and Bohuslav Martin?’s Comedy on the Bridge.  Held a week prior to opening night, this popular series provides a terrific way to prepare for the opera.  Part of Chicago Opera Theater’s Opera Insights learning programs for adults.   Thurs., May 29;  12:15 p.m. Chicago Cultural Center Studio Theater 78 E. Washington St. ADMISSION: FREE     Maurice Sendak Art Institute Lecture Maurice Sendak, set and costume designer for Chicago Opera Theater’s  double bill production, Brundibár and Comedy on the Bridge, and author/illustrator of the beloved children’s classic Where the Wild Things Are, talks about his work as an artist, stage designer and the upcoming COT production.  With an introduction by Chicago Opera Theater General Director, Brian Dickie.  Co-sponsored by the Art Institute of Chicago   Sun., June 1;  2:00 p.m Art Institute of Chicago Fullerton Hall 111 S. Michigan Ave ADMISSION:   For tickets, call the Art Institute at (312) 575-8000 Chicago Opera Theater presents Ela Weissberger Holocaust survivor Ela Weissberger appears at the Chicago Cultural Center as part of their Brainstorm lecture series.  Ms. Weissberger will  speak about her experience as a holocaust prisoner at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where she also appeared in all 55 performances of the Hans Krása opera Brundibár in the role of the Cat.  Chicago Opera Theater presents Brundibár as part of its double bill of two Czech operas beginning June 4 at the Athenaeum Theatre.   Tues., June 3;  12:15 p.m.  Chicago Cultural Center  78 E. Washington St.     ADMISSION: FREE     Chicago Opera Theater Gala 2003 Chicago Opera Theater will celebrate its annual fundraising gala on June 3, 2003 at the Four Seasons Hotel.  Honored guests will include  Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of the beloved children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, and Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Tony Kushner.  The evening will include a very special silent auction, cocktails and dinner, followed by a performance featuring members of the COT Young Artist program, as well as selected cast members of the COT production of Brundibár and Comedy on the Bridge.   Tues., June 3;  6:00 p.m.  Four Seasons Hotel  120 E. Delaware Place     ADMISSION: Call Monika Otting at (312) 704-8420 ext. 15   Chicago Opera Theater’s Onsite Insights  Pre-performance talks at the Athenaeum Theatre give the audience unique perspective on the opera they are about to attend.  COT takes great care in choosing speakers who know the production intimately. The double bill of Brundibár and Comedy on the Bridge Onsite  Insights feature the Holocaust survivor Ela Weissberger, who appeared in all 55 performances of Brundibár at the concentration camp Theresienstadt.  Other speakers include the production’s director Thor Steingraber, COT’s Resident Conductor and Music Advisor (and the production’s conductor) Alexander Platt, and Dr. Raymond Ciacci, a staff member in the University of Chicago’s Basic Program for Adults.  This program is open to all double bill ticket holders.   Wed., June 4;  6:30 p.m. Fri., June 6; 6:30 p.m. Sun., June 8;  2:00 p.m. Thurs., June 12;  6:30 p.m Sat., June 14;  6:30 p.m Chicago Opera Theater presents Brundibár and  Comedy on the Bridge The double bill features two one-act parable operas written in the mid- twentieth century, and were responses to the escalating danger facing Europe after the Nazi party took power in Germany. Czech composers, Krása and Martin used their satirical art to express political opinions  in an oppressive time and to celebrate the undying human capacity for hope and redemption.  Brundibár was originally performed by youth incarcerated in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.  For many children in the camp, this parable of triumph over evil represented their tireless hope that in solidarity they would survive the worst oppression.  The all-new production features sets and costumes by Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of the beloved children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, and a new English translation by Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Tony Kushner.  The operas are directed by Thor Steingraber, director of the Lyric’s La Traviata this year, and conducted by Chicago Opera Theater Resident Conductor and Music Advisor, Alexander Platt.   Wed., June 4;  7:30 p.m.  Fri., June 6;  7:30 p.m Sun., June 8;  7:30 p.m Thurs., June 12;  7:30 p.m Sat., June 14;  7:30 p.m.  Sung in English with English supertitles.  TICKETS:  $35- $75   Students half price  LOCATION:  Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago     BOX OFFICE:  (312) 704-8414 or www.chicagooperatheater.org All Chicago Opera Theater performances are at the Athenaeum Theatre at 2936 N. Southport in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.  Tickets range from $35 - $75.  Call the COT Box Office at 312.704.8414 or visit our website at www.chicagooperatheater.org to buy tickets or for more information.   Founded in 1974, Chicago Opera Theater’s mission is to provide first class productions of small to medium scale opera repertoire, to develop young artists, to expand and diversify its audience, and to be one of the best small opera companies in the country and an integral part of Chicago’s cultural landscape.

 
 

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